To prewash or not to prewash....

For many quilters this is a confusing issue, mainly because ask 10 quilters and you may get 10 different answers and opinions! So I'm here to give you my expert advise (opinion!!!)

In both our Tis the Season and Urban Country Quilts books, we discuss this exact topic. You will see the very same topic in our book Tis the Autumn Season that releases in June 2013 as well. And in each book we say basically the same thing, only in a different manner in each one!

So.....do we prewash? Or don't we?

drumroll please.......and the answer is........

NO!!!

That's right we don't prewash our fabrics. (as i look over my shoulder looking to see if the quilt police are on their way......)
We all have a lot of laundry to do already so why add to the load? Pardon the pun! 

The fabric that is being manufactured in this day and age doesn't have the shrink rate it did even 20 years ago. The dye is much more stable, so unless you are using a hand dyed fabric, this shouldn't be an issue. (Having said that, let a quilt sit somewhere soaking wet and you will almost always have trouble!) 
The sizing that is in the fabric cut directly off the bolt makes for a crisp hand and are definitely easier to work with this way.

                                                                                   

In todays fabric market, we have access to all varieties of precuts, 5" squares,  10" squares, 2-1/2" strips, and much more. These items are not meant to be pre-washed, to do so is asking for trouble! These items will simply fray too much to be manageable. And besides, who wants to iron those little bitty squares into submission?

The other thing you most certainly do not want to do is prewash a finished quilt top. That is a recipe for disaster. You will end up with frayed seams, threads hanging everywhere, and depending on the type of fabric, maybe some very frayed edges. And you most certainly will have to iron it before you could even think about basting and quilting it. 
We don't prewash our quilt batting, or our backing fabric. If you really feel the need to wash the quilt top, be sure to do it after the quilt is put together, quilted and bound. This way, all the fabrics will do whatever shrinking they might do (minimal!) and you will end up with a beautiful quilt with an overall scrunchiness that says....use me!

Sailing, sailing......

WE'RE BAAAAACKKKKK!
Oh my, what an adventure! For Jeanne and I this was the first time either of us has been on a cruise, and the ginormitty (probably not a real word!!) of these ships are unbelievable!!!
Our ship held close to 4000 passengers and just over 1000 crew! Thats a ton of people!!

 It was difficult to get a picture that really and truly shows the enormous size of these cruise ships!!
The quilting class was held on the first day at sea, which may not have been the best idea! I'm not sure about everyone else, but it took me awhile to get my 'sea legs'! I was surprised at how much you could feel the movement of being on a ship! I wasn't expecting that. I wasn't sick or nauseous, but kinda dizzy and out of sorts. As was Jeanne.
But we did alright, and so did the ladies who came to sew!

 

The ports we stopped at were St Thomas, which was fun to wander around in for the first few hours. We had a catamaran tour booked that took us out snorkelling. Everyone (even Jeanne) seemed to get the hang on the whole snorkelling thing, except for me!!! I certainly didn't expect to be as panicky and fearful as I was!! The water in my eyes, nose and down my throat didn't help though! But in the end i did manage to get the hang of it....somewhat, and enjoyed the few minutes I had left in the beautiful water!

If you look closely, the guy in the centre is Jock - Pauline's, husband (Hamels Fabrics)

Antigua was the next stop. I was surprised at how aggressive the people where in port, trying to sell stuff!!
We had a tour booked for that port as well, a Jeep Safari! That was avery fun! We drove in an open aired Jeep that seated 8 people. The driver (who drives on the right side by the way!!) Had a microphone and told us all sorts of interesting facts about the island. I learned it take a pineapple 16 months to grow to full size!! We then had a chance to swim at a beach, our first opportunity to swim in the ocean so far!!

Our next port was Tortola. Now if you are like me - you maybe hadn't even heard of this island before! It's a part of the British Virgin Islands, and it was beautiful! I wish we had more time in each port, but such is the way when you are cruising! At this port we had a tour booked that took us to on a beautiful book ride to see the scenery, dropped us off at an amazing beach for a few hours, complete with a burgers and drinks! This my friends is where I really and truly burned!

Our last port was Nassua, Bahamas. At this port we nothing planned, just a little poking around, maybe a little shopping!

It was a fabulous trip! We all had a ton of fun! There's so much more I could say, but I don't want to bore you with the details! I'll leave you with a few more pics!

If you want to see even more pics - check out our Facebook page!

A Day of Hookey!

Hello Folks!
Well if anyone reads this blog you know Shelley is away right now on a cruise with Jeanne. So who is this? This is Jo!  Office manager of the Quilt Patch. I know fancy title for a job that really means " girl that does a little bit of everything from looking after the office, and orders, to cleaning the bathrooms". So you kind of get the picture. Well the girls and I decided today that we should have a day of Hookey! So that is what we are trying to do. It's not working out too bad  we are still helping customers if one happens to stop in, and yes there have been a few. We did think about putting up a "closed for the day" sign but thought that might be pushing our luck a bit much. So I am now going to try and post a picture of our sewing room aka office! Here I go!

