How-to-Quilt.com

October 2008 Newsletter

This issue includes:

Trick or Treat at the Haunted House Quilt Pattern

Newsletter News – www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com and www.TheQuiltingCoach.com

Quilting Tools – Needle Grabber (for your sewing machine needle)

Tools, Tricks and Quilting Tips – about Binding
   
Featured Block of the Month – Ghostwalk

Ideas for Quilts - A Class Quilt from 7th grade Language Arts

Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation - October 9 and 23

Fabric Postcards for the Troops – Round ‘em up and send ‘em in before November 6

How-To-Quilt.com Newsletter Archive online – Issues of the How-to-Quilt.com Newsletter from the beginning of 2005 are available online at:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/newsletter/archive/index.shtml

Do you enjoy this newsletter?  If you do, please feel free to forward it to one or many friends and encourage them to join the group!

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Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I have fond memories of costumes from when I was a kid, and of making costumes for my kids.

Now that I'm not making costumes, a Halloween quilt seemed like a fun substitute.

And this was a great quilt to make. It's like a sampler quilt, and you get to make 12 different blocks each one using some special technique.

But it's not like making a sampler quilt that some random teacher assigned as a homework project.

This one is fun and easy, and you can get the patterns for all of the blocks and step-by-step instructions showing how to sew them together, plus add the Attic Window frames, sashing, inner border, and the Candy Corn outer pieced border.

This pattern can be yours only until Halloween - October 31.
Give me the details.

Newsletter News –

Things are really hopping here at www.How-to-Quilt.com. Now that summer is over and all of the kids are back in school, it's time to begin some serious quilting, and we are here to give you ideas and resources for making some great quilts for yourself or for gifts.

Our latest venture is www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com You will hear more about the site later in the newsletter, but a quick description is that this site is all about traditional quilt block patterns and designing quilts.

Currently there are more than 300 blocks on the site with many of them free. And more are added every day.

In addition, this will become the site for free fabric postcard patterns for the troops. Hopefully by moving them to this site, the patterns will be easier to find.

You can register for free and search the patterns, download free patterns, and watch the archived videos demonstrating how to sew a block together to your heart's delight.

Until we run out, when you purchase a minimum of $10 in credits, you will receive a free CD with 120 patterns and a year of How-to-Quilt printed version of the newsletter.

The printed version is different from the online version, and has more quilting ideas, tips and information about quilting tools, and is free to members of TheQuiltingCoach.com

Check it out, it's worth a visit - and very colorful, too!

Quilting Tools – Needle Grabber (for your sewing machine needle)

All right, I’m a sucker for all kinds of new quilting gadgets.

Even though I stand in the store and think they won’t work, I just have to get one and see for myself.

And, I’ll admit I was more than just a little skeptical when I got this one.

As a matter of fact, it’s been sitting on my desk for months – staring me in the face saying “when is it my turn?” it’s such a homely little thing.

It turns out that this is the month. I ripped into the bag, pulled it out and looked for the instructions.

About the only instruction there was said it was for machine needles.

So I headed for my sewing machine, not expecting much. I unthreaded my

machine needle, and then looked at this little thing, wondering what next.

I finally decided to push the little button on the top (with the ring through it), and a little hook-like gizmo popped out the other end. Ah-ah. Then I knew.

The little hook thing goes around the needle as you loosen the screw that holds it in the machine.Presto!

Needle safely out. No struggling with my fat fingers in that tiny space, getting poked with the needle, dropping the needle, and who knows what else.

In short, this is a great little tool – well worth the about $5 I paid.

Tools, Tricks, and Quilt Tips –about Binding

There is no shortage of challenges for adding binding to a quilt.

At www.AskPennyHalgren.com, you can now find a section about Binding a Quilt, with many tips and instructions for adding binding to your quilt.

Whether you are using store-bought binding or making it yourself, keeping the binding smooth, the mitered corners sharp and crisp, and the ends where the start and stopping points meet flat can be enough to make a perfectly calm quilter want to pull her hair out!

With all of that in mind, our latest DVD product shows 6 different methods to bind a quilt:

• Double fold bias binding
• Self-binding (folding the back to the front or the front to the back)
• Knife-edge binding (sometimes called birthing a quilt)
• Single fold binding using a bias tape maker
• Adding Piping to your Binding
• Prairie Points

Get all of the details here: www.HowToBindAQuilt.com 

This has already been a hot seller, and is sure to be one of your most valuable quilting resources.

Featured Block of the Month - Ghostwalk Quilt Block

With all of the fun surrounding Halloween, I thought it would be fun to feature a Halloween-type block - Ghostwalk.

By way of introduction to my newest venture, www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com, you can visit there and see a video demonstration of how to sew the block together.

