December 2007 Newsletter

This issue includes:

1)  A Tidbit of History – Naming quilt blocks

2)  Tools, Tricks and Quilting Tips – Roxanne^TM R.O.S.E. Thread Counter
   
3)  Featured Block of the Month – Learn about a traditional patchwork quilt block 
   
4)  Recipe for Quilters – English Gems
   
5)  Newsletter News – Photo Fabric Postcard for the Holidays

6)  Quilter’s Trip – Road to California

7)  Fabric Postcards for the Troops – Round ‘em up and send ‘em in soon

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1) A Tidbit of History – Naming quilt blocks

It’s always been of interest to me how some quilt blocks came to have several different names. Adelaide Hechtlinger’s book American quilts, Quilting & Patchwork offers the following explanation:

“A design might have a different name in each region in which it was quilted. The Bear’s Paw in Pennsylvania was called Duck’s Feet in the Mud on Long Island, where there were no bears but plenty of ducks.

Another example is a pattern that appeared first in New England as Wood’s Lily. In Pennsylvania it became Pennsylvania Tulip; in North Carolina it was North Carolina Lily; in Ohio, Tiger Lily; and in parts of the Midwest it became Meadow Lily. Through all these name changes, the pattern varied not one bit.”

2) Tools, Tricks, and Quilt Tips – Roxanne^TM R.O.S.E. Thread Counter

This tool will tell you the Thread Count of your fabric without your eyes having to focus on individual strands and track them across an inch under a magnifier.

Use the R.O.S.E.™ to:

• help you match grain lines in piecing
• choose a fabric that won't fray during appliqué
• manipulate the drape in wearable arts

So many possible applications to help you make your quilts squarer, flatter, last longer and look spectacular  

3)  Featured Block of the Month

Boston Trail
Crazy Quilt
Crooked Path
Country Cousin
Drunkard's Path
Endless Trail
Old Mail's Puzzle
Oregon Trail
Pumpkin Vine
Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
Solomon's Puzzle
Wandering Path of the Wilderness
Wonder of the World
World's Wonder

Click here to download your10 FREE December 2007 Patterns

4) Recipes for Quilters – English Gems

Cream 1 cup of butter with 2 cups of brown sugar; add 4 beaten eggs, 1
teaspoonful of soda dissolved in 1 large cup of strong coffee, 1 cup
of molasses, 4 cups of sifted flour, 1/2 teaspoonful each of nutmeg,
allspice, cloves and mace, 2 teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar sifted
with 1/2 cup of flour, 1 cup of raisins, 1/2 cup of currants and
chopped citron. Mix well and fill buttered gem pans 1/2 full and bake
until done. Then cover with chocolate icing.

Sounds like cupcakes to me!

5) Newsletter News – Send a Fabric Postcard with YOUR Picture

Maybe this year you'd like to send your loved ones a Greeting Card to remember.

These are easy and fun to make and make a lasting impression. Your kids and grandkids can help. Or turn them loose and maybe they can make their own!

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/quilt-postcard.shtml

6)  Quilter’s Trip – Road to California

California's Largest Quilt show at the Ontario Convention Center, Ontario CA   January 17-20, 2008

7)  Postcard Quilts for the Troops

Penny’s Postcard Posse’s Thanksgiving was a great success with hundred of cards going straight to Iraq from the How to Quilt office in Ohio. 

Quilters use their imaginations to create all different kinds of postcard fun, and the picture here is just one example of such fun.

Keep them coming – Christmas is right around the corner, and then there is January.

Beginning in January, Miramar will have a major deployment. I would love to deliver hundreds, no thousands, of fabric postcards to soldiers before they leave. A local teacher and I (quilting daughter, Stephanie’s second grade teacher) are working to see if we can get the kids to deliver their cards along with cards from quilters – in person!

We’ll keep you posted on that effort.

http://fabric-postcards.com/

Have a fabulous Month!

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren
www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters

www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
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©How-to-Quilt.com 2007