DONNA POSTER NEWSLETTER
MAY ‘08
We made it --- Spring has finally arrived!! We really had a very easy winter here in Pennsylvania but it’s still so nice to shed all that heavy clothing and soak up the sunshine. The weather has been absolutely perfect for flowers --- our mountain is just a colorful “quilt” of forsythia, violets, pansies, dogwood, azaleas, tulips, lilacs, magnolias, rhododendrons, and wildflowers! This year even the mustard and dandelions are magnificent!
Our Eliad is learning the names of flowers. Understand, this is not a major interest of his --- we have yet to find a flower with wheels! He’s only doing this because, for some obscure reason, it seems to please grandma. He does daffodil, azalea, and tulip quite well but I just crack up at his forsthiffia and wiwacs! I’m also learning a lot from him. For example, did you know that it’s perfectly reasonable to go down the stairs head first, on your tummy? He just can’t understand why grandma doesn’t do it that way, too! (Mr. Donna here---Boy I’d like to see that).
It’s been a busy winter. First, we spent two weeks with our daughter, Laura, in San Diego. Mr. Donna hit the races at Santa Anita for a few days. Then we headed up to Las Vegas and stayed at the Bellagio (one of Mr. Donna’s favorite movies is Ocean’s Eleven!). Beautiful hotel (I even took pictures of our bathroom!) but food was a problem. Two hour waits at buffets for $30.00 each was not our idea of fun. Of course, we had to try the slots. So we sat down and started putting money in these machines. They made lots of noise, lots of lights, lots of hoopla, but basically they just ate your money. About $30.00 into it, I had a win of $52.00 and a few minutes later Mr. Donna hit one for $43.00! We just sat there, looked at each other and, with a huge naughty grin, said, “Let’s go get the money!!!.” We could hardly believe it when this lady actually gave us $95.00! (My idea of gambling is trying to guess whether quilters are going to like this pattern I’m creating enough to pay me money for it!) We finally found nice places to eat and the light & fountain shows outside the hotel were incredible.
DONNA’S SEWING AND QUILTING HINTS: We’ve been working on a great idea. I have four books that are no longer available in stores, although the last, Quilter‘s Guide To Rotary Cutting, is still available from our website at a 50% discount. There are over a hundred quilts in my studio closets and so much information on quilting, and it’s all just sitting there doing nothing. So, we’d like to share all this, and we’re starting with the following:
The first in a series of articles on the basics of quilting is available on our website http://Quiltwithdonna.com. The text and illustrations are excerpted from my various books: Speed-Cut Quilts, Stars Galore and Even More, and Quilter’s Guide To Rotary Cutting first and second editions. Click onto Donna Poster’s Quilting Hints at the home page. The series of articles now numbers four, however, it would not surprise me if it grew in number. These articles will also be submitted to various E-zines (On line magazines). They will all appear on the website first. Any comments you have are welcome.
SPECIAL 50% to75% DISCOUNT PATTERN OFFER: We have been very busy here on Laurel Dr. in Boiling Springs, Pa over the last 18 months, and are on the cusp of releasing many new pattern designs. At this count there are six new applique designs, four new pieced designs, two new Foldy Stuff patterns and a number of kits. The result of all this activity means we must make room in our limited space for more patterns.
If you click onto the gold cloud at the home page of our website it will take you to the applique patterns. As you scroll through them you will find many have a red star. These patterns are at 50% to 75% discount. This discount is made available until the inventory for that pattern is significantly reduced. Many of the discounted patterns are on sale for less than wholesale price. What a deal.
Next on my list is to photograph some of my quilts and submit them to magazines for possible publication as patterns. (I’m taking classes right now to learn how to use my digital camera. Thank goodness I have a good teacher --- computers, digitals, etc. are SO not my thing)
We’re also close to producing our first kits. Mr. Donna will work on kitting many of our applique patterns and I’m getting together “scrap” quilt kits. Even though most quilters have plenty of scraps, most are intimidated as to how to coordinate their own leftovers. The fabrics in the kits will be chosen by me for the express purpose of producing a really lovely “scrap” look. (And, no, these are not my scraps!!) So keep an eye out for these kits --- you’ll see them first on our website.
Another thing we’ve done is to add worksheets for all the classes I’m going to be teaching at shows. It was a request from the Road to California people and I thought their thinking was terrific --- they feel it’s sometimes difficult to understand the supply lists as they come from the show because they have to be such condensed versions. So they’re asking all of us to put more detailed versions on our websites. What a great idea --- I’m doing it for all of my show classes! Just click on “Class Worksheets” on the home page of http://Quiltwithdonna.com
And still more --- told you we’ve been busy! AQS is taking all four of our Mega patterns and publishing them as a book. Their only request was that I come up with all new quilts in current fabrics. Hey, no problem! There’s nothing I’d like better than to sit down and make sixteen new quilts. However, I really want them to reflect a wide range of tastes and I can only do that if I have other people choose the fabrics and make them. So I went to Quiltmaker’s Cottage In Hershey and asked them to get a group together. Wow --- they came up with such an enthusiastic bunch of gals that we’re going to have to add two more quilts just to give them all a chance to get in the book!! I’ve been calling them “my bookies” --- they love it and said they’ll probably be using “off-track batting”!! (gro-o-an)
WAVY BORDERS: I recently addressed the problem of wavy borders and received this interesting email that I’d like to share with you. It wasn’t signed but thank you for sending it.
Dear Donna,
I chuckled when I read your instructions about wavy borders. I suffered through several quilts with this problem and was given your advice by several people. It never worked for me. Since I'm a scientist I analyzed the problem carefully and discovered it wasn't my math or sewing skills it was the stretching of the fabric. So I came up with my own solution. I now starch all my fabric before I sew. The next solution for me was to tear my border off lengthwise, yes I tear it, not cut it. If I want several borders say a 1, 2 and 4 inch I sew them all together and add them as one unit. Finally when the quilt is all done I wash the starch out in my machine on a very gentle cycle, baby soap and add a great smelling softener. I make my own starch to just the right heaviness for me and store it in the fridge. Be sure to use distilled water so there is no chlorine around and boil it to get it dissolved. I don't have any problems anymore but I don't have 44 inch strips either but I never liked those long strips anyway.
A note from Donna here on why this works:
For those of you who are new to quilting, there is always a bit (even, sometimes, a lot) of “give” to the crosswise grain, but none to the lengthwise grain. Just picture the looms on which your fabric is woven --- those long, long threads must be stretched really taut but the threads that are added back and forth (crosswise) have no way of being held taut. So in the finished fabric those threads will be a bit “stretchable”.
Gotta get back to the drawing board now. Hope you’re all having a wonderful spring --- do get out and “smell the roses” --- then back to the quilting! Hey --- got an idea --- let’s put some of those roses on our next quilts!!
Donna