Letter Applique
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| m. mouse with his new catnip pouch |
Greetings Quilter -
m. mouse certainly loves his catnip.
My friend, Jim, brought some a very special stash of catnip the last time he was here, and it necessitated the immediate construction of a special pouch.
Being a quilter ensures that there is no shortage of small pieces of fabric.
Of course, because m. mouse is a special kitty, and the catnip was equally special, simple pieces of fabric couldn't possibly be good enough. Fortunately, because my last project used strip piecing, I had some strips left over.
m. mouse hasn't told me whether he likes the green, but he has spent hours enjoying the whiff of the catnip.
Unlike his buddy, Jackson, m. mouse just hangs around the catnip, and doesn't play much with it. I know the feeling - it just seems like a lot of effort to play when you can take the same mental trip by just putting your nose in the area.
In any case, possibly you can see his little shaved tummy - that's from the ultrasound done a few weeks back (before his oral surgery). We're looking forward to it growing back, although it may take months.
Fortunately, m. mouse is spending time lying on the floor next to my flannel wall. I'm hoping he will let me know when he has a grand idea for borders for Stephanie's quilt. (She asked me to finish it for her wedding next year.)
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| Stephanie's wedding quilt. |
EQ7 Quilt Design Software Webinar
The date is set - July 26th - beginning at 5pm Pacific Time. If you haven't registered yet, here is what's in store:
In this first session, you will see how to:
* Create a new project
* use the Block Library
* create a block and change the colors in the block
* work on a quilt
* save your project to the Sketchbook
* print the information you need to create a wonderful quilt or block
This will be the basics of designing blocks and quilts in the software, and although it sounds like a lot of topics, I believe we will be able to cover it in about an hour.
It will all be online, and free!
But you will need to register:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/433248985
Once you register, you will receive the login information as well as reminder emails.
No limitations - you just need to register. It doesn't require a purchase or anything.
This will be recorded and posted so you can watch at your leisure.
Fabric Postcards for Penny's Postcard Posse
Take a few minutes to create a small fabric postcard this week for a soldier in the Middle East. A few scraps of fabric is all it takes, and by making one a week - or every few days - you can brighten the life of our troops.
Just a few minutes is all it takes to create one of these small treasures and send it to Diane for shipment abroad. The letters and emails she gets back are remarkable and tell just how much these little treasures mean to the soldiers over there.
You'll find all the information below. This month I'll be sending additional information, including patterns and instructions for making these tiny quilts.
And now for the rest of the news - -
Happy Quilting!
Who Else Wants to Make Memories
by Creating Family Heirlooms Using Actual Photos?
As computers have gotten better, transferring most any kind of photo or image onto a piece of fabric has become really easy. Using a special "solution," you can print onto any type of fabric - including denim - in any size that will fit through your computer printer.
And, because printing on the fabric is so easy, it's even more fun to create special images or change the look of your photos as you print them.
But where do you get the ideas?
If you are anything like I am, sometimes I just sit there, looking at a photograph, not knowing where to begin or how to make it more interesting than just a photo on a quilt.
All I really need are a few ideas to start me to thinking about how a simple photo can become something really unique. And with this quilting resource, we can get a great start on some creative images for our quilts.
Save yourself time, money and aggravation by using this resource!
With More Photo Fun, you will know the very best methods for transferring your photos to fabric. You won’t waste time and fabric experimenting.
More Photo Fun is a complete step-by-step guide that walks you through the entire process. You can print your photos to use as squares in a block or for other craft projects. Nothing is left out.
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Creative ideas for using photos and other images in your quilts and other projects. |
Amaze Your Friends with Your Speed!
In Less Than A Weekend, This Quick and Easy Flannel Baby Quilt
Will Be Finished and Ready to Give to a Beloved Baby in Your Life
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| Quick & Easy Flannel Baby Quilt |
Quilting daughter, Stephanie, is getting married, and I would imagine that babies aren't far behind.
After all, she'll be almost 30 when she says "I do."
