Be still my paper-loving heart

December 21, 2015December 20, 20155 Comments

I’m a paper calendar type of person. Even though I work in a paperless work environment, I still keep my appointments on a paper calendar.

I was excited to receive the first edition of The Quilter’s Planner, created by Stephanie Palmer of The Late Night Quilter.

It arrived on Saturday, and it’s more than a calendar. And, that scares me. There’s space for Personal, Work, and Quilting To-Do Lists. There are daily appointment times. My life isn’t that hectic so I don’t think I will use those. I like looking at the month at a glance. I usually don’t have more than one appointment on any given day. As I write this, I think maybe I should schedule time for exercise and meditation and maybe sewing time. Maybe.

The weeks start on Monday, which is odd for me. I like calendars which start on Sunday. It’s just habit.

Each week does include a quilt block from some of my new quilting friends — 52 blocks in all are included. I like seeing everyone’s names. Plus, there are several patterns in the back of the planner from Amy Garro of 13 Spools, Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs, Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced, Yvonne Fuchsof of Quilting Jetgirl. Pat Sloan of The Voice of Quilting, and Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter.

I like the tabs for each month and the corresponding graph paper.

As I consider my plans for 2016, I know I will love using paper for sketching my quilt design ideas, and I know I’ll keep using this paperless medium to share my quilt journey.

—Wanda

Pink Shirts Winner and Donation to Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation

December 3, 20152 Comments

In case you were wondering who won the Pink Shirts quilt and how much money we raised. –Wanda

Central Virginia Modern Quilt Guild

The Central Virginia Modern Quilt Guild was happy to make a donation of $1225.00 to the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation at our December meeting. Kirsta Millar from VBCF was on hand to accept our donation.

Donation to VBCF Kirsta Millar, left, of the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation with Candra Parker, right, of the Central Virginia Modern Quilt Guild

Also on hand was the winner of the Pink Shirts quilt: Kay Cole of Glen Allen, Virginia.

Pink Shirts winner.jpg

Thanks to our members and other members of the quilting community who gave a Pink Shirt for the quilt raffle. We created a beautiful quilt for a good cause.

CVA MQG

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How to sew quarter circles

November 24, 2015November 22, 20154 Comments

I’m experimenting with quarter circles as part of a quilt I’m making for Savor Each Stitch Book Bee chapter on Emphasis. Quarter circles can be sewn in many ways: (1) pin it; (2) glue it; (3) wing it.

PIN IT

I use silk pins. I pin the larger piece (L looking shape) on top of the smaller piece (pie piece).

Stitch it slowly, guiding it along the quarter-inch mark;
Press toward the large piece unless you want the pie piece to take center stage.

GLUE BASTE IT

I use applique glue. It’s very thin and washes out. You don’t need very much glue.

Glue one side of the pie piece, easing it to the middle
Glue the other side of the pie, easing it to the outside edge
Sew it, using a quarter-inch seam allowance.

WING IT IMPROV STYLE

Layer one piece of fabric on top of another piece of fabric.
Cut a curve.
Take one of the concave and one of the convex pieces and pin them.
Sew just like with the perfect pieces (the first method above).
Trim to the size you want.

I like the glue basting method because I can glue a group of them, then chain sew them. With the Pin It method, I am limited by the number of silk pins I have — which isn’t many.

By the way, I used a template from All Things Acrylic which I recently received in a Quilty Box: