Lancaster's Farmer' Market for Lunch

The country's oldest farmers' market, in the heart of Amish country occupies a beautiful 120 year old red brick building chock-full of local character. Regional food specialties include Pennsylvania Dutch sausage, scrapple (a breakfast meat of pork scraps and cornmeal), and headcheese (like scrapple, an acquired taste). You'll also find preserves, including chowchow (pickled vegetables in a spicy mustard sauce), and bread and butter pickles.

Thursday - Super Fast Binding and Piping

Super Fast Binding and Piping
 Is binding the quilt your least favorite part? Tired of humdrum finishes? Come and learn piping and binding techniques to make your quilts stand out in a crowd. In class you will be making samples of finishing methods to take home and use on your own quilts. Bindings will never be boring again!

QuiltWeek Landcaster

Great show with over 500 quilts on display. Wonderful special exhibits including:

Cherrywood Challenge 2016: The Lion King.

AQS Authors’ Showcase – Artistry and craft are blended together in  the AQS Authors’ Showcase.
displayed at AQS QuiltWeek events for one year

Focus & Fiber: Quilts by Melissa Sobotka -A collection of quilts by fiber artist, Melissa Sobotka that have been inspired by
images captured through her camera lens.

Jane Sassaman’s FreeSpirit Designs - Jane Sassaman is an art quilter and fabric designer.

New Quilts from an Old Favorite: New York Beauty from the National Quilt Museum – Nearly everyone remembers sleeping
under a quilt made by their mother or grandmother, and many of those quilts were made from time-honored traditional quilt designs.

SAQA: Made in Europe Made in Europe showcases 30 art quilts from makers  in  the  Studio  Art  Quilt  Association  (SAQA)  European  and  Middle 
Eastern Region.

Wednesday Afternoon - Paint Stick Magic

Paint Stick Magic

Make elegant fabric with the look of airbrushing! Paint sticks applied to silk or cotton are simple, fun, and permanent. This revealing hands-on workshop is for both quilt and clothing makers.

The Set-up of a Quilt Show

The AQS Booth

See the contest Quilts (I can say they are fabulous), enjoy the special exhibits, explore new products, and watch free demonstrations!

 Lancaster County Convention Center

March 29 - April , 2017

SHOW HOURS

Wed.–Fri., 9:00am – 6:00pm
Sat., 9:00am – 4:00pm

I love to watch the set-up. Such a mess equals great results

Wednesday It's Joining the Blocks: Quilt-As-You-Go Style

Joining the Blocks: Quilt-As-You-Go Style

Learn to join pre-quilted blocks using several innovative techniques. Go home ready to make larger machine quilted quilts without all the work of trying to get it into your machine. The Quilt-As-You-Go method allows for more detailed quilting using a standard sewing machine since you’re only quilting a small section at a time.

I am judging at Quiltweek Lancaster - Here's a view of judging from the other side

QUILT JUDGING

The purpose of judging a quilt show is twofold: one is to award excellence, and the other is to give critique. ‘Critique’ is not criticism. A critique is defined as ‘a critical analysis or review’. A good critique should point out the areas in which the quilter has demonstrated success, as well as suggest areas which need improvement.

Questions to be answered:

1.    Consider a philosophy. This needs to be something simple like: “To promote the art of quiltmaking and encourage excellence.”

2.    Which are more important?
Originality vs. technique
Quantity vs. quality

3.    Categories should be well defined.

Lots of categories = Lots of winners. Usually fewer quilts per category.

Fewer categories = Ribbons will have more meaning. Usually more quilts per category.

4.    How many ribbons will be awarded? Must all ribbons be awarded? Will Honorable Mentions be awarded? How many?

5.    Does the committee want to reserve the right to move quilts to more appropriate categories, if necessary? If yes, must be stated on the entry form.

6.    Will scribes be provided? Confidentiality by the scribes is a must!!

7.    Entrants for the category being judged should NOT be in the room while that category is being judged.

8.    How many quilts are expected? How much time will be available?
1 quilt = 5 minutes = 12 quilts per hour
8 hours = 84 quilts (This includes a 30 min. lunch and two 15 min. breaks.) This is a very fast pace. This also requires scribes that can hear, spell, write legibly, and keep up. This will also require the quilts to be laid flat on tables, in categories, ready to be judged. (Quilts can be judged hanging, but this will take a bit longer) Someone other than the judges to keep track of the time is helpful.

It saves time for judges to judge categories separately then work together to give special awards.

Road Trip - The Quilting Fairy

The Quilting Fairy has been inspiring the magic in quilters of all skill levels since 2015. It's a fun, fresh quilt shop offering a wide range of fabrics, sewing notions, and other quilting essentials that make stitching more efficient and enjoyable.

Owner, Sue Gallagher, has been quilting for 25 years, 20 of which she dreamed of opening her own quilt shop. Turning fifty, with grown kids and a desire to provide her local community with high quality sewing supplies to support their quilting passion, she decided to transform her dream into reality.

Sue strives to maintain a pleasant, lively store atmosphere where customers can enjoy shopping, learning, and socializing. She's dedicated to educating new quilters, as well as inspiring seasoned quilters who have lost their creative spark.

Phone:    (253) 845-0462
Address: 13507 Meridian E., Suite O
                Puyallup, WA  98373
Hours:     Tuesday - Friday: 10 am to 5 pm
                Saturday:  9 am to 4 pm
                Sunday & Monday:  Closed

QuiltWEEK in Lancaster PA March 29 - April 1, 2017

I will be teaching at QuiltWEEK in Lancaster PA  March 29 - April 1, 2017. Here are the classes! Sin up NOW!