She and her beau, Cam, are doing some traveling, saving money for a house, securing their careers, and planning for their future, which includes babies (or so I'm told!).
I can hardly wait to start making baby quilts for a new baby in my family! I've made scores of them for other people's babies, and a few for my two, but that was ages ago.
If there is a new baby in your life, you know that a handmade flannel baby quilt is the perfect gift. It sends an ongoing message of love and caring.
And it is a practical item as well.
Unlike diapers or clothes, a baby quilt doesn't get used once and thrown away. Nor does it get outgrown! This gift will be cherished for a lifetime or more.
Learn all my shortcuts, secrets and speedy techniques so you can create this wonderful flannel baby quilt in no time at all.
Be among the first 47 to order, and you'll get a handy canvas project bag that you can keep for your quilting projects, or give along with the quilt so "mom" has something to store baby goodies in.
Member Quilt - Roshan
We love to get pictures of quilts from our newsletter subscribers, and this week we are featuring a quilt from Roshan.
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| This is a fabulous quilt for a baby. |
This is a fabulous quilt for a baby. The center is appliqued and surrounded by simple 9 patch blocks created from an assortment of square fabrics.
The border is made using strips of fabric, which makes it easy to attach.
In addition, by placing the stripes up and down, the border is a little more interesting than if the stripes were running along side the quilt.
The red binding finishes the quilt, making it look cheery and fun.
Nice job, Roshan!
Here is the message she sent with the picture:
"Attached is the picture of my 1st hand quilted baby quilt for my soon to be born grand son.
It was also my 1st project @ applique
Regards
Roshan
Quilting Tip - Letter Applique Quilt Patterns
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| This Rosewood Std. font could be used to a really fun, yet complex, message on a quilt. |
Letter appliqué quilt patterns can be as simple or as exciting as you want!
There are thousands of fonts available free of charge on the Internet. Starting your letter appliqué quilt pattern search on a free font website is a good idea.
Most font websites have their styles broken down into categories, which will make your search for your letter appliqué much easier. Are you making a baby quilt for your soon-to-arrive granddaughter? Look in the “curly” or “cute” category.
Looking for a boy-themed font? Try “old school” or “athletic” fonts. There are also western fonts that would be great for a cowboy or cowgirl themed quilt, movie fonts that would allow you to replicate a favorite movie theme, etc.
Once you find the font you’d like to use for your letter appliqué quilt pattern, download it according to your computer’s instructions. If you’ve never downloaded a font, most computers have instructions on how to do so. It’s usually as simple as clicking on the “download now” button on the font website. When the popup asks if you want to open or save, choose open.
After opening the font file, you’ll need to select “extract all files.” The next popup window will ask you where to save the file. You’ll need to put it in your font folder in order to access the font later. That’s all there is to it.
Once you’ve downloaded your font, you can get back to your letter appliqué quilt pattern. Using whatever program you generally use on your computer, type the letter you want to use for your appliqué quilt.
Highlight the letter and change the font to your downloaded choice. Alter the size to fit your needs for the letter appliqué quilt pattern and print out the letter. That’s your pattern.
Iron on a fusible webbing to the back of your selected fabric. Use your print out to cut the letter from the fabric. Now the letter can be iron onto your quilt top.
There are a number of wonderful products on the market to help control fabric fraying. Check your local fabric or craft store and pick one. Adding an anti-fray product helps to insure a long-lasting professional finish to your letter appliqué quilt pattern!
Once your fray inhibitor has been given sufficient time to dry (usually 15 to 30 minutes), you will be ready to move on to stitching.
You may hand stitch, using a blanket stitch to complete your letter appliqué quilt pattern. With a sewing machine, you made decide to either zig-zag or run a satin stitch around the border of your letter appliqué quilt pattern.
Machine embroiderers who also digitize have another option available. Upon sizing the letter to use for the appliqué, select the letter and choose to add an outline to it. A four to eight point outline generally works best. Then, while the letter is still highlighted, change the color of the inside of the letter to “none.” This will leave only an outline of the letter.
