Gold Bug Quilters Quilt Show

Gold Bug Quilters Quilt Show was held in Cameron Park CA starting today and will run through Sunday. Elisa and I drove up to see what there was to see. There were some beautiful quilts displayed there! I am including some pictures of the ones I liked the best.

These two pictures are one of four quilts a lady put together honoring soldiers that have fallen in Iraq. We were amazed at how beautifully she free-handed the names on her machine. I took a picture of what the quilt looked like and one upclose of some of the names.

The one below is my favorite. It was done in shades of brown and quilted with a gold metalic thread that really added to the quilt.

The one above I liked because of the colors used. This picture does not do it justice. The greens are mostly very vibrant green. Loved it.

There were so many to see, plus you get to vote on your favorites in each category. That was fun, too.

They had a very nice Country Store, but I felt many of the prices were a little high. I kind of like getting a bargain when I go to the Country Store. I still wound up buying a few patterns from there. I think my motto is "I cannot turn down a good pattern." I have so many that if I sewed constantly from now until forever, I would never get them all done.  Plus I would have to do a lot of shopping of fabric to complete them all.

The vendors are always fun to see what is new. I did not purchase a lot, but there was some fabric I could not resist. It was used in a quilt that I have a pattern for, so I had to have it, too.

One of the vendors was demonstrating a pen they were selling. It is marvelous. They said it was great for marking your fabric for embroidery and/or quilting lines. Elisa and I both bought one. The best part of this pen was when you use it, if you make a mistake, you just apply heat to it and it disappears. She said you had to be careful because if it got too cold, it would set it. But it would not rub off while you worked on your design. She had black, yellow, pink, red, purple and orange. It is a Pilot pen named Frixion. The cost at $3.98 is nominal for the great uses this gives you.

So my advise is if you live in or around the Sacramento area, take the drive up highway 50 to Cameron Park. Take the first exit, turn left, go to next light and turn left again. Then just follow the signs. Easy to find. Lots of parking. A show worth seeing.

Binding Calculator

Do you have problems figuring how much materials to buy/cut for your binding? Have I got a site for you. Go to http://www.quiltpox.com/calculators.html Type in width, length of quilt and how wide your finished binding is and press calculate. Lo and behold there is the amount of material you need. I always cut too much fabric, because I have cut too little for so long that I love this site to help me cut just the right amount.

That said, I must say I just found the site. But I compared it against a chart I have that Victoriana Quilt Designs has, and it seems to be close to the same except for one size. This link said for 102"x 90 says to purchase 3/4 yard. The hard copy chart I have said 1/2 yard. If I would have purchased that amount only and got home with not enough, I would have been sad. But the others seem to be pretty accurate.

Have fun quilting.

Facebook Page for Beehive Quilts

Okay I am just learning all that FaceBook is about, but I have started a FaceBook page for Beehive Quilts. I hope you will all join me on that page and share ideas about quilt, what your projects are, pictures of your projects, frustrations and joys of quilting and anything else you so want to post. Just go to my FaceBook Badge on the lower right hand side of the blog site and click. If you are not a member of FaceBook, join. It is fun and you will find a lot of your friends and relatives are already there. If you are a member, become Beehive Quilts friend and join in.

Binding Calculator

Binding Calculator

Based on 44” x 45” width of fabric

Based on 2 ½” cut binding strip width

Before I opened my shop and finally learned how much yardage to purchase, I was always afraid I would run short on the binding fabric. So I just bought extra. I would go home knowing I had too much and then cut fewer strips than was needed. That was frustrating, as I would have to then cut another strip and piece it to the binding already sewed to the quilt. Ever done that yourself?

Then I found the following information and started using it and advised others buying binding fabric how much to purchase. Easy.

Length + Width       Strips Required     Yardage Required

24” to 34”                      2                     ¼ yard

36” to 50”                      3                     ¼ yard

52” to 66”                      4                      ½ yard

68” to 84”                      5                      ½ yard

86” to 100”                    6                      ½ yard

102” to 118”                  7                      ½ yard

120” to 134”                  8                      ¾ yard

136” to 152”                 9                       ¾ yard

154” to 168”               10                       ¾ yard

170” to 186”               11                       1 yard

188” to 200”               12                       1 yard

Thank you to Victoriana Quilt Designs
http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/

I hope this easy helpful fact helps you when purchasing and cutting your binding strips.

Happy Quilting

Quilter's Corner Quilt Store

Elisa and I were off and running yesterday. We went to a Block of the Month club inWoodland at 10 a.m. We are doing an Around the World quilt. Each month the teacher, Sherrie Werum, brings a block with a notable site from somewhere around the world. Yesterday we did the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. She shows us a different technique for embellishment each month. Yesterday it was using glitter on the block. It is a special very fine glitter made for fabric. You also have to use a special glue. It really looks good on the quilt. I will use this technique again in the future.

Afterwards we had lunch in Woodland at Morrison's Deli. Yummy food. If you are ever around there, you have to go and have lunch. They close at 2:30 p.m., so don't plan on dinner.

Then we went to a quilt store we had never been to before. It is Quilter's Corner in Sacramento. It is in a business district, but easy to find and has lots of parking. It is a good sized store with lots of beautiful fabric. A little bit of everything there. All the fabric is very well displayed. Pricing is good, too. There was lots of Halloween fabric, which is my favorite.

Since I have enough fabric to start a small quilt store, I did not need anything. But I found an off white sun bonnet Sue fabric that is very charming. Since I do not have a need for it, I bought three yards for just in case. No wonder I have enough fabric for a quilt store. I cannot resist fabric. I also bought several fat quarters. You can never have enough fat quarters.

Quilter's Corner also has a lot of great kits. Elisa wanted one but talked herself out of it. Then they told us that on August 21st everything in the store will be on sale for 20% off. I think we will be going back then.

Best of all they have a great class list. I may even take a class myself.

For more information on this quilt store, go to http://quilterscornersac.com/.

Oh and when you go there, make sure to check out their restroom. It is absolutely the cutest restroom I have ever been in. I tried to take a picture, but my camera would not work.Go see for yourself.

Upcoming quilt show in the foothills

Hey everyone. Next Saturday and Sunday is the bi-annual quilt show in Valley Springs, near Volcano (near Jackson) CA. It runs July 17th and 18th. To find out more about this quilt show go to http://www.loosethreadsquiltguild.com/QuiltShow.html.

Beehive Quilts is an advertised vendor for this show. Due to the move we recently made, we will not be there as a vendor. We are going up Saturday afternoon to see the show. I understand it is a great location and fun quilt show. Why don't you come, too?

Time got away

Well it has been a long time since I have posted anything on the blog. Sorry for the delay. My husband and I decided to move, found a house and moved. Just that quick. Now we are still unpacking boxes. My long arm machine is in several different parts. My sewing machine is on the floor in the dining room. My material just today (after almost a full month) is finally on shelves and ready to use. My thread is somewhere. I saw it once, so I am sure I will find it again. Needless to say I will be glad to get my sewing studio all unpacked and organized. I will send a picture when it is completed. I can not send one of where it is right now, as I would find it terribly depressing to see it on line.

Have a great fourth of July weekend.

Quilt something for me this week since I cannot.