Posted in Quilt Woman on 08/10/2010 01:33 pm by jbonnie
Eleven of us met at Gale Rice’s place on the lake for a potluck on August 3rd. We had 3 salads and 8 deserts and several bottles of wine. Weather was great and we missed all of you who couldn’t make it.
One of the salads was an Oriental Cabbage Slaw and just about everybody wanted the recipe so I said we’d put it on the web site.
My husband found this on Swanson Health Products website and we tried it and it’s special!
You will need
1/4 C of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 C of Sesame or Peanut Oil
1 package of Ramen noodles with flavoring pack
16 oz of chopped cabbage, and 1 green pepper.
1/4 Cup of Sunflower seeds and 1/2 C Almonds.
Mix together oils, vinegar, sugar, sale & pepper and the power mix from the Ramen noodles. Add cabbage and pepper to the dressing. Break up the dry ramen noodles (do not cook) and add them along with the sunflowers seeds and nuts and add to the cabbage. Mix well and refrigerate. It’s best if left in refrigerator at least 12 or better yet 24 hours.
Enjoy!
Posted in Quilt Woman on 03/19/2010 09:54 am by jbonnie
The quilt show committee is moving things along. Bookmark fliers are being put in quilt shops all over. I was in the Upper Peninsula last week with my Texture Magic and left a stack of fliers at each of the 10 shops I called on. Now the website has the forms you’ll need to enter your quilts in the show.
Members have been bringing in great things they’ve made from the Challenge Fabrics for the many many 3rd place raffle prizes. Purses, place mat sets, I can’t remember it all, but I haven’t seen a thing that I wouldn’t like to own!
I need to get busy and finish my Compass quilt so I can display it. I think we need a UFO workshop to get some of the projects we’ve started finished. I know I do. But then a new magazine comes in and I want to make that, and that, and try this new technique! What a hobby we have.
Just thinking…the Blind River Retreat coming up would be a perfect UFO workshop. Think about it.
Posted in Quilt Woman on 01/12/2010 01:01 pm by jbonnie
I came across a website by Pantone the other day. They style themselves as the global authority on color for the design industry and they have just published their color trend forecast for Spring 2010.
I recommend you Click on the page to see these.
The top 10 colors are:
Tourquoise, Tomato Puree, Fushion Coral, Violet, Tuscany (a dark beige), Aurora (a subdued yellow), Ampao Blue, Pink Champagne, Dried Herb (dark drab green) and Eucaluptus.
I like some of these colors and wonder if we’ll see quilt fabric with these in? I think a tourquoise, blue, and coral combination would sparkle. Too bad I’m up to my armpits in unfinished projects. Texture Magic is some of my businessness, but I’m also trying to finish quilting my Mariner’s Compass, a Bear Paw for my Aunt, and assorted smaller projects.
I’ve been visiting a lot of quilt shops across the state and am amazed by the variety of fabrics I see. The shops reflect the taste of the owners, I guess. I’ve been in a couple where I didn’t see a thing I like and others where I’d like it all.
I’ve decided to stop buying fat quarters. When I get around to maybe using them there is never enough for a project and, of course, you can’t get more. Then there’s a problem of I bought 2 yards and I hate to cut into it for just a smaller project. Can’t win?
Posted in Quilt Woman on 11/16/2009 08:56 am by jbonnie
Christopher Columbus found pineapples in the Caribbean. To the Carib, the pineapple symbolized hospitality, and the Spaniards soon learned they were welcome if a pineapple was placed by the entrance to a village. This symbolism spread to Europe, then to Colonial North America, where it became the custom to carve the shape of a pineapple into the columns at the entrance of a plantation.
Seafaring captains used to impale fresh pineapples–souvenirs of their lengthy travels to tropical ports–atop the porch railings of their homes when they returned. It was a symbol that the man of the house was home–albeit briefly–and receiving visitors.
