National Quilting Day 2014 is March 15th
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
Are you doing anything special this year for National Quilting Day?
This year marks the 23rd anniversary of this celebration of quilt-making and quilters; it originated in 1991 with a resolution by the National Quilting Association and is always held the third Saturday in March.
Read MoreKnowing When to Leave Your Quilt Guild
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
Sadly, we sometimes find that a guild or a bee we’ve been a satisfied member of for some time has become more of a chore than a pleasure. We start finding excuses not to go, but we still hang on as a member because we remember how we used to love it.
Read MoreA Male Quilter’s Point of View
By Eric Suszynski, guest author
My name is Eric Suszynski, also known as, Eric The Quilter. I’ve been quilting for 14 months now, and I’ve been mildly productive. I’m at 20 quilt tops completed and 7 completed quilts, as well as a few quilted pillows and small things like that. I also run my own blog at www.ericthequilter.com.
Read More10 Ways You Know You’re a Quilter
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
You know you’re a quilter when….
- You see quilt patterns in carpet, wallpaper and bathroom tiles.
- Your rotary cutter slips and your first thought is to avoid getting blood on the fabric.
- You dream quilt designs.
Quilter Sews in Space
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
Karen Nyberg, astronaut and quilter, has released a photo of herself sewing in zero-gravity on the International Space Station.
Many quilters have been following her story since she lifted off May 29th on her way to her 6-month assignment on the Space Station, bringing with her some fabric, a few sewing tools and expressing her hope to do a little quilting during her relaxation time.
Read MoreQuilters Marry in Their Local Quilt Shop
Via press release from The Running Stitch, edited by Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
In what was surely the first wedding ever of its kind, Canadian quilters Susan and Robert (last names not released) were married July 13, 2013 at their local quilt shop, surrounded by over 2,000 bolts of fabric as well as by their friends, family, local quilt community, and a few unsuspecting customers who just thought they were coming in to look at fabric.
Read MoreWhen Your Honey Hates Your Hobby
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
As I’ve said before, my husband is a “quilting enabler” and I love that he supports my quilting passion as he does, but I’ve been thinking lately about the plight of those quilters whose spouses are unsupportive, dismissive, complaining, or outright angry about their quilting hobby.
Read MoreSpace Station Astronaut is a Quilter
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
Karen Nyberg seems like a lot of other quilters. She’s a working mom who learned to sew at an early age, has done both clothing and home décor sewing and makes lots of quilts as gifts.
What’s different? She’s also an astronaut!
Read MoreIf You Quilt It They Will Come
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
Have you noticed the unique phenomenon that happens whenever you have a quilt nearly finished? The perfect owner comes forward for it.
I’m a quilter. I’ve been a quilter for many years, but I don’t have a quilt on my own bed; I blame the “if you quilt it, they will come” factor for that.
Read MoreNational Quilting Day 2013
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
National Quilting Day is March 16th this year. This special holiday for quilters was started 23 years ago by the National Quilting Association.
Many quilt guilds celebrate quilting on this day by holding special workshops, retreats or by gathering to sew charity quilts. Individuals or on-line groups often celebrate by spending the day quilting, or by visiting their favorite quilt shops. One of the online forums I belong to has had a running joke for years about setting our sewing baskets out for “Quilta-Claus,” who brings good quilters gifts of thread or fabric on National Quilting Day.
Read MoreHow Long Did It Take?
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
This is a question many crafters dread. I know I do, but it seems I’m asked it almost every time I give someone a quilt.
“How long did it take?”
If you want to answer it seriously, do you include the years spent perfecting your skills, or the weeks or months you may have spent considering the pattern and gathering just the right materials? Do you add in the months or even years it may have spent as a UFO while you worked on other projects instead? Do you estimate the number of weeks or months you were actively working on it?
Read MoreIs Your Spouse a Quilting Enabler?
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
My husband is a Quilting Enabler. He wants me to buy the fabrics I love and the latest tools and gadgets. He likes me to sit beside him on the couch in the evening and see me quilting while he watches TV. He asks about the latest project or what I’m planning next. He loves every quilt I’ve ever made – even the ugly ones.
Read More10 Reasons to Enter a Quilt Show
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
- Yes, you are that good!
- It will increase your confidence in your quilting ability.
- It’s a good way to support your guild.
In Praise of White-Glove Ladies
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
All around the quilt show, the white-glove ladies are the helpful angels who allow the curious to see the secrets on the back sides of the hanging quilts.
Read MoreQuilting by the Surfer Code
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
I happened across an interesting WikiHow article the other day called “How to Live the Surfer Code” and I’ve been thinking about how the life lessons in the Surfer Code can also apply to quilting.
Read MoreAnnouncing the Quilt Guilds Project
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
Quilters deserve to quickly find accurate and complete guild information when they want it, not just in the US but worldwide.
There’s a lot of guild information out there, but it’s in bits and pieces all over and much of it is just plain wrong! I’ve gathered as much as I can from dozens of places and I couldn’t tell you how many abandoned guild links are out there, or how many times a guild website gave updated meeting information that wasn’t reflected in the older sources.
Read MoreHow to Beat Quilter’s Block
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
It’s happened to all of us at some point: even though we like to quilt, and want to quilt, and maybe even need to make a quilt, for some reason we just can’t seem to sit in that sewing chair and actually work on something. It can go on for days, weeks or even months and the frustration can just keep mounting as the desire to quilt fights with the inability to actually do it.
Read MoreHow Good Is “Good Enough”?
By Janelle Cahoon, Quiltcentric
There are quilters who make only heirloom quilts, who won’t tolerate a single blunted point or unburied knot, and there are other quilters who happily wave back at their wavy borders and quote their motto, “If you can’t see it from the back of a galloping horse, it’s good enough.”
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