Yes, free. With the high cost of fabric, free patterns sound pretty good to me!
To the right, you will find a listing of the major fabric manufacturers who offer free patterns for not only quilts, but clothing, baby accessories and gift ideas. I must, however, give you a word of advice on these sites--they do remove patterns and add new ones, so if you find one you would like to save for future use, it might not be on the site when you are ready to use it.
You can either print it or save it as a pdf on your home computer. If you need help with that, just let me know. Another bit of advice when opening up the sites--there is a lot of information and it does take a minute (or two) to come up, so please be patient.
One thing I would like to remind you is that there are lots of patterns that give you the modern look vibe, so if you would like to dabble in this theme, here is your chance--and for free!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Quilt Won Comes From Down Under
As many of you know, I belong to a quilting board on the HGTV website, started back when Alex Anderson was the hostess of "Simply Quilts."
Each year, they hold a retreat in a different part of the county and in an attempt to give back to that area, charity quilts are made by members to donate to the hostesses particular cause. I was fortunate enough to attend one several years ago in Manchester, NH so I got the opportunity to get to meet many of the quilters on the boards. It's a delightful group of quilting sisters with hearts of gold willing to band together and help with each other's projects, charities and participate in fun swaps.
As of late, most have been made and raffled off with all monies going direct to that retreat areas "Ronald Mc Donald House" Charity fund. This year, I won a quilt made by an HGTV member, Kentucky Sunshine, who lives in Australia (or the land of Oz, as she calls it). By her board name, you can tell she loves the South and visits with her family often.
Usually, as quilts are donated to this cause, photos are taken to encourage members to buy and sell tickets. Any where from 30-40 quilts are made, using the hostesses theme (this year it was black and white with a bowl of ... (in this case, cherries for the red). For some reason, a photo of this quilt was never taken or posted, so when I found out I won I didn't have a clue as to what it looked like. Imagine my delight when I opened up the box to find this eye-popping quilt with beautiful machine quilting. To make it even better, I know the maker and she is delighted to know a fellow quilting sister will find it a good home!
Next year's retreat will be held in Harrisburg, PA, near Lancaster and Intercourse--Amish quilting heaven! My late husband and I traveled there many years ago for a week of shopping and taking in the ambiance of the area. It's beautiful country and I look forward to returning back there in June of 2013.
In lieu of making quilts to raffle off, our Harrisburg hostess will be having all quilts made and donated to the "Quilts of Valor" program. Lucky for me I have a vast supply of the required red, white and blue fabrics in which to make at least one quilt to bring. Stand by for future posts and pictures of the quilt I will be bringing along with me.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Area 3 Meeting-Turner, Maine
An Area 3 meeting co-hosted by Country Aire Quilters and Village Scrappers was held on October 9th.A total of 58 attendees from eight chapters, floaters and even some special guests rounded out the group. Many thanks to Brenda and Karen for your chapters working so well together to put on a stellar meeting.
After a delicious supper and "low-calorie" desserts, speakers Beth Allen and Joanna Timberlake spoke on machine applique methods and the 4-1-1 on free motion machine quilting. I'm sure everyone left the meeting with a new tip or shortcut on these topics.
The winner of the 22 signature blocks was Mary Lee and the winner of the Quilt-a-noply game was Joanna Timberlake. Besides all the nice door prizes, each lady left with bead-laden stilettos, scissor fobs and fat quarters.
Pumpkin-Oatmeal Cookies
1-cup wheat flour
½ cup quick-cooking oats
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1/3-cup butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1-cup raisins
Handful of pumpkin or sunflower seeds (for extra calories, you can also throw in a handful of chocolate chips)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients; put
aside. In another bowl, mix wet ingredients; stir into dry ingredients until
well blended—add raisins and nuts.
Drop onto greased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes. Leave on
baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Maine Modern Quilters Meeting October 17, 2012
The first meeting of the Maine Modern Quilters (MMQ) will be held at
Quiltessentials Quilt and Yarn Shop, 909 Minot Avenue, Auburn.
Date: October 17th
Time: 1-3 p.m.
ALL skill levels wanted and welcome!