During early Colonial days in the United States, families would set a fresh pineapple in the center of the table as a colorful centerpiece of the festive meal, especially when visitors joined them in celebration. This symbolized the utmost in welcome and hospitality to the visitor, and the fruit would be served as a special desert after the meal. Often when the visitor spent the night, he was given the bedroom which had the pineapples carved on the bedposts or headboard–even if the bedroom belonged to the head of the household.
Not only have wood-carvers etched this immortal symbol, but the women made Pineapple Quilts to put on their beds.
Thus the pineapple has become a universal symbol of hospitality and welcome all over the world and it is fitting that a pineapple quilt will be the centerpiece of our Reflections in Patchwork Show #4.
Posted in Quilt Woman on 09/12/2009 05:55 am by jbonnie
You’ll notice that I’ve changed the name of our Blog. I’ve moved Quilt-Woman over to my new website.. http://www.quilt-woman.com .
Does anybody want to do the blogging? It’s as easy as typing and I’d like to get a new voice in here. I’m going on a vacation for the next two weeks, but if you want to do it, just reply to this blog and when I come home I’ll get you started. My sister and I are doing the Circle Tour of Lake Superior. We’ll start in the Porcupine Mountains on Sunday and move on from there. I plan to take a lot of pictures that can be used as inspiration for some art projects.
Now that I’m the sales rep for Superior Threads, representing Texture Magic to quilt shops I’ll be out more. I’m having fun with the whole thing. If you intend to the take the class on using Texture Magic that I’m teaching at Delphine’s on the 26th, please sign up by calling Delphine or stopping in to the shop.
Posted in Quilt Woman on 09/06/2009 08:17 am by jbonnie
I mentioned in my last post that I had started playing with Texture Magic; playing is exactly the right word, because this stuff is truly like magic!
Texture Magic is a fine polyester you stitch to the back of some fabric using a stipple, cross hatch, or any kind of stitching you’d like and then you apply steam, steam not heat, to the polyester and it shrinks up to 30% adding texture to the front fabric.
I have the privilege of being a Sales Rep for this new Superior Thread product. I’ve been calling on quilt shops, making projects using Texture Magic…you can use it anywhere.
I made this textured purse. It’s pretty and very practical, just the right size to carry. I’ve also made a baby quilt with just some of the blocks texturized. I’ll be teaching a class on making this tote at Delphine’s shop on Sept. 26th. Try it. I think you’ll like it.
Textured Tote Bag
Posted in Quilt Woman on 08/15/2009 05:08 pm by jbonnie
What’s Texture Magic? I saw this stuff at the International Quilt Show in Chicago this spring and it’s about to hit the local market. This stuff is surprising, fun, and yes, magical.
Here’s what it does… When you sew the inter-facing type Texture Magic on to the back of piece of fabric and apply steam the fabric magically shrinks approximately 30%, creating a beautiful textured effect. After shrinking, result is permanent.
I used a cross-hatch stitching and the result looks like smocking. I stippled the background and stitched around some big flowers on a floral print and WOW!. Experimenting with different patterns and batting produced different results. I’m using some of my magic pieces to make a tote bag, which I’ll show you all at the next meeting.
Texture Magic looks like smocking
This isn’t a great picture, but just to show you so you get some idea of how fun this is. Imagine a baby quilt made out of textured blocks. I mentioned to some of you that I was going to start making baby quilts because my grandchildren are getting close to marriageable age and maybe I’ll have great-grandkids someday. Just want to be prepared.
Posted in Quilt Woman on 07/14/2009 03:50 pm by jbonnie
I’m about to do some “rust” dying. On my morning walk I found some neat rusty shapes and I thought, “Aha! The very thing for the stone house I’m building out of fabric.” Now all I have to do is find my book or magazine that tells me how to do it. I know vinegar is involved so I bought a gallon at Meijers this morning.
