Hexagon Quilts and January Free Quilt Block Patterns
"May all of your ups and downs in life be with a needle and thread."
Greetings Quilter - Birthdays are interesting. When I was a kid, they were always a time of joy and parties. The last real big birthday "bash" I had was when I turned 21. My dad took my family out to dinner at one of his favorite restaurants and bar. A trip to Vegas came a few months later, so I could get the gambling experience. Fun times! But, frankly, after 21, the magnitude of the celebration has been somewhat dismal. Last year when I turned 60, it was the quietest ever. You would think that milestone would merit a huge celebration. But, since quilting daughter, Stephanie, and engineering son, Bubba, live out of town, there was no family dinner. My mom wasn't feeling so perky, so we had a quiet "take home" dinner of - - well, I don't even remember. No cake. And, thankfully, no zillion candles to blow out. Not that it really matters, because I don't keep track of my age that much. My theory is that by not remembering how old I am, I have an excuse to act like a 21 year old, do some goofy things, and not worry about it. But this birthday was wonderfully different. A night on the town in LA included dinner, good wine, a play at the Ahmanson Theater at the LA Music Center - sitting in one of those special boxes on the wall - escorted by a very special guy - Quilter Jim. Well, he's not a quilter; and barely understands what I am talking about, but he's a faithful newsletter subscriber, and as such every day receives a message from me with the greeting "Quilter Jim." 61 promises to be a fantastic year, bringing you great quilting information so you can create beautiful quilts using techniques to save you time and enable you to make quilts to perfection - with pointy points and square corners. On its way to Tony is the new Stack and Whack DVD. This is great information, and it will be very affordable. Also in line is an update - with 2 new ways - to the Quilt as You Go DVD. Anyone who purchased this fabulous quilting resource within the past month, up to the day it is introduced, will get the updates at no extra cost. The price for the new product will be higher, so you may want to invest NOW and be assured of getting all of the new information at this reduced investment. And now for the rest of the news - - Happy Quilting!
Featured Book of the Month - Quilter's Favorites - Pieced Points & Stars
Every once in a while, quilters get lucky and a book publisher decides to put together a book with quilts designed by several popular quilters. As you can imagine, the benefit is that we get the best of the best. Because it is a book publisher, they know who are the most popular quilters, and which are the most popular books and quilt designs. And this month is one of those months! Our friends at C&T Publishing have come out with a beautiful collection of Quilter's Favorite quilts - chosen because they are popular quilts designed by popular quilters. And, yes there is a theme. But this theme is so broad that the collection of quilts will amaze every quilter who peeks inside. Quilter's Favorites includes instructions for 19 spectacular, yet easy, quilts from our favorite authors, including Alex Anderson, Piece O'Cake Designs, Jean Wells and Carol Doak. And each one of the quilts features points, peaks or spikes. How fun is that? Just think, you'll get stars (big ones and little ones), Mariner's Compass quilts, basket quilts and pyramid quilts. You can see the fun star on the cover, looking like an Ohio Star with uneven points - done using plaid fabric! Check out the Mariner's Compasses - layered - and the pyramids using fabric to make them look 3 dimensional. And that's just the beginning. There are other quilt designs that are more traditional and rely on placement of the fabric to create the spark in the quilt. And you get the tips and techniques you need to choose the perfect fabric and put it in the right place to make your quilt stand out from the crowd. I can't wait to get my hands on this! As a matter of fact, I was so excited about this brand new quilting resource that I chose it to be the Penny's Inner Circle Book of the Month in www.TheQuiltingCoach.com which means that members will receive this FREE as a benefit of their membership. Reserve your copy of this brand new quilting resource - Quilter's Favorites - Pieced Points & Stars
A Quilt Idea - Hexagon Quilts
Maybe hexagon quilts became so popular because they had a head start in American culture. The first quilt pattern ever published in an American periodical was the Hexagon Honeycomb quilt. It is said that this pattern was published in 1835 in a ladies’ book, meaning that it has been 175 years since the first quilt pattern was printed in the States. The hexagon quilt goes back much further, though. Immigrants from England brought the pattern with them to their new country. Because some hexagon templates have been discovered that date back to around 1770, quilting historians lean toward the idea that the hexagon quilt pattern is one of the oldest. The hexagon has remained as a constant template in the quilting world ever since. It gained added popularity in the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s during America’s Great Depression. Many women quilted through the difficult financial time out of necessity. The freshness of the hexagon based “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” gave the quilters and their families a few bright colors in a happy pattern to enjoy. In its beginnings, the hexagon quilt (also called the Honeycomb quilt) was paper pieced. This eliminated the pulling or skewing of the fabric’s grain during sewing. Individual paper templates were cut for each hexagon. When the quilter cut the fabric, they cut it about a quarter of an inch larger than the paper and folded it over the edges. As the hexagons were stitched together, the seams were made perfect. A really good (or lucky) quilter could salvage a few of the paper templates to use for a future quilt. With all that paper and fabric cutting, it is no wonder that later on quilters decided to piece them without paper, just as they would any other quilt pattern. With today’s modern technology, you might be able to use the English paper piecing technique but still save time. If you can find a die cutter to cut the paper for your hexagons, you will eliminate that phase of cutting and will only need to cut your fabric. Some quilt shops carry packages of pre-cut paper pieces. Save time cutting fabric by stacking a few layers and using your rotary cutter and mat. These days, especially with the addition of improved fabric manufacturing and sewing methods, whether the quilter uses the English paper piecing technique or simply stitches regularly is a matter of personal choice. Back in the days before rotary cutters, hexagons were quilt appealing because they offered the ease of sewing straight edges (like with triangles, rectangles and squares), but gave the illusion of a circle. Now, hexagon patterns are appreciated for their history as well as their beauty. If your New Year’s resolutions include getting back to quilting basics or making a quilt you’ve never made before, consider making a hexagon quilt in the coming year. We don’t see many of them from traditional quilters any more, and it will be sure to become a favorite with your family! Templates can be found online and in a number of quilting books from the past.
Featured Block Video - May Basket
Some time ago, a quilter sent me a picture of a basket block and asked for help in sewing it together. This isn't something I usually do, but the project kind of ingrigued me, and the basket was lovely, so I decided to take a stab at it. The results was a video demonstration, since it seemed easier than writing up the instructions. You'll see how easy it is to make baskets. But, of course, the next question is what to do once the basket is finished. The brand new resource, Quilter's Favorites, promises to have some great ideas for setting and finishing basket quilts. After all, they have points!
Postcard Quilts for the Troops Valentines' Day Roundup Next - Deadline January 21!
With all of the end of the year holidays fast approaching, Penny's Postcard Posse is wrapping it up for the year 2009. This was a most excellent year for sending fabric postcards to the troops abroad. Thanks to the hundreds of quilters who contributed thousands of postcards to send, and thanks, too, to Diane who continues to pour her heart into the collection and distribution of postcards. But our work is not over. There are still men and women who appreciate hearing from us, and - as promised - our effort will continue as long as there are troops fighting in the Middle East. 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 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.
January Quilt Block Patterns The November 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 January FREE quilt block patterns
Click here to download your January FREE quilt block patterns |
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