Online Shop!

I know, I know it has been forever.  But I have been busy.  ;)

But I plan to be more active in blogging as I have a new endeavor and want to share.  Bobbins 'n Threads has an online shop now, specializing in Double Gauze Fabrics.  I have fallen in love with Big Stitch hand quilting the past year and especially on Shannon Fabrics Embrace 100% Cotton Double Gauze.  I like this for quilting because it has a grid on it and I can just follow the lines...those who know me know I hate prep work...I just layer, pop in a frame and quilt!

I have several bolts in the the Studio and online and just got my shipment of needles and some notions...ones that I like to use.  I still have to decide on what brand of perle cotton #8 thread I will get in, DMC or Presencia.  But that decision will be made in the next day or so.



And I will have kits available. Everything included...two pieces of double gauze, needles, batting and perle cotton.  Everything but the binding.  You can dive right in!  And I hope to post tutorials.

The little quilts I have done are so cuddly and quilty...the feel of an old quilt.  And I am still experimenting.  I have machine quilted it for a customer and that is what got me started taking a good look at it as a quilting medium.  Both machine and hand quilting.

I love the stuff!  I had made swaddles for my grandbabies a few years ago and my favorite cloth diapers were made from gauze *way back when*.  I had a gauze shirt and skirt that I loved and now will be exploring all kinds of uses for it.  It has become very popular for baby blankets, swaddles, burp cloths and clothing.  And it is so soft as it is 100% cotton and not the scratchy cotton and poly blend.

Anyhow, here is the URL of the shop:
www.bobbinsnthreads.com and check out the pretty new logo!

A few pictures:

The very first baby quilt..double gauze, cotton batting, perle cotton #8

All cozy and cuddly straight from the washer and drier. 

The newest one..trying to take pictures as I go for tutorials.

And this is what started it all...a customer quilt...double gauze, cotton batting and it was either fleece or minky on the back.  It quilted up beautifully.

And it is not just for baby quilts...I will be piecing two lengths of it soon and loading it on one of the machines and experimenting with straight lines of different colors of thread.  I have a lot of solid colors in stock as it is not just for babies.  I have also discovered *Kantha* quilts and would love to start doing something similar.  Out of gauze and not saris.  It is truly just mindless big stitches or you can be as intricate as you want.

And speaking of machine quilting..yes, I have continued to be very busy.  I am not going to post all the quilts that have been finished in the past year (gulp), but will start with July.  Those on Facebook can see the Customer Quilts in the Photos  (click here)

That's it for now..quilts are waiting to be quilted.  Hasn't it been a lovely summer!

More soon!
Warmly,
Jude

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day Card <click here>

I cannot believe it is March already! And our March snow(s) are here so I am glad to be up in the Studio cozy and warm.  :)

We purchased a new car (finally) two day's ago on Rudi's birthday so he was a happy guy.  We bought our last car on his birthday as well, so it seems to be a tradition for us.  I suppose it helps that it is usually during spring break...

Our old Buick was just getting so uncomfortable to sit in after eleven years and all the long trips we had taken in it and although I am missing it, the new CR-V is pretty awesome.  Complicated, but awesome.  Rudi took it to work today to see how it drives in the snow.  I was too chicken to drive him to work in it today.  ;)

Here are some pictures of the Star Wars quilt I made and sent to the family...it was so much fun to do! It was a panel and I added borders to it and pieced the back with the leftover fabric.

And...after almost a year of hand quilting, I finally finished the wholecloth crib quilt.  Here it is after being gently washed to get all the markings out.  It was a pre-marked quilt top as those who know me well know that I hate prep work and these little pre-marked kits work for me.  I have actually ordered two more as I want to do some experimenting on the longarm with them.  I used silk batting and the finished quilt is so light and soft.  Love it.

And some things I found on the internet:

• Another way to hang quilts <click here>
• How to do Pantographs with the HQ Simply 16 <click here>
• Applique circles method <click here>
• Machine applied binding method <click here>

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We are having another Machine Maintenance Day!  Techs from Blakeman's will be here on Friday, April 8th starting at 9am.  Give me a call at 307-745-3200 or email me at bobbinsnthreads@gmail.com if you would like to be put on the list. 

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 The latest Handi Quilter promo "Celebrate National Quilting Day" is still available until March 21st!  So, if you are interested in a new HQ quilting system, contact me and I would be glad to offer you free shipping.

  

And if you are in the market for a gently used system, it is time to sell my Demos!  I have the new Simply Sixteen and Little Foot Frame to offer, a Sweet 16 sit down system with a Hide Away cabinet and Tru Stitch stitch regulator, and the Avante on a Studio Frame with or without the Pro Stitcher computer.  They all work beautifully and, as with any machine you purchase, you receive support and training from me.  If you are interested, just holler!  

Finally, some customer quilts, 3 months worth (I really should blog more often....)

As always, thanks for your continued support.  It means a lot!

Warmly,

Jude

Merry Christmas!

Click Here For a Christmas Card!

It is Christmas already and next week will be a brand new year!  I am looking forward to 2016 and to continuing  to quilt for my wonderful customers.  Who knows what this new year will bring.  :)

Since I do have a new little granddaughter (Elodie), I had to make a little smocked Christmas dress for her.  It is very tiny and made out of soft cotton batiste.  My grandsons' (Quinn & Oliver) Christmas package seems to be late in the delivery to Canada and I am sad about that but we cannot control the nasty weather and wind we had that would have delayed it.  But it will get there eventually and I hope they like what their Nana made them.  All three grandbabies have my heart.  :)

Elodie's First Smocked Dress

My favorite pattern for little bishops

I finished my last customer quilt of the year last week and it was a beauty.  I loved it so much that I had to get the pattern.  It is paper pieced and those of you who know me well know that I detest paper piecing.  But this quilt was so stunning that I will dive in anyway.  ;)

African Samba quilting design

 Some more quilts have been coming in this week but it will be January when I start back in.  Next week is counting inventory and doing my year end.  <sigh>

Ebay sales have been good and I will be restocking homespuns after the new year and will probably also put some threads on there.  Also, before I forget, I used a black polyester batting from Quilters Dream on that last quilt up there and I loved it!  So, a case of queen size packages will be here this week.  No room for a roll....  ;)

I have been working on the new Simply 16 and Little Foot Frame and I absolutely love it!  It is great for custom quilting because it is a light machine and it moves like a dream.  I have done some teeny tiny stippling and some ruler work on it and it was very easy.  The machine moves so well that after a bit I did not even need to use a ruler for the stitch in the ditch.

And I did find out that you can retrofit the Sweet 16 sit down machine to the frame so the best of both worlds!

Thank you for your continued support and I wish you all a wonderful holiday.  See you next year!  :)

Warm Regards
Jude

Pictures of customer quilts finished the last few months...I have been busy....  LOL!  All caught up and back to a 2 week or sooner turnaround!  :)