Garden Path Quilts “All About Quilting!” Newsletter Barbara Grutter Cedar Springs, MI May 2015 Volume 1, Issue 1 Hello and Welcome! “Traditionally Modern” Free BOM Thank you for joining me in my first online newsletter for “Garden Path Quilts”. This will be a monthly project where I will give you lots of fun news pertaining to everything quilts. My name is Barb, and I used to own a quilt store in my small town for a little over 13 years. I used to mail out newsletters to my customers every three months with store information. Now it’ll be fun to send out newsletters each month through the web. I’ll keep you updated with any of my newest patterns, new and upcoming fabrics, other pattern designers, new quilting gadgets, and quilting tips and hints. You’ll also find free patterns through my site (my own and from others!), and you’ll be introduced to a different Etsy or Craftsy store owner each month! I think you’ll enjoy becoming part of the family here at “Garden Path Quilts”! Yep! It’s a Mystery! This free Block of the Month program will be my third annual program. I love designing quilts, and love being able to offer a yearly free BOM! This time around I have designed a six-month program that will include twelve 12” finished blocks along with the finished instructions. The program will run from June through November 2015. On the next page you will find the fabric supply list. The first two blocks will be available in June’s newsletter. And two more blocks will be available in each of the following newsletters. The finishing instructions will be included in November’s newsletter along with the final two blocks. This is a beautiful quilt using Batiks! While the blocks are very traditional, the fabric used is quite modern. Hence the name of this BOM is “Traditionally Modern”! The finished quilt will measure approx. 81” square. “Siesta” Silver Jewelry New English Paper Piecing Book by Sue Daley From C & T Publishing Gorgeous Quilting Jewelry! I met Karla, owner of Siesta Silver Jewelry, a couple of years ago at our annual Cedar Springs Quilt Show. She designs beautiful silver jewelry and has many designs with quilt motifs! Check her site out at www.siestasilverjewelry.com. Garden Path Quilts Skinny Wallet I could never find a wallet at a department store that I really liked. I didn’t want bulk or tons of slots, windows, and pockets! So I created my own design! The “Skinny Wallet”! This wallet has a long pocket for dollars, two small pockets for punch cards, license, and credit cards. Then there is a zippered pocket the width of the wallet for coins and receipts. “Quick Trim Ruler” There have been times when I’ve wanted to quickly create a circle when I’m designing a quilt pattern. Just one circle. Nothing fancy, I didn’t want to spend a lot of time at it, and I didn’t need loads of different sized circle templates. This easy ruler from Creative Grids is called “Quick Trim Ruler” 3.5” x 12.5”. She also has a big sister that measures 4.5” x 24.5”. There is a hole in the middle of the ruler to aid you in spinning the circle around at an accurate measurement. Now how simple is that? Retail $18 and $25. Page 2 “Traditionally Modern” Fabric List It’s a mystery! Gather up your batiks all at one time or collect your fabrics as you go each month. You will only be purchasing fat quarters. Each block is a separate color wave. All blocks will need a Light, Medium, and Dark fat quarter in a specific color wave of your choice. Ex: Block #1 might be done in blues, Block #2 done in oranges, Block #3 done in greens, etc. Exceptions: Block #5 only needs a Medium and Dark Block #6 will need an extra Light Block #10 will also need a Medium Dark Please purchase a black fat quarter to be used in a couple of the blocks. I suggest you purchase your fabric for finishing the quilt after you have your blocks done. This will allow you to bring your finished blocks with you to the quilt store and play with different sashing colors and borders. Finishing supply list: Background 2½ yds. st 1 Border 1 yd. nd 2 Border 1¼ yds. rd 3 Border ¾ yd. Backing 2¾ yds. @ 90” or 5½ yds. @ 44” Binding ⅔ yd. You can find several of my patterns on the “Connecting Threads” website! Garden Path Quilts Page 3 Fabric to *sigh* for! “Charise Creates” I discovered Charise Randall’s Craftsy store last fall. I fell in love with her cute, vintagelooking paper-piecing designs of aprons, sewing machines, and more. I purchased the apron set first! I also really enjoy her blog which is full of beautiful designs, free patterns, and sew alongs! I just had to have Charise as my first newsletter feature designer. I can’t resist showing these two bundles of fabric to you! They don’t come out until this coming August, but they are just too special to pass up sharing! These are “Drawn Sorbet” in fabulous, mouthwatering shades of orange, yellow, and coral! Also “Drawn Water” in languid greens, aquas, and blues of a sparkling lake. Both bundles were created by Angela Walters with Robert Kaufman Fabrics. They’ll run about $46 for the 12 piece fat quarter collection. Or find them in individual bolts at your favorite quilt store! Charise writes: “After 20 wonderful years working as a fashion designer I decided to stay at home with my young boys. Being someone who loves to create, I decided to start a business designing and creating sewing patterns. Being surrounded by beautiful hand made objects brings joy to my life and my hope is to share that passion with others. “LIKE” me on Facebook! I am inspired by vintage textiles, quilts and fashion all of which find their way into my designs! Sharing my skills is such a joy and you can find tutorials and free patterns on my blog ~ ChariseCreates.blogspot.com. You can also find my designs at Stitch Magazine Quilt Maker Magazine Sew News Magazine Fat Quarterly "Playful little paper pieced projects" by Stash Books "Best of Stitch, Beautiful Bedrooms" from Interweave Books “ Find Charise’s patterns on Craftsy and Etsy. Thank you for letting me share, Charise! Barb Garden Path Quilts Did you know . . . ? . . . that you can easily download free patterns from your favorite fabric lines directly from the maker’s website? Try these sites: www.redroosterfabrics.com www.ttfabrics.com (Timeless Treasures) www.windhamfabrics.com I’ll list more next month! Cool, huh? Garden Path Quilts Page 4 My Fixation For Scissors! Quilting Tips and Hints and Tricks! I admit it. I’m a scissor junky. I have a passion for scissors! You’ll find them everywhere on my sewing table, cutting table, in my hand work boxes, and in my tote that I bring to quilt groups. I know I can only use one at a time but . . . there’s usually two or three nearby! I’ve been quilting for 25 years, taught many quilt classes, and now design my own quilt patterns. But I will admit that sometimes I have trouble with putting fabric colors together for my quilts. Sometimes it’s because I get stuck in a rut over my usual “go to” shades, prints, or designer lines. And then sometimes it’s because I second guess myself A LOT over colors and mixing prints. A while back I took the time to learn how to use this item: Look! Penguin Scissors! They are 3.5” by Tooltron. And the other is called “Wren” by Fiskars and are 4”. What can I say?! “Garden Path Quilts” found here: The “3 in 1 Color Tool” by C& T Publishing is kept nearby, and I always take it with me when I go fabric shopping. What a difference using this has made in my fabric choices! I now tend to look outside my comfort zone when it comes to quilt colors. Free! from Joeysquiltingco.com/fabric-boxtutorial-made-in-30-minutes/
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