Playing with new thread.....

I found some "new to me" thread this week and thought I'd share with you my little test I did with it.

Here's the fun little pack of threads I found at a local quilt shop - the last package they had - my greedy little hands snagged it up right away.  Here's a little description I found online about this thread:

 Invisafil Thread is very fine 100 Weight 2 ply soft poly thread. Invisafil Thread is excellent for hand or machine quilting and appliqué, bobbin thread and precise piecing. If you do NOT like the feel of monofilament, Invisafil Thread is an excellent alternative because of its matte finish and very fine weight disappears into fabric.

Above is one of my blocks for my Dear Jane quilt that I tested this thread on.  Reverse applique no less - It's been fun stitching this one!

Above is a close up shot of the applique - Notice how the thread has just disappeared into the fabric?  I love this look - really you cannot see the thread unless you start really digging into those seams! (Quilt Police - don't be digging into my seams now - I'm not perfect!  LOL)

Here's a quick photo of some of my applique thread stash.  I love using the YLI silk threads too - to me they seem the same as this new Invasifil that I bought and easier to find on the market today.  While doing a quick search online for more Invisafil - you can find a few places that sell this thread - but not as many compared to those that sell the YLI.  I also just ordered in a couple spools of Superiors "Kimono" silk threads to try out also.  I read some good reviews on the Superior silk thread, so I though I'd give it a try also.

I'm also an "Aurifil" girl.  Love my 50 wt cotton threads from them for applique too.  Actually I like this thread for piecing also and I've hand quilted with it!

I did test out the Invisafil thread while hand piecing some blocks and really liked how it worked.  The thread is so thin that it doesn't "use" much space in those seams and makes for a perfect finished size block.

Have a great weekend everyone.  We'll be busy trying to stay cool in this heat and starting to get ready for our upcoming family vacation.  Vehicle maintenance, four wheeler and dirt bike repairs - well those 2 things are on the "boys" list for this weekend - I have nothing to do with those things except drive them!  LOL

Me - I need to get started gathering up all the important or more necessary "vacation" things - in other words - I'm getting my sewing supplies together so I can maintain my sanity while we make a 9 1/2 hour trip back to beautiful West Virginia to be with my family!

Playing with fabric... for The Cotton Club

Well my good friend Dear Jane had to take a nap today - the heat got to her and she's all wore out.  So, today I'm firing up the good old iron and getting ready to starch and press my fabrics from our Cotton Club shop kit.  I'm really excited about getting to work on these cute little blocks!

The Cotton Club fabric line itself has not arrived yet - we are eagerly awaiting it's arrival!  I hear it's arriving in shops now!

Dear Jane and I are friends again...

Well, after my "whining" about the G-6 Papa's Star block from the Dear Jane quilt, I went and bought a spool of 60 weight thread (Soft Touch by YLI), came back home and conquered that quilt block.

All is well in my world again.  Now to just trim this little block up a little more, rip off the papers on the back and tuck it into my Dear Jane folder!

Dear Jane You Were Insane...

So, last night I took a little well deserved "me time" and decided to sit down and work on another Dear Jane block.

After 2 1/2 hours, many ripped out stitches and finally the clock turning to 11 pm - I have officially decided that Ms. Dear Jane Stickle had to be insane.

This is my pathetic looking little piece that I have to show for 2 1/2 hours of work.  Granted - my hands were bothering me- but I remained a trooper and I cannot stand paper piecing - but I will admit - this block wore me out last night and this is only a tiny center of a block that will measure less than 2" when finished in the center!  It looks awful.  I'm not one to waste fabric - so yes, I ripped out the seams on this paper pieced horror many times (which didn't help matters at all!) to try and get those little points perfect.  They are not.  Today - I'll give this block another attempt and however it turns out on the 2nd try will be how it ends up in my Dear Jane is Insane quilt. Today's 2nd attempt will have some good stories for me to tell future generations I'm sure.  

I do not like paper piecing - but last night I figured I'd give paper piecing another try because I really did not want to hand piece this block.  I'm about 75% sure right now - I would rather hand piece this little booger!

I learned I really need to find some thinner thread also.  I believe my thread is eating up to much space in those little seams.  I also think I need to shave down my seam allowances a bit more - the center on this block is so bulky!

So Dear Jane, be kind to me today and let me see this block through to the end with little frustration! The next  block - I think I'll applique one and take a break from paper piecing!  LOL

Simply The Truth!!!

History Repeated

A new book arrived and I'm in love with it!

The quilts in this book are so wonderful, I've sat drooling over each of them for days now.  Oh - I need more hours in the day to get everything done I would like to accomplish!  

Here's a description of the book and a link to our website if you would like to order a copy of the book for yourself!

History Repeated

History Repeated: Block Exchange Quilts by the 19th Century Patchwork Divas

by Betsy Chutchian & Carol Staehle

Making a quilt is easier than you might think when you gather some friends and exchange blocks. Let the 19th-Century Patchwork Divas show you how.

Inspired by their love of antique 19th-century quilts, this Texas-based block exchange group recreates these quilted treasures of the past with 1800s reproduction fabrics. The group’s co-founders, Betsy Chutchian and Carol Staehle, have assembled a captivating collection of quilts from past block exchanges.

Ranging from the simplicity of the Double Nine-Patch block to the more challenging Carolina Lily block, there is a project for every skill level among this book’s 16 classic quilts. Each of the chapters features detailed block instructions that you can easily adapt for your own block exchange as well as one to three setting options for completing your quilts.

