Happy First Day of Autumn!

But I am sorry to see summer go.  It has been so nice this year.  We are still harvesting zucchini and tomatoes but I think after this weekend they will be pretty much finished.  It is supposed to be miserable.  That's okay.  Quilting weather is coming.  :)

The online shop is getting more things in!  I hope to have more baby print double gauze in soon as it is the most popular so far.  My current project is Sand and Ivory solids for a couch snuggle quilt, 2 yards of each, Quilters Dream Request cotton batting and I am big stitch quilting it in various beige colors of Finca perle cotton 8.  It always amazes me how quickly these quilts get finished just sitting and working in front of the tv at night.  No marking..just follow the little grid lines in the double gauze! The meandering you see is the basting that I do on the longarm for hand quilting projects.

There is a tutorial on my online shop if you are interested:
Big Stitch Tutorial

We had a Big Stitch Class at Quilt Essentials a few Saturdays ago and it was so much fun!  The students practised on Halloween and Xmas panels and they picked it up very quickly. So proud of them! If you would like me to teach any classes, contact Kara at QE and let her know.  We are always open to suggestions!

Speaking of hand quilting...I finished the project that we worked on last winter...a preprinted Tulip wholecloth pillow panel and I used heirloom hand quilting, big stitch quilting and hand embroidery on it.  Yes, finally finished, stuffed with a pillow form and tossed on the bed!

And speaking of preprinted wholecloths...I will be carrying some!  I cannot resist as they are my favorite thing to hand quilt and you can heirloom quilt them, big stitch quilt them, use colored threads, trapunto them, embroider them and machine quilt them!  I hope to place an order next week.  If there is anything specific you would like me to get for you, just holler and I will add it to the order.  There are pillow panels/mini wholecloths, crib quilts and large quilts.  You can see the selection at The Stencil Company.

A wholecloth crib quilt that I finished a few years ago...laying out to dry after soaking off the preprinted marks

QE has YLI quilting thread in stock and I carry some Superior Threads Treasure.  There are more and more hand quilting threads being offered out there, now, and I am going to test some. Right now I am most interested in trying Aurifil 28wt as some hand quilters I admire use it and I want to see how it quilts.

For Big Stitch, anything goes!  But my current favorite is Presencia Perle Cotton 8, which I carry.  And QE has some also.

Let's see...what else...

Handiquilter is having a promo right now for Demo Days, ending September 25th:

I have an Avante on a 12ft Studio Frame, with or without the Pro Stitcher computer, and a Sweet 16 sit down system with TruStitch regulator and very heavy cabinet for sale.  If you are interested please contact me at 307-745-3200 or email me at bobbinsnthreads@gmail.com

Customer quilts so far this month:

And still more on the rack to finish by the end of the month.  :)  I love my job"!

Warmly,
Jude
307-745-3200
bobbinsnthreads@gmail.com
www.bobbinsnthreads.com

Online Shop and Last Days of Handi Quilter Promo!

Well, I have been working very hard on the Online Shop! What a learning experience.  But it is now up and running.  Still lots to be done but it is getting there.  The Double Gauze is there and the Perle Cotton thread, some Needles & Notions and a Tutorial for making the little quilts. I have sold a few kits and will be learning more about promoting in the next few weeks.  I love this stuff.  ;)

One of the little kits

Two little double gauze quilts all washed and dried and cuddly!

Handi Quilter has a great new promo which will be finished in a few days!  I will be putting more Handi Quilter things on the online shop in the next little while and if you have any questions, just holler!

And the customer quilts have also been coming along.  Will post pictures in the next blog.  I wanted to get the Handi Quilter Promo out to you before it expires.

The eclipse is on Monday and I am really looking forward to it.  Hopefully the weather will be good. It is amazing to me how people are flocking to Wyoming for this!

Enjoy the weekend!

Jude

www.bobbinsnthreads.com

bobbinsnthreads@gmail.com

307-745-3200

Christmas is Coming Up! And lots to share....

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving!  I don't know about you, but we will be *celebrating* all weekend long because of all the leftover food....   ;)

Thanksgiving Card  <click here>

I have been crazy busy with customer quilts this month and will continue to be crazy busy until right up to Christmas Eve, I expect.  Thank you all for your continued support.  I have the best customers (and friends!) in the world.  :)

Okay...Handi Quilter is having a great promo right now and you can read about it here:

http://www.handiquilter.com/specials/ 

 
If you have any questions or wish to take advantage of the free shipping and/or the financing option, just give me a holler!

