Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Fabric Place Basement visit

Top of the morning to all quilters! Our super-extended sew-in at Fabric Place Basement has come and gone, and we had a really good turnout! Hopefully, everyone got to advance their projects. Some of us were finishing quilts, others were getting our projects ready for the Lowell Quilt Festival coming up in a few weeks. There was lots of working, lots of chatting, some light snacking, and excessive shopping! I guess that's what happened where you work for 5 hours in a fabric store warehouse! First dibs on unstocked fabric?!? Can I get a Whoop Whoop! Plus, I think everyone took advantage of the coupons that the store handed to us, as a special thank you for hosting our meeting there. Here are a few pictures of the projects we've been working on:


Lia was working on her amazing birds of paradise quilt. You might remember it in its early stages from the retreat back in March.

Emily was putting the finishing touches on this stunning rainbow quilt:

Janis worked on her parquet-like quilt. I love the colors in this: it reminds me of Spring!

Here we are, busy bees at work! 

 I feel quite silly as I forgot to take pictures of the swap and the Fabric Place Basement store itself. It's a very pretty place, with an abundance of fabrics, notions and even yarn. Best of all is the huge button bin in the middle of the store! Our swap was really successful, as well, I feel. All the fabric that was left behind was put in a special box. I'll keep it for our next charity quilt! Thank you to Peter (owner of FPB) and to all the friendly staff including Janis and Julie who helped make our event possible.

 I also want to mention that we had the chance to meet one on one with Valerie Poitier, Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) representative and also a rep for the Lowell Quilt Festival. She gave us some good tips for prepping our quilts for the show:

 Making your sleeve: You want your sleeve to be 2" shorter than the length of your quilt, on either side. Best way to make it is to add it directly as you are making your backing. To make a fast, non-permanent sleeve, pin it to your quilt with safety pins!!! Or, baste the top in the ditch where your binding is and pin the bottom part. Also, be sure not to make the sleeve "flat" against your quilt; this will make it fold on itself once hung. She suggests making a tube out of your fabric to prevent this from happening. For labels, you can whipstitch it to your backing or use a bonding agent (like heat n bond). She told me she makes 2 labels: one thats only for the show where she puts the info the show needs, and one telling the story of her quilt and with any info she wants to on it (this one is a permanent label!). Thanks for the great tips, Valerie!

 We had a great time and thanks to everyone who showed up, in person and in spirit! ;) One last announcement. We have a new quilter-in-training in our group. Lia gave birth to a little girl on Sunday morning! Yes, not even 24hrs after our sew-in. Baby got real excited about quilting, I guess! Congrats to Lia and her family. We wish you the best!

 Mel
xoxox