DONNA POSTER NEWSLETTER
JAN. ‘06
GRAN’MA NEWS
Our little Eliad is now walking and he’s SO proud of himself! He holds his hands high in the air and, with a big grin, waddles down the hall like a little penquin. We first time grandparents think, of course, that this is just the cutest, most adorable child ever born.
NEW FREE PROJECT
The fourteenth Free Project is now on the website. To see all of the projects click onto Free Projects at the home page. These patterns are not under copyright so feel free to copy them for your quilting buddies.
NEW APPLIQUE PATTERNS
There are seven new applique patterns on the website, they appear on one of the last pages in the applique section. Actually, some have been available for a few months and others are brand new. Sunbonnet Sue’s Favorite Designs and More Sunbonnet Sue’s Favorite Designs combine piecing and applique; Boys Toys is a great wall hanging for little boys rooms; Tulip Garden is a great wall hanging for winter to remind you of spring and summer; Funky Reindeer is the silliest reindeer you have ever seen; Kitties Like Milk and Doggies Like Bones are both just cute designs for any occasion.
A CHALLENGE
Whenever I teach at guilds I’m always asked how many students I will take in a class and I always answer, “As many as can work comfortably in the room you have.” To prove my point I tell them of the time I walked into a class of forty (yes, 40!!) people to teach the Texas Trellis, only to be told we would have to be very, very quiet the entire morning. They were having, in the next room, a funeral at 9:00 and another at 10:00 and still another at 11:00!! Can you imagine, forty noisy quilters and a very loud teacher being quiet for three hours!! Well, it was a great space and they didn’t want to lose it so they were very cooperative. But, how to teach. I just divided the room into four sections and taught the class quietly, four times! So---I have been tested, and met the challenge!!
NEW E-LETTER SIGN-UPS
We send this e-letter to about 1150 quilters, and are interested in increasing that number. So, we came up with the following: If your guild will sent us 25 new sign-ups for the newsletter we‘ll send a free book, Quilters Guide to Rotary Cutting, for your guild’s library. If you think your guild will be interested in this, email Arnposter@comcast.net <mailto:Arnposter@comcast.net> for a sign-up sheet.
A GREAT WEBSITE
Here is a great website I thought you might want to investigate. It’s called the World Wide Quilting Page and it’s accessed by the site name--quilt.com--
You may already know about this site. If not, it’s worth exploring. This site has a bit of advertising but its main thrust is information exchange. Besides providing a ton of quilting information its User Pages have such sections as “Pattern Request” where you can describe a pattern you are seeking,; “The Trading Post” a place for finding quilters with which to exchange fabric and books; “Quilting Hints” from other quilters, and “Classifieds”, buy, sell trade with other quilters, and much, much, more. As far as I can see there is no charge for these services. This site is certainly worth a little of your time.
HINTS
I’ve been making a lot of pillows lately and have discovered a great technique. It’s always such a pain to get the surface to lay smoothly when cramming in the stuffing. Aha! I found it really helps if I use some leftover batting pieces first as “liners.” I cut two pieces a little bigger than the pillow and lay them inside, as flat as possible. I then add the stuffing between these two layers. Works like a charm and gets rid of all that useless batting, too!
I’m always amazed at how many patterns never get used because the instructions seem so intimidating. I have a solution that works for me and will work for you, too. Take a pile of the ugliest fabric you own (and we all own some!) and, planning on throwing it away, try the pattern. Don’t even read the instructions, just look at the pictures, and figure on getting it all wrong and having to try again. All the pressure is off because what you are working on is trash anyway! After awhile, you’ll “get it.” Now go back and read the instructions! They’ll make sense now and you will be able to pick up the extra little hints that make it really work for you.
LETTERS
I wrote about a favorite tool of mine, a bobbin ring. In response, Sandra writes, “Have you tried the ‘Handi-Bobs” from Nancy’s Notions? They are terrific! It’s a little case into which the bobbin fits and then you match it with the spool of thread, where it nests very neatly. Now I never have to go looking for matching thread/bobbins--they stay together waiting for action!”
P.S. from Donna: I use mostly cream or medium grey thread on almost all of my quilt piecing. I, like most other stitchers, absolutely detest stopping to wind bobbins, so I wind ten or twelve bobbins of these two spools of thread at once. It really cuts down on the cussing!
Kathy writes: I was the one who started the necktie quilt in your class recently. I did it all by machine! I know you were surprised that I was going to try to keep up with that slippery fabric. But I used lots of pins!! Then I put a black satin border and pieced a binding with more tie fabric. When I finished, my husband suggested to put tie tacs in the velvet centers. I wasn’t sure---but it looks great!
P.S. from Donna: I always suggest that you work with ties by hand so I’m delighted to learn from someone who did it by machine. It sounds gorgeous, especially the tie tacs and unique binding.
TEACHING/LECTURING
I’m teaching at some great shows and guilds this year! They include The Quiltmakers Cottage in Hershey, Pa., (a local shop), Tuscaloosa (Ga) Quilt Guild (March), Quilt Festival in Chicago (April), St. Augustine (Fl) Quilt Guild (May), Quilt Odyssey in Hershey, Pa, (July), and AQS Expo in Nashville, Tn., (Aug.). If you are around any of these places maybe we’ll meet in a class! If that happens please let me know you get this newsletter. For more information on classes and contacts, click onto “Teaching Schedule” at the bottom of our home page.
NEWSLETTERS SAVED
New subscribers to this newsletter occur every day so I thought to mention again that all the newsletters are saved in our website---donnaposter.com---
Just click onto Newsletters Archived at the home page. They are all there.
GOTTA GO:
Mr. Donna has been grousing lately that he is getting diddly squat from the design department (that’s me) Well it’s not from lack of ideas---I’ve got a million of them!! But between the holidays (hope yours was as much fun as mine) and little Eliad, I really have been goofing off! So, till next month, let’s all get the needles flying again!!
Your quilting buddy,
Donna