Catherine Redford on Basting, Batting thickness, Domestic Machine and Webinar!

Catherine Redford was born in England where she learned to knit and sew at an early age. After relocating from London to Naperville, Illinois, she learned to quilt and has been stitching ever since. She's an award-winning quilter, an active member of her local guilds, a BERNINA brand ambassador, a popular teacher at local and national conferences, and the co-founder of the Naperville Modern Quilters Guild. Catherine is a frequent contributor to Modern Patchwork magazine and guest on Quilting Arts TV. She is the author of a QATV workshop DVD, Modern Machine Quilting and will be presenting a live webinar on Tuesday, June 23^rd.

My favorite part of making a quilt (after the fabric shopping bit…) is quilting it. From the time I make my first fabric selections to drafting a pattern, through cutting those fabrics into little pieces and stitching them back together, I’m thinking about how I am going to quilt my top.

I think my least favorite part is the basting but it’s so important it’s done right and it does give me the opportunity to see my finished top up really close and personal before it goes to the sewing machine… Basting is definitely an opportunity to listen to something good and think some happy thoughts!

When I first started quilting in 1998 there really weren’t a lot of readily available choices in the world of batting. I was introduced to Quilters Dream in 2003 when I started teaching at a local independent quilt store. With a choice of thicknesses and an ever-increasing choice of fibers I now use it almost exclusively for all my projects.

Working with Quilters Dream Cotton "Request" loft

To begin with I could never remember which was the loftiest loft. Now I just think “R” comes before “S” so Request is thinner than Select… I can always remember that! I use a lot of Request Cotton. It drapes so well and comes out of the bag ready to go. One of the simplest ways to get a large quilt through a domestic machine is to use a lower loft batting and Quilters Dream Cotton Request certainly fits the bill! 

Quilters Dream "Request" batting is the thinnest/lowest loft. 

Quilted using Quilters Dream Cotton "Request" loftWorking with Quilters Dream Cotton "Select" loft

If I want something heavier, such as for a wall hanging, I use the Select weight. I recently purchased king size batts in each weight and the Select one comes in a quite bit bigger bag! That makes a difference when you’re quilting a bed quilt.

Quilters Dream "Select" batting is the mid-loft. Excellent choice for hall hangings. 

Quilted wall hanging  using Quilters Dream Batting "Select"



Working with Quilters Dream Wool

I also like the Quilters Dream Wool. I like to put a cozy flannel fabric backing on my baby quilts but it does add to the weight. Wool batting is lighter and fluffier and balances the flannel. It washes really well. I have machine-washed and dried quilts with wool batting and I’m very happy with the results.

Quilted using Quilters Dream Wool



Join Catherine's webinar!

Now I’m enjoying travelling and teaching quilting techniques all over the USA and I always recommend Quilters Dream batting. I’m excited to be taking part in a live webinar next week. I’ll be sharing lots of my favorite techniques and tips for walking foot quilting on a domestic machine. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and get them answered at the end of my presentation.

Sign up is on line at http://www.shopfonsandporter.com/product/modern-machine-quilting-straight-lines-spirals-and-more .

 Each registration comes with access to the archived version of the program and the materials for one year. You do not have to attend the live event to get a recording of the presentation. You will receive a copy of the recorded presentation in an email that goes out within 1 week after the live event.

It sounds like fun to me. I hope you’ll join me.

Follow me on my blog at http://catherineredford.com or on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/catherineredfordquilter

Every day is an adventure!

 ~Catherine Redford

           

Guest Blogger: Nan Baker from Purrfect Spots is Wild about Bunnies!

Wild about bunnies!

Do you like bunnies? Well who doesn't like bunnies? They are so cute and soft and snuggly plus they make you think of Spring and Easter. And because I love bunnies, I designed a bunny quilt. But these are no ordinary bunnies. These adorable bunnies are the creation of the internationally famous watercolorist, Will Bullas. He has long been known in the art world for his fabulous paintings and many of them are of animals. However, Will has a wonderful sense of humor and that gives his art work a very different twist. He has received numerous awards and you can read all about him and see more of his artwork at by visiting his website.

