DONNA POSTER NEWSLETTER
                                              MARCH-APRIL


It’s that time of year again, when you realize it isn’t winter that’s the problem --- it’s just that it’s too darn long!  We’ve had more rain than snow this winter and carting around two dogs and a three year-old has made the inside of my little yellow VW a muddy mess.  Thank goodness we’re quilters --- my sister’s a gardener and she really gets stir crazy  around this time of year.  And then there’s Eliad --- we will all be glad to see the end of boots, snow pants, etc.!

Eliad is so funny these days!  He talks nonstop and is so happy that we can understand him now.  He stayed with us for eight days in February while Zoe showed her jewelry line at the New York show.  Then eight more days while she showed in Philadelphia.  This is pretty tough for a little guy and, though happy to be with his grandma and grandpa, he was constantly asking about what mommy was doing, what she was saying, where she was, etc.  I finally realized that he had no concept of  “eight days” and was just trying to get some sort of reassurance.

So I cut up a length of yellow posterboard and drew a column of eight squares on it.  In the bottom square I put a heart sticker --- his mommy’s heart.  Then, every night when he went to bed, he put another heart sticker in the next empty square from the top down.  The deal was, of course, that when the squares were filled, all the way down to his mommy’s heart, he would go home.  We hung this on the refrigerator (high!) and it really worked!!  The questions all stopped and he was so pleased with his “mommy calendar” that it now hangs on his refrigerator at home.  Her next group of shows aren’t till June, but we’ll be well prepared with a brand new mommy calendar!

Just got the good news from Houston --- I’ll be teaching there this year.  Hidden Wells (Foldy Stuff), Lazy Daisy, Easy Peaks, Floating Tiles and my “Who, Me, Teach?  OK!” class.  I’ve always done this as a three hour class, but had so many people comment that it was too short that they changed it to all day!! I am so excited --- I love “doing Houston”!



Diane writes:
Help. I have been quilting for a few years but I have an on going problem & that is wavy borders. I have tried everything to try & correct this but for the world of me I do not know what I'm doing wrong. I'm about to give quilting up, but I hate to because it is a good pastime for me as my husband is pretty much house bound and it gives me something to do. I belong to a quilt guild where we make quilts for different organizations & special needy children & people. If there is any thing you could give me to help correct what I'm doing wrong I would greatly appreciate the help.
Thank you
Diane Plummer


Ah, yes --- the old wavy borders problem. Here are a few things to look at. (1) First, most important, measure the center section of the quilt and use this measurement to cut the first borders. If the quilt is very large, measure at several places and use an average. Pin them at the ends and middle, then adjust them to fit the quilt, easing if needed. (2) When trimming the borders, be sure to trim them square. I've seen borders that were just "whacked off" and the outer edge was longer than the inner edge, making all consecutive borders too long. (3) Quilting the center portion heavily will "draw up" the center. That's fine if the border is quilted just as heavily. If not, the center will be smaller than the border. (4) Finally, here's a little trick professionals use. When stitching the binding on, lay the quilt out flat and, working on one side at a time, pin the entire length in place. Ease the quilt, if necessary, so the binding lays down evenly with the quilt itself. When doing the final hand stitching, check every so often and tighten the stitching as needed. (4) Here's a special "Uh-oh"! If you ever make a quilt with the length and width on the diagonal, you must (must!) lay the entire thing out and tape it down to measure for the border. Be sure to smooth it out with the grain (diagonally on the quilt) and check that it is a perfect rectangle before measuring.
Hope this all helps!

“my mother made me this beautiful quilt....and I hid it..... “ 
This was the title of an email sent to me.  Let me explain.  A few years ago I offered to make my younger daughter, Laura, a quilt for her king size bed but I wanted her to pick out the design and the fabrics --- not easy since she’s in California and I’m in Pennsylvania.  We decided on a block design that would lend itself to a variety of fabrics.  The block was a nine-patch star of  medium difficulty --- not really hard but exacting enough to keep my interest.  Then we started picking fabric --- fun time!  We obviously both loved batiks and ended up at the cash register with a nice pile of the most expensive fabrics in the store.  Wow --- the credit card had scorch marks on it!  But the fabric was drop-dead gorgeous, so we were happy.  The cutting and sewing part was great till my life got so busy that I had to put it away. 

Six months later I started up again and finally finished the blocks.  Uh, oh --- the “old” blocks were a full half inch bigger than the new ones!  Tried to cut them down --- nope, too many points.  I finally ended up ripping out the center portions of all those first blocks and enlarging the seams!  It worked just fine but that was NOT fun!!  I finally finished the top and it was so gorgeous it really needed special quilting.  So I sent it away to a place whose work was quite impressive.  Cost me $300 but the quilting was creative and truly lovely --- worth every penny.  But --- are you adding up the cost so far?  Oh, yeah --- I haven’t told you yet that the only backing that was just perfect for this gorgeous quilt was --- you guessed it --- a batik!! 

My friends, this is a bed quilt and my daughter’s dog sleeps on the bed all day long while she’s at work!  When I presented it to her it was with the warning that this was the most expensive quilt ever made and she needed to take care of it!!!  So what would you have done at that point --- put it away in a closet!!  Now that really bothered me.  One day, looking at all the leftover pieces, I realized that I had enough of all the fabrics to repair any sections that were ever damaged.  I emailed this to her and asked her to please use the quilt.  Her return email was titled, “ my mother made me this beautiful quilt --- and I hid it”

She loves this quilt and now uses it but very much appreciates all that went into the making of it.  In the morning she throws a blanket over it for the dog to sleep on and everyone’s happy!  I really hate to see quilts put away because they’re “too beautiful to use”.  Whenever I hear this I visualize some relative someday using it as a drop cloth to change the oil in his car!  Absolutely gives me the shudders!! 


I’ve noticed lately that scrap quilts are becoming very popular.  They are just about my favorites and I’ve made many of them.  A word of warning --- they are just plain ugly while you’re working on them!  Ya gotta “keep the faith” --- cause they’re darling when finished and a lot of fun!  A hint --- if you ever need to keep a sick child in bed for the day, give her a scrap quilt for entertainment.

The two new Foldy Stuff patterns are ready for the printers!  Look for them on our website soon!

Gotta go --- leaving in three days for a two week visit with our California daughter.  Great time for that as it’s still winter here but Spring will be just around the corner by the time we get back.

Hope you’re all well, happy and sewing like mad,

Donna and Mr. Donna