Bobbin holder

I am recycling.

My apples from Costco came in these molded clear plastic covers. I just couldn't seem to throw them away.



After much thought, and them just hanging around for awhile, I realized they would make great bobbin holders. 

I have the top and the bottom, so I can have two of these if I want.



I like them because they sort my bobbins by color and I can easily see what colors I have.

I never liked the things that clip on top of the spool of thread. Before this my bobbins were just all jumbled up in one bowl. For right now this is my newest and neatest option.

What do you think?

How do you store your bobbins?

TED

Do you know about this site?
  
TED.

Judy Coates Perez first tuned me into it. It is a fabulous place to visit.

Recently my sister-in-law sent me this link. I think it is so marvelous I want to share it with you too.

Eric Whitacre a Virtual Choir.

Last week of November Special

I have a secret November special going on this month. With every order over $10 on my website you will receive a free fat quarter of batik fabric. Woo Woo!!

FrieStyle Fabrics and Notions Newsletter

I am ready for the Holidays. Are YOU? Do you need some quick gifts for that special person in your life? I have a few things that might help.

My Holiday Fabric Special through December will be 1/2 yard of Winter Red AND 1/2 yard of Grass Green for $20. These are the colors of Christmas, and they will make a wonderful bundle to give to your special quilting friend or to help jump start a project for your wall or table.



These are the colors I use in my pattern "Holiday Moments." It's not too late to make one of the three hangings in this pattern to put on your wall or front door for the holidays. Each of these patterns only takes a day or two to put together. I also used the Winter Red and Grass Green to make the Christmas tree skirt in last year's issue of "Quilting Arts" gift magazine. At this time of year you can never have too much RED and GREEN fabric. Don't forget to gift yourself too!!



This tree skirt is all fused and sewn in four sections to make it easy and quick to put together.

This is a link to the pattern http://www.quiltingdaily.com/media/p/30999.aspx

It is free with registration to Quilting Daily.

Patterns
A pattern makes the perfect gift for that special quilting friend. It is right in the budget for "exchange gift" giving. I have so many wonderful designs to pick from and all are very fun and easy to make. A beginner quilter or an experienced quilter can all follow the step by step directions.

Join my blog
This month's free pattern for joining my blog will be a PDF of Star Lilies. Email me that you have joined and I will send that pattern on to you. If you haven't already joined my blog, now is a good time to do so. I will be posting many new videos and free patterns this winter. Just click on the link at the top right of this page that says “join this site”.

E-Patterns
E-patterns are always available for sale on my website. This is a great way to buy the pattern and NOT pay for shipping. You purchase the patterns and then immediately download them yourself. You not only save on shipping BUT also receive the patterns the same day you buy them. Why not give it a try today? They are at the top of the pattern page.

Don't forget to stock up on these notions for winter sewing:

I just finished making some new quilting samples on 18" quilt sandwiches for easy reference when I want to know what batting to use with what thread color, etc... And I really was glad to have all the needles and thread that I needed right at my finger tips.

These also make great "exchange gift" gifts and fit in your budget nicely.

Rayon and matching cotton thread
Embroidery sewing machine needles
Wonderunder
Decorative blades
Kia Scissors – these are what I use everyday and l love them. They have extra large holes for your fat quilters fingers.

My Teaching Schedule for 2013

2013 will be here before we know it, and I am going to some really fun places this coming year.

I love seeing friends and meeting new people, so I hope that if you are near any of these venues, you will pop in and say hello. 

It is a nice opportunity meet and to see all of my quilts up close and personal. 

Listening is an Act of LOVE

Thanksgiving …

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.  ~Thornton Wilder

Did you do as I did and reflect on all the things that you are grateful for yesterday?

• Family
• Friends
• Health
• Love
• Work
• A warm safe place to live
• Food
• Clean water
• Warm bed
• Clothes that fit
• Sewing machine
• Fabric :)

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thanksgiving is a time to talk, to remember, to laugh, and to listen. And while the only gift exchanged is the time we give to our friends and family, Listening is an Act of Love.

I hope you had a day of listening. I hope it was a good day.

Happy Quilting

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.

Blushing Aspens

I recently received this email from a former student – Lois. 

