Piece O' Cake Blog

We're set up!

It feels good to have the booth ready to go. Mostly. The floor needs vacuuming and the lights aren't on in the hall but we"re done until tomorrow. Here"s how we look:

We'll foof it up a bit in the morning. And this is Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts fame (below). She made that cute quilt with circles that she is standing next to that she is graciously letting us show in our booth. She has a pattern for the quilt and I'll you will see it if you check out her blog at http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/ . She also blogs for Robert Kaufman Fabrics and I think you'll see us there soon!

I'll send more updates tomorrow.

Sent from my iPad

We're setting up!

Having a booth at quilt market is really nice - we get to re-connect with old friends and make new ones. It's a time to see what's new in the quilt world. There is, however, some work involved. This is what our booth looked like when we arrived. The very wonderful folks from Robert Kaufman had already hung our drapes and dressed our table!

We got a lot done today and I'm not sure how much I can show, but here's a look at the booth in progress. I'll be back with more tomorrow!

Sent from my iPad

We really are working hard!

Linda and I have been hard at work since last Thursday. Quilt Market is practically here and we're not ready yet. Oh my!

And, in even more exciting news, we've gotten the sample yardage from our 2nd collection of fabric! We can't really say (or show) more but you are going to love this fabric too!

There are new patterns, a new book, and lots of new fabric coming from Piece O' Cake in 2011. We can hardly wait (and as I type this Carly Simon is singing about anticipation in the background... really, she is!)

Applique With Attitude

Linda is here and we made a movie to show you the applique with perle cotton that we've both been having fun with. I made my AAQI World Series Quilt with this kind of applique and it has lots of attitude.

The perle cotton is here on our site. Our favorite crewel needle is at the bottom of that page as well.

 

We are really having fun with this and we hope to post some more movies soon. Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Support Alzheimers research with quilts!

Be sure to go to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative booth at Quilt Festival in Houston. After you  enter the show, hang an immediate right and it is just before you hit the wall. Look for the big booth at the front corner, row S (like Simms).

There will be lots of mini-quilts for sale AND the World Series Challenge quilts will be hanging! Remember that these are the quilts I've written about before. Hollis Chatelain, Caryl Bryer Fallert, John Flynn, Judy Mathieson, Sue Nickels, Mary Sorensen, Ricky Tims, and I each made a quilt. If you are there, you can drop $1 in the jug to vote for your favorite - I hope it's mine :-). Later you'll have a chance to own these quilts!

Here's a video that will tell you more about what you'll find in the AAQI booth:

 

More fun with spray paint...

The last time I was up visiting my mom and sister in Oklahoma City, mom sent me home with a 'vintage' brass lamp. I grew up with this lamp and now the brass was spotted and discolored. I like to think that I've aged better than the lamp.

I offered it to Jeff when he was home and he assured me that neither he nor Celia wanted it. Next I offered to my DIL, Lorna. By then it had occured to me that paint could really help this lamp. Luckily I remembered to take the before photo before we had painted the whole thing.

You may notice that it's the same orange that I painted the light fixture in my dining room. It's what I had on hand in the garage and this color works in Lorna's living room. Later, if/when she wants it to be a different color she can repaint it.

Here it is wearing a borrowed shade so you can see how it looks with fresh paint. It took all of 10 minutes to turn a sad old lamp into a happy eye-catcher. Don't you just love what you can do with paint!

PS - Celia, I hope Jeff was right and you still don't have a place for this...

 

 

I'm still quilting...

Quilt market is practically here and I'm not ready!!! Can you me taking deep, calming breaths? I did finish the quilting on this one and I took a photo of the quilt clamps in use that I thought I'd share:

This quilt is not that big and there were times when I had to have some of it hanging off the table. The quilt clamp helped to support that weight like this, and they worked even better when most of the quilt was on the table. I will continue to use the clamps because they really do help.

NOTE: The clamps can swing around a bit if you aren't careful when you release them. I've had to clear the cute stuff off of my windowsill so that I didn't break anything.

 

We're going to be on the radio - today!

At 4:00 EST Linda and I will be the guests on Pat Sloan's Creative Talk Network. You can listen to the 1 hour interview live or download the podcast to listen later. Click here to go to Pat's site where you will see the interview link. We have lots to talk about out!

I forgot to say... we are giving away a My Whimsical Quilt Garden pattern. Leave a comment on Pat's blog and she will draw a winner.

What a deal!

I am happy to tell you that there is now a Piece O' Cake deck of playing cards. We think they are just pretty darned cute!

The little 'blue bird of happiness' is on the back of every card. There are a variety of images from our quilts on the face cards and Linda and I are now officially jokers! You can find them here on our website.

Now I'm going to move my chair back to my sewing machine where I am quilting like crazy...

 

 

Knotting the thread...

Thank you to everyone who responded to my previous post on knotting the thread. Since then I have watched people sewing even more carefully. I believe that quilters who over-manipulate the needle have the most problems. Right-handers often over-twist the thread while they sew, rather than untwisting it. Un-twisting the thread while sewing leads to problems. Left-handers are especially prone to thread problems because their hands move the needle in an opposite way from right-handers

I did learn a new thing. I can only say that I do not have a mathematical mind when I admit that I really thought the the twist at the far end of the thread was different. Brenda Stultz, a spinner and a student in a recent class, showed me that the twist is the same at both ends of the thread. Well - at least the light bulb finally went off in my head. This means that knotting the far end of the thread is just about the same as knotting the near end of the thread.

(I should add right here that it's hard to admit it when you are wrong, but I wish more people would do just that. No one is right all the time. I'll bet we can all think of people we would love to hear admit it when they are proven wrong. So, I was wrong before but I have learned something new which I am happy to share.)

I have come to believe that it makes no difference which end of the thread gets the knot when you are using very good thread. The important this is what you do with your fingers. If you are always fighting your thread, try not to twist the needle as you sew. Left-handers should be able to knot the same end as everyone else but pay extra attention to the way you manipulate the needle between your fingers as you sew.

I'll enjoy reading comments if you want to add one.

Here's the eye candy for this post. Linda and I both are frantically getting ready for market. I'm going to begin quilting on this just as soon as I sign off.

Halloween flowers...

Celia (my DIL) sent me flowers! Of all the people in our family, Celia says it most often with flowers and I do enjoy them. She has a halloween birthday which makes these even more special.

Isn't the spider cute - and that vibrant orange flower looks at bit spider-webby with it. I wish I could grow flowers that looked like this. Maybe next year...

I took these photos out by the pool where Jeff was. Jeff, our son/Celia's husband, has been here for a short visit which we have all enjoyed. It has cooled off in north Texas - beautiful fall weather with highs in the 60s. The pool water is getting cool enough that I have not done more than dangle my legs but both Steve and Jeff have been in and out of it often. Here's Jeff:

I'll try to get a picture that shows his face (that he'll let me post) before he heads home tomorrow.