The QuiltBlockLibrary.com is all about quilt block patterns, mostly traditional blocks, in all sizes.

Most sites online have free quilt block patterns, but they are in the size(s) that the designer chooses, and sometimes the templates are not that reliable in size.

The QuiltBlockLibrary.com has multiple sizes of all patterns, and those that make sense for the block. For example, the 4 patch blocks have 4,” 8,” 12,” and 16” patterns – you choose the size you want. And if you want all 4, you can have that, too.

Simply pay for your pattern with credits, download it to your computer and save it for your future use.

All patterns have a color picture of the block using fabrics you may recognize, rotary cutting layouts, and full size templates that you print on your computer from a pdf file – so you know they are accurate.

And, one of the most exciting things is the video. Every other week there is a new video posted showing how to make a featured block. The video is a short 5 minutes, and gives you all my tips and techniques for that block.

Register for free, search to your heart’s delight, download the many free patterns, watch the archived video, and even sign up for our free e-course that explains the differences between a 9 patch, 4 patch, and 5 patch and why knowing the difference is important in designing a quilt. Just fill in the information on the drop down on the home page.

There’s much more to come, so stay tuned. Currently we have more than 300 unique blocks (it’s hard to say exactly since more are added each day), and with the variations in sizes, the total number of patterns is approaching the 1500 mark.

Once we have 500 different quilt block patterns on the site, we will explore adding quilt patterns – something you can do with your block patterns. We are looking at adding an image gallery, so you can add your pictures of quilt blocks and quilts.  We are even planning a QuiltBlockLibrary.TV.

Click here to get the pattern for this block.

Click here to download your 10 FREE Patterns for October.

A Quilt Idea – A Class Quilt from Language Arts

Quilts seem to be popular among teachers and school children of all ages. One year, quilting daughter, Stephanie’s, 7th Grade Language Arts teacher decided to incorporate quiltmaking into her class day.

The students chose one of three books that they were reading in class and created a block of something from the book.

I took all kinds of materials into the class. It was a great way to get rid of some really random fabric and embellishment materials that had been hanging around my closet for years.

The kids mostly glued the fabric pieces onto the squares they were given as a base, although there was some sewing done also.

Once the kids finished their blocks, I took them home, added sashing and finished the quilts. They were machine quilted with very simple stitch in the ditch, and I think the front borders were folded onto the back as binding.

All in all it was a great project. You can see how creative some of the youngsters were with their block design. And the finished quilts – were hung in the school library for everyone to see.

This is the type of project that can be done at any grade and actually can be done with adults as well.

Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation

On October 9, we will have Sandy from Hoffman Fabrics.  She will be helping us understand how high quality fabric is designed and made. Get all of the details and register here: Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation wtih Hoffman Fabrics

Then on October 23, Sylvia Landman-Rasmussen will talk to us about copyright issues. We all love to make quilts from patterns, and maybe some of us even make them for raffles or sale. It’s good to understand the copyright protections of quilt designs from both a maker and a designer. Sylvia is a quilter who loves appliqué, and will have some great business tips for us, too.  http://www.sylvias-studio.com/

Our Halloween Roundup was a fantastic success! With more than 1,700 postcards Rounded up and sent to Iraq, we are getting really close to sending our 10,000 th card. This is pretty amazing to me.

What began as a quick, little Roundup of 139 postcards for the 4th of July in 2006 has turned into thousands of fabric cards going to the Middle East to put smiles on the faces of the soldiers serving over there.

There’s always time to make a card for a soldier, and it doesn’t need to have a special theme. You can visit: www.PennysPostcardPosse.com to see pictures of the cards that have been sent.

Some are as simple as single rectangles of fabric layered with flannel and a backing of white with a message scrawled on the back. Some children have drawn pictures and sent their well-wishes.

Husbands of quilters have made postcards to express their understanding and gratitude. Quilt guilds have made cards, sewing groups have made them, and a JoAnn’s shop in Attleboro, Massachusetts had a day where they had cards in the store for folks to finish and sign.

The QuiltBlockLibrary.com has free patterns for fabric postcards, and we’ll continue to add to that collection for the different holidays.

The deadline for Thanksgiving is November 6, and Christmas follows soon after that – November 16.

Diane Malaznik is doing a fabulous job getting all of the pictures posted as soon as they arrive, so send them to her at:

Diane Malaznik
14215 Westmore St.
Livonia, MI 48154-4149

Check out pictures of the fabric postcards already delivered:

www.PennysPostcardPosse.com

Have a fabulous Month!

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren
www.How-to-Quilt.com
www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com
www.Fabric-Postcards.com
www.TheQuiltingCoach.com

© 2008 www.How-to-Quilt.com