I would like to share with you what she sent me.



Frieda, here are a couple of photos of Blushing Aspens which I finally finished last night.  I am really pleased with the results (although it can't compare to yours).  I made it for my sister who has a long, modern glass table which will really be a perfect setting for it.  She has seen it at various stages of completion and has fallen totally in love with it.  I'll be giving it to her at Thanksgiving.  Thanks so much for making this lovely gift possible.



I think Lois did a “BEAUTIFUL” job, don’t you?

This is the only “pieced” pattern that I sell. It originally was featured in the Skinny Quilts Table Runner II.


It does make a wonderful table runner and I keep the one I made on my table all for the whole season of Autumn.



My version.

This is another table runner that I made and was featured on Quilting Arts TV.
This one is fused and it wears like iron. The kids have it and it sits on their table all year long. It probably gets washed once a week and looks GREAT!


You can never have too many table runners.

This one is so easy to make. As a holiday gift from me to you, here are the basic directions.
Have fun.

SUPPLY LIST:

• 1 yard of multicolored fabric for the front of the table runner. You could use any of my fabric gradations for this project.
• 1 yard of backing fabric.
• 2  - 1/4 yard pieces of different color green fabrics. Frieda Green is what I used for this project. It has two shades of green in one yard piece.
• 1 yard of fusible web #805 WonderUnder
• 1 yard of backing fabric.
• batting
• decorative thread
• decorative rotary cutter blade. I used the wavy blade.
• Extra fine sharpie marker

To begin.

1. Rip the backing fabric in half and sew the two halves together to create a back for this table runner that is 20” x 60”.
2. Cut your batting to 20” x 60” piece and spray baste this to the ironed backing fabric. You now have a base to work on.
3. Use a ruler and mark the center of this piece on all four sides as a reference for laying out your other pieces.
4. Rip your gradation into the following measurements.
   
   I ripped this project to give it a frayed finished look.
5. I ripped my fabric keeping the color in mind as to how I was going to put it back together again. Refer to the picture.

1. 2 pieces that are 9” x 27” these are the two center sections. (originally I fused all the fabrics, but I think the spray baste will work just as well for this section.)
2. 4 pieces that are 3.5” x 27” these are the four side sections.
3. 2 pieces that are 3.5” x 24” these are the two end sections.
4. Spray baste the top of the batting on your backing and batting section.
5. Lay out the two 9"x 27" pieces on the center of your batting. Slightly overlapping the center of the two pieces.
    
6. Lay out the four side pieces along the sides slightly overlapping the edge of the center pieces.
7. Lay out the two end pieces slightly over lapping the edges of the previous pieces. Make sure there is no white batting showing.

1. With a fun decorative thread in your sewing machine, run a straight stitch along each edge of your over lapped fabrics. This will hold all the pieces in place. The edges will fray some but that is the look of this piece. If you have a walking foot be sure to use it.
2. Fuse your two green fabrics. Allow the fusible to cool and peel away the paper as you use each color.
3. On the “release paper” this is the paper you peel off of the fused fabric, use a black extra fine sharpie marker to create an elliptical shaped leaf. My leaves are about 8” long by about 4” wide.
4. Place the marker side of the paper against the fused side of the fused fabric and press with a hot dry iron.

1. Press with a hot dry iron. The marker will transfer to the back of the fused fabric. It’s a miracle.
2. Remove the paper and place the fabric fused side up on the back side of your cutting mat. You want to turn your mat over to the back side when you are cutting using decorative blades as they can scar your mat.
3. Using a wavy decorative blade in your rotary cutter, cut out on the black line.

1. Make ten leaves and ten stems, alternating the colors.
2. To cut the stems out cut diagonally on the bias across the center of each fabric. Make five cuts on each fabric that are 1/2” wide at one end to nothing on the other end. Do this before you cut out your leaves.
3. Transfer your leaf design to the remaining parts of the fused fabric.
4. On a piece of release paper or parchment paper, or pressing sheet, fuse the stems to the center of each leaf.
   
