TRICK OR TREAT!

Our weather has turned cold, windy and damp just in time for Halloween.  This seems to be a tradition in our area.

A few years ago I made a Wacky Web Halloween quilt and about two years ago I made a huge pumpkin bag to store the quilt in.  Halloween fabrics always make me smile.  I love the vibrant colors of orange, purple, acid green and purple. 

 

Do you have special quilts you put out for holidays?  I love just a pop of something for each holiday.  I don't know why I waited so long to make the Halloween quilt. 

 

 

Come in my sweet ones and allow me to show you what Mr Jack is guarding~~~

 



Wishing you and yours a fun-filled Halloween!

A SPECIAL PLACE

Last week my sweet Hubby and I traveled to Hamilton, Missouri, the home of Missouri Star Quilt Company. We had a wonderful time shopping in all four of the fabric shops owned by Missouri Star and meeting the Doan family and everyone associated with Missouri Star. 

Jeff told me to shop, and that's precisely what I did.  Here are the gorgeous fabrics I brought home ~~

There is enough fabric here for seven quilts, which should keep me busy for the next two years.  The unique thing about shopping at the Missouri star shops is that each one has a theme. 

The main shop is quite large and has an excellent variety of newer fabrics, patterns, tools and gorgeous samples on all their walls.  Two doors down is the Mercantile shop, which sells primarily Civil War reproduction fabrics, but also new lines that would lend themselves well to Civil War patterns.  They also had an awesome selection of 1930s reproduction fabrics. This was my favorite shop. 

There is also a shop that carries holiday/seasonal specialty fabrics (gorgeous selections) and another shop that carries solid fabrics, blenders and assorted other fabrics that are almost solids.  

The very best part of our trip was getting to meet Jenny.

Jenny is such a gracious, friendly person.  We were thrilled to meet her and the rest of her family. 

This is a trip I hope we can take again and again. 

RIPPITT!

There are four basics to making quilts:  Cutting, sewing, pressing and the fourth (and not to be overlooked), ripping.   Each is an art unto itself. 

It takes a bit of experience to make accurate cuts with a rotary cutter.  I am still using my original Dritz stick cutter, which I know to be about 35 years old or so.  The blade is only exposed when pressure is put on it during cutting and that frees me from having to click it open and closed constantly.   Yes, I have purchased several other cutters over the years but I always go back to my old friend.

It also takes time and patience to master the 1/4" seam.  There are 1/4" feet, magnetic guides and numerous methods of affixing Moleskin or sticky notes to the plate of your machine to use as a guide to get that perfect seam width.   Find the helper that works best for you.  Practice makes perfect here.  This is my Janome 9500 that I love to distraction most days.  When I have issues with it, it's usually my error.  She's one smart machine.  I use a 1/4" foot most of the time to sew seams.

I'm rather attached to the Seam-Fix rippers that have a nice rubber end to help you gather up the snipped threads.  They come in two sizes and I'm especially fond of the small ones right now.  Besides being cute, the top fits over the end.

I mention the basics today because I'm working on a Plus Sign quilt and it's been a slow go for such a simple quilt.  I've been spending a bit of time with my ripper collection.  Here's a sneak peek ~~~

The bottom two rows aren't sewn on yet, but you can see the +'s beginning to come together.  This is a simple quilt that requires you to lay the whole thing out to make sure the pattern is correct and then you must pick it up in the correct order for sewing.  This is going to be a small quilt that we will keep in the truck.

Thanks for joining me for this ramble of what's going on in my head this morning. 

Wishing you a blessed day.   Barb