My new demo Sweet 16 will be here today.  This time I ordered the Hideaway cabinet and the TruStitch stitch regulator with it.  The cabinet closes up to a tidy little unit! You can read about it here:
http://www.handiquilter.com/shop/product/hq-hideaway-table/

 Come on by and try it out!

Spark Naturals is having a free shipping and a discount promo today!  I am making my list as we *speak*.  On top of the free shipping and the discount on the Sale Items listed, if you use coupon code bobbins at checkout, you receive another 10% off your order.  Sweet deal!  :)

Spark Naturals Black Friday Holiday Sale <click here>

With Christmas coming up so quickly, there is a lot of Christmas quilting going on!  My December thread order from Superior Threads is due next week so if there is any thread that you need for your Christmas quilting/sewing, let me know by Tuesday of next week and I will add it to my order.  I do have King Tut and So Fine reds and greens in stock and I have metallics as well as machine embroidery threads.  Give me a call if there is something you need and I will put it aside for you or include it with my order on Tuesday.

Superior Threads <click here>

Here are some things I have come across on the internet:

I will be making a bunch of these for gifts!
http://icanfindthetime.blogspot.com/2010/07/sewing-machine-pin-cushion.html

Paula Storm has great Sweet 16 tutorials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7TlWi8a3eQ&feature=em-subs_digest-vrecs

Binding with the Sweet 16:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/DQ4x4uNSh3c?feature=player_embedded%20binding%20with%20hq%2016

Quilt as you go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpMqp_3cEWI#t=347

I have put some more things on my Ebay Store...the Quilty Jewelry that is left as well as some of the Christmas retail that I had in my shop (placemats and tablerunners).  They will be up for a few more weeks but after that I will donate them.  There are also some embroidered towels here and a Christmas quilt...machine embroidered snowflakes ornaments, angles, bookmarks and suncatchers...a bunch of stuff on a table up here in the studio.  Oh!  And a bunch of Rag Rug frames - half off!  I am going to try to find some time to put them all on ebay, as well.  But if you are interested in any of the things on sale, let me know and come on by!

Bobbins 'n Threads Ebay Shop <click here>

 And...lots of quilting happening at the Studio!

Whew!  I think I will take today off!  LOL!

Warm Regards,
Jude
bobbinsnthreads@gmail.com
307-745-3200

Quilt Jewellery Sale....

Remember the Quilty Jewelry that I had in the store?  I still have them here in the home studio and have decided they need new homes.  So....I am selling the pieces at 50% off!

There are several flag pins, a few pendants, and some scissor fobs and bracelets.  And 2 pairs of earrings.  All miniature quilt blocks, paperpieced.  Amazing things.

If you are interested in seeing them and purchasing, contact me at 307-745-3200 or email me at bobbinsnthreads@gmail.com.






Are you fans of Bonnie Hunter?  This week The Quilt Show has an episode with Bonnie and it is free until May 25th. Here is the info on Bonnie's blog:

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2014/05/free-to-my-readers-watch-my-episode-1410.html

I love her scrap system and use it.  Okay, I have LOTS of scraps and some of them are cut using the system.  ;)  I do have a few of her books and there are several quilts I want to sew up but I also love many of the freebies on her website.

Free Scrap Quilt Patterns...along the left hand side of her site:
http://quiltville.com/

THREADS
 Okay, since I haven't had the time to do a big threads post, I will do them bit by bit.  People have been asking what threads I carry and their various uses.  I use mainly Superior Threads.  I like the company...they have wonderful quality and their customer service is amazing.

So Fine cone #516 Gondola Gold
I use this color a lot!

My favorite thread is 50 wt So Fine.
http://www.superiorthreads.com/product/brand/so-fine-50/

I carry the first 50 colors in the spool size (550 yds) and have almost all of the cones (3280 yds)...I add to the stock every month.  The spools are $5.95 and the cones are $16.90.  It is a fine, polyester thread with medium sheen, smooth and very clean.  I use it for machine quilting, piecing, regular sewing, hand sewing (it is GREAT for hand sewing bindings...it doesn't twist like cotton does) and for serging.  I wind up a few bobbins and put them on the serger instead of having to purchase several spools or cones.  Machine quilting with it is a breeze...I never have any problems.  And it is so clean and lint free that I don't have to worry about thread balls in the bobbin area.  It is also wonderful for hand applique and machine applique!  And I have also used it for heirloom sewing and for couching!

