Bethlehem Star Tree Skirt - Quilt Idea for November 2008

"Friendship is sewn with love and measured with kindness."

Greetings Quilter -

November is Aviation History Month, which brings me thoughts of the connection my various family members have with aviation, and especially my uncle Ray.

From the time he was a tiny boy, he wanted to be a pilot. One day when Ray was 4, his dad said he would fly over their back yard and "buzz" Ray. The minute Ray heard the airplent, he headed outside and flopped down onto the ground on his back, so he would see the whole trick.

Ray went on to be pilot for Northwest Airlines, and spent years flying to Japan and serving as a check pilot for others.

One of the things that I will remember fondly about Ray is that he was full of life and fun. He always had time for his friends and family - whether it was just for a visit or someone was in crisis - he bailed me out more than once (just to be clear - not from jail, just from tight squeezes!).

Every family should be full of "Rays."

Let's get to the quilting news!

A New Look for the How-to-Quilt.com Newsletter

For those who have been around some time, you probably noticed that our website has taken on a different look. It's a little more colorful and we have tried to make it easier to find all of the free quilting information available to you.

And so we have decided to do something different with the newsletter. If you are anything like I am, sometimes when I get a newsletter that has tons of information, I don't read it when I get it. I save it for "later" which is like my sister's pants. Maybe next week; maybe not.

But when information comes in bite size chunks, I am likely to take a peek and read on, if I see that it is something I can read through quickly.

With that in mind, our newsletter will switch from a monthly newsletter with a bunch of articles and news, and will now be a weekly newsletter with bite size chunks of great quilting information.

Because the free patterns are very popular, we will begin the month with the patterns and a little about the Eavesdrop on a Telephone Guests. Articles with Quilting Tips, information about Quilting Tools, books and more will follow once a week during the month.

We hope you enjoy this new format and find it more enjoyable.

Happy Quilting!

November Quilt Idea -
A Christmas Tree Skirt using the Bethlehem Star Quilt Pattern

After I had been quilting for a few years, I decided that I wanted to make a Christmas tree skirt. I looked around for a pattern I liked and eventually came across the Bethlehem Star quilt pattern.

I figured out that I could make the star, put white triangles between the points and create an octagon, instead of making a square or rectangular quilt.

There were a couple of other issues, as you can imagine. First – how to get the skirt around the tree.

To solve that problem, I added a zipper that is hidden between two of the star points. It is one of those hidden zippers (not a seamstress, I don’t know exactly what they are called.)

The second problem was how to have it surround the tree in the center. I had seen several tree skirts that were finished in a circle, cutting off half of the points. But I wanted something different.

So I finished each of the diamonds in the center separately, using a knife-edge binding technique – enclosing the batting between the quilt top and backing.

(I know, it’s a pumpkin ready to become a pumpkin pie, but it’s too early to get a Christmas tree!)

Note – Members of Penny’s Inner Circle will receive this book in their snail mailbox as a benefit of their membership.

Following our Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation with Sandy Muckenthaler of Hoffman Fabrics last month, I thought this book was a perfect opportunity to take some Hoffman batiks and discover beautiful ways to use them.

Sandy explained the process that the artists in Bali use to create their batiks, and this resource offers an extension of that information.  You will discover how batiks might be made using a different process from the folks in Bali, how to care for batik fabric, and how to pair them beautifully with other quilting fabrics.

The thing I am most anxious to learn is how to make scrappy batik quilts in color combinations that really work. I have quite a collection of batik fabrics that I picked up just because I liked them, and now have no clue what to do with them.

There are 29 vibrant batik quilts in colors that span the rainbow and sizes ranging from crib to king-size.

These quilts celebrate everything that's glorious about batiks - the rich colors, the exotic prints, and the dramatic effects you can get with easy patterns.

Laurie makes it easy to create your own masterpiece with complete how-to instructions and lots of tips on fabrics, tools, and techniques.

If you missed the Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation with Sandy, you can order a CD recording of the call or listen to the entire interview online. Click on the Eavesdrop Recordings link on the left side navigation bar.

Tools – Basting Spray

I’ll admit that I was very skeptical about this product, and having talked to my friend Pam Bauer, a machine quilting expert, it sounded like a kind of pain to use.

However, Pam uses it to baste all of her quilts for machine quilting – from king size quilts to wall hanging size quilts – and she loves it.

The thing that sounded like a problem was finding an area open enough to use it. Pam sets up a couple of tables outside in her yard, tapes the backing of the quilt on the tables and begins spraying.

If she is working on a large quilt, she rounds up a friend to help, so all of the layers will go down flat and smooth.

