QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
   The Gee’s Bend Quilters and their extraordinary quilts have made a big “splash” in the quilting world, with exhibits of the needlework in museums and galleries around the country.  The discovery of these quilts and quilters was an interesting story, too.
However, controversy arose when several quilters brought a lawsuit against the Arnetts who discovered the quilters and arranged to display and sell the quilts.
A press release went out recently concerning the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective and their support of the Arnetts and Tinwood, the company that represents the collective.  You can find a copy of this statement at Ginger’s …read more

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com 
   Do you have favorite books that have helped you with your quilting and fabric art? Perhaps they are instructional. Others may be inspirational.  Maybe they delve into quilting history.  Also, you may read some for pure enjoyment.
These also may change, depending on your current quilting needs and interests. Some of your favorites may be out of print, but if someone searches diligently, they probably can find with a copy.
I asked my daughter Beth (Meandering Threads) what her five favorite books currently are.  She actually came up with six, two by the same author.
1. The Painted Quilt by Linda & Laura Kempshall
2. Landscape in Contemporary …read more

  Sharing family memories and creating legacies seem to have been popular posts throughout 2007.  Whenever I’ve written on this topic and shared stories about my quiltmaking, my mom’s, my daughter’s and granddaughter’s, I’ve received responses from quilters and fabric artists who wanted to share with me.
I hope I’ve encouraged you with your quiltmaking and fabric art this year, have brought you  information and insight, have gotten you to look at some of your work with new insight and to explore different techniques.
Here are some 2007 posts you might want to check out:
Memories of Quilting and Tea with Grandma
My Mother, the Country Grocer, Inspired …read more

What interests you at Quilting and Patchwork? 
  As a new year approaches, I’m making plans for this blog and what I’ll include throughout 2008.  Input from you, my readers and friends, would help me make this a blog that will help, inform, entertain, and encourage you as you pursue your quiltmaking and fabric arts this year.
*Quilting Memories and Journaling – Due to the great response I’ve been receiving (comments on the blog and in private e-mails) to my posts about quilting memories, family legacies and preserving these, I will do more along this line. 
*Introducing Other Blogs – As I browse around the blogosphere and …read more

I never realized there was so much to learn about needles and thread until I began to read the Superior Threads newsletter and browse around the site.  Thread was thread…perhaps with a few variations…for a long time for me. 
Then I began to realize different threads gave various effects and some lasted longer than others. The needles you use in your machine or for hand work will vary, too.
You’ll find at Superior Threads  mamy educational articles concerning just about anything you ever wanted to know about thread as well as how and when to use it.  There is information about workshops , too.
  As thread …read more

 I find it most enjoyable to share my quilts and quilting with groups in our community and further afield.  (This comes from someone who was petrified to give oral book reports in school.)  However, when you have something you enjoy, it’s much easier to display and share.One of my fond memories involves being guest speaker for our local historical society.  They wanted me to speak about quilts, quilt history and my involvement with this.   (My daughter and I had recently been named in Who’s Who in American Quilting and a press release appeared in the local paper.)
So I gathered together …read more

                                 Have you ever purchased a fabric that’s perfect for your project(s), then found you didn’t have enough?  Or you wanted more for a similar project?  However, when you went to purchase more fabric, the store was out and couldn’t get any more. 
That design had been discontinued!
*I discovered this when I was making appliqued quilted vests for children.  A store would order a number of vests, then later want more of a specific design.  If I didn’t have enough fabric, I’d order more, often finding it had been discontinued in a relatively short time.  A customer might purchase a vest from …read more

Other than our sewing machine, often a computerized one that almost can do everything on its own, we usually don’t think about caring for the other tools that help us create our quilts and fabric art.  Also, there often are proper ways to use them so they last longer.
 For instance, at the Quilted Paradise, you’ll find tips for using and taking care of your rotary cutter.  A sampling:
*How to make your blades last longer
*How to use your cutter safely
*How to keep your blades sharp
These may seem like simple things, but to get the best use from your tools, knowing how …read more