, It's your "Sew in the Know" March Newsletter

Sew in the Know Newsletter!

Have you ever wondered HOW to get your kitchen counters to shine, shine, shine - despite several dozens of wipe-downs?

Maple syrup. No need to apply with a damp cloth - simply spill while still hot when filling your syrup bottles - it will spread all on it's own. AND yes, it works on floors too!

You guessed it - it's maple syrup time here!

Last month I let everyone know we would be making maple syrup this spring! What an adventure! And right in the middle of it all I had a long distance customer drop in to pick up a quilt.

She got the tour and took home a bottle of liquid gold!

Here is Al outside the sugar shack he built last fall. It's tucked into the edge of the woods near the trails he is building. 33 acres of trails......

WHEN are YOU dropping in?

NEWS! WORKSHOPS WITH GUILDS

I have been asked to teach 2 workshops for quilt guilds and I am sooo excited. Both workshops are my "No Waste Quick Finish" quilt workshops. You can read more about those below...

Moraine Quilt Guild - May 8th

Region of York Quilter's Guild - October 19th

If you belong to a Guild and would like a workshop - let me know!

AND - earlier this month was International Women's Day - so I have highlighted a few women in business that I know. I am honoured to be friends with many women in business to know many more as clients and friends.

Finally - aside from my shiny counter tops and other maple messes - there are a few ideas you may want to read about - so stick with me (pun intended) and keep reading.

And......keep on quilting!

Mandie (the quilter)

Located in Limerick (Near Bancroft) Ontario, she travels hither, thither and yon to spread quilting merriment!

March 18th 2024

Born to be WILD!

I have always loved living in the wilds. Alberta. British Columbia. North of HWY 7, Ontario! I have been lucky to have experienced all sorts of wilderness living and now I am finding all kinds of fabric that represents the wilderness. Wilderness quilts are now my obsession!

Here is one I have for sale in a local store - The Old Hastings Merchantile and Gallery - a couple of kilometers away.

More information about wilderness fabrics and panels below......

No Waste Quick Finish Quilt Patterns Now Available

We have all done it.... found a great fabric (or several) that we absolutely have to have - and bought well, "one meter of this one, and one and a half meters of that one - oh and I guess I better have a third.. is there another here that co-ordinates?"

Been there, done that. AND even worked behind the counter selling that!

Well no more waste....read more here

Have a pattern in mund you would like re-written as a "No Waste Quick Finish" pattern? Let me know - maybe I can tackle it for you!

Request pick-ups here

Tomorrow - Tuesday the 19th I will be on KIng, Aurora, Burlington and Hamilton.

Wednesday the 20th, I will be in Woodstock and Norwich, Otterville area and returning home through Bethany and Peterborough.

"Celebrating Women in Business"

I am no stranger to re-invention - as are many of the resilient women I know. In fact I think being a woman is synonomous with resilience. In an earlier life I started and ran a Women's Support Network for 9 years that supported and promoted Women in Business. I met hundreds of amazing women with great ideas and businesses. So in honour of some of the women in my life who run small businesses - I thought I would highlight a few of them.

Click on the image and the link will take you to their businesses. Let's support one another!

If you know and want to support a woman in business - send me their info and I will continue to promote them next month!

Quilter's Resources

Before you send your quilt to have it long-armed.....

Recently I saw a cool saying - about taking a "victory lap" around your quilt before you send it to be quilted. This got me to thinking about how many 'little' things we miss in the excitement of finishing our quilt tops!

Other than the basic things we think about like "how' we want it quilted and the batting we want to use - there are a few other mundane things we need to consider before we send it off.

You can download a great document here that lists the things we should all consider before we call it "ready" to be quilted.

And yes...I too get excited about a new project nearing the finish line.... but my best work has been completed only after I walked away for a few minutes - and sometimes a few days and then returned to re-check for small issues that can turn into bigger problems later!

Other services

Did you know.....

There are some other service that you can take advantage of including:

Serging edges of quilted quilt - for easier binding application

Apply binding to the back of the quilt for hand stitiching

Prepare binding

Cut leftover backing fabric into 2 1/2 inch strips

Piece backing

Prepare, attach and machine stitch binding to finish your quilt

Create 2 colour label - plain or fancy
Supply batting
Supply backing
Press and straighten backing

Be sure to ask for any of these when you need them!

3 Quilt Kits Now Available!

These quilt kits are going FAST......

Want to start and finish a quilt top in one day? Maybe quilting is your stress relief. If so why not spend 90 minutes after work each day working woth beautiful fabrics and you can have a quilt done by Saturday!

These pre-cut kits are don't require time to cut them out - they are pretty much ready for assembly! Open the kit - start sewing. The kits include all you need for the quilt top - AND the binding. YES - all are precut - including the borders and binding. All you need to do is SEW!

Each of these quilts come with the pattern - and you CAN finish the tops in ONE DAY - with NO WASTE. SO without further adieu - they are listed below. You can purchase them WITH or WITHOUT shipping. If you piurchase them without shipping - I will deliver the kit(s) with your next pick up or delivery.

You can click on the pictures or purchase here. (Checkout is a secure gateway)

Limited panels - patterns coming

NEW Panels

I have a few panels left over from kit making that I am making available.

Next month I will have patterns I have developed to go with the panels

Email me if you want any of the panels. I also have co-ordinating fabrics in stock - so just ask and I will send photos of what I have in stock.

First come first served.

LIMITED QUANTITIES. Seriously - I only have a few available.

($12-$15) Shipping included or I can deliver with your quilts.

EASY PEASY - have you ever tried....

Recognize this block? It's the Hunder Star block - but BIGGER!

I got this idea from somewhere out there on the internet when searching for ideas for a baby quilt. This was so fast - a few HST's and square blocks. One big Hunter's Star in flannel.

Not every quilt needs to be itty bitty pieces. The finished look of this quilt was lovely. So go ahead and get creative. Enlarge a block you love - use low contrast fabrics and VOILA - a quilt in no time at all!

P.S. Make a tone of HST's quickly using this tutorial.

Step away from the Sewing Machine...

Many years ago I took coaching training from Jack Canfield. (Remember Chicken Soup for the Soul?) I learned a great success principle - a life concept called, "Clean up your messes".

The premise was that starting a project and not finishing it causes us undue stress. We carry the "failure to complete" around with us in our subconscious and it makes us feel unsuccessful.

I know, I know, the project was not going well - so we stash it in a cupboard. Push it back to the very back, behind the hidden M&Ms, Fracktals or chip bag we have hidden away for those OTHER stressful moments. Maybe if we leave it there long enough we can forget how much we spent on it and how many hours we worked on it - only to have it look like..... well - let's just say it's not how we wanted it to look.

Wonky corners. Wobbly borders. Colours that SUCK when put together. Stuff it, stuff it, back under the mending that has been there for years, back, back, back to the very back corner. Scrunch it up as small as you can! GO AWAY you terrible project! If we are lucky maybe we can find it several years from now and "DARN the mice got into it!"