Various & Sundry 2018 n.2

Patterns, Projects & Tutorials

I subscribe to the AllPeopleQuilt.com newsletter, which I often delete. I was just about to delete the Valentine edition (I am NOT making a V-Day quilt this year, despite my love of that heart quilt from QuiltCon) when I saw that they had a compilation of bag projects. The variety of projects ranges from totes and market bags to pouches and backpacks. There are a number of options that look like they would make great gifts.

Sara Lawson has a great bag for taking supplies and tools to Sew Day or on Retreat. It is called the Oslo Craft Bag and it is free IF you sign up for her newsletter. The video to help make it also available. Videos seem to be all the rage.

You might remember the casserole carrier I received as a gift in the guild Winter Exchange. I saw a pattern for the same sort of project that looked interesting and useful as well.

Only 2 more days to get Sara Lawson’s (no affiliation-just a happy customer!) 4-bag video/pattern bundle. Check out the intro video to see the projects available.

Quilt World News

There is an article about Bonnie Hunter on the Quilting Company website.

We all woke up to the news that Coats was closing Freespirit. I must be a bad librarian because I had no idea Coats even owned Free Spirit. Well, good news! (if you have already heard) FreeSpirit is saved! The Fortunoff family, owner of Jaftex, a textile company whose holdings include Henry Glass, Studio E, A. E. Nathan, Fabric Editions and Blank Quilting bought FreeSprit. The Kaffe Fassett Collective, Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner and Tula Pink will join Pepper Cory under the Jaftex umbrella. Scott Fortunoff, the owner of Jaftex wrote a wonderful blog post about the whole deal.

You can find out more about the company on their About page. I like the blog very much. It is thoughtful and entertaining.

Media

Julie turned me on to an article on Hyperallergenic about (and titled) Quilts as Tools of Resistance. It was about the quilts at QuiltCon, which were tools of resistance. I was glad to see the writer mention the fact that quilts have been used to promote women’s agendas for change throughout the past few hundred years of history. The article includes examples of historical protest quilts. I find history often is left out of the modern quilt movement, so this article is refreshing.

I was so pleased to see StoryBee with our own Frances Dowell! StoryBee is a new video interview show from the Quilt Alliance. It is about 20 minutes long and the first one was very well produced. The questions were excellent and went past the normal ‘how did you start quiltmaking?’. The interview show is described as being “created exclusively for our members. It’s a way for us to say “thank you!” to our members and to come together to enjoy stories from prominent quilt lovers across the country (and the world)”. The first interview is with Victoria Findlay Wolfe. Yes, according to the information you have to be a member to view the shows. You can find membership info on the Quilt Alliance membership page. There are various membership levels, which all seem very reasonably priced to me:

MEMBERSHIP LEVELS

Individual Membership

  • Student: $20 (beginning March 1)
  • Friendship: $30
  • Album: $60
  • Sunburst: $90
  • Signature: $150

StoryBee is included in all membership levels, but other benefits for different levels are described on the page linked above.

No I am not taking over Frances’ blog, but it does seem like it today. Frances has come out with a series of short stories related to quiltmaking. Check out Margaret Goes Modern, the latest from Frances, who also wrote Birds in the Air.

Dale Drake, moderator for the AQSG list wrote recently regarding Underground Railroad quilts “You all might have already seen this – I’m catching up on my magazines and this is from the May 2017 Smithsonian, on the Ask Smithsonian page:

Q: “Did slaves communicate information about the Underground Railroad through their quilt designs?”

A[nswer] from Elaine Nichols, curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture: “That idea was popularized in the 1999 book ‘Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad’, for which authors Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard relied on a South Carolina family’s oral history. But without documentary evidence, scholars remain skeptical.”

March 27 is the day that Marie Bostwick’s new book Just In Time comes out. It is available for pre-order now!

Quilts Out and About

UP Dorm Room 1979-1980
UP Dorm Room 1979-1980

I saw a photo of a quilt in a dorm room when I was in Portland visitng the YM a few weeks ago. The museum was closed, but we were looking at their hallway display.

It is a real quilt, too. Look at those Sawtooth Stars in the border!

 

Doing Good

Valerie over at Evening in the Garden turned me to on to a new donation block drive that might interest some of you who don’t have a well developed charity program in your guild or don’t belong to a guild. I may have mentioned this particular project before. Kat runs a project called Covered in Love where she collects blocks every month and makes quilts. She has a new block this month and is now accepting blocks. Covered in Love provides quilts to the families of patients who pass away in an East Texas hospital.

H&M Recycling Program
H&M Recycling Program

I had to get a couple of shirts during QuiltCon. I planned to wear one thing, and then ended up wearing another which left me short of shirts. While In the dressing room, I saw the sticker on the mirror (photo, left). This is great news! I don’t like giving crappy clothes to Goodwill even if there is a mending policy. This gives me another option when donation and pet beds won’t work.

NQR

I get a little annoyed at the ads on IG, though every once in awhile there is a gem. As you may know I love pens. I am particular, though, and extremely picky. JetPens.com has a pen sampler by color! They advertised the turquoise sampler in their ad on IG, which OF COURSE ended up as out of stock before I heard about it. They have other tempting colors as well. I am walking away. I am.