To introduce the Quilter's Way Kit Designer, we are running a contest through Valentine's Day. Each time someone shares a quilt kit they designed in the Kit Designer between now and February 13, 2012, they can also submit an entry into the contest. On Valentine's Day 2012, one of these entries will be randomly selected and awarded a free queen-sized quilt kit (of their own custom design) valued at up to $200.

In order to enter, go to the Kit Designer, create a kit, and then share it with a friend or family member through Facebook, Twitter, or email. You can also embed the Kit Designer on your blog or website. When you choose your method of sharing, you will be given the option to submit an entry into the contest. There is no purchase necessary to enter the contest, and the more times you share a design, the more entries you receive for the drawing.

Go! Design! Play! Have fun! And good luck!

...to go comment on our blog tour wrap-up post for the chance to win a fat quarter pack!

 

Last Thursday, we had a Girl Scout troop from Stow in to take a tour and get a stitching lesson to earn their sewing badge. Jane showed them around the shop, and I worked with them--teaching them a running stitch on wool felt. Look at their beautiful work! Thanks for coming in, girls!

 

If you would like to bring your Girl Scout troop in for a badge tour and stitching lesson, contact the shop.

On Tuesday, Jen at A Quilting Jewel designed two quilts--a Twisting Again (shown below) and a Framed Square. She also included a nice tutorial about working with the Kit Designer, with screen shots. For her Twisting Again quilt, Jen used primarily the Modernology collection, but also pulled fabrics from Terrain, Oval Elements, and Magnolia Lane.

The Snow Stacks pattern proved to be popular among the bloggers in our tour, as two of them chose it as their focus quilt. On Wednesday, Aimee at Salt Marsh Designs played with the Modernology and Echo collections, then added some solids to "give the eye a place to rest."

Laurie at Dodging the Butterfly also worked with Snow Stacks, but look at how differently her quilt turned out, even though she used some Modernology, as well.

Pippa at Pippa Patchwork designed a bold Framed Square, using Supreme Solids. Each of these quilts are quite different, showing the versatility of the Kit Designer to assist with just about any taste.

Now, for the fun part! The giveaway! Choose one of the quilts above. Each of the quilts is actually an embeded link to the Kit Designer, so if you click on the quilt, it will take you to the design table for that quilt. Play around a little, then come back and comment with the ONE change you would make to make it YOUR quilt kit. Go! Play! Have fun! Then comment. Comments close at midnight on Thursday, January 26. We will draw a winner at random on Friday. Be sure to leave an email address so we can contact you. Prize is a four-pack of fat quarters from the Echo collection.

 

Today closes our blog tour, introducing the Kit Designer. Our last stop was with Laurie at Dodging the Butterfly. She also loved the Snow Stacks and mixed a few collections, resulting in the design below.

It's day four of our Blog Tour, introducing the Kit Designer. If you are just tuning in, this week five local bloggers agreed to work with our new tool and tell everyone how they like it. On Monday, Alice of alidiza designed a king-size quilt with Lotta Jansdotter's Echo fabric. Tuesday Jen at A Quilting Jewel treated us to "Modernology" take on our best selling pattern, Twisting Again. Yesterday, we loved what Aimee at Salt Marsh Designs did with the Snow Stacks pattern.Tomorrow the tour finishes up with Laurie at Dodging the Butterfly so make a note to stay tuned.

It's day three of our Blog Tour, introducing the Kit Designer. Today, Aimee at Salt Marsh Designs is posting her thoughts and quilt--a bold Snow Stack. Go visit her blog, and be sure to comment

Here is the schedule for the week:

It's day two of our Blog Tour, introducing the Kit Designer. Today, A Quilting Jewel is posting her thoughts. Go visit her blog, and be sure to comment

Here is the schedule for the week:

We are so excited today, because Quilter's Way Kit Designer is the focus of a sneak peak blog tour this week. Be sure to check out the blogs as they show you their own designs and talk about using the Kit Designer. Also, be sure to comment, as there are giveaways at each blog! 

Today, alidiza is posting her thoughts on the Kit designer. Go visit her blog! Here is the schedule for the rest of the week.

We may be into the second week of January, but articles and blog posts about new year's resolutions are still popping up all over the web. This year at Quilter's Way, we'd like to take a little different approach. Instead of making a list of all of the UFOs we're going to complete before buying any more fabric and setting other unrealistic goals that we'll break by the end of this week, we're going to focus on skills and products that have improved our lives as quilters--"If I knew then what I know now."

Do you remember the first time you put binding on a quilt? I remember thinking that it was the most non-intuitive part of quilting and that I would never get it right. I religiously followed the instructions from Diana McClun and Laura Nownes' Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! (still the "Quilting Bible" we recommend at Quilter's Way). I stared at their illustrations and mumbled "Huh?" for quite a while. Over the years, binding has become an easier process for me, but I still pull out that book from time-to-time to remind myself that I am doing it right.

About two years ago, I saw a picture of someone binding in a tutorial online, and it changed the way I completed the binding on my quilts. Where once it was a process I hated, using this new technique, my binding sped up exponentially. The revolutionary tool? Hair clips. While they weren't perfect, they held the many layers of the binding into place, so I wasn't forced to struggle with folding over the fabric and trying to keep it in place while stitching the binding to the quilt. I actually started to finish quilts!

Last year, Clover introduced a new product that is going to revolutionize binding AGAIN! These new Wonder Clip are just amazing! See what Fran from Clover had to say about the Wonder Clips at Quilt Market:

Wonder Clips were featured as a "Twelve Days of Savings" Item at Quilter's Way in December, and they have gotten rave reviews since then. I had to ask, though, are they really that wonderful? Will they really replace all those hair clips I've purchased for binding? I purchased a pack this week and brought them home to test on a UFO of my own.

For comparison, I started my little sample project by putting the old hair clips on the binding. This is a view of the back, where I would typically start the hand stitching. Next, I replaced the hair clips with Wonder Clips, to prepare for hand stitching:

The Wonder Clips have such a nice spring, and are definitely more appropriately sized for this job! Also, they don't snap out if the fabric is thicker than they would like. I am immediately impressed, and I now know that own an abundant supply of hair clips to loan out, because I will never be using them for binding my quilts again.

But, next I decided to be brave and try sewing the binding by machine, using the Wonder Clips, like Fran had described in the video. I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical, but I'll try anything once. I placed the Wonder Clips so that the clear flat edge was along the back side of the small quilt. Then I slid the piece into my machine.

They really did glide nicely along the machine, held the fabric layers in place, and even kept my troublesome corners in place. For someone like me that doesn't believe that I can put a binding on by machine and have it look nice, I was pleasantly surprised. Using the clips to as a guide for aligning the front and back edges of the binding really worked and now all I need is practice. I am not sure I would bind every quilt this way. I still like a hand-sewn blind stitch for my binding but I will use Wonder Clips whether I am binding by hand or machine.

As you will see below, my stitching is far from perfect, but for my first try, it's not terrible. Take a look at the front and back of the little quilt.

Verdict: Give your daughter back her hair clips -- switch to Wonder Clips by Clover. It really will revolutionize your binding.

Be sure to check in with us next week to find out about more things we would have done differently if we had known then what we know now. Have a great week!