ARE YOU A WOMAN WITH CURVES?

Are you like so many of us, intimidated by curves? They are difficult. They get those little wrinkles in them. Do you find yourself saying, "I just don't do curves." Avoidance is one way to solve the curve problem. Besides, this one block sure isn't much to look at.

But look what you can do with a few blocks of curves.

These curves are fun. Try you hand at making a few curves. Be creative. Have fun playing with your fabric. You'll be surprised and thrilled with what you come up with. Look for an upcoming class at the Attic Window Quilt Shop.

Pick up a couple Charm packs and make this lovely quilt.

Do you like to Blogsurf? Check out the Q button on the sidebar. Lots of blogs are there and you can easily see who and what has been updated on a daily basis. Becareful, you may become addicted.

Until Next Time: Happy Quilting

CONGRATULATIONS TO JULIE

Congratulations to Julie Lewis who teaches doll making at the Attic Window Quilt Shop. Julie has decided to start her own blog. Currently it's called Dolls By Julsie but she’s looking for a catchier name. Stop by and leave a comment letting her know your thoughts. Congratulations Julie!!!

You're probably wondering what Julie's new blog has to do with this cat. This is Julie's daughter's cat, Meeko. The cat loves Julie's sewing machine. Thought you'd get a kick out of it.

Found a new BOM that you might want to take a look at. These are the first couple of blocks for the Geese in the Forest BOM. Well, whoever said the forest had to be green or that the geese had to be a certain color? Take a look at Tiddle Tales and start this fun BOM.

This is another fun BOM. Hop over to Mama Sparks World and sign up for the BOM there. The house above is a first try, but you can also go over to Nutbud Quilter, scroll down and see what her houses look like. They are very nice with her lovely choice of colors and added touch of the hearts.

Until Next Time, Happy Quilting

HOW TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE

Anything unattempted remains impossible. This sign was posted outside an auto repair shop. How appropriate. Have you attempted the impossible? We had pictures of the beginner's class at the Attic Window Quilt Shop last fall. Now they are making sure that quilting is not impossible for them. They have graduated to the intermediate class and are now "attempting" this lovely quilt. These are just a few of the blocks they are making for their quilt. Aren't they lovely!

These fabrics are so pretty! They arrived in the mail Saturday and are a prize from Quilting-n-Other Stuff. Check out her blog as it's filled with lots of information and lovely pictures. Thank you Vicki so much for this beautiful prize!

Here's another BOM that might be of interest. The pattern is so cute and seems easy to do. Check out Mama Spark's blog spot. After you have looked at all the nice things on the blog, click on the Free BOM (upper left hand corner) and it will take you to the patterns.

Until Next Time: Happy Quilting

TO FINISH IS DIVINE

On the Seven Stitches blogspot there is a motto: To Quilt Is Human To Finish is Divine. Yes! Perfect. Who doesn't feel a sense of Divineness when completing something you have spent time on and put your heart and soul into. This English Paper Pieced quilt was started over 5 years ago and is finally Finished! Check out the English Paper Piecing classes at the Attic Window. It's a nice carry-with-you, pick-up-and-go project.


Fandango (below) is an upcoming class. Make these colonial scrap baskets into a table topper, wall-hanging, or quilt. It is an easy task to show your skills in making this striking block. An easy pieced border is just the ticket for this marvelous quilt.

The fun thing about making these wonky houses is you don't need industrial strength antiacids to complete a block. Just have fun with it.

New Charm Square packs in at the shop. While thinking about what to do with them, we found another interesting site. All you "crazy" stitchers and those in Colleen's new Bee must stop by Ivory Blush Roses and see the beautiful pincushion using old CDs. Very clever and a great way to practice all those fancy stitches.

Until next time Happy Quilting!

NEW SAMPLES AND VOLUNTEER PROJECT

This will help you with your "decision" making.
You are going to love Vicki’s “Split Decision” class. The sample here is made from a Jelly Roll of Candy Kisses from Moda. Isn’t it lovely? Watch for the class in the upcoming newsletter.
I love this. We should all do something every day to make us giggle. This cute Giggle pattern by Giggle Designs can be found in the shop.

This sample is also from Moda. It takes only one Turnover to make this lovely quilt.

