Friday Focus ~ Patterns by Susan Ache ~ Free and Not Free

It has come to my quilty attention 

that I have never made a bed size red, white and blue quilt.

How is this possible?

I love these colors. 

Some of these fabrics I pulled for a quilt a ew years back that never was sewn.

I am going to be adding and subtracting but this is a good start for the upcoming

Summer Memories Quilt Along @ FQS

Susan Ache is not new to quilt-alongs.

I followed along but did not sew for this lovely

Stitching Kindness SAL by Susan Ache @ Moda, 2022

I love the beautiful quilty goodness of 

Susan Ache @yardgrl60

Of course, I saved the pattern:

Stitching Kindness Free Pattern PDF Here

This sew and stitch along also could be found at 

Stitching Kindness @ Auribuzz 2022

I thought at the time that this would be a nice red, white and blue quilt.

For more of Susan's creative kindness, you may find ...

6 Free Cross Stitch Patterns by Susan Ache @ FQS Here

As not everything may not be free 

and pattern designers need to earn a living, too.

I have also purchased and enjoyed 

Susan Ache Books and Patterns

So when I saw this beautiful new book

Summer Memories by Susan Ache @ FQS

I was intrigued.

Then I saw this announcement and was even more intrigued ... 

Summer Memories Quilt Along @ Fat Quarter Shop

This is Not-A-Free-Quilt-Along 

as you must purchase the book. 

The book is well written and it has six quilts and 10 cross stitch patterns

and all of them are wonderful!

I think the flag quilt is the best flag quilt pattern that I have seen.

It is well worth the purchase price in my humble opinion.

To see all of the quilts, watch the following video preview ... 

Trunk Show Here @ Fat Quarter Shop

I so enjoyed the trunk show that I also enjoyed the 

Video of Livestream with Susan Ache @ FQS Here

I particularly enjoyed learning how Susan sorts and selects her fabrics.

The quilts are scrappy and could be made with stash fabrics.

Purchase the Summer Memories Book Here

I have all the fabrics I need in my stash.

I need more medium to light blue fabrics and a border fabric 

and I know I have just what I need in my fabric closet. 

I will go spelunking in there as soon as I dig out my quilting room.

I do hope to be back to work in my sewing corner in time

 to start this on May 1st.

Time will tell. 

It's a Sew Down ~ Aurifil 2020Challenge

My new cone of Aurifil has arrived !

I am getting ready for the big Sew Down!

The Sew Down is happening 
at the Fat Quarter Shop

To help supply the thread you may need

FQS has a 15% Off Coupon for Aurifil Thread

It is good on all colors and all sizes for one week.

I am a blogger affiliate of Fat Quarter Shop

and if you shop in the product links on my blog 

or the button on my sidebar 

I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. 

For piecing, I use Aurifil 50/2 

on the 6452 yard cone.

I like 2021 Natural White

I need a new one for this challenge 

but my color on the large cone is out of stock at FQS.

 so I ordered a new one

Here @ Follow That Thread

which is a regional Aurifil distributor near me.

Usually I purchase my thread where they vend at shows.

This time I ordered online, with free shipping,

to have it in time to start on February 1st.

I ordered it on yesterday and received it today!

I am not affiliated in any way with Follow That Thread.

I am just a happy customer.

I do not expect to use a large cone of thread in two months,

as usually one lasts me at least six months,

but it shall be fun to sew down.

If you need to know what Aurifil Thread may be right for you

Visit Aurifil Thread Here

I do not know how to actually measure how much I use in two months
so I drew this circle of the circumference of the bottom of my new cone 
on this graph paper.

I will draw another circle at the end of February and one at the end of March.

I do not expect to use more than about a third of this cone in that time.

I will keep sewing with this scone until it runs out and see how long it lasts.

Happy Sew-Down, Y'all! 

MQX New England Adventures ~ Part 1 ~ Following That Thread

Look what popped out a few days ago on my large cone of 

Aurifil Thread

Here is a close up of this knotty nest.

Fortunately I was winding bobbins at the time

 and it did not get caught up in the thread path or in my needle.

This has been a very linty and fraying cone of thread with a lot of breakage.

Maybe my machine need for recent service was due in part to this. 

These cones are not cheap, but one of them usually lasts me 6 months to a year.

I looked up and contacted  the quality issue email address 

@ Aurifil Thread

Kate, in customer service was very helpful and offered 

to send me a replacement cone from Italy.

I had bought this cone last year from their authorized vendor at

Follow That Thread

 who was vending again at the MQX NE Show.

 I did not save my receipt.

I never thought I would need it.

Kate contacted Donna at Follow that Thread

and we arranged an exchange 

and I picked up a replacement cone

at the show today.

I have been using this thread for piecing for years without any problems.

It is good to know that Aurifil cares about fixing faults with their thread.

Because of this I will continue to buy and use Aurifil Thread.

Following this thread was the first thing I did at 

MQX New England

I have been to this show before and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Not today.
I do not like to be a negative person.

Parking was a nightmare.
Despite the fact we got there early, there was no place in the garage
for people who wanted to just to see the show for the day.
We had to find a metered spot on a side street and walk uphill.
Neither I, nor my husband, are handicapped, but we are getting older
and my knees and hips are not what they used to be.

 The venue recently changed ownership and was renovated

and most of it was not an improvement if you were not a guest of the hotel.

Food and a place to sit and rest was not easy like it used to be.

Although we had four hours of time to enjoy the show,
we ran out of time.
Instead of lunching where we always used to do at the location
(because the restaurant had gone by the wayside in the renovations)
we had to leave early and stop somewhere on the way home to eat
before my hubby had to go to work.