What to bring:1) Pictures, articles, magazines, books; anything to do with
modern quilting (if you have it). If you don’t have anything, no problem!
2) A fat quarter of modern fabric, or not, that is wrapped (for a swap)
3) Pen and Paper
4) Calendar
5) Desire to share and learn
6) Friends, of course, are welcome to come with you. Hot water will be
available for anyone who wants to bring their own tea, coffee bag,
etc., and cup.
We hope you can join us for this very first meeting of Maine Modern Quilters.
Be part of history in the making. (Really!)
Contact person: Betsy Cannan, Minot
#207-212-7600 bjtulip@aol.com
Quiltessentials Quilt and Yarn Shop, 909 Minot Avenue, Auburn.
Date: October 17th
Time: 1-3 p.m.
ALL skill levels wanted and welcome!
What to bring:1) Pictures, articles, magazines, books; anything to do with
modern quilting (if you have it). If you don’t have anything, no problem!
2) A fat quarter of modern fabric, or not, that is wrapped (for a swap)
3) Pen and Paper
4) Calendar
5) Desire to share and learn
6) Friends, of course, are welcome to come with you. Hot water will be
available for anyone who wants to bring their own tea, coffee bag,
etc., and cup.
We hope you can join us for this very first meeting of Maine Modern Quilters.
Be part of history in the making. (Really!)
Contact person: Betsy Cannan, Minot
#207-212-7600 bjtulip@aol.com
Monday, October 1, 2012
Quilting with Flannel
With winter nipping at our heels, many of us turn to using
flannels for our latest quilts.
Using flannel instead of cottons for quilts does bring along
some special steps to ensure a perfect quilt. By using these tips as a
guideline for sewing, you too will have a successful (and cozy!) quilt.· Always prewash your flannels. Shrinkage can vary between different quality of flannel fabric and you need to have consistency for your quilt. Use the hottest water setting and a hot dryer to ensure there will be no more additional shrinkage. If you are using a flannel flat sheet for backing, be sure to prewash in the same manner.
·
For flannels, the simpler the pattern, the
better the results. Staying away from those bias cuts will be best. If you want
to sew on the bias, you can try to back with a dot of washable glue stick and
cheap white tissue paper for stability when sewing. Or, perhaps a lightweight
fusible interfacing might work better for you.
·
Don’t use your regular rotary cutter! Flannel
dulls it quickly! I have a secondary cutter marked with “flannel” marked on the
storage case and an “F” marked with a Sharpie on the cutter itself.
· Since
flannel frays, I could use some fray check on the edges, but I just add ¼” to
my pattern pieces and use a ½” seam allowance.
from directional prints.
·
And speaking of sewing, you will want to use a
size #14 or 16 needle and since the flannel dulls it, be prepare to change it
if needed.
·
AND be sure to stop and clean your machine
during sewing—flannel makes a lot of lint-especially around the feed dogs.
·
Put some serious thought when selecting a
batting for your flannel quilt—you don’t want it to be too warm (or do you?).
·
Best of all, now you should have a warm and
comforting quilt to keep or give as a gift.
Monday, September 24, 2012
"Quilting" Lasagna
The recipe will give you the older version and the speedy method in parentheses.
12-14 oz. Italian turkey or pork sausage-about five links (or 1 lb. ground beef)
One half green pepper and one half onion, chopped (or the equivalent of frozen peppers and onions, thawed)
1 tbsp. fresh basil (or dried to taste)
1/2 tsp. black pepper (or to taste)
One jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
One pkg. (30 oz.) large frozen square cheese ravioli, thawed
One to 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Grab a shallow 2-qt. baking dish and spray VERY lightly with Pam. Meanwhile, over medium heat cook the sausage or ground beef, peppers and onions until cooked. Remove from heat; stir in basil and pepper.
Spread about a cup of sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Top with a layer of 12 ravioli, the meat mixture, then the cheese. Top with another cup of sauce, and make another layer. Top with remaining sauce and cheese. Cover with a piece of foil sprayed with Pam.
Bake on a cookie sheet lined with foil (to catch any splatters) for about an hour. Uncover and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and bake for an additional five minutes until golden and bubbly. Let stand for 15 minutes to set before serving six hungry appetites!
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