How-to-Quilt.com

July 2007 Newsletter

Old Quilters Never Die – They Just Fray Away!

This issue includes:

1)  A Tidbit of History – Tree of Life Quilt Block

2)  Tools, Tricks and Quilting Tips – Simple tricks for stitching accurate patches

3)  Quilts - Bears All Around
   
4 )  July's Featured Block? – Tree of Life
   
5 )  Recipe for Quilters – Things made from trees and fruits of trees
   
6 )  Newsletter News – How-to-Quilt Flag Rag Quilt

7)  Quilter’s Trip – Lowell Quilt Festival

8) Myth or Truth?

9) Quilting Tools – Dritz Deluxe Needle Threader

10)  Fabric Postcards for the Troops – Second Annual 4th of July Roundup

11) Mark your calendar for August 28!

And speaking of calendars, here's ours:

July 4 – fabric postcards delivered to troops in Iraq
July (date to be determined) Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation with Barbara Vanice, owner of The Quilted Rose – a longarm machine quilting shop
August 28 – Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation with Monika Gassaway, owner, La Mesa Sew and Vac
September 28 – deadline for Penny’s Postcard Posse – Halloween Roundup
October 16 – Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation with Ricky Tims, quilter
October 20 – deadline for Penny’s Postcard Posse – Thanksgiving Roundup
November 16 - Penny’s Postcard Posse – Christmas Roundup

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1) A Tidbit of History – Tree of Life Quilts

In early American days, clipper ships brought cargoes of Indian and Persian cotton prints into western Atlantic ports.  When quilt designers were looking for pattern ideas, the Tree of Life design, common to Oriental rugs, was easily converted to a quilt pattern.

The appeal of the block lies not only in its intrinsic beauty, but for its quality of faith and belief in eternal life.  The design quickly became a favorite among the religiously inclined settlers of the New World and their descendents.

There are many variations of the design.  A search in Maggie Malone’s book, 5500 Quilt Block Designs, offers 6 variations.  According to tradition, the distinguishing feature is the patchwork of the tree foliage and the trunk – which should be appliquéd on.

The favored fabric for these old quilts was a calico in green tones with a darker green or brown fabric for the trunk.  While the foliage was always a print fabric to show the variation of the light and dark of the tree, while the trunk was always a solid fabric.

Patterns also can be found showing the block “on point” with the tree standing straight and tall.

2) Tools, Tricks, and Quilt Tips – Simple tricks for stitching accurate patches

Getting patches square and the same size seems to be an ongoing challenge of quilters.  Here are a few things you can do to check and improve the accuracy of your stitching:

• Watch the cut edges of your patches as you are sewing on the machine – instead of watching the needle.  By focusing on the edge of the fabric, and making sure that it lines up with your mark of a 1/4 inch seam allowance (whether that is tape on your throat plate or a presser foot), you will be more likely to see when your sewing is accurate.
• If a seam is longer than 2 to 3 inches, pin along the seam before you sew – not just at the beginning or the end.  That will stabilize the fabrics, and you will be more likely to sew both fabrics an even 1/4 inch away from the edge
• When sewing angled, pointed pieces (such as diamonds or triangles), start with the wide end first.  That way, the skinny tip is less likely to get eaten by the feed dogs (after all, they are pretty hungry).

• When beginning chain sewing, start with a scrap of fabric, and then add your first pair of patches after you sew through the scrap.  Continue sewing the patches in the chain, and then add the scrap as the last piece in your chain.  That way, you always have a scrap ready to begin a new chain.

3) Quilts - Bears All Around

It all began when I was looking through a quilt book that has animal patterns in it.

I had just finished making a bunch of Bear Paw quilt blocks (for some unknown reason), and I was looking for something interesting to do with them.

The bears in the animal quilt block book seemed like the perfect thing.

I decided to make the bears from various plaid homespun fabrics, and each bear is different.

From there, the Flying Geese were added running horizontally across the quilt, as if they were flying back and forth, while the trees were used for vertical sashing between the bears, as if they were planted in the forest.

The sawtooth borders were added, and instead of working them into the corners, I used pinwheels to fill in as cornerstones.

