DONNA POSTER NEWSLETTER
                                                        May ‘07


A BIG THANK YOU:  Goes out to Judy Klein, Sandra Renne, Joann Teska,  Marty Post and Sally Rickerman for sending photos of their quilt projects.  You gals have given this idea of presenting quilter’s projects a great beginning.  Click onto the link “Something New” at the opening page of our website---quiltwithdonna.com--to see the work of these avid quilters.  And also a big thank you to Teresa Smith for sending photos of her sewing room.  We did not get Teresa’s photos on the site this month but it’s a go for next month.

We can take your project photos as attachments to emails, on a disk, or as hard photos.  If sending as attachments or on a disk be sure to save as .jpg files.  And one other point; photograph the projects as close to perpendicular as possible.  Also, a few words of explanation are always nice.  You might want to comment on why you made the project; possibly as a gift, or you just wanted to do it, or any special situations you had to overcome along the way.

A NEW SITE:  The new site is up and running as---quiltwithdonna.com----and if you log onto the  old site, the log-on will bounce to the new one, at least for now.  We believe the new site is much easier to navigate and has some really cool features.  Mr. Donna constructed the site so we now have full control and can make changes anytime.  Of course, your suggestions are always welcome.  In addition to the monthly letter, we are starting to resend some of the very first newsletters.  There are over 2500 quilters receiving the present newsletters. However, the first newsletters went to only a few hundred quilters, so they will be new to most folks.  This also affords Mr. Donna the opportunity to test out new software.



ELIAD REPORT:  Latest news on our little Eliad --- he’s talking!!  Constantly!  He calls himself “Iya” (eye-yah) and he hasn’t gotten the “s” sound yet, so some of his little phrases come out, “Big meth!”, “Iya no do dat”, and “Mommy not happy”. (Are you picking up a pattern here?)  At two he can now open drawers, cupboards and refrigerators --- what discoveries are to be found there!  Like the day he dropped an egg --- wow --- great fun!  His mom caught him just as he was hightailing it to his play area with a full carton of eggs!!  He’s a good little guy and we love him to pieces!!

UGLY FABRIC:  I just read an article on “ugly fabric” and it reminded me of a funny story from our retail shop days.  Mark was buying fabric for his first quilt, a Trip Around the World in reds and blues.  I happened to have a bolt of an honest-to-goodness light red.  This is a hard thing to find as most light reds become either pink or salmon.  This fabric was perfect to complete the run of red, but Mark didn’t like it because it was ugly.  (It really was an ugly fabric).  I very seldom argued with a buying customer but I insisted that Mark buy this ugly light red fabric.  When the quilt was done, he was so pleased he came in the bought the rest of the bolt.  (I haven’t found a perfect light red since!)  I had to laugh when, a year later, his secretary signed up for my beginner’s class and said, “Mark told me I was to buy anything you wanted to sell me.”!!!!

LETTERS FROM YOU FOLKS:
Ellen writes:  I have your Foldy Pineapple pattern and was told that I won’t be able to sew the seams easily unless I have a foot on my machine that the bottom is higher on the right side than the left side.  I have watched you on Simply Quilts and don’t remember you having a special foot on the machine.  Do I really need a special foot?
Donna answers:
Good grief, Ellen!  Whoever told you that?  You not only don’t need a special foot, you don’t even have to sew straight!  Just go to your sewing machine and start having fun!

Teresa writes:  I’ve always been a traditional hand quilter --- only made two quilts totally by machine --- using the walking foot on these two, no free motion.  I recently purchased an upgrade for my machine that regulates stitches for free motion quilting.  However, there are NO instructions on what batting to use and general tips.  Can you give me some basic tips to help me get started machine quilting?
Donna answers:
So you want a few pointers about machine quilting. Oh my --- where to start? I teach machine quilting classes and most of my quilts are machine quilted, but only because I need them finished NOW for a pattern or book! Here are some of my favorite hints (these are my personal preferences and should, by no means, be regarded as "sacred"!)
1. I like an all cotton or 80/20 cotton batting. It has a slightly rough surface and helps to keep the fabric from shifting.
2. I pin everything with safety pins, spaced about 4" apart. Then it doesn't matter where I start. I often stabilize the project by quilting the border seams first. (aggghhhh --- I can hear the gasps!)
3. Roll the pinned quilt from both sides, till only the part to be quilted is free to quilt. I pin these rolls in place. You can do a king size quilt this way --- just roll it tight enough to fit under the machine arm.  I also like a good size table to my left so I don't have to fight with all that bulk!
4. I love the walking foot, but still don't completely trust it. So, when using it for quilting, I add straight pins across the stitching line every four to six inches. That way, if the quilt top is being pushed ahead, I know it and can compensate.
5. In free-form quilting, start with a few stitches in one spot before moving on. This will "knot" your thread but, more important, give you a moment to coordinate the movement of the quilt with the speed of the machine.
6. Think of machine quilting like driving a car. You look ahead to where you are going, NOT at where you are.
7. Practice, practice, practice --- it's the only way! Practice moving forward, sideways, loops, zigzag, etc. on a small square ( 12 x 12 is good) But --- resist the urge to turn the square as you practice. It will be easier, yes, but you'll never learn to handle a larger quilt!!
8. Try to find some personal help. If none is available, try to find a good book on the subject. I'm not familiar with the newer ones, but Harriet Hargrave is a well known author on this subject.
9. Now, here's my favorite hint; when doing a quilt larger than twin, I send it out!!!
I hope this all has helped. Someone once gave me a mantra for machine quilting --- while you are shoving all this through the machine, mumble, over and over, "If I were hand quilting this, it would take me six months. If I were hand quilting this it would take me, etc., etc., etc."

FUNNY GUY:  My daughter was visting from San Diego recently and we cut out two quilts for her guest room beds.  She was telling her fiance that they would have 120 blocks and he was astonished, thinking she meant 120 pieces.  This led us to count up the actual number of pieces --- almost 4,000!!!!.  His reaction was, “I’d rather shoot my big toe off!!”

Planting season is here and I’m busy creating a rock garden.  It’s fun and it’s beautiful but I’m also glad for the rainy days so I can catch up on my quilting and newsletters!  I’m also starting a new book --- we’re gonna need a lot of rain for that to get done!

Till next month --- may all your quilts turn out gorgeous!
Donna