Take me out to the ballgame, especially if it’s at a quilt store!! That’s what we did tonight at the QuiltTrends Preview Party!

We turned the store into the All American Ballpark, and those who ran the bases ended up with a QT bag with some stuff, including 25% off BAT-ting, (get it??) and 20% off everything in the store! Concessions were free, complete with Ballpark hot dogs and nachos! We all dressed in out Quilt Trends baseball shirts (you’ll have t see them!) and ball hats of some kind. Mine was red sequined, David’s was vintage Reds, but mine was cuter! David and I even did a remake of Abbott and Costello, quilt store style!

PS…..Who really did make that quilt, what made that quilt, and I don’t know made that one. I finally figured it out, no thanks to David!

Becky was hawking her Cracker Jacks. No beer man here!!

Mandy manned the dugout…helping people with passport stamps and general handling!

Concessions! Ballpark hot dogs and nachos! The best! Just needed Dippin Dots, IMHO!

Rhonda on 2nd!

Smile! It’s all good!!

Well, I’m sitting here at home thinking about the Shop Hop which starts this week…..actually I’m thinking about the Shop Hop PREVIEW PARTY which is Wednesday, July 21 at 6:30. I am almost ready, just a few last minute food preparations to do.

By this time of the year, my mind is a-swirl—–did I get everything ordered? Are last minute shipments really going to arrive? Is anything crucial out of stock? Did I estimate correctly? Do I have enough people working? Will I run out of food? Will we be eating leftovers for a month? Did we think of everything? Will the toilet break 30 minutes before like it did last year?

STOP! I have to stop thinking! Yes, I did everything, Yes, the UPS guy will pull us through! No the toilet will not break! And yes, probably this year it will be the A/C or some other major thing. But, we will have fun anyway!

Are you coming? Because YOU are the missing link, our purpose for being!

Be there! You’ll love it! Wednesday, July 21 from 6:30-8 pm. Doors open promptly @ 6:30! See you then??

We had an exciting day today! We installed an HQ24 Fusion today and that’s always fun to do. Why? Because it’s such a great machine and because the new owner is so excited! Marcia bought her new HQ24 Fusion from our HQ Truck Sale during NQA.  She sold her HQ16 and went through a little quilting withdrawal waiting for us to arrive.

The HQ24 Fusion is such a great machine….I LOVE IT when someone buys one because they are in for a lot of fun! It is such a dream to use….12 feet wide, the Studio Frame is sturdy and the quilt loads nice and straight, it’s easy to advance just turning one wheel that is loaded with ball bearings, so turning one wheel advances the whole quilt. The new touch screen puts everything at your fingertips: needle up/down, adjusting the brightness and whiteness of the lights, accessing the calculator, MP3 player and videos, speed control, stitch regulator, and statistics, like how many stiches you’ve stiched on this quilt!

But the best part is yet to come! The HQ24 Fusion machine itself! The Fusion has a two part Stitch Regulator that is just the bomb!  The HQ16 has a good solid Stitch Regulator, but HandiQuilter went and made it better! Now the Stitch Regulator has a dual function: “Cruise” and “Precision”. Why? Because you need both of them!

When you’re in the “Cruise” mode, you choose how many stitches per inch and just concentrate on your design. The stitches are regulated and look fantastic. When you stop moving, the machine will stitch a few stitches and then stop, waiting for you to move again. You can raise the top cruise speed, much like cruise control on a car. You’ll need this capability if you have mastered a design, such as meandering and want to be able to quilt fast: raise the speed and take off! But if you’re doing a little more detailed design, lower the cruise speed and go a little slower.

If you’re into ornate designs with a lot of direction change such as feathers, shift into “Precision” mode. When you stop the motion of the machine, like when you’re changing directions, the needle will stop immediately and start again when your Stitch Regulator senses you’re  moving. This prevents stitches building up along the spine of the feather, and keeps your feather light and airy instead of layering too many stitches on top of one another. The HQ24 Fusion Stitch Regulator is the best of all that I’ve tried, bar none! I love quilting on the HQ Fusion, I love practicing on the HQ24 Fusion, I LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

That’s the best part of training someone on their new HQ24 Fusion. Especially today with Marcia, because she has a lot of experience, she understood right away the advantages of her new machine. But with newbie owners, you just know when you leave their home and they get their hands on their own HQ machine, they’re gonna LOVE IT!! And that is why I LOVE it when someone buys an HQ24 Fusion from us….it’s fun selling fun!

Monofilament Thread….love it, or as many do….HATE IT!! There are so many options on the market for monofilament thread, and so much miss-information out there. I hear alot of “My machine doesn’t like monofilament thread!” “Oh, I tried it, and I hate monofilament thread. Well, you and your machine CAN do it, you just have to fine tune things a little. Using regular techniques with monofilament thread is the same as signing a check with a Magic Marker. Of course your hand can sign a check…if you put the correct pen in it!