And for those who prefer to make the quilts individually, each setting option also includes all the necessary block instructions to help you successfully complete the projects from start to finish.

To give you even more setting and color palette ideas, most of the chapters include an inspiring photo gallery of additional quilts by the Patchwork Divas.

8 1/2 x 11 inches, 112 pages, softcover, full-color.

And more pictures of a few of the projects!!!

Wow - now this is neat to see too!

Well, I'm sitting here trying to catch up on emails in the hotel this evening and received a rather nice and exciting email!  A customer has made one of our pattern designs and her long arm quilter posted some lovely pictures on her blog!

This is "Blue Moon Of Kentucky"  pattern number #371 or you can also find the pattern in the American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine - the August 2007 issue!

Here's a link to the longarm quilter's blog where you can see a couple of other detail shots of this quilt that our customer enlarged to a whopping 110" x 110" --- now that's a big one!

Finely Finished Quilts Blog

Beautiful job Lori!

A Little West Virginia Quilt Show Eye Candy!!

We have a really, really slow internet connection here at our hotel in West Virginia!  The show here in Summersville has some beautiful quilts on display!

Here are a few I took pictures of with my phone today!  Enjoy!

And to top my day off - we were awarded a "Well Dressed Booth" award!  Now how cool is that!

When I get "somewhere" with a better internet connection - I'll upload more pictures from the Columbus Quilt Show and the pictures from this quilt show here in Summersville!

Oh, and a little birdie told me our booth made the local news channel in Beckley, West Virginia also!  Wish I could see that!

See ya later!

 We leave today for 2 back to back quilt shows!  We hope to meet several of you there - here's where we will be:

National Quilting Association Quilt Show
Columbus, Ohio
at the Greater Columbus Convention Center
June16-18, 2011

Quilt Festival 2011
Summersville, W.V.
at the Summersville Arena & Convention Center
June 23-25

I've got my spool blocks all cut and prepped and ready to work on.  A bag full of Dear Jane goodies to play around with.  Plus, I've packed up all my little prepped blocks for the basket quilt - you know the one - the Blackbird Designs quilt that I will forever be working on!!!

I promise to take lots of pictures and I'll try my best to figure out how to upload those on the laptop while we are gone!

The following message is also posted on our website - but in case you missed it here it is:

We are out of town vending at 2 different back to back quilt shows!  We will be in Columbus, Ohio vending at the NQA quilt show and then on to Summersville, West Virginia to vend at the West Virginia State Quilt Guild show!

With that said, we will have a back up on filling all orders placed from now until we return on - or around July 5th, 2011.  We have all of our inventory with us and we will be trying our best to fill any orders we possibly can while we are traveling - this will not be easy, but we are going to try our hardest to process orders in between shows!

All orders received after 5 pm Central Time on Thursday June 9, 2011 will be filled in the order they were received in between quilt shows and when we return on July 5th, 2011.

Wish us luck!

Strip Smart Book Tour - Book and Ruler GiveAway!!!!

Today's my day on the grand book Tour!

Welcome and thank you for visiting if you are new to our blog - if you've been a faithful follower - thank you for coming back to see what crazy adventures I'm into right now!

Today was my day to play around with this quirky looking ruler:

I remember when this ruler first came out I thought to myself - how odd!  What in the world is that for! Me - not being a big gadget girl - passed it on by and thought, well we'll see what comes of those rulers in "other" designers future projects.

Well, my girlfriend, Miss Kathy Brown has written a book using this nifty ruler and I got to give it a test run.  Yesterday, I played around with this:

And was able to cut these with such ease you wouldn't believe it!

Talk about a cool ruler that's easy to use and what a great book!

As for my favorite quilt project from the book, I think it's this one:

It's called "The Birds.

I like the cover quilt too!

The quilt on the cover is called "Fat Man's Squeeze"

And if you would like to watch a YouTube video from a lecture she gave on the book you can go and view that here!

Strip Smart Quilts YouTube Video

If you would like to learn more about Kathy and her new book  you can view her website here:

The Teachers Pet

and her blog here:

The Teachers Pet Blog

And again, here is the line up for the Book Tour!  Please leave a comment here on our blog for today's chance to win a copy of this brand new book that has just been released and the ruler!  Wow!!!  Miss Kathy will be drawing the names herself and announcing the winners, so jump in on the fun! (remember to follow along on the book tour and comment on each of our blogs on our given day for a chance to win!!!)

June 10 - Pam Vieirra McGinnis  - PamKitty Morning

June 11 - Laurie Simpson - Minnick and Simpson

June 12 - Tara Darr - Sew Unique Creations

June 13 - Joan Ford - Hummingbird Highway

June 14 - Linda Lum De Bono - Linda Lum De Bono

June 15 - Elizabeth Scott - Late Bloomer Quilts

June 16- Lissa Alexander - ModaLissa

June 17 - Vickie Eapen - Spun Sugar Quilts

June 18 - Camille Roskelley - Thimble Blossoms

June 19 - Debbie Field - Granola Girl Designs

If you've not been following along on the Book Tour - jump on in - you'll be missing out on the chance to win the book, the ruler and maybe - just maybe some other goodies.  A little birdie from way down south has whispered in my ear and told me the "other" surprises are pretty cool too! 

Chat more later I'm off to pack for our upcoming adventure and good luck on winning the book and ruler!