I have known Will for almost 20 years.  I first used his designs in my needlework patterns featuring cross stitch.  Here are two of them shown in cross stitch.  "Dust Bunnies" is a favorite.

"Dust Bunnies"

Dust Bunnies was featured as a quilted wall hanging in The Quilt Pattern Magazine (March 2014).  Quilters Dream Wool was used in that quilt as well. 

"The Recruit",  in cross stitch is one of the blocks featured in the bunny quilt. No matter whether you are doing cross stitch or quilting, the bunnies are great designs.

"The Recruit"

After working with Will's images in needlework, I was delighted to be able to do a quilt adaptation. The result is my latest quilt called "Bullas Bunnies"!

"Bullas Bunnies"

Not only are the bunnies adorable with lots of personality, but the names that Will has given them are priceless. He has a wonderful sense of humor.

Starting at the top left and going across are:

 Hare Style with a bowtie. Hareball with a baseball – think Spring training. Easter Fashion  - the baby duck and chick have bunny ears. Cottontails and Cute Buns(no comment needed here). The Recruit (shown earlier in cross stitch) shows a baby duck with his bunny ears. Bunnet all decked out in her Easter Bonnet. Honeybun has a bee on his nose. Baby Talk shows cute baby chicks and a baby bunny.

The fabrics used in this quilt are by Hoffman using mostly their 1895 Watercolor Collection. Because of the painted look of the fabrics, it is just "purrfect" to use for the bunnies as it gives them a natural shading. You can add more shading if you want, but many times it is not necessary. The speciality threads that make all the cute expressions on the bunnies' faces are by Kreinik Threads. Working with the threads, you can make the long whiskers on the bunnies plus give them eyelashes and ear fuzz! I even used their iron-on ribbon to make the bee in Honeybun. 

But one question you might ask is how did these bunnies get so fluffy? Well thanks to Quilters Dream Batting, their Dream Wool did the trick. I had never quilted with wool or a "puffy" loft, so I was a little apprehensive. I checked with the staff at Quilters Dream, told them about the quilt and what I was trying to accomplish. Their suggestion was Dream Wool. The quilt measures 46" x 63" just a little larger than a throw. I don't have a long arm machine, just a regular sewing machine so it looked like a monumental task. And with the extra "fluff" I wondered how it was going to work. (Picture 6) 

Well my worries were unfounded. Dream Wool was very easy to work with and not real bulky like I had feared. I must tell you it quilted like a dream (Oh I think that is their saying.) But it is true and if you haven't tried it, I urge you to do so. And if you have any questions their great staff will be more than happy to help you. 

I hope you like the Bullas Bunnies pattern and when you do start making those bunnies, I hope you will share pictures of your bunnies and your quilt. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to let me know. I also would like to thank Quilters Dream Batting for allowing me to share my story about the bunnies on their blog.

~Nan Baker

Website: www.purrfectspots.com
Blog: www.purrfectspots.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PurrfectSpotsDesigns
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/purrfectspots/
 Patterns: Quilt Woman.com

Flourishing Palms/ Linda Hungerford

Featured #battgirls- (June 2014) 

Flourishing Palms/ Linda Hungerford

In 1976, the year of the bicentennial that’s often credited for re-popularizing quilting, Linda became a mom and started making her first quilt. She used fabrics leftover from her daughter’s homemade clothes and baby room curtains, to hand-piece and hand-quilt her first quilt which still isn’t finished. Which we can all relate! 

Fast forward to today and you’ll find that Linda has covered a lot of ground and had a lot of quilting experiences since 1976.

If you've read this magazine, most likely you've
read some of Linda's work!

From attending dozens of quilt classes, retreats, and being a successful magazine editor, the list goes on with Linda's inspiring accomplishments!  Not only has she written a beginner quilt-making book (First Time Quiltmaking, 2006 ), she is currently a freelance writer for American Quilter magazine. As the co-founder of the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild chapter and founder of the Central Florida Modern Quilt Guild, Linda keeps busy teaching classes, giving programs about modern quilting, blogging and of course, quilting!