Hmmm Not sure if that worked apparently I am not very tekky!  Ya hoo!!! omigosh I did it! Ok Well there is Yvonne on the right and Rebecca on the left and my sewing machine at the front. A little crowded but it works!
Ok gotta get back to Hookeying just wanted to let you in on what was happening while the girls are away! I hope Shelley doesn't see this hehehe! Gotta say hi to Elaine cause I'm pretty sure she will read this! Keep the lid on this I don't wanna get in trouble!!

Paris Flea Market, Red bikinis and FREE patterns!

So we leave for our quilting cruise in just 8 days!! Thank goodness cause this cold weather is making me crazy! I am chilled to the bone and have had about enough! Having said that, I ordered a bikini on line! Not just any bikini - but one that is flaming red and guaranteed to make me look younger and slimmer! (ok - I made that last part up!)

But if you're gonna wear a bikini - you'd best have some confidence, so watch out people, here I come!

Onto real quilting topics....some of you may remember this delicious collection that came out about ohhhhh, nine years ago or so. It was called Paris Flea Market and it was a collection by 3 Sisters for Moda. This collection was HOT!!! People just couldn't get enough of this soft collection. Well guess what??? They've brought it back!! I know! We couldn't believe it either!!

This is a really rare occurance. I've never seen it happen where they rerelease a collection like this.
But hey, We are not looking a gift horse in the mouth!!! We have this delicious collection coming in any day now!  We have a plan for it as well - so watch for the project! As well, you can go to the Moda website and download a free project sheet using Paris Flea Market.

As well we are bringing in the latest Primitive Gatherings fabric so we can do the Warm Winter Blessings Block of the Month program!

It's going to start in September 2013. We are not quite certain of the exact price just yet, but the quilt finishes at about 56" x 65". The snowmen are made with wool, which is all included each month.
Watch for more details in the coming months as we hammer them all out!

If any of you are interested in using up some of your scraps, I posted a FREE pattern on our website today!

http://www.thequiltpatch.ca/free-quilting-patterns.htm

Enjoy!!!

So just remember - if you see something red and lumpy bobbing over in the Caribbean next week - don't be alarmed! It's just me, rocking my curves!!

Hacked!

Just when you think you've seen it all!! Yesterday I was going through the emails when I came upon one from a customer that stated I needed to deal with my website immediately....there were some issues that I would want to take care of, because when you click in a certain spot it opens 'you know what'. Actually....I didn't 'know what'! I was clicking away trying to figure out what she was trying to tell me, and I just couldn't seem to see anything amiss with the website.....so I moved on to a few other items on my to do list. Later when Jo came down to my office, I asked her to read the email and see what she thought it meant.....and we clicked some more.....then Jeanne came down, and now all three of us are clicking and navigating the website, hovering over the screen wondering just what this customer was talking about when....BAM....YOUNG NAKED ASIAN GIRLS!!!
Well there it was.....'you know what'. Now we knew!
Somehow, someway, not just one, but three links had been hacked on our website that lead you to 'you know what'! Well, honestly....we laughed pretty hard, cause seriously.....you think quilter ladies are going to spend their money on naked young women? I think not!! I think they would just be pissed off that the link didn't take them to the latest quilt kit we had to offer!!
So I very quickly broke the link - reported the offence, made some security changes, and moved on.
I do apologize if anyone was offended. Personally I would have liked to see naked men, but hey, no one asked me!

We had some new art work brought in by local artist Andrew Meredith. If you enjoy quilts, you will certainly enjoy his work. He loves to paint quilts!!

Quilt In Crescent Park

This is the limited edition print we currently have at the shop. Quilts in Crescent Park can be purchased framed or unframed. If you look very closely you can see that the quilt in the centre is Row Flowers, a quilt designed here at The Quilt Patch using our very own Shasta fabric!

Rustic Breeze

Up close and Colorful

Both Rustic Breeze and Up Close and Colourful are original framed paintings that he brought for us to sell here at The Quilt Patch. No prints available, but he will making cards using these images.
I love love love the Rustic Breeze painting!!
Andrew is working on more quilt paintings using our next fabric collection - Wallflowers! That's very exciting for us!!


Until next time, please let me know if you happen to see any nakedness on our website, or call or email for more information on these one of a kind paintings! xo

The WTF gift!!!

Its not everyday you receive a gift that makes you wonder wtf?? (For those of you who don't know what wtf means.... ask an 8 year old! Hee hee - just kidding...it means What the F@#*!) I was the recipient of such a gift yesterday! It was given to me from Flo. A staff member here at The Quilt Patch.
Apparently the look on my face when I opened such gift was priceless...all I remember thinking is...WTF!? And then laughing! She gave me.....are you ready for this.....