I have found the secret of success with monofilament! Let me share it with you!

The old cliche of “you get what you pay for”  holds true with monofilament thread. If you buy cheap, you’ll get breakage followed by large doses of frustration. If you buy a high quality thread, you’ll get high quality results. My favorite monofilament thread is Superior Mono Poly in either “clear” or “smoke”. Use “clear” for all light fabrics and “smoke” for all others. If you use clear on dark fabrics, it will show. Likewise, “smoke” shows up on light baby colors.

Most monofilament threads are made from nylon. Problem is this: nylon is brittle and becomes more brittle over time. It also yellows. Superior Mono Poly is made from polyester, which is soft and does not yellow. It also does not break if you know the tricks.

First, we must understand why monofilament thread breaks in the first place. Many decorative threads can break because many decorative threads are made from synthetic ingredients, so think plastic. When plastic meets friction, it heats up and stretches and it eventually breaks much like a rubber band. So, to keep decorative threads from breaking, you must reduce the friction. Reducing friction reduces heat, which reduces breakage.

Here’ the tricks:

1. First, use a high quality thread such as Superior Mono Poly.
2. Use a special needle for decorative threads such as Schmetz Metallica Needles. The eye in these needles is extra large and coated with Teflon, the slickest surface made. It reduces the friction as the thread is pulled back and forth through the eye of the needle.
3. Loosen your top tension to about 1. Again, it creates more space for the thread to move in as it is pulled back and forth through the tension discs.
4. S-L-O-W down your speed…..this is not a race!
5. On a long/mid arm, it is helpful to shorten the distance between the spool and the tension discs. On the HandiQuilter machines, you can use a Horizontal Spool Pin to accomplish this.

If you try these things, you’ll have great success on any machine.  Did you know this? Post your results here!

We’re off to Kansas for the Fourth!! For anyone from a small hometown, I’m sure you understand…going to Kansas for the 4^th is Going Home! David is a Kansas Boy…born and bred. But he’s not in Kansas anymore, so once in awhile we fly back home.

David’s Dad Eddie was raised in SE Kansas where it looks much like Ohio, green, rolling hills and humid. Family still abounds in SE Kansas, centered around Pittsburg, Frontenac, and Arma. Now lots of the grandkids have married and moved to the big cities of Wichita, Kansas City, Dallas and Denver. But on the Fourth, most travel back to Kansas. Going Home.

It’s fun in SE Kansas! As an in-law arriving late on the scene, I felt welcomed from the very first visit. It might be small town, but it’s filled with big hearts and acceptance of who you are and what you do. It’s family, and that’s what family does. Going Home.

Then, of course, there’s the food! What’s family without food, and they do it well. There’s a large Italian population in SE Kansas, and during hard times a couple of sisters started frying chicken and selling it out the back door of their homes. Thus was born “Chicken Annies” and “Chicken Mary’s”. Then along came “Barto’s”. In SE Kansas, everyone has their own opinion about which is better, Barto’s, Chicken Mary’s or Chicken Annie’s, and so, it depends on who makes the chicken run which chicken you’re eating that night.

Sounds pretty normal, doesn’t it? Well, it is, until you look at your plate and see it filled with spaghetti and meatballs or rigatoni, to die for tossed salad, and homemade-bread-that-only-lasts-for-a-day from Palucca’s. (That’s the local IGA/Italian bakery/Italian meat deli.) No potato salad or beans in SE Kansas! It’s fried chicken and spaghetti dinner night, everyone’s favorite!

SE Kansas has it’s own little quirks……it’s called….Going Home! What are you doing on the Fourth?

Oh my gosh! Minneapolis was so much fun…..both at Quilt Market and after! Ever been to the city of Minneapolis? It’s a fun downtown, hotels, shops and restaurants everywhere. Walking is the easiest mode of transportation, but when my feet couldn’t walk another step, cabs were $5 all over downtown. Maybe in Columbus cabs are $5 too, but where downtown would you go? Might be too cynical, but just sayin’!

Most days we walked the 6 blocks ot our hotel (did I tell you David Pricelined a 4 star Crown Plaza? Did I mention $60?), stopping at a restaurant on the. One night we stayed late at Market, then dropped out Market “Stuff” at the hotel and walked to Target. Been to a lot of large cities and stayed downtown, but never saw a Target in the middle of the city. Yes, I realize Minneapolis is the home of Target, but still. who ever heard of that? They must have people using downtown as a residence! New concept! The Twins were playing that weekend and I gave David the day off, but he couldn’t find tickets lower than the nose bleed section. Since he forgot the binoculars, he decided to save the money and enjoy the Clippers!

