I am off to Quilt Retreat this weekend at a beautiful facility in the wilds of Surrey, BC!
I signed up and paid for the retreat that is organized by my guild (Abbotsford Quilters' Guild) way back in October 2011 and one of the things I of course didn't even consider at the time was that Retreat Weekend for me was Super Bowl weekend for many others. Now how could I be so LUCKY to not have to be exposed to those well-padded, football throwing warriors? There could be no better weekend to be on a retreat weekend, unless of course it was Stanley Cup weekend! Maybe I can get my Guild to arrange two weekends a year??
A weekend of NO sports and All Sewing!
In the meantime, if you just are not able to get to a sewing, quilting or other type of retreat this weekend, I shall leave you with a couple of links where you can drop in and think about and maybe learn more about Quilting!
Here is a great one, that I actually discovered thro StumbleUpon (remember I said I would Introduce you to some computer stuff that would increase your quilting explorations) StumbleUpon is one of those 'sources".
Anyway go and check out this blog post by Melody Johnson, a well known quilt artist. This particular blog post was done in 2005 but as you read you will know why she repeated it on her blog. A very enlightening and informative "lecture" on using fusing techniques for your quilting. Go to http://fibermania.blogspot.com/2012/01/fusing-101.html then check out some of the other entries on her blog, if you can't read it now, bookmark her blog so that you can keep up with her facinating projects!
And, GEE! we are always looking for quilt patterns, right? Well, here is a web site that is FULL of free ones! When you click on the link it takes you to a page where as you scroll down you will see various quilts or projects that might interest you. You then click where it says "Get this Free Pattern" and you will be taken to a page with a large picture of the project and on the left hand side are further links to the written instructions and cutting details or templates... If you can't find a new project here, well, I guess you just gotta go out and buy a new quilting book for $40 bucks (not that theres anything wrong with a good book) So head on over to http://www.freequiltpatterns.info/ and see what you can find.
Now, hopefully those two sites will keep you busy for a few days!
One more thing that I have to pass along to those of you with smart phones or things like ipad or itouch. And again, i discovered this by following a "tweet"... On your phone go to where you can search and download new apps. Search for Robert Kaufman and you should come up with Robert Kaufman fabrics. It is a FREE download and this is a Fantastic! (with fireworks fantastic) app. It is a quilting calculator. It will calculate how much fabric you need for a particular size backing, it will calculate how many of a particular size piece you can cut in say 1 yard/meter of fabric. Need 1000 2 1/2 inch squares, it will tell you that it will take 4. (I can't remember the fraction) yards of fabric! Have to make binding for a quilt that measures 52 inches by 70 inches? punch in the numbers and it will tell you how long to make the binding! Cool huh? Rush right to your phone and look for and download the app. You will thank me and especially you will thank Robert Kaufman fabrics for such a GREAT FREE APP...
Enjoy your weekend! I am off to sew and sew and sew and sew and then talk and talk and talk and talk at the quilt retreat!
