DONNA POSTER NESLETTER
APRIL ‘06
CHIT CHAT FROM THE HOMEFRONT: Spring is here!! The daffodils, tulips and forsythia are all in bloom----the sun is shining---life is good!!!
Mr. Donna just got back from Tampa, Fl where he contributed to the financial wellbeing of both Tampa Bay Downs (horse racing) and the state of Florida. He’ll never get rich betting on the ponies, but he sure has a good time.
Eliad is just discovering the outdoors (he really didn’t like the boots & snowsuit stuff). Gosh, there are real trucks with real wheels out there and he gets to ride on his grandpa’s shoulders. Great fun! Click onto this file to see Mr. Donna and Eliad).
I’ve just come back from teaching in Chicago--great show! Alex Anderson gave a terrific slide show and lecture on “Behind the Scenes at Simply Quilts.” Alex is one of my favorite people and it was a special treat to hear her!
It’s becoming a very nostalgic year for me. Every show I go to is the last one in that city. I’ll still be teaching this year in Nashville, Hershey and Houston. If any of you are taking a class from me, please let me know you’re one of my newsletter friends. I’d love to meet you in person.
Cleaning out my sewing room, I came across a huge file of hints I’ve collected over the years and I’ll pass them on to you from time to time. I really should clean out this room more often--I found some wonderful stuff I forgot I had!! Good grief, it was almost like Christmas.
I FOUND THESE HINTS:
1. Keep a scented votive candle in your sewing room and stick your needles in it. It keeps the needles rust-free and lubricated, plus the room really smells great.
2. When sewing a bias seam to a straight seam, sew with the bias on the bottom so the feed dog will take care of the fullness. (If you’re sewing the seam by hand, keep the bias on the top so your thumb can control the excess).
3. Sharply snapping a length of thread before cutting it off the spool will make it less likely to twist and turn.
4. Need a third hand for ripping out a seam? Clamp the fabric under the presser foot! Works just like those old fashioned sewing birds.
5. My personal favorite: Warning----the Surgeon General has determined that quilting is less harmful to the eyes than reading cookbooks.
NEW FREE PROJECT: Another new free project is now on our website---donnaposter.com----.Click onto Free Projects at the home page. The new one is called Night & Day and uses the Log Cabin design. We are putting free projects on the site at the rate of one per month. Keep checking.
APPLIQUE PATTERNS: Many stitchers have asked if applique patterns can be used as embroideries. My goodness, yes. They’re great for that in many ways. Or, embroider the outlines in desired colors and fill in the subject areas with various stitches. If the design is too big for the area you want to embroider, just reduce it using a copy machine. I’ve even known people who used elements from our patterns for scrap booking!! Just have fun.
The question is not : Can it be done? Do it. If it works, it can be done.
FOLDY STUFF AND PAPER PIECING: A stitcher asked recently if the transfers that come in Foldy Stuff patterns can be used for paper piecing. They sure can. First transfer the grid onto paper suitable for paper piecing. To obtain the width of the strip measure the distance between the lines and add ½ inch for seam allowance.
MORE ABOUT BLEEDING: Pat writes, “I found a reference which advised to put Epson salts in the washing machine when washing fabrics which might bleed. I know it works because I was washing flannel (shrink problem) and I had red, blue, and white and just about everything you can think of in the same load, and there was not a trace of color transfer.
NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: If you unsubscribe by error or obtain a new email address just go to the website and resubscribe, the old address will simply drop out.
NOW I’VE HEARD IT ALL: A customer’s husband races pigeons. She tells me the best thing for sewing up a pigeon’s torn craw is a number ten quilting needle. The things we quilters learn.
ONE OF MY COLLECTIONS: I have a collection of antique irons which I have lined up on a shelf starting with the oldest and progressing to the latest. I love looking at them and knowing that, at the point each one was developed, the ladies using it were convinced that no iron could ever be better. Then, with that in mind, I look at what I’m using today (which, of course, is as good an iron can ever be!) and wonder what we will be using twenty years from now. Our grandchildren will be saying, “Poor Grandma. She had to stand there and push this hot dangerous device back and forth across the fabric.”
AN EMAIL FROM SANDRA AND MY ANSWER: Sandra writes: “Mr. Donna said, “by-the-by, a dash of chardonnay at the beginning and half way
through cooking the chicken breast is recommended. Does this go on the chicken or in Mr. Donna?”
My answer: I’m passing your email on to Mr. Donna---he’ll love it!!! He does put some on the chicken, but enjoys cooking much better with some in him, too!! Actually, I think that was Julia Child’s secret too!!
Mr. Donna here: Come on Sandra. You don’t expect me to stand there in front of the oven, in the middle of the kitchen, and not take a sip here-and there; mostly there.
ANOTHER FAN WRITES: Love your newsletters--and products….also happy to hear little Eliad is developing a good ‘arm’ for future sports activities.”
So glad you enjoy our newsletter---we have a lot of fun with it. You should see the stuff Mr. Donna comes up with that doesn’t get past me!!! )
A GOOD SUGGESTION: Julie writes: “Just a suggestion, but wish you would post a link to your website in your newsletter. Don’t always have time to search the net to find you.” Great idea; here it is---donnaposter.com
Gotta go now---it’s time to clean the leaves off the ferns and peonies that are peeking through. Have a great month!
Your quilting buddy,
Donna