These two blocks are for the Bush Fire Project, to help those in Australia affected by the fires. If you are interested in contributing go to the Silly Boo Dilly for the tutorial on how to make them. They are such fun and easy blocks to make and would be a great project for that beginning quilter. The address where you can send the finished blocks is: Tia Curtis, PSC 276 BOX 89, APO AP 96548. It’s just like sending a letter in the US because it goes to a military base.

Until Next Time - Happy Quilting

DOLL MAKING 101

If you haven’t done so, you really should take one of Julie’s Doll Classes. This afternoon the women looked like they were having so much fun. It’s amazing what goes into making a doll. Today they poured the Paper Mache head and limbs for their dolls. They had special plaster molds for doing this. They used Flumo, which is an air-drying casting slip, that works like ceramic and porcelain slips except that it doesn’t need to fired in a kiln.

Here you can see how the slip is poured into the plaster mold.

After the slip is dried, the molds are taken apart and the parts removed.

The extra paper mache is carefully cut away from the mold.

Parts are removed from the mold and placed in this "unique" holder to dry further.

Maggie was making a different kind of doll, and she's placed her doll parts in this container to dry. (Couldn't resist this picture)

Find out more about Julie's doll making classes by calling the Attic Window Quilt Shop or checkinig the calendar (on the blog). A new class starts Feb. 26th.

ARE YOU READY?

There are seven principles of learning. The first is readiness. Are you ready or is there something holding you back? What holds you back from creating that special quilt – is it the fear of failure? (Flying geese are impossible.) Or maybe it’s fear of success. (Are you insane? Who fears success?) Sometimes the fear is that people will expect too much of you if you succeed. You’ll have to do better next time. Maybe there is too much responsibility involved. Maybe you’re afraid your friends will think you’re being snooty or smug, or acting jealous. Maybe you’re afraid your friends will reject you, tell you they don’t like what you’ve done.

WHO CARES? What matters is that you like what you have created. Even if you decide you don’t like your recent project (this is how UFOs happen), don’t let it just sit there cluttering up your sewing room. Attend the monthly UFO class at the Attic Window, finish that project and give it to the needy. All your work is never a loss. You learned something, didn’t you? Maybe all you learned is that you will never use those colors again, or you’ll never make that pattern again. Great! Move on. Let this learning experience be a prize at the next church function. Donate it to your favorite charity.

Let’s face it. No one is perfect, so don’t kill yourself trying. Brian Clark said in a recent article that accomplishing anything is better than doing nothing. So don’t be afraid to step out and take that risk. What is at risk if you finish that UFO? Start that new project? Choose some fabrics totally different from what you’ve ever used before? What’s the worst thing that can happen? Each time you take a risk you move forward, you build self-confidence. You won’t be alone when you take a class at the Attic Window. Join others in learning a new technique, mastering something like triangles, or paper piecing, or making a perfect binding, or appliqué. There are a myriad of classes you can take and things you can learn when you do. For instance, what is the pictured tool used for? Rummage through your old sewing supplies and you’ll probably find one. Don’t toss it out. Add it to your quilting supplies. Come to the Monthly Sampler and learn about this tool, as well as many other techniques that will be demonstrated during the following months. Don’t forget, if you attend 6 sessions, with your blocks completed, the 7th session is free!!
Are you ready?

Hot Spot of the Week: Fat Cat Patterns has added a new Baltimore Bliss BOM. It will run from Feb. 2009 through Jan. 2010. Hop on over and take a look.

YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS THIS

We had a Teacher’s meeting Friday night and you won’t believe what those women have in store for you. Here are just a few notes and pictures:

Sampler –If you haven’t signed up for the 2009 Sampler you will want to ASAP. The first session was Saturday, but there are numerous other sessions during the month. Check it out on the calendar or call the shop. It is a Mystery BOM so you can’t see a picture of the block until next month (It's not the house pictured here). Each month for only $3 you will receive your fabric and directions (You have three choices in fabrics: Civil War, Batik, or 30’s) and there will be demonstrations where you will learn something new. There also will be door prizes, and if you attend six months in a row and have your blocks finished on time, you can attend the seventh month for free. What a bargain!

