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Life Stuff and Future Plans
If you are a follower of this blog, you may have noticed that it got off to a good start, then took a nosedive in the second half of 2014! There were many times that I thought about sharing ‘life stuff’ with you in explanation of this, but didn’t really want to publicize at the time. You see, I had big plans for last year… I was going to start a blog, increase profit, help more people finish their quilts, hire and train an apprentice, advertise in a national magazine, etc. I even thought about sharing with you all...
Thing #4 How I see a quilt…
For a long time, it never occurred to me to consider that I might see quilts differently than others see them. I have had countless conversations with people about quilts, usually theirs, sometimes mine. One of the most common things I hear is “don’t look at the mistakes”. I usually laugh when I hear this since it would be quite a challenge for me to quilt a quilt without looking at it. The truth is, however, that I rarely notice “mistakes.” Quilts are hand made, they are all unique, and believe me, I have not seen a perfect one yet! Maybe...
Thing #5: Some thoughts on Backing…
Over the past ten plus years of quilting professionally, I have seen a wide variety of choices of backing fabrics for quilts. Backing fabric selection seems to have a wide spectrum of opinions on importance. Some quilt-makers would argue that you should spend a proportionate amount of time and money on the backing of the quilt as you do on the top, others would say, “just use anything…no one sees the back anyway!” Since I opened my business, I have kept a bolt of 108″ wide natural muslin as an option for clients to purchase for the backs of their...
Thing #6: How a quilt is loaded on the machine
I recently had a delightful conversation with one of my most accomplished clients. We were reminiscing about the first time we met, during which I had volunteered to be her scribe while she judged a quilt show. During the time we spent together, I asked her so many questions that we were quite late coming out of the show and everyone was waiting for us! I remembered this with some embarrassment; however, she remembered it fondly. She shared that she appreciated my eagerness to learn. It is true, I have a somewhat insatiable curiosity about the world around me. I am...
8 Things Every Quilter Should Know: An Introduction
In 18 years of making quilts…yes, I started when I was five ;)…I have picked up a few tricks of the trade. I have also added the final quilting touch to over 1,200 quilts since I began with Town and Country Quilter. The quilting process gives you a new perspective on the quilt as a whole, especially when you haven’t been involved in the piecing of the quilt. I have come up with a few things that would be helpful if every quilter knew before bringing a quilt to be quilted, some you may already know, others may come...