And now to add the Bear Paw blocks around the outside.  You may notice a random house quilt block in the lower corner.  As it turns out, I ran out of fabric for the Bear Paw blocks, and am now filling in the spaces with other blocks.  The house fits nicely in that corner, and there will be a tree in the upper border.

It always amazes me how it all fits together even with these make-it-up-as-you-go projects.

4)  July's Featured Block– Tree of Life

This month begins something new.  In addition to the 10 free quilt block patterns, we will feature one special block, providing you with both the patterns and some fun information about the block in history.

Here are just two variations of the Tree of Life quilt block. This is an example of how different a block can look when you simply reverse the color placement.

In the block on the left, you will see that the green fabric is placed in the square in the upper left corner and in the center squares. In addition, the green is in the triangles that point away from the center of the tree.

In the block on the right, the green is placed in the triangles that face the center of the tree.

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July How to Quilt Patterns include this Tulip Tile Quilt Block:

Click here for patterns

These patterns are in pdf format. You will need Adobe Reader in order to open the file. If you do not have that, you can download it for free:

5) Recipes for Quilters – Things made from trees and fruits of trees

These recipes are taken from Recipes Tried And True.

Compiled By The Ladies' Aid Society Of The First Presbyterian Church,
Marion, Ohio In 1894.

Lemon Bouillon.  Louise Krause.

A Delicate Soup.--Take soup meat, put on to cook in cold water; boil
until very tender; season with salt.  Into each soup plate slice very
fine one hard boiled egg and two or three very thin slices of lemon.
Strain the meat broth over this and serve hot, with crackers.

Here are two interesting recipes using tapioca, which comes from the root of the cassava tree.

Tapioca Cream.  Mrs. O. W. Weeks.

Soak one teacup of tapioca in water over night.  In the morning, set
one quart of milk in a kettle of boiling water, and let it come to a
boil.  Stir the yolks of three eggs into the tapioca, with one cup of
sugar; let it boil a few minutes.  Beat the whites of the eggs stiff
and put on the top of the cream.  Serve cold.

Tapioca Pudding With Apples.  Mrs. Dr. Fisher.

Soak one teacup of tapioca and one teaspoon of salt in one and
one-half pints of cold water for five hours; keep in a warm place but
do not cook.  Two hours before dinner, pare and core six large apples;
place them in a pudding dish; fill the cavities made by removing cores
with sugar and a little grated nutmeg, or lemon peel; add a cup of
water, and bake one hour, turning the apples to prevent them drying.
When quite soft, turn over them the tapioca.  Bake one hour longer.
Serve with hard sauce of butter and sugar.
 

6) Newsletter News – How-to-Quilt Flag Rag Quilt

Did you know that Rag Quilt in a Weekend! Vol. III, includes design ideas for colleges and sports teams?

Yes, it does.  Not only does this resource include specific design ideas for several colleges, it includes designs for baseball and football teams as well.

And with the celebration of Independence Day in July, making a rag quilt featuring a flag seems to be just a fun thing to do.

Just like the other Rag Quilt in a Weekend! patterns, this Flag Rag Quilt can be made in a short weekend by a beginner quilter, or even a child!

Check it out: http://www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com/flag.shtml 

7)  Quilter’s Trip – Lowell Quilt Festival

A Citywide Celebration of Quilts - Lowell, Massachusetts – August 2 - 5
Presented by The New England Quilt Museum Auxiliary. Featuring "Images 2007": Juried Quilt Show, Merchants mall, Antique Quilt Exhibit curated by Gerald Roy, and Uncovered in New Hampshire at The New England Quilt Museum (www.nequiltmuseum.org) Location: Lowell Memorial Auditorium and the Double Tree Hotel, Lowell, Massachusetts

http://www.lowellquiltfestival.org

8) Myth or Truth?

Do you want to increase your chances of winning the marathon?  It sounds awful, but primitive people believed eating fox lungs strengthened breathing.  After all, they saw foxes were excellent runners, and rarely were out of breath!

9) Quilting Tools – Dritz Deluxe Needle Threader

Dritz Deluxe Needle Threader

Dritz makes an upscale version of a traditional wire needle threader. This one has a more substantial handle and a metal plate to protect the wire and to guide the thread through the wire and ensure that the needle ends up being threaded.