I like to quilt with it because it is so fine that it is an excellent compliment to my customers' quilt tops.  The quilting does not take over the design.  It is perfect for stitch in the ditch and for dense background quilting because it is so fine that the design does not look thready.  In the longarm I use either a 16 or 18 needle and in the sewing machine I use an 8.

And I use it in the bobbin when I use other threads on top.  For instance, with King Tut or any other variegated or thicker thread.  I find that it is easier to tension the threads when I use a finer thread in the bobbin and I don't get as many *pokies*.  When variegated thread is used in the top and bottom, sometimes you get pokies of colors you may not want to see on the top.  The So Fine in the bobbin in a medium color that matches the variegation on top helps to eliminate that.

And I have found that I can use it in the bobbin when I use monofilament thread on top.  Some people prefer a cotton in the bobbin as it sort of *catches* the monofilament thread and stitches better but I have never had a problem with using polyester thread in the bobbin.  It depends, of course, on the monofilament used.  Sometimes you just have to play around with different combos.

So there you go!  It is an awesome, dependable, high quality thread.  And a cone lasts a very long time!  :)

If you have any questions, just give me a holler.  And remember...I order the first week of every month so if there is a color that I do not have yet or is sold out, I will put it with my monthly order for you and you will save on shipping.

Just finished this quilt today:

The picture does not do it justice!  This is a gorgeous quilt.

You cannot see the quilting design but it is called Pretty Paisleys.  I really love this pattern.  I used a Violet machine embroidery thread for the quilting and it suits the quilt beautifully...just a bit of a sheen.

Well, back to the machine.  Two blog posts in one week!   ;)

Enjoy the lovely weather!
Jude

Thread Order Time & Nifty Product for Machine Quilting!

The Most Beautiful Boys in the World
 

Hi All,

Been swamped with quilting this month (thank you!) so this blog post will be a quickish one.  I am waiting for some down time to do a post on threads and what I carry here for sale and what they can be used for.  But no time yet.  Stay tuned!

This week is the first of the month (May already!) and the time for my monthly thread order from Superior Threads.  If there is anything you would like to add to my order, just give me a holler at 307-745-3200 in the next day or so and I will add it.  Saves shipping costs for you!

www.superiorthreads.com

Also, on one of my quilting groups I found this really neat idea for helping to alleviate the dreaded *drag* of the heavy quilt while machine quilting.  And it seems to do the trick!  Check it out:

http://www.jennoop.com/suspenders.html

It can be used with domestic machines as well as the sit down quilting systems and I just betcha it would really help out.

Okay, the quilting machine is calling but here are a few pictures of the quilts I have worked on this month, so far:

Love this Kitty Quilt!

Adorable Scrappy Apple quilt

The back of the Scrappy Apple quilt...love this quilting design!

T-Shirt quilt!  With bubble Minky backing...love Minky....

This is a really pretty flannel quilt.

Bear, Moose & Pines quilting on this pieced and applique quilt...turned out really nice.

My favorite baby quilt pattern...I love quilting these...Baby Nines.

The back of the Baby Nines quilt - full custom

The picture does not do the colors of this quilt justice..it is so pretty!



Soothing spring colors in this Scrappy Pyramids quilt.

That's it for today.
Stay warm...and don't blow away...
Jude

Invisafil Thread is Here!

I love this thread from Wonderfil. It is a 2 ply 100wt soft polyester that has a matte finish. It is WONDERFUL for machine quilting as it is so fine, but strong, and it sinks into the fabric creating lovely texture. And it is a great alternative to clear monofilament thread! I also use it in my bobbin and it runs for *forever*...okay, not forever but longer than regular thread as it is so fine. I can also see it being used in heirloom sewing, blind hemming, couching...

...and for heirloom quilting. Since I am planning to get more and more into wholecloth quilting this is what I will use. The fineness of the thread is perfect for all the tight fills. And yes, I have all the colors in stock! :o)