Complete the digitizing process and the embroidery machine will do most of the work. Machine embroiderers won’t need to use fusible webbing or cut the letter out of their selected fabric.
Instead, they’ll lay their fabric on top and let the embroidery machine run an outline stitch that will attach the fabric to the quilt.
When they remove the fabric from the machine (but not from the embroidery hoop!), they’ll trim away excess fabric, then proceed with fray prevention. The embroidery machine will then complete the appliqué with the stitching the embroiderer selected during digitizing.
Whether you create your letter quilt by hand, sewing machine or embroidery machine, letter appliqué quilt patterns are one of the best ways to give a unique, personal gift.
Remember, if you use fonts from free websites, they are generally not permitted to be resold in any form. Some font authors don’t mind and others will allow you do to sell products featuring their fonts if you contact them to ask permission.
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| The letters on this wall hanging were created using fonts from a Word document. The page was taken to the office supply store and enlarged. I then cut out the letters to use as templates to cut the fabric. These were machine appliqued onto the background. |
Another Cool Quilting Website
Not long ago a gal in Australia contacted me saying that she was putting together an online quilting magazine. She wanted to know if I would contribute articles to her magazine.
I was more than excited about this new avenue for great quilting information, and have contributed articles to each issue of the magazine.
Because she has gathered quilting resources on many different topics, you may find her information valuable in your quilting.
The great thing is that the information is free and it is in the form of a document that you can download and save to your computer or print and keep in a notebook.
Enjoy!
TheQuiltingCoach.com provides answers to your quilting questions; tips, techniques and shortcuts to make your quilting fun and easy; quilt block patterns with step-by-step instructions (including photographs of what to do); quilting projects; and tons more.
Beginning Quilters or more experienced quilters, we're anxious to have you join our community!
For this month, you can join for a special rate that will give you access to everything online in TheQuiltingCoach. You'll find hundreds of free quilt block patterns as well as quilt projects - including the new Jelly Roll / Bali Pop Quilt.
Visit: www.TheQuiltingCoach.com for more information. Click on this link for the special rate: Special Deal for TheQuiltingCoach.com
Postcard Quilts for the Troops
Halloween Roundup Next - Deadline September 29!
Wow! We sent more than 1,900 fabric postcards to the Middle East for the 4th of July!
Thanks to everyone who participated in this worthy event. I know it will mean a lot to the soldiers who receive those greetings of thanks on the 4th of July.
This year, we've decided not to do the Birthday Roundup, and focus our efforts on Halloween and the end of the year holidays.
So the next Roundup is Halloween -
Halloween, like the 4th of July, in Iraq or Afghanistan is just another day unless it becomes something different by virtue of quilters' intervention!
Now you can send postcards for our Halloween Roundup. This is just a fun time of the year - with Trick or Treat fabric, memories of Halloween costumes and marching around the neighborhood begging for candy.
You can bring those memories back for the soldiers stationed abroad by sending them tiny quilts - fabric postcards decorated for Halloween.
We want to keep Diane doing the Penny's Postcard Posse project, but she is terribly allergic to smoke. So, if you can be sure that your fabric postcards are smoke-free, it will be much appreciated!
Check out the postcard patterns on www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com I will continue to add designs, and patterns for the fabric postcards are always free.
To make the Halloween deadline, get your cards to Diane by September 29
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
These free July quilt block patterns will make your summer quilting fun. These quilt blocks include easy blocks as well as some that are a little more difficult.
Click here to download your July FREE quilt block patterns
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Broken Paths |
Checkerboard Quilt |
Dolly Madison's Star |
Fancy Stripe |
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| Hand Weave | Linking Blocks | Red, White and Blue | Shooting Squares |
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| Star Diamond | Uncle Sam's Favorite |
Click here to download your July FREE quilt block patterns
Hundreds of quilt block patterns to choose from. Patterns include full size templates and rotary cutting layouts. Click Here
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