Sewing Expo in Puyallup WA

Laura and I will be the featured lecturerers on Saturday March 2, 2013 at the upcoming Sewing Expo in Puyallup WA.

We really just like saying Puyallup.


Our lecture is titled Two Hot Fuser chicks!!!

We will also be offering several classes.

You really don’t want to miss this fun!!

What I brought home from Houston

I love new gadgets, don’t you. I am always looking for that next best greatest thing that will make my life better, easier, more fun whatever – you fill in the blank here.
One of the things I love most about going to the big quilt shows is looking for new stuff to sew with.

I came home with a few new things that you might find interesting.

I am getting older. This is no secret, my youngest son when he sees me now often says to me, “You look tired”, this is code for “You are looking older”. 

The truth hurts but well it is the truth.

So, where is all this rambling going, well my eyes are not what they used to be. I like to say that I hope I can keep sewing and quilting until I dye oh I mean die, that means that the brain and eyes have to hold out, as well as the ability to see to put the needle and thread in the right place.

This is my newest and greatest thing for my machine quilting THE BIG LOOK.

Karen Kay Buckley wandering into our booth in Houston during the show and I asked her what she had found out there among the many venders, this is what she told me about. 

I ran right out and took a look and decided it was well made and would do the trick for me and my aging eyes. I have tried other options and not been happy with the results.




The magnifying class is attached to a long solid metal arm that is attached to a heavy metal plate base that sits under your sewing machine. I think it is great. I will give you updates as I use it more.


Art Kloth is another new product that I am going to start playing with. This is a medium weight canvas foundation that can easily be sewn through.

I could even just create my art quilts and fuse to this foundation and then finish it to hang on the wall.



This company BBD Creations had a huge sale the last day of the show. They said they were going in a new direction and were cleaning out all their stock. I got all of this at a real bargain. 

Many will become stocking stuffers and Xmas gifts.


I love all the art that is at these shows.

We were next to Laura Maclay at the Houston last year, and this year she had these wonderful painted cloth pictures. 

I bought two, one for me and one for my friend for Christmas.I LOVE her purses too, and lusted after them last year, but I just don’t carry a purse much anymore. I would love to get one for my daughter-in-laws though, but don’t really know which if any they would like. I guess, duh, I could just ask them.



This is not new, but I now am selling it on my website. BOHIN is a French company that sells lots of notions products that I like and use. This is a solid stick iron cleaner I really love, mainly because it works so well and is SO easy to use. Check it out on the notions page of my website.



I also have a new crop of KAI scissors. These are my small scissors to work with. They also have a larger hole for your fingers, just in case you have fat thumbs like my buddy Laura does. You will love these.

Of course I buy lots of thread while I am at the show. I try to pick up colors that I don’t have, or try new products.

This is what Mother Superior was recommending, So of course I got a few to give a whirl. This is new Premium high tenacity Triobal Polyester, 40 weight thread.

I loved the colors and if it sews as well as all their other threads it may become my new favorite. I am also going to view the Thread Therapy DVD with Dr Bob. You can always learn something new. And if you aren't already a member of their newsletter you should be. I always pick up some little trick or tip from them.


I also needed a few new colors in YLI silk thread, and here are the colors that I picked up.

And lastly but certainly not leastly I found a new hankie for my tatted hankie collection. I haven’t gotten many hankies this year, and I didn’t see many at the show. In years past I have bought dozens of them but this year this is all I could find.

My one and only.

Very Pretty though. I am sure I could never blow my nose with it.

Happy Quilting.

Getting Ready

I like you have struggled being a better machine quilter.

I recently had a woman confided in me after being in my machine quilting class all day, that she had taken a ZANIX in the a.m. because she was so afraid of machine quilting.

I was quite taken aback. Isn’t this suppose to be fun, aren’t we doing this because we fell in love with fabric and wanted to make quilts?

Well it got me thinking about how and what I teach in my Frieda’s Fun Free Motion Machine Quilting class.

Let’s talk about what will help you be a better machine quilter.

First and foremost, in my humble opinion, start out small.

Don’t do what I did and start right in on a queen size bed quilt. This is overwhelming.

Start by making smaller projects, like one of my patterns, and machine quilt that.

But even before that make yourself some quilt sandwiches, like the ones I am doing here in anticipation of demoing at the Fairfield Booth #936 in Houston this week.

Start with an easy design like curly ques and swirls.

If you are anything like me you learned to write in school by making circles and sticks – OVER AND OVER again. I don’t think they let us write in cursive until we were in the third grade!!! We had to practice for two years first!!

Same with machine quilting. I am getting ready to demo machine quilting at the Fairfield booth in Houston. Fairfield is the type of batting that I use most often.

Here are just a few of the things I do before I start to machine quilt any project.

Hope I see you all in Houston.

Getting Ready to machine quilt

Inspired to Quilt

 
I've got some very exciting news! Coming up soon on March 7th-10th
there is going to be a very special online event that you are not going
to want to miss.

Willow Bend Creations Online Quilt Expos is hosting the
"Inspired To Quilt" Online Quilt Expo. This event will bring all of the
sights, sounds and excitement of a live quilt show right into your
home via your computer.

And guess what...? I'm going to be one of the featured presentations.
I've been nominated as the "Most Inspiring Quilt Instructor Of 2011".
It's quite an honor and I would really appreciate your support in
coming out and voting for me.

This is going to be a lot of fun and it's free for anyone to attend.

So be sure to register by clicking on the link below and tell all of your friends
so they don't miss out on the fun! You can watch me make one of my patterns - Star Lillies.
Here's that link: See you there,