The weather was typical of Minneapolis, I am told: all over the place!  Beautiful, sunny and about 80 when we arrived, but then 2 days of rain and cool, followed by typical Columbus weather: hot (almost 90) and humid. Strangely, there was always wind typical of central Kansas, even when it was hot! It was just hot wind blowing over your face! Weird!

For all that I loved about Minneapolis, it sure was nice to finally arrive home just in time to celebrate Kelly’s birthday. followed by a long snooze! (Actually it was too short of a sleep, but long is what I wanted….maybe tonight!)

My gosh, the time has gone so quickly! Tomorrow is the last day of Quilt Market and I still have a list of vendors to see, and about 7 aisles to check out for the first time, plus 2 fabric vendors to see! Better get to sleep, but first I have to share some things with you!We started our day at 8am with a class by Karen Montgomery of the Quilt Company north of Pittsburgh. She has had her store for 17 years and always has a lot to share. She’s good. At 9 we met with our first fabric rep for the day, and the race began! By tomorrow we’ll have ordered several hundred bolts of fabric, all of them beautiful. We’ve beefed up our batiks again, so you’ll love them! Here’s some pics from the days finds:On the left is a picture of a quilt using the new Paintstik stencils by Shelly Stokes. We’ll be having a class using these, so watch the emails! On the right is a display of all the new stencils from Cedar Canyon Textiles. They’re fun to do with great results!I hit the Maple Island booth to find that Debbie Bowles has designed three all new patterns, one of which I’ll show you!  The other two you’ll have to come to the Market Review on Saturday, June 12 to see! Join me at 10am to see some really cool stuff!This is “BQ3″, and uses large blocks to make it soooo easy to make a Big Quilt. BQ! Get it?Tomorrow I have a list of 17 places to visit. Think I’ll make it? I might have to send David around with a list!

Howdy from Minneapolis!! The weather here is absolutely beautiful, highs in the high 70’s, low humidity, and lots of sunshine. I think it’s actually better here than in Columbus! WOW! Imagine that! Sunnier somewhere else!We rolled into Quilt Market today for Schoolhouse, a series of 15-30 minute classes sponsored by various fabric companies showing their new lines, recognized teachers and various vendors.David and I split up for the 15 sessions so we can better cover the “stuff”. We took in classes given by Marti Michel, marketing experts Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender, Bonnie Lyn McCaffery, and heard presentations about threads, batting, marketing, motivation, art supplies, applique, Facebook, and more if I could remember it all! Good thing I took notes!I didn’t take many pics today because most of the classes didn’t really feature quilts, and with 50-75 people in a room, it’s not exactly all about me!  Tomorrow I’ll do better! Watch Facebook, I can post as I go!Here are two pictures of a Journal Quilt by Susan Stein, former owner of Colorful Quilts and Textiles and author of several books. Many of you have her first two books on Surface Design, now she has a book coming out tomorrow! It’s called “Textile Art” and is absolutely a must have! We’ll show you when we get home…it’s beautiful.

Cincinnati was great! I arranged a little surprise 2-day excursion to Cincy for David’s birthday. Most years his birthday arrives and I’m never prepared. Spring is a busy time for us, and it seems like a last minute run to Kohl’s is all I have time for. This year, I decided to be more organized and plan ahead. David loves to travel, loves baseball  and loves surprises! What better than to travel to Cincinnati and take in a Reds game?

WOW! UPS has been busy this week! We’ve got a lot of new fabric in, wait ’til you see! Here’s a short list:

• Eric Carle has a new line out called “The Very Series” which includes a very cute panel and lots of blenders. Taken form numerous books, this collection features critters from some of Eric’s most beloved books: the Very Hungry Caterpillar, the Very Busy Spider, the Very Quiet Cricket, the Very Lonely Firefly and the Very Clumsy Click Beetle. Come see!!
• We got a ton of batiks including fabrics for two quilts we are cutting now! Blue and White is timeless, isn’t it? Well, we have blue and white batiks again, just in time for summer! The quilt includes 12 different blues/whites, plus 106″ blue and white Batik backing. Gorgeous!
• The second quilt is totally batik also, but wait until you see it! As much as I love brights. I LOVE this quilt of all soft and luscious colors. Makes you want to wrap up in total calm! We’re making kits of this, too, again 12 batiks plus 2 marbly-backgrounds. Even the colors sound light: parchment and straw! It’s beautiful!
• We received yet another shipment of batiks from Hoffman, and as usual, they are GORGEOUS! We already made a sample of it; wait til you see it!

We’re been busy cutting…..as in Fat Quarters. Easily, we have 1000 FQ’s ready to fold and bundle. Fat Quarters are the “laundry” of a quilt store. Or, if you’re an old mother like me, “Diapers”. That is, there’s always FQ’s to cut and fold. It’s endless….kind of like housework!! And it feels so good to get it done!Stop in the store and see all the new fabrics!