DONNA POSTER NEWSLETTER
MARCH 2005
IT’S A MATTER OF PRIORITIES
I was standing in a food line at the Houston quilt show and overheard two ladies trying to decide whether to buy a piece of pie. Finally one said, “Nope! That pie is four dollars. That’s a half yard of fabric!” I love it!!
MORE FREE PROJECTS
We just gave three more free projects to our webmaster so they should be on the website by the time you get this newsletter. There’s placemats done with the Log Cabin, a table runner using the Pineapple and a hexagon fussy cut quilt! We’re now up to eleven free Foldy projects
and, remember, these are not copyrighted. Go to - donnaposter.com - download them, then copy them for your quilting buddies, use them as class handouts, or whatever you like. They’re just more fun ways to use our Foldy Stuff!
A TRIBUTE
We were so pleased that Marti Michell, a good friend of ours, was honored with the Silver Star Salute Award at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. This award is presented every year to a person who has made a truly significant contribution to the world of quilting. Marti and her husband, Dick, have been developing products to inspire quilters long before most of us even thought about quilting. Congratulations, Marti, you’ve earned this wonderful honor!
USING OLD TIES
Quilters always recognize a good source of fabric so I get many questions about working with men’s old ties. ( We did a small piece about this on Simply Quilts and Alex and I were very careful not to say, “old mens’ ties”!). They’re just gorgeous in Foldy Stuff and I have a lot of hints for working with them. Just go to - donnaposter.com - click on “Foldy Stuff Ideas” at the bottom of our home page. By the way, I had to buy all mine at the Goodwill store because when Mr. Donna left the corporate world he asked if I minded if he never wore a tie again. I said that was fine with me if he didn’t mind if I never wore a girdle again. It was a great trade-off!
QUESTIONS FROM YOU FOLKS
Q - Edna asks:
Needing suggestions for transferring photos on bubble jet printer. Also care of such.
A - Donna answers:
I’d like some suggestions, too! It’s been several years since I transferred any photos and now there are so many different products to make it easier. Most, I believe, have the fabric itself and I’d love to know which products have the best fabric and give the clearest colors. For inkjet printers, too. I’d like to get back to doing photo transfers as they are great with our Foldy Stuff and Block Party patterns!
Q - Kris asks:
What kind of muslin do you find to be the thinnest or the best for foundation?
A - Donna answers:
I do a LOT of Foldy Stuff and get my muslin by the bolt. I buy either Springs or Rockland and, since no one will ever see it, I use one of their less expensive types. I do wash it first even though it claims less than two percent shrinkage. By the way, if you find one of those fabulous sales and they have a fabric light enough to see the transfer lines, buy a pile of it --- works just fine!
Q - Arline asks: I understand that on a trip you take along a clipboard and all the cut and stacked pieces for Foldy Stuff blocks. Do you sew the strips onto the grid by hand or just pin them for machine stitching later?
A - The Foldy Stuff is actually great as handwork, especially when you’re riding in a car and can’t be fussy about your stitching. I sew the pieces to the muslin base with a running stitch and regular sewing thread. You only need one spool of thread as it doesn’t have to match anything and the stitches don’t have to be neat because it isn’t a seam. Keeps it real simple! The clipboard is to give you something flat to work on.
Q - Kathy writes: I just finished the top of a Foldy Stuff Pineapple quilt and would like to know the best way to quilt it.
A - I just machine quilt in the ditch where I’ve sewn the blocks together. It’s all you need with most battings these days. Besides, the Pineapple quilt is so heavy you won’t be using batting anyway!
Q - Barbara writes: I have finished the top to a Foldy Stuff project. I would appreciate any help you could give on finishing. My friend says she serges the edges of the blocks. Also, will copies of old newsletters be available?
A - I don’t do anything to the edges of my blocks (and I do have a serger) There is a 1/2” seam allowance included in the block and they’ll be backed so they’ll never fray. I just figure, why bother! Getting copies of old newsletters will be no problem. We just started in January and our webmaster said he’d archive them so they’ll all be available at any time!
Q - Sheri writes: I took your Mega Peaks class at Road to California and am about finished with what I started in class. Since I am fairly new to quilting, do you have any suggestions as to the best way to finish the project. I’m machine quilting it myself and don’t want to overpower the design with quilting.
A - So glad you liked the Peaks pattern --- that was a fun class! Hope I get to do it again next year. As for quilting, I’m a fairly lazy quilter as I’m always anxious to get to the next project. So most of my quilts (including the sample you saw) are machine quilted in the ditch where I sewed the six inch blocks together. It’s enough!
Gotta go now --- I’m in the middle of number six of the five hundred and thirty projects I’m planning to do next!
I’ll write you again next month. Meanwhile, do you have any great hints, any favorite tools, any new ideas, etc.? Let me know and I’ll pass them on!
Happy quilting
Donna Poster