The New Connecting Threads and Quilters Newsletter came in today’s mail so I’ve got fresh reading material. Warm sunny days, which are so rare this summer, discourage going downstairs to create, but sitting on the porch with a diet cola and a fresh quilt mag…perfect.
What are you quilting this summer? I know, doing your round-robin block; mine’s almost done, but what else? Anybody going to to go the Grayling for the MQN Charity sew? I’m thinking about it. Four to a room is only $12.50 each (plus tax) and it would be fun to get out.
I’ll show you the results of rust-dying at the meeting on Aug 4th.
Please add your comments and thoughts.
Posted in Quilt Woman on 06/24/2009 08:18 am by jbonnie
Well, as some of you saw at a recent meeting, I finished my Three Crows
quilt. I’m not going to post a picture of it here because I’m going to enter it in an
exhibit in Novi to be held this September at the American Sewing Expo. Most shows
like this don’t accept items that have been posted to the web. If it’s accepted it will
be part of a traveling show in 2010 and then auctioned to benefit “A Place to Bark”,
a no-kill animal rescue organization. If they allow posting I’ll get it up.
I’ve never entered my quilts in any show other than our local guild show, but
I’m ready to start doing it. Nothing ventured….
I’ve finished my own block for our round-robin and I’m anxious to get
started with other people’s colors. I just wish it wasn’t going to take us 17 months
to finish this up. There are 17 members signed up to participate, so that’s why it’ll
take so long. Someone suggested we might each do 2 a month, but I don’t know
how we’d work that and some people might not want to.
I’m still looking for a few quilters to join me for a monthly art-quilters
support group. Talk to me if you’re interested. I have a cool basement studio with
room for several machines.
Have you seen the display Delphine’s Quilt Shoppe has of the Cynthia England
picture quilts? They are terrific. If you were to buy one of her patterns we could
work on them together in an art-quilters group. I picked up the trout one thinking
that the finished piece would be a good gift for my son who like to fish.
Enough chat today. Comments are encouraging and welcome
Posted in Quilt Woman on 05/02/2009 05:45 pm by jbonnie
It’s been a while what with my trip to the Chicago International Quilt Show, (great fun) and my husbands surgery (he’s doing fine, thanks) so I’ll fill in the blanks on how Three Crows is doing. Last I wrote I was thinking about how to portray the last two lines of the poem.. “seeing me, they caw loudly.” and “I smile and walk on.” The “caw loudly” was fairly simple, I made a balloon Caw coming from each crow. I used a disappearing web that I wrote the words on with a fabric pen and fused it to the backing. The web disappears against the fabric and only the black “Caw, Caw” is visible.
“Walk on” was fun. I got out my camera and several pairs of my shoes and I took pictures of those empty shoes from several viewpoints.. walking away, walking towards, walking to one side or the other. I finally decided on my walking shoes, the kind I would wear on a walk in the woods, and have them walking toward the viewer of the quilt. Again to Paint Shop where I got them just the size I wanted and printed them on paper. Then I got out the light box and traced them onto fabric, backed this with a stabilizer and did freehand machine embroidery on them (they are red). When complete I cut them out and sewed them onto the quilt top with invisible thread. Cool!
The final touch, me and the smile. I was leafing through a catalog and saw a Mardi Gras masque advertisement. Ah, says me, the very thing. I’ll find one of those comedy/tragedy masks the Greeks used. Back to the Internet to search for an image which I finally found. Now I used a new product I had read about..it’s a Sulky product called Totally Stable. It a stabilizer that has great uses, one of which is to apply to the back of a fabric that you want to run through your printer. I had read that it doesn’t jam up in the printer and, like freezer paper, can be peeled off and used several times. It works! I printed my mask on a piece of whitish fabric, applied a fusible and put in on the quilt. Then, just to lighten the mood of the whole thing, I added a live tree with a butterfly on it and a couple of cats to walk with me.
I’m quilting it now and will bring it to the meeting on Tuesday. Hope to see you there.