DONNA POSTER NEWSLETTER
                                              JULY  2008

Mr. Donna and I spent the fourth of July in Baltimore at the Inner Harbor.  Great place to eat, see the fireworks and people-watch.  We also went to the dolphin show (amazing!) and a short movie in the aquarium.  It was very funny --- a three dimensional movie, complete with glasses.  They warned the audience that some kids might be “uncomfortable”.  Hah --- they were dragging kids out like crazy and darn near had to drag this granma out, too.  A breaking wave brought a mist of water over the audience. That kind of thing was cute but I almost lost it at the slithery feeling across my feet during a closeup of snakes!  Actually, I want to go again sometime!

Eliad’s going to be a lawyer!  He’s always trying to figure things out.  His favorite question these days is, “What will happen?”  When he wants to do something and we tell him he can’t he wants to know what will happen.  “Grandma will be upset”, isn’t a good enough answer for him.  He wants to know exactly what will actually occur if he does that!  He’s a great kid and he loves to help.  He insists on pushing the basket in the grocery store, which is great except he’s not tall enough to see over it.  I’m thinking of getting a sign that says “Student Driver”!

Chris asked if I’d be teaching any classes at the Road to California show in 2009

Answer
Yes - I will be teaching four classes at the Road to California in 2009. There's nothing I like better than to fly from frigid Pennsylvania to sunny California in January!!!

Three of them are brand new Foldy classes!! You can find them on the "Road" website and, if the information is not clear enough, go to my website where I have more detailed supply lists posted.   And while I think of it, I’ll be teaching in Houston this year, too!

Hope to see you in class!
Donna
P.S. If you have any questions, contact me at donnaposter@comcast.net <mailto:donnaposter@comcast.net>


Mr. Donna here:  I have a few website happenings to talk about.

NEW FOLDY STUFF PATTERNS:  Well it had to happen sooner or later.  After pushing and shoving for over six months we finally launched two new Foldy Stuff patterns.  They are SNAILS TRAIL and  HIDDEN WELLS.  Visit <http://Quiltwithdonna.com/>, go to Foldy Stuff Patterns, then View Foldy Stuff.  The new ones are the last two.  If you ever forget our website name, <http://Foldystuff.com/> will also get you there.

HUGE SAVINGS ON APPLIQUE PATTERNS:
We are very busy developing new designs.  Since we only have so much space for pattern inventory, we decided to clean out much of the present inventory, and you are the winner.

As you go through the Applique Patterns sections you will find a “star’
next to many.  This is your clue that the pattern is on sale between 50% & 75% reduction.

Buy patterns at less than wholesale.  Look for the star.  What a deal.

DONNA’S QUILTING HINTS:
The first chapter of what is to become a major website section, is up and running.  Click onto “Donna’s Quilting Hints” at the home page.  The first chapter deals with the very basics.  Much more to come.

Back to Donna:
Question from Cindy:  She took my version of a stack & whack class which is taught using my Texas Trellis pattern.  The edges are sixty degree instead of ninety and she wanted to know how to bind them

Answer: I bind mine with the French Fold (also known as Double Fold) binding method. Turn the outer corners the same as any ninety degree corner, except that the turning fold will be at thirty degrees instead of
fortyfive. I manage the inner angle by staystitching the corner, then clipping almost to the stitching. Then bunch up the quilt untill the raw edge is a "straight" edge. Now it's easy to stitch the binding to this edge. A tip; when hand stitching the binding, tuck in the excess at that inner corner and take a few stitches to tack it in place. If you don't do this, you'll end up with a little "outie bellybutton” there!

Donna


A hint from Eleanor: I have a hint about pressing the binding. I had always put the fabric right side down on the ironing board and then folded the top edge down to the bottom edge. One day, for some unknown reason, I did it the opposite way, bottom edge folded to the top edge. Worked much better because you can put the folded fabric between your thumb and first finder to keep them even. Maybe you already do this. Works well for me.

A funny question came up the other day --- why do I always refer to the binding as bias?  Don’t I ever use straight grain?

Sorry, I just have a habit of referring to binding as "bias" --- Probably because my mother always called it that.

For years I used straight grain (and still called it bias --- go figure!) It just seemed to make more sense. Then, as I kept finishing curved edges and was forced into using bias, I just found it behaved better for me once I learned a few tricks about working with it. Now I use only bias. The only problem now is that bias eats up a bit more fabric, but it's worth it to me. 
Donna

Heard a cute one the other day --- you know you haven’t had enough coffee if you can’t thread the sewing machine while it’s running!

Hope you’re having a great summer.  I can’t believe it’s mid July already!

Donna