Mystery Week Mar. 16-21 – Join the fun and make this 40 x 46” quilt. (It’s a mystery so no picture yet) You must register to participate as two different quilt shops are involved: Attic Window and Quilted Memories. During the week you will receive a kit that contains ½ the material and ½ the pattern instructions. You schedule a sewing time at each of the shops during that week. Start sewing at one shop on one day then go to the next shop on another day to get the rest of the material and pattern instructions and sew on your quilt at that shop. The registration fee includes the kit, instructions, and your meal (lunch or dinner) and you will receive 20% off on your shopping experience the day you visit the shop. Call the shop to sign up!

Rug Making - MaryAnne is teaching a beginner’s Rug Making class. This rug is square and not oval like the others she’s demonstrated and she says it’s easier to make. These rugs are so cute and you’d be amazed at how soft and flexible they are.




Tote Bag - Cindy has made another cute tote bag. This one is expandable. You can fold it up or down to meet your needs.

Small thread catcher: Isn’t this small bag adorable? Can’t you just see it in your sewing room catching all those threads and little snippets that used to land on your floor? Watch for Sue’s upcoming class in the next newsletter which should be out in March.

Student Gallery - Everyone loves seeing all the finished quilts that students bring in to the shop for show and tell. We want to show them all here on the blog but are limited on this one page, so we’ve created a separate area just for student projects. In the column to the right you will see a small box labeled Student Gallery (just like the "class samples" box). Click on the picture and you will be taken to a new area that has the pictures of your finished projects. This will be so nice because we won’t have to eliminate pictures when the first page gets too full. We love seeing what everyone has done so I hope you like this new area.

Don’t forget to check out the "My Blog List" in the sidebar. The new BOM patterns are out on some of them.

Happy Quilting

HOW TO DEAL WITH COLOR

Have you been using the F word a lot lately? Now get your mind out of the gutter. The F word is the FEAR word. Is your fear holding you back from starting a new quilt project? Do you have a problem choosing colors? Are you procrastinating because you are afraid you’ll look stupid, no one will like it? Don’t let fear hold you back.
The best way to conquer fear is to do it anyway. It doesn’t have to be a queen size quilt. Do this the inexpensive way by tackling small projects. These little houses (pictured) are a fun way to experiment with colors. You can later use this small block as a pot holder like the one shown or add it to your UFO pile without guilt. Pop over to Freda’s Hive and get instructions on how to make these cute little houses. They are addictive and you learn so much by doing them. It is so easy taking small scraps of fabric and placing them next to each other. See what happens when you place a red piece of fabric next to a green. Or maybe it would look better next to an orange one. There is no right or wrong. What feels right to you is what will look right to you and that makes it great. What do you think about the pictured hot pad? Would you have used a darker yellow fabric or a different color altogether? Or maybe you would have chosen a different binding? What does it matter? What matters is what you learn when you play with color, what you like and what you don't like, and that you don’t let fear control you. This is for practice. This is for fun. Go for it.

I’ve added Happy House Swap button to the blog. Check it out too. Even if you don’t participate, it’s a fun way to use up those scraps and learn about color while you’re doing it.

Has This Ever Happened To You?

You’re excited about starting a new class, or pattern, or project, but after careful sewing, trimming, cutting your end product looks nothing like the sample. You wonder: What happened? In a recent post we discussed how different teachers may teach differently and that you need to find the one who really “speaks” to you. Maybe the teacher isn’t the problem. Maybe you are like this fly-head (your editor) who thought she heard all the instructions and eagerly delved into her new project only to discover that the end product looked more like a pizza instead of the new Wheelie so many are showing on their blogs. What happened? Sometimes we are so excited about starting the new project that we become overwhelmed, get information overload. Our mind gets a little pixilated and misses a few steps in the instructions. Compare this sample (pictured) to the Wheelies on Get Down Kitty’s blog About the only thing similar is that they are both round. Maybe (only maybe) this change in pattern was intended (did you get the maybe). New mantra: It’s not Ugly; it’s Original. When something different/unintended happens in your quilt, you are including a part of yourself, and that makes it special. Don’t give up. Don’t be afraid. Hop on over to Mary Lou and Cherries Too and see all her wonky designs. They are so free and inspiring. So, what does all this mean? It means that you should never give up. Take classes, take lots of classes from different teachers, learn new techniques, and gain confidence. Stop worrying (and I’m whispering here) there are no Quilt Police. Enjoy and create!

Changes – It was just discovered that the reason it took so long for things to download on the blog was because the files were too large. That has been fixed, so you should be able to download items much quicker now.

Happy Quilting!