She recommends:

• tape the backing to the tables, right side down
• spray 1/4 of the backing with the basting spray
• fold the batting into quarters
• lay the folded batting onto the backing with the basting spray
• press down the batting with your hands – don’t slide your hands across the batting, just gently pat it down
• spray the next quarter of the backing
• unfold the batting and pat down the batting on that quarter of the backing
• do the remaining half, one quarter at a time
• repeat the process for adding the quilt top, working one quarter at a time

So, I got bold and tried it with a tiny wall hanging. Mostly because I don’t have a large space outside, I worked on a table next to a couple of windows in my house, so the overspray could escape outside.

It was much more satisfactory than I thought it would be.

First, the spray was easy to control, and it didn’t take a bunch, so I wasn’t gagging as it went down.

Because this was a small piece, I covered my table with newspapers and sprayed each layer completely – one at a time.

For example, I sprayed the backing and then patted down the batting – half at a time. Then I worked on the quilt top, spraying the batting and then laying the top down, one half at a time.

And then I machine quilted the little piece. I was shocked to see that it held together the whole time. Even though this was a tiny piece (20 inches square), I was expecting the basting to come apart during my machine quilting, and it didn’t. Plus, it was really nice not to have to work around safety pins.

Although this was just a small project, I would be happy to try spray basting on a larger project and would anticipate some great results.

There are several different brands of basting spray. This is what Rosie had, Pam Bauer, our expert machine quilter recommended June Tailor basting spray, which is available through amazon.com.

Featured Block in Video

November is Aviation History Month, and this week's video block is the Plane Thinking quilt block. Download your free pattern for the Plane Thinking quilt block here.

Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation

On November 19, my friend Rosie Gonzales, will join us for our Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation. Rosie owns easily one of the largest, if not the largest, quilt shops in Southern California – especially in terms of numbers of bolts of fabric (more than 20,000). Rosie is a quilter and host of the Quilting with Rosie radio show on WS Radio (www.WSRadio.com), and can be heard on the internet every Wednesday.  She also enjoys embroidery. This Conversation will be most excellent. Her shop website is Rosie's Calico Cupboard

New Deal for Eavesdropping Quilters :

We now have a new special level of membership in TheQuiltingCoach.com for the Official Eavesdropping Quilters Club.

This level of membership gives you access to all of the same information Eavesdropping Quilters have gotten in the past – the Telephone Worksheet, the Transcript of each call and a copy of the CD recording delivered right to your snail mailbox.

Now, with membership in TheQuiltingCoach.com, in addition to the special notices of telephone calls, telephone worksheets and transcripts, you will get the full unedited recording of the call online. This is the from-start-to-finish call and includes all of the questions from quilters.

This recording is posted a few days after the call, so you can listen to it on your computer immediately and not have to wait until the CD recording comes in the mail.

Members will still get the CD in the mail just has before.

In addition, you will have access to everything in a special download area on TheQuiltingCoach.com.

That is where the transcripts and telephone worksheets are posted, and in addition, there are hundreds of quilt block patterns and step by step instructions for quilts and other projects.

Plus, there is a search engine on the site that makes it really easy to find things you are looking for.

I'm sure you will agree that this is a great deal - you are getting more information for the same price, and still getting the CD recording in your snail mailbox.

And, the first 30 days are free, so you can test it out.

Because I want you to see for yourself how good this is, by signing up for membership in TheQuiltingCoach.com at this new membership level during November, you get the first 30 days to give it a try on our nickel.

And, the current rate for membership in the Eavesdropping Quilters Club remains the same as it is right now - $24 per month. And you get the Telephone Worksheet, transcript of each of the calls, and the CD recording in the mail.

But this deal is only for a limited time.

After the first of the year, new members in the Official Eavesdropping Quilters Club will not get the first 30 days free and will be paying a higher rate.

And, once you sign up, the $24 rate will be yours as long as you remain a member. It can never be increased.

So, you'll want to take care of this soon, otherwise you will miss out on this deal, and end up paying more to get access to this information.

When the Official Eavesdropping Quilters Club began, the plan was to have one interview a month. Because there is so much information and so many quilters to interview, scheduling them has resulted in having 2 interviews for most months.

I love providing all of this information for you. But, as you can imagine, this means that the cost per month is double! And I have continued to maintain the cost to my loyal Official Eavesdropping Quilters the same low $24.

By joining TheQuiltingCoach.com as an Official Eavesdropping Quilter today, you will guarantee that same low $24 with all of the extra benefits of membership in TheQuiltingCoach.com.

Here is the special link to use for your Official Eavesdropping Quilters Club membership. Take care of this today, and you will be sure to hear every word Rosie says on November 19:

http://www.thequiltingcoach.com/public/663.cfm