A MERMAN!!! He even comes with his very own stand to ummm...swing from! Oh my we've had fun with him! I wanted to put him down in my office but the girls wouldn't hear of it!! They want him to remain in the upstairs office for all to admire! They've decided he needs a name - something sexy.....the name Jake was proposed....so if any of you want to toss a sexy name out....Fred was squashed down already.....
So yesterday we tossed around different scenarios for ummm, Jake. We thought that Jake would be a fun addition on our cruise in February! I think Jake would look fabulous with a string around his neck dangling like a necklace while we teach the class on the cruise. We tossed around having Jake making his rounds to everyone on the cruise! If Jake arrives in your possession you must wear him until you can slip him to someone else without them knowing that Jake is now theirs to wear until they also can slip him to the next person!

However today at The Quilt Patch it's quite chilly - and with Jake being darn close to naked......

We thought Jake could use a scarf, and a festive setting! Again this morning Jake brought smiles, giggles and laughter to The Quilt Patch! There are plans in the works to make Jake a cape, and maybe some other articles of clothing!
Once again....December at The Quilt Patch is filled with laughs, good times and giggles!
So thank you Flo for such a fun, giggle inducing, wtf questioning gift!

Quilt Patch Christmas Party 2012!!

I know, I know, you sign up for this blog, you faithfully check the blog, you WANT to see what I will blog about....and then I ditch the blog for well over a month! Yep. I am a crappy blogger. HOWEVER.....I have some great pics and an amazing evening to share with you today! Last night was our annual Quilt Patch staff Christmas party! Every year Jeanne I start planning months in advance for a fabulous evening! Every second year we do a party where the husbands or significant others are invited, and this happened to be the ladies only year!

It does get harder and harder each year to come up with something fabulous to equally match the amazing time our staff had the previous year! Sometimes they talk about these parties for years! In previous years there have been scavenger hunts, limos, shopping races, cheesecake trophies, always amazing food, lotsa laughs and a great time! So this year we started with an amazing meal at a well kept secret here in Moose Jaw, Cordova Bistro. It's a cute Italian restaurant with amazing food and excellent service!

As the ladies were dining we presented them with the next phase of their evening (we NEVER tell our staff what our plans are for the evening in advance of the party!! NEVER! It's always a huge surprise!)

Luckily, the walk from the restaurant to the theatre was very short, cause look at these girls holding each other up.....

Ok that was a joke, it was very very icy, and you can't tell, but they are all wearing very cute, but not practical SK winter boots!

Now for those of you who don't know, Rory Allen is kind of a big deal here in Saskatchewan. He's an amazing Elvis impersonator, and a fun entertainer. I personally had never been to one of his shows, but i have to say, at first I kinda thought....oh geez....maybe this is a bit lame for our xmas party....but HOLY CRAP was i wrong!! It was a fantastic show and I would highly recommend if you ever have the chance to go and see him! He's a great singer and puts on a great show!

Soon he was out and wandering among the seats!! He was singing to Rebecca and Jo which was hilarious!!

And yes, that guy standing behind him, is his bodyguard. Not kidding! At first I thought it was a joke, but then he explained to the audience that he had to implement that after a show where women where acting like he really was Elvis and coming on stage and clawing at him and generally acting quite bizarre in my opinion! Obviously those ladies don't get out much!

We had a quick glass of wine, bathroom break and visits during intermission. Finally managed to get all of the girls in one spot for a photo!!

Front row from left to right:
Charlene - who keeps our books and does all that governmenty stuff for us!
Jeri - Our youngest staff member at 19 who could quilt circles around any of us!!
Jo - This one keeps the store running!!!
Flo - She teaches every class we hold!! You should see the groupies she has!!
Back row from left to right:
Yvonne - Jo's right hand!
Edna - Jeanne's Mom and pattern folder extroirdinare! Does way too much for us for nothing but wine!
Colleen - You may not see her here a lot - but she does all the planning for our Crescent Park Show!!
Rebecca - our UK import! The newest member of our staff!! Has fit in with us amazingly!!
Janice - our weekend girl! Soon to be starting a new phase in her life and we'll be saying good by!

Not wanting the evening to end, we made the quick walk back to the shop for a round of gift openings!
Jeanne and I bought some great gifts and each lady was able to choose a gift from under the tree, or was able to steal an already opened gift!

And lest you think...why would these ladies plan something for a Tuesday evening then make those poor girls come in the next day?? We gave each of those ladies the day off today.
Wanna know who is working today??

Yep. Us. Oh alright, and young Rebecca! Maybe we'll all take turns napping in the back room this afternoon!!

 So from all of us at The Quilt Patch to you and yours, have a very Merry Christmas!!!