We did not feel like we really saw all the quilts.

It felt more like a trade show than a quilt show.

Nonetheless, we may go back on Saturday,

the last day of the show.

The quilts are beautiful! 

49 Colorful Summer Blocks Done!

The 49 Blocks for my Kaffe Fassett Quilt are done!

These are easy blocks,
8" squares of these big beautiful prints,
 framed with 1.5" strips of the spot fabric
to yield 10" unfinished blocks.

I like to sew the blocks directly to the width of fabric strips.

Cut the blocks apart.

Sewing opposite sides in this manner.

Then press, trim and square each block.

I do like to cut corners and reduce steps,
but I always carefully press, trim and square each unit or block
before sewing them together.

It is well worth the extra effort to make sure my quilt will be square and even.

Another area where I do not cut corners or costs
is with the materials I use ...

like these gorgeous

Kaffe Fassett Fabrics


I sew with only quality fabrics and threads and needles ...

... like this Aurifil Thread and
these Schmetz Chrome
Professional Grade Needles.

I have been using this

Aurifil 2021 Large Thread Cone

for several years.

I buy the large cones,
6,452 yards of 50wt Aurifil 100% cotton thread,
in Natural White.

The wrapped cone pictured is my back-up.

The one on my machine I have been piecing with for over a year.

I also wind my own bobbins with this thread.

These large cones last me least 8 months or more,
depending on how much I sew and the projects 
I am working on.

The Chrome Needles are a wonderful new find.

I have been using only Schmetz needles for years,

but only recently tried the chrome ones when I found them on sale at

Schmetz Needles on Sale

My veteran Janome loves these chrome needles
and runs much smoother and quieter.

Since this was a Notion on the Month Sale,
I stocked up on my favorite sizes and types ...

Schmetz Chrome Microtex Sharp Needle

Schmetz Chrome Quilting Needles

Schmetz Chrome Topstitch Needle


If you want to take advantage of this sale,
do so today as I think the sale on the needles 
may end tomorrow night.

Now that my blocks are done,

I am ready for the next step,

sashing and sewing my flimsy together. 

This pattern is a free download from 

Fat Quarter Shop and Free Spirit and Rowan Fabrics

Jewel Frames Quilt Pattern

Or maybe my quilty muse will want to play with a different project

for a day or two.

Happy Summer Sewing!  

Feline The Fabric!

I am "feline" the fabric today!

I admit it. 

I am a fabric lover.

I just love the moment when the new fabric arrives,

especially a shiny bundle to unwrap and enjoy.

The bundle is 

Feline Myself by Dear Stella

The black print is 

Meow by Mind's Eye for Riley Blake

The Moda Bella Solids  from my stash

are Betty's Pink, Raspberry and Gray.

Apprentice Quilty Kitty Nutmeg joined me in my fabric appreciation today.

This fabric is quilty kitty approved 

for a special new surprise project.

I will not use it all.

I shall pick and chose from these goodies

for this fun project.

Looking forward to getting my fingers started on these pretties.

Today I am setting up my machine to quilt a quilt.

Loving these 

Fragile by Zen Chic for Moda Fabrics 

and

Aurifil Thread

Time to quilt!

Slow Stitching Sunday ~ Everly's Baby Quilt

A new hand stitch project!

A lovely lady who went to market sent me this lovely sampler of

Aurifil Embroidery Thread

I love the colors and threads!

I knew right away what I wanted to use this for ...

The Quilty Aunties at the Quilt & Needle

started this baby quilt for my granddarling Everly

when she was still a bump of a Sprout.

A friend hand quilted the center until life happened and she was only able
to complete the center of the quilt.  Now I am working on finishing it.
I have never hand quilted before.
After thoughts of machine quilting the rest, an attempt to use the same thread and stitch length as in the middle ... neither of which seemed the right solution ...

I concluded that these lovely threads were destined to finish this pretty baby quilty ...

I am off to a slow stitching start.

My thread and stitches will not be as small and even as those in the center,

but they shall be rounds of all these pretty colors for my grand-darling's little fingers to enjoy the colors and textures. 

Linking up today with all the beautiful hand-work @ 

Slow Stitching Sunday @ Kathy's Quilts

Have a Happy and Slow Sunday ... :)

I Can Quilt!

I am quilting!

This may not sound like much of an accomplishment on a quilting blog

 but for me right now it is wonderful.

I have been struggling since my eye surgery with being able to see to do everyday tasks.

After looking locally and buying and trying ... and some returning ... on two online sites,

 I have finally found readers that I can use to quilt!

Regular readers just were not working even though I tried different powers to 

find something that would work at the arm length needed to quilt and cut.

These are lineless Foster Grant Multifocus from ReaderGlasses.com 

I am not in any way sponsored by or associated with this site.

I am just a happy customer.

Good quality.

Free shipping.

Free return shipping.

Easy to return.

Right now they are having a 

B1G1FREE offer.

If you are looking for readers, check it out.

I also bought a good pair of sunglass readers which are a big help as my eyes are sensitive to light.

I do hope that my vision will be healed enough when I see my eye doctor next week that he may be able to prescribe new progressive trifocals

but for now these multifocus readers are a blessing.

Also a blessing ...

These lovely ...

Airmail from Moda Fabrics

from 

 Bear Creek Quilting Company

for a very special project.

Katiness is, of course, my ever present quilty helper.

We cannot wait to show you this one!

Wait we must though as this one will appear on the 

Bear Creek Quilting Company Blog

Soon as I can get it finished and it can be scheduled.

More info soon!

Until then ...

Katniss says ... "No Peaking!"

;)