New Quilt Project

So don't you just love starting a new quilt project??  I spent Saturday morning cutting my fabric for the Montana Log Cabin quilt sample. 

I got all my strips cut and then I fussy cut my panel.  I thought I was doing such a good job making short work of it...but when I laid my fussy cut 8 1/2 in squares on my cutting mat...oh noooooo...they weren't square. :( 

So I guess its finally time to buy an 8 1/2 in square ruler.  I have looked at a couple and think I am going with the Omnigrid Omnigrip ruler.

8 1/2" x 8 1/2"

On a positive note, as I was cutting my fabric I received an order for several yards of Montana Modern fabric.  And then when I signed in this morning what did I see...an order for a Montana Modern Log Cabin kit.  This must be Montana Modern week at The Quilt Bear...and we love it.

Get yours today and let's quilt together!!

~Bear Hugs~

Sew, What's the Pointe? - Yellow Brick Road Quilt

Hi everyone. This will be our first virtual Sew, What's the Pointe? re-cap from our meeting last night. We had two attendees, Pam Zak and Mary Mackie. Mary is working on the Yellow Brick Road project...

and Pam is working on finishing her 'Comfort of Psalms' Quilt.

We decided to change the format of our meeting to actual sewing meetings and we will bring our sewing machines next month.

Here is my Janome Quilter's Companion 6260 which I absolutely love!

If you would like to follow along and create a Yellow Brick Road quilt, you will need to have the following supplies:

1 Rotary Cutter

1 Quilting Ruler

1 Cutting Mat

Sewing Machine

Iron

1 Yellow Brick Road Pattern

Fabric for top and borders to make the size you choose:

6 fat quarters - Crib

12 fat quarters - Lap

18 fat quarters - Twin

24 fat quarters - Full

30 fat quarters - Queen

48 fat quarters - King

**Refer to pattern for border fabric and backing fabric requirements.

Once you have selected your fabric, the next step is to cut your fat quarters. We completed step A of the pattern this month and cut our fat quarters according to the pattern directions. (Remember to iron your fat quarters first to remove all creases.)

Lay out your fat quarter with short side (18 inches) along the bottom.

Then fold in half from top to bottom.

You can then start cutting. Once you have cut all your fat quarters according to step A you will be ready to start sewing.

Next, we discussed our product of the month. This month's product is: Colorfast Printer Sew-in Fabric Sheets

Retail $30.00 at www.TheQuiltBear.com/store/moreinfo/Colorfastfabsheets.html

These printable fabric sheets are a dream to use and hold the color beautifully. I used them in my last quilt and loved the versatility and ease of use. There was absolutely no color bleed! Try them on your next project.

Next, was our show and tell. Pam brought an awesome tooth fairy pillow that she made for her daughter and Mary had a photo quilt project that we discussed how to assemble. (Will remember my camera next time to take pictures of their show-n-tells)

Finally, we enjoyed some awesome frosted angelfood cake and a nice refreshing cup of Limeade with 7-Up to make it sparkly.

See you here next month for our next installment of Sew, What's the Pointe?!

HAPPY QUILTING!!!

Hired to Make a Quilted Wallhanging

So what do you do when a customer wants you to make a wallhanging  (or three) out of the wildest, crazy Hawaiian prints you have no idea what to do with?

The first thing I had to do was come up with some kind of design that would work with all the different colors and patterns.  I laid out the blocks in a basic square, trying to come up with some kind of pattern.

The colors were a little to close together so I thought of adding some borders to make it look like a window pane.  A Batik border adds just the right touch and pulls it all together.  The finished result is stunning!

I had enough squares left over to make two coordinating side wallhangings.

Now to deliver to the customer and hope she likes them! 

Bear Hugs for Mark Lipinksi and Breast Cancer Awareness

With the new site design, we have created a Bear Hugs page where you can see our focus charities.  We give 10% to each organization when you purchase the products displayed or listed. 

 Breast Cancer Awareness was a natural choice as Matthew's mom and my grandma were survivors.  Although we have since lost our loved ones, we wish to honor their memories.

Mamma Boyd

Grandma Bloink

Our second charity is the PKD Foundation better known as Polycystic Kidney Disease.  You may have heard of Mark Lipnski, our friend, designer, talk show host, teacher, and quilter extraordinaire.

Ok, well I haven't actually met Mark, but I am his friend on Facebook and I stayed in a Holiday Inn last night so I will take the liberty of calling him my friend!  Anyway, Mark suffers from polycystic kidney disease and is in need of a kidney transplant.  See Mark's Blog for all the details.  http://marklipinskisblog.wordpress.com/

Since I can't give him one of my kidneys...sorry Mark wrong blood type...and since I am already praying my little tosh off...which does work...we wanted to do more.  So we decided to give 10% of all sales of Mark Lipinski products on our website to the PKD Foundation. 

We quilters need to stick together and help each other any way we can.  Watch our Bear Hugs page as we post how much you have helped us raise each month!  As Mark might say, "Quilt for a Cause Cupcakes!!!!"

~Bear Hugs~

Website Re-Design

Sorry it has been so long since my last post!  We have been very busy re-designing our website to bring the "beary" best to our customers.  (Sorry couldn't resist the bear pun)  Not only did our site get a complete facelift, but it is also much more user friendly and fun!!!  Especially check out the Bear Hugs page where we will be featuring various charities that we will be donating 5% of our total sales to each month!!  When you buy from us you also help others in need!

http://www.thequiltbear.com/

Besides the re-design we have also been building our inventory and  have received the Clothworks Birds and Berries collection and will be receiving the Northcott Good Morning Sunshine collection by Mark Lipinski this month.  These fabrics look so beautiful and pictures just don't do them justice.

                  This Starry Night Pattern and kit will be available soon!

           I can't wait to whip up a sample of the Birds and Berries wallhanging!

Also, my son Ben created several ad slogans and here is one more for you!  He is so creative!

Take care everyone and happy quilting!

~Bear Hugs~

International Quilt Study Center & Museum

Today I am writing to you from Lincon, NE.  My "day" job as a legal software consultant brought me to Lincoln this week for our annual software forum.  Little did I know Lincoln is also the home of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum.  I am hoping for a few extra minutes to run over and take a look.  This looks like an amazing place and I wish I had more time to spend here.  If you are in Lincoln, NE stop out and check it out.  Otherwise, take a look at their website.  http://www.quiltstudy.org/

~Bear Hugs~

Pillowcase Challenge

Want to do something good?  Make a quick pillowcase and donate to a local charity today!  Click below to get information, free patterns and more!  The Quilt Bear is proud to be a participating shop!