Beads are a BLAST!
Day: Saturday, 8:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Location: Heritage Ballroom D

Beads are a fun addition to many quilts and garments. Come learn how to use beads. Learn what to look for when you shop, how to sew those little beads that add so much to your designs. Melody will share with you design ideas, handling tips, and sewing techniques.

Fantastic Fabric Foiling
Day: Friday, 8:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Location: Susquehanna Board Room
(Kit Fee)

Bring your projects to life with instant glitz and shine. Foiling on fabric is easy, fun, and permanent. This informative hands-on workshop is for both traditional and nontraditional quilt and clothing makers.


Joining the Blocks: Quilt-As-You-Go Style
Day: Wednesday, 8:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Location: Conestoga AB    Sold Out

Learn to join prequilted blocks using several innovative techniques. Go home ready to make larger machine quilted quilts without all the work of trying to get it into your machine. The Quilt-As-You-Go method allows for more detailed quilting using a standard sewing machine since you’re only quilting a small section at a time.

Paint Stick Magic
Day: Wednesday, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Location: Susquehanna Board Room
(Kit Fee)

Make elegant fabric with the look of airbrushing! Paint sticks applied to silk or cotton are simple, fun, and permanent. This revealing hands-on workshop is for both quilt and clothing makers.



Quilt Toppings   the Lecture
Day: Friday, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Location: Heritage Ballroom C

WANTED! Quilters seeking new ways to express their creativity. This lecture taps into the strong 
emerging trend toward embellishment of quilt surfaces. Paint, foil, paint sticks, thread, crayons, buttons, ribbons and beads are all fun, easy ways to add that final design element to traditional and nontraditional quilts. Supplies are not required for a lecture, although you may want to bring a pen and paper to take notes.

Super Fast Binding and Piping

Sold Out


Day: Thursday, 8:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Location: Federal AB

Is binding the quilt your least favorite part? Tired of humdrum finishes? Come and learn piping and binding techniques to make your quilts stand out in a crowd. In class you will be making samples of finishing methods to take home and use on your own quilts. Bindings will never be boring again!

 SIGN UP NOW!

A Quick Trip to the Pike Place Market

The Market is a special community within the heart of Seattle’s downtown. More than the city’s beloved public market, Pike Place Market is a vibrant neighborhood comprised of hundreds of farmers, craftspeople, small businesses and residents. Each group is an important and vital makeup of the Pike Place Neighborhood.

I love straight line quilting so much I wrote a book

I love straight line quilting, it works so well on so many quilts, and it’s so easy! The possible

combinations of straight lines are endless. I love it so much I wrote a book Stitching Through the Layers; The Art and Elegance of Straight Line Stitching.  

You will need a walking or even feed foot: The purpose of these feet is to feed all the layers at the same time, this makes machine quilting smoother and pucker-free. I think of them as feed dogs (those teeth under the needle) for the top. If your machine did not come with a walking foot, you will need to purchase one. To help reduce any shifting of the layers, check to see if your machine will allow you to reduce the presser foot pressure.

Start in the center and work out to the edges as much as possible. If you’re simply doing vertical or horizontal lines over the entire surface of the quilt, sew the first line down the center and work your way out to the right.

Marking quilts has never worked very well for me. But there’s tape. I have it in sizes from 1/4" up to 3". You can lay sizes next to each other to make whatever distance you choose between your lines. I will use any masking or painters tape that I need. I know that many people just use painters tape, and the low tack can be important, but I think that it is more important to have a tape color that contrasts well with the quilt. It is easier to see when you're quilting. The trick to “tape” is to NEVER leave it on your quilt over night. With tape, a walking foot and your imagination, you're set to go.

The first step is to place the first piece of tape. Small quilts are easy, for a large quilt setting that first line can be tricky. I use my longest ruler which is 24” long and move it only 12” at a time, that way half of the ruler in still on the old line. Making sure that first placement is straight is important because all the lines will build off of that first one. I lay my tape where I want it, and take out any of the basting pins that are in the way.

If I was going to do a row of straight lines I would reposition my tape along the stitching line and sew again repeating the process across the quilt. You will have to replace the tape eventually when it isn't sticky enough to maintain a line.

I like the accuracy of sewing with the needle right next to the tape, but sometimes I sew on the tape. I don’t seem to mind removing an occasional bit of sewn tape with tweezers. If stitching on the tape bothers you, consider positioning your walking foot next to the tape.

Remember to sew on both sides of the tape before you remove it!

For perfect half inch spacing use the outside edge of the walking foot. If your sewing machine allows you to adjust the needle position, using it gives more variety without any extra effort. I often use a combination of tape and the edge of the walking foot!

Don’t stress with the process, remember to breath! I like the look of lines that aren’t perfect. I do try to keep them from looking too messy. Depending on how densely you quilt it can be time quite consuming (take breaks! You don’t have to finish quilting all at one time!). The end results are wonderful. Have fun playing with straight lines! 

Check out these other great artists!

Monday March 20
Lynn Carson Harris
Kelly Ashton
Diane Doran
Melody Crust

Tuesday March 21
Kathy Delaney
Christa Watson
Mandy Leins

Wednesday March 22
Sandy Fitzpatrick
Beth Ferrier
Cheryl Sleboda

Thursday March 23
Annie Smith
Lori Kennedy
Kari Karr
Catherine Redford

Friday March 24
Joann Sharpe
Cherry Guidry
Jenelle Montilone

Win a copy of my book! Post on my blog why you quilt in three words or less! Be sure to include contact info, and I will mail the winner an autographed copy! Winner will be chosen on Sunday March 26th.


This is now closed! Dolores Plouffe won.