Quilting Instruction: happy new year quilt block, Free Quilt Block Patterns

Machine Quilted Fat Quarter Quilt - Teleseminar Wednesday
and December Free Quilt Block Patterns

"A fat quarter is not a body part."

Greetings Quilter -

New Year's is upon us, and boy did this year go by fast!

This year was full of fun and great quilting tips and techniques.

If you missed any of the daily emails, they are all posted on my blog at:

http://quilterpenny.wordpress.com/

In addition, each week you saw a video demonstrating how to sew a quilt block together or a review of a quilting tool. If you missed any of those, visit www.graspr.com

And, for a recap of all of the newsletters, visit our newsletter archive: 2009 How to Quilt Newsletters

There is still a little left to do on the Stack and Whack Quilt, and you'll get an update next week.

The Stack n Whack quilt blocks with border - not yet sewn on..

The last couple of weeks have been fun - with engineering son, Bubba, in town, and quilting daughter, Stephanie, and her boyfriend, Cam, in town celebrating the holidays. Between movies, gifts and eating, we've managed to have time to just visit and enjoy each other's company.

Next week a new year of quilting begins with fun things in store!

Stay tuned.

And now for the rest of the news - -

Happy Quilting!

penny halgren

Stress No More About Machine Quilting
of Using Fat Quarters in a Quilt

Join us on Wednesday, December 30 for a teleseminar to learn the secrets of sewing with fat quarters and machine quilting. For more information and to register for this free call, visit:

Fat Quarter Quilt Teleseminar

The first call will take place on Wednesday, December 30 beginning at:

5pm Pacific Time
6pm Mountain Time
7pm Central Time
8pm Eastern Time

This is NOT Just About Fat Quarter Quilts!

While this began as a fat quarter quilt project, it bacame a project for a quilt using any type of fabric - while still giving you the information you need to create a beautiful quilt using fat quarters.

By joining me in this teleseminar, your quilting journey can be transformed instantly so that every one of your quilt projects is easy and fun.

From choosing the pattern to finishing the binding on your quilt, you will complete every step along the path with confidence. Plus your family and friends will look at your quilts and think you have been creating heirlooms for years.

During our time together, you will learn:

how to make the most of your fat quarters when you cut them into patches, and how to cut your patches when you don't have selvedges on your fabric
how to know many fat quarters you need to make the quilt you want to make
how to choose a machine quilting design
key techniques for beautiful and easy machine quilting on your home sewing machine
and much more

As always, it is free to listen in, but you will need to register to get the dial in information and the Worksheet. Just fill in your information below, and you will receive an immediate email with the information to get you into the phone call:

Just fill in the information below. By providing your complete address, we will be able to mail you some quilting goodies. And in the box, enter in your biggest question about working with fat quarter quilts or machine quilting.

Machine Quilted Fat Quarter Quilt

Fat quarters are those little bundles of joy found on table tops in quilt shops.

They love it when you cut them up and put them in a quilt! And they add quite a bit of variety to your quilt.

But, how do you use them? And what if you don't really want your quilt to look like a scrap quilt, but rather a quilt that was planned?

I'll admit that, probably like many quilters, my collection of fat quarters began before I had a clue what I would use them for.

Years ago at the Houston Quilt Festival, I got several fat quarters - because I loved the fabric and couldn't get yards of it. It was available only as fat quarters.

Those treasures sat on my shelf for years until a few months ago when quilters asked for a quilting resource about how to use fat quarters in a quilt.

With that prompting, I pulled them out and got serious about finding the right block and other fabric to go with them.

The quilt is finished, and the information is ready for you to add to your Quilting Toolkit.

This information includes:

my best tips and techniques for machine quilting - gathered from scores of expert machine quilters, tested by me and other quilters on our home sewing machines. Your machine quilting CAN be perfect using these few simple techniques.
how to cut your fat quarters so you get the most from it. There is a "best way" to lay out your squares and triangles so you get more from your precious fabric. Remember, you only have one chance at cutting - if you need one or two more patches, you don't want to think that "if I had only cut it a different way - - -"
a fun pieced border that will impress your family and friends with your quilting skills. This border looks really complex, doesn't it? But it's not. Making this border is simply a matter of strip piecing and cutting - easy, easy.
adding pieced cornerstones - cornerstones can be extremely useful, especially when your borders are pieced and it isn't so easy to line them up so they go around a corner nicely. See the options I chose from and why I used the pieced blocks I did.
how to draft a block and make your own templates. For those quilt blocks you can find patterns for, it's the way to go. But often quilt block patterns aren't the right size. Follow this method, used by professional quilters, and you'll never be without a pattern again - whether it is the middle of the day or 2am in the morning.

Even if you aren't making a quilt using fat quarters, this DVD Mentor is jam packed with information you can use for any quilt you make - from quilts using yardage to scrap quilts and fat quarter quilts.

You'll be happy you took advantage of this great information during our FREE SHIPPING time. Just until the end of the month, you can get this at our Special Introductory Price which includes free shipping.

Remember, you, too deserve a great holiday gift of your choice - that is, something that gives you pleasure and will make your quilting life easier and help you create more quilts with ease.