5. Peel the leaves with the stems off of the paper and place on the center of your table runner. Arrange them all first and then fuse them in place.
6. With a green thread in your sewing machine and bobbin, sew a free motion zigzag up the center of each stem and then stipple or sew curley ques inside each of the leaves.
7. Switch to another matching color or variegated color and stipple or sew curley ques on the rest of the table runner.
8. Square up the table runner.

Create the fused bindings from the remaining background fabric.

1. Fuse the fabric. Cut strips that are 1 1/4” wide using the decorative blade on one side of each strip.
2. Finish the edge of the table runner with the fused binding.
3. Machine stitch along the decorative edge of the binding. You can refer to the tab at the top of the page for a more thorough step by step of a fused binding.
4. DONE
5. Put on your holiday table with food and drink and sit down with your family and friends and enjoy a hard deserved holiday drink!!
   
   Happy Holidays

Love those animals

I loved the many animal quilts in the Houston quilt show this year.

And in case you didn't know, Pokey Bolton, new Chief Creative Officer at Quilts Inc. Houston, set up a booth inside the quilt show selling post cards for $20 made by quilters to raise money for the local pet shelter. I made one of George and of course bought one too. She received over 800 – WOW. Over 800 post cards were sold. What a great idea. What a great charity.
This is what she posted before the show.

Pet Project to benefit Houston-based animal shelters. I am pledging to make (minimally) 50 fabric postcards and I am asking as many quilt artists as possible to create and donate fabric postcards for this cause.

To recap from my last post, we will be featuring a special pet exhibit at International Quilt Festival this fall with a charitable component, a booth of “Critter Cards,” which are fabric postcards donated by quilters from around the world that will sell for $20 each to benefit Houston-based animal shelters. I am hopeful we will raise at least $10,000!
 
This is the little quilt I bought.


Front



Back

I don’t know if Fan Soong is the quilter who made these(she made several) or not. If you know please email me.

Here is the one I made of my buddy George. I also don't know who bought this and would love to know.



Isn’t he cute.

This is the one I made for myself in silk. And because I love green I made my buddy my favorite 
shades of green.



Now because this post is really about George, here are a few other portrait quilts of my friend and sewing buddy George.


Georgie Porgie Puddin n Pie



Daily Walks from my book Fabric to Dye For. Made with over dyed cotton fabrics.
George and I love our daily walks, I hope you do too.

30 years of Nancy

What a gift Nancy Zieman has been to the quilting and sewing industry.

I have been fortunate enough to work with Nancy many times, doing several episodes on her TV show and working at her wonderful quilt show the Quilting Expo in Madison WI.

It's a special year for Sewing With Nancy—2012 is the 30th anniversary year! The celebration pinnacle is during mid-November with the first airing of the Sewing With Nancy 30th Anniversary Special, 2-part TV series, both on PBS stations and online at  http://www.nancyzieman.com 

Each of the episodes will be the featured video online for one week, November 11th —24th.(Goes live Tomorrow night) Recorded at Wisconsin Public Television with a studio audience and special guests, Nancy takes a look back over 30 years of sewing, quilting, and embroidering. She shows how things have changed and stayed the same. Video vignettes tell the story—hair styles, fashions, set designs, techniques—they've all changed. What's stayed the same?—the love of sewing and quilting.

To continue the celebration of 30 years of Sewing With Nancy on Television, Nancy Zieman’s Hosting a Sewing With Nancy 30th Anniversary Blog Giveaway Event in November — and you’re invited to participate.

To continue that wonderful tradition I am offering a gift as one of her promotions.
Go to Giveaway Event Posting: http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/ to find out how to win -

Purple Coneflowers Kit – hand dyed fabric and pattern. 

This is the first project I did on Nancy’s PBS show Sewing with NANCY.


Good luck.

More Quilts

I wish I was a better photographer, with fancy lighting etc.… But here are more quilts. Enjoy.














All the little dots on this quilt, which won a prize,are appliqued. Truly amazing.






And Oh look this is my creation. It is from the Celebrate Spring collection. It was in the way far back on the back wall and I am shocked anyone found it or saw it at all. But many people came in the booth and told me how much they liked it. Yea.






This is by my good  friend Pat Kroth from Wisconsin.






Love Love Love this quilt. 




Have a great week end. I am going to clean my car, man does it need it, and pack for my next trip.
Happy Quilting!!