You can visit her blog for tutorials on quilting techniques, binding methods, etc.

Linda's experience with free motion quilting:
She first began free motion quilting in 1998 and was very disappointed with her results. However, after hiring a long arm quilter one time and realizing she’d break the household budget having all her quilts quilted for her, Linda tells us why she decided she had to quilt her own quilts.

“At the time, I was quilting on a mechanical Bernina 830. That’s the one in the red case. It’s a beautiful machine, but from constant running it would overheat and then completely stop working! So it could cool down, I’d have to walk away from it for at least 20 minutes before I could quilt again.” 

To solve her problem, in 2001 she bought an electronic Bernina QE153. She justified the expense by promising herself that she would never use the services of a longarm quilter to complete her quilts.

“That promise made me the quilter I am today,” says Linda. “I haven’t yet achieved perfection, but I continue to learn and improve. As I’ve begun to enter my quilts into competitive shows,  I’m finding that the batting I choose to use makes a big difference in a quilt’s final appearance.

So what advice can an advocate of free motion quilting on a home sewing machine give to others?

“It’s a skill that anyone can learn, but it takes a lot of dedication and perseverance to do it well. I’ve seen too many quilters give up before they’ve really practiced. Those who make a commitment to it, and continue to try will get better,” says Linda, who is a testament to that determination.

Linda's Quilters Dream Batting go to:
This lovely scrappy quilt, Love Links, was gifted to Linda's nephew and his bride on their wedding day! Love Links contains more than 100 prints from her fabric stash in a  limited color palette of yellow and  green with hints of blue and orange. Linda choose Quilters Dream Poly in the thinnest (Request) loft for this refreshing quilt.

Using the Dream Poly is also ideal for show quilts! As many times as they may be folded, shipped and juggled around, this batting hardly holds creases and wrinkles. And with little to no shrinkage, you can wash and dry with no worries.

Backing is Ikea's "Britten Nummer"

Using variegated thread, Linda quilted the
bride and groom's names.

Even using our thinnest loft, you can still
achieve slight definition to your quilts.

Keep up with Linda/ Flourishing Palms

Blog

Instagram

Pinterest

Looking forward to your submissions. :)

~The original

How to become featured #battgirls

{hash-tag  bat'-gurls}

   noun. 

1. Any quilter or crafter that uses Quilters Dream Batting.

Want to be one of our featured #battgirls ? 

Want  FREE batting?

Well, here's your chance!

Quilters like you are constantly tagging us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with photos of their quilts/projects where they have used Quilters Dream Batting. The talent and creativity we have seen is quite incredible! So we thought, why not give YOU the chance to show off your work!! Get your cameras ready, we will post the first blog April 1st. **edit: check out our first post here.

FYI: We have made this information a permanent tab at the top of our blog. You can always come back if you aren't quite ready to SHINE!! 

Here's how:

1. EMAIL US a picture of a project you have completed or currently working on using Quilters Dream Batting. Feel free to throw a selfie in there too! We would love to put a face to your project. Send up to 5 photos (we may not use every photo). In the subject line, PLEASE write #battgirls blog

(And don't forget the hashtag symbol #)

2. Give a brief description about the process in making it. Please include your special techniques, funny experience, your do's and dont's (if any). Don't be shy!

3. MUST tell us in your email what Quilters Dream Batting product/s you used in your project.

4. Include your name and contact info in your email to be shared in the blog post. 

5. Optional- but PREFERRED, include links to your website, Facebook, Instagram, Etsy, Twitter etc!!

How we will choose our #battgirls:

To be fair, we will choose our #battgirls at random to be featured in our blog posts. We will spread the word about our #battgirls on all our social media accounts! 

Goal:

To inspire, educate, and encourage everyone to explore their creativity!!

Example Creations:

Watch out! We have #battgirls in the office. Jenn made these fabric postcards using Dream Fusion!

Again, she used Dream Fusion on this super cute tissue pouch!

 

We are looking forward to seeing your creations! Don't forget to subscribe so you can stay in the loop. 

Happy Quilting,

The original #battgirls

quiltersdreambatting@juno.com