Read more - - -

Miniature Quilts

How cute would it be to give your favorite little girl a quilt and a matching one for her dollhouse? Dollhouse quilts that get played with a lot don’t have to be exact, but if you like a challenge, try making one to scale for use in a miniature collection. It’s quite different from making a small baby doll quilt.

Most dollhouses are made in the scale 1:12. This means that each one inch of the doll house equals one foot (12 inches) of a full size house. You need to know this if you plan to recreate a quilt to scale. So, if your quilt is made of 12 inch blocks, your miniature quilt will be made of one inch blocks.

Can you imagine stitching a one inch block?

It is possible with a few tips. First of all, determine what style of bed your miniature quilt will be displayed on.

It will make a difference if there is a footboard or not. For example, quilts on tiny beds with footboards look better if you leave off the corner blocks from the bottom side. Omitting these two blocks means you can tuck the bottom between the bed and footboard, allowing the sides of the quilt to drape more naturally on the miniature bed.

Keep the block design simple…super simple. You can use foundation piecing to better secure any quilt block design you choose. Piecing onto the paper allows for more stabilization when working with small pieces.

Another simple idea is to fussy cut your fabrics. Cut a particular design or pattern from a piece of fabric and center it, adding coordinating prints and colors around it.

When making such a small quilt, remember that you won’t need much batting…not just in width and length, but in thickness, too. As a matter of fact, you may not need any batting at all.

It may be enough to simply add a backing and complete the quilting. Too much batting means your miniature creation won’t drape. It will look more like a mattress than a quilt if the batting is too thick for the project.

Finish your miniature quilt like you would a regular size quilt project. You may use folded binding or create your own self-bound quilt by folding the backing over to the front and stitch down.

Just remember that the size of your tiny quilt will mean that your project does not need very thick binding. Binding that is too thick or too wide can also affect how the mini quilt lays on the tiny dollhouse bed.

An easy way to finish a dollhouse quilt is to trim the edges of the front and back to be the same. Fold them both inward and whip stitch the quilt edge closed. This knife-edge type of binding secures the open edges, gives them a finished look, and prevents fraying.

Use left over scraps from your miniature quilt creation to make coordinating curtains, seat cushions, even rugs for the tiny room. Don’t forget to make a custom pillow and dust ruffle to complete your bedding ensemble. Add a scrap of faux fur for a luxurious throw for an added nice touch.

Once you try making miniature quilts, you may find that you love the challenge as much as quilting full size projects. You might also find your niche in the world of quilting.

Not all miniature enthusiasts prefer to make their own accessories. Making miniature quilts and accessories could well become a small business opportunity for you!

If that’s the case, display some of your projects in an online store, Internet auction or at a local miniature expo. You just might pick ups some business!

Postcard Quilts for the Troops

Valentines' Day Roundup Next - Deadline January 21!

If you missed the deadline to send Christmas fabric postcards to Penny’s Postcard Posse, you can still participate in the next roundup.

Our next big holiday is Valentine’s Day 2010. The deadline for submitting your cards is January 21, 2010. That means you have more than a month to work on them and get them sent in!

If you have never participated in Penny’s Postcard Posse, here’s what we do. We collect the fabric postcards you make and send in and distribute them to the men and women protecting our countries in the military. It’s admittedly a small contribution in comparison to the time they spend away from their families to protect the quality of life we enjoy. It’s a way quilters can share their love of the craft to brighten a soldier’s day.

For Valentine's Day 2007, the Postcard Posse sent 217 postcards to Canadian troops stationed in Afghanistan. By Christmas 2008 quilters sent in more than 2,200 postcards that were forwarded troups to the Middle East. All in all, more than7,300 postcard sized quilts have been sent to soldiers abroad.

During the year end holidays, take a few minutes to make a card or two. And to get you started, download a package of free Heart Quilt Block patterns. These are full size patterns that can easily be made into small fabric postcards.

The directions are very easy. You’ll find free designs to get you started at www.fabric-postcards.com.

You'll find tons of free fabric postcard patterns at: www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com

Please send your cards to:
Diane Malaznik
14215 Westmore St.
Livonia, MI 48154-4149

Diane is doing a fabulous job keeping the pictures updated, and if you have sent cards in, let your friends and family know that they can see pictures of them here: www.Fabric-Postcards.com

Remember you can get FREE postcard patterns at: www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com

Special Note - we are in the process of changing the Picture Gallery on the Fabric-Postcards.com site. It may take a few days, so bear with us. Not to worry - We have all of the pictures and will get everything squared away soon.

Featured Block in Video - Happy New Year Quilt Block

happy new year quilt block

Even though this block uses only two different fabrics, it is relatively challenging to sew together. It could be because almost every seam is on the bias, since virtually every patch is a triangle.

In any case, you'll see how to sew the block together! I'd reserve some time and focus for this one ;-)

Visit www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com to see other quilt block videos and get free patterns, including free fabric postcard patterns for Penny's Postcard Posse.

Enjoy!

December Quilt Block Patterns

The December selection of free quilt block patterns includes a variety of 4 patch quilt blocks, ranging from the easy to make to some that are a little more complex.

Click here to download your December FREE quilt block patterns