I have often wondered whether the wire would be too big to go through the eye of a Between - since Betweens are so small.

The answer to the question is "The wire does go through the needle and the needle will get threaded."

However, it doesn't glide easily through; mostly, I think, because of the small size.

The first step is to push the wire loop through the eye of the needle, and glide it along the wire until it is next to the handle and past the opening in the metal plate.

For some reason, the wire kept wanting to twist itself around. It didn't make any difference in the threader's ability to perform, it was just rather interesting.

The next step is to run your thread through the hole in the metal plate, making sure that it comes up through the center of the wire loop.

It doesn't appear to matter whether you string your thread from the bottom up or the top down - just get it through.

There is also no need at this point to cut your thread, although it wouldn't hurt if you did. I left my uncut, still on the spool (less likely to get lost). Now slide the needle back across the wire loop, pulling the thread through the eye of the needle.

This might take some effort - but not too much - if you are threading a needle with a small eye.

I think there is a reason that this type of needle threader has been around for years. It is very easy to use, and works every time (as long as the thread and needle are in the right position). This model will last longer than the less expensive ones with thin handles and no guard around the wire loop.

10)  Postcard Quilts for the Troops – Second Annual 4th of July Roundup

Wow!  We’re thrilled to report that over 2100 fabric postcards were sent to troops abroad.  The first shipment left Ohio on Friday, June 22,  headed for the troops stationed in Iraq, followed closely by a shipment to wounded soldiers in Germany.

Thanks to everyone who sent cards in!

Pictures are posted, and more will be added on:
http://www.fabric-postcards.com/july0407pics.shtml

The next roundup is for Halloween – the most celebrated holiday in the US.  Interesting….

Elaine and Sherry think we can send 4000 over there for Halloween.  What do you think?

11) Quilters in the Neighborhood - La Mesa Sew and Vac

A few months ago, the hospital purchased my home and I made the big move “across town.”  The bigness of the move was not in the distance of the move, since it was all of about 2 miles as the crow flies.

The bigness was in sorting and packing, and then unpacking.  Anyone who has moved understands that mess.

During the sorting and packing process, I determined that my vacuum cleaner was too far on its last leg to survive the trip across town.  And then with The Machine Quilting Adventure, I figured that it was time to take my ancient sewing machine in for a re-haul.

So, I loaded the sewing machine in my car and trekked over to our local Sew and Vac – protector of my Singer Featherweight (mechanically, that is).  I was planning to buy a sewing machine and a vacuum!

Once inside, I was greeted by Monika Gassaway, the new owner.  We exchanged the normal pleasantries, and then talked about my ancient sewing machine (not the Featherweight).  I knew it wasn’t a high quality machine when it was born.  What I didn’t realize was that it would continue to frustrate me during my Machine Quilting Adventure.

Monika and I talked about my options.  She went through a questioning process about what kind of sewing I did and what I wanted my machine to be able to do – piecing (yes), machine quilting (yes), embroidery (not now at least), clothes sewing (not really).

After a few minutes of questions, she suggested a machine, and showed it to me.  It was like it was too easy to just take her first suggestion.  I kept asking about other machines – what they did and how much they cost.  In the end, I bought the machine she first suggested.

And the same thing happened with the vacuum.  She asked me some questions about what I wanted my vacuum to do, and then she recommended a vacuum.  By that time, I knew I didn’t need to ask about other vacuums, I could just take her word for it.

And I’ve been very happy with my selections.  The sewing machine got me through The Machine Quilting Adventure in fine form, and my vacuum just hums around the house, picking up all kinds of dirt and cat hair.  (m.mouse is pretty pleased as well.)

And, now I have a new quilting resource - Monika Gassaway, owner of La Mesa Sew and Vac.  And the great news is that she has agreed to share her expertise about sewing machines on August 28 for our monthly Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation.

Monika has agreed to talk about how to buy a machine – some things to think about as you consider what type of machine to purchase.  She will talk about how picky some machines are about thread.  And you will have an opportunity to give us your input on the questions you want answered about sewing machines – and vacuums, too.

Mark your calendar for August 28!

Have a fabulous Month!

Happy Quilting!

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

www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts

www.Fabric-Postcards.com
Quilt Mail Across the Miles

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