Sunday, October 2, 2011
Tour to the Emerald Isle and the International Quilt Festival of Ireland
CÉAD MÍLE FÁILTE—100,000 WELCOMES!
Have you heard about the International Quilt Festival of Ireland?
Well, we have and we are so excited about it that we want to escort 40 wonderful quilters and friends on an incredible 11-day tour of the Emerald Isle—wouldn’t you like to join us?
Nancy and I will be the personal escorts for an 11-day tour of the Emerald Isle, starting Friday, June 1st in Belfast, and culminating in Galway for the IQFI. Our husbands are also coming along. We fly from Denver to Belfast and will enjoy several sights and tours in the next few days as well as a visit with quilter’s of the Northern Patchwork Society. On the 4th we travel to Derry/Londonderry and along the way stop at the stunning Giant’s Causeway—one of my favorite sites in Ireland. The Giant’s Causeway is a spectacular rock formation featuring 40,000 basalt columns rising out of the sea. We will also make a special visit to the famous Bushmills Whiskey Distillery for a special guided tour—one of my husband’s favorite stops on our last trip to Ireland. We continue on to the city of tribes, Galway, stopping at the picturesque Glencar and Ashford Castle. The last few days we’ll spend in Galway attending the IQFI with opportunities to visit the Cliffs of Moher, Bunratty Castle and more.
As far as the festival itself, Jim West of Sew Many Places has outdone himself planning the IQFI. It is going to be a new kind of quilt festival! The festival will be held on the University of North Ireland campus in Galway, Ireland June 7-10th, 2012. The campus will be transformed into a glorious Quilter’s Village on the banks of the River Corrib. In the village there will be a Quilter’s Market where you can buy everything from Irish crafts to traditional Irish food. The Fat Quarters Chocolate Shop will be the place to obtain anything chocolate. The Town Hall will be filled with vendors who have created booths to tease you with their latest state-of-the art products and services.
Visit the Wicked Thimble Pub to relax and enjoy live Irish music in a pub atmosphere. Ready to chill out—the local movie house will be showing continuous free Irish movies such as the 1952 John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara movie, “The Quiet Man” filmed just a couple of miles away. Over a dozen special quilt exhibits will be on display in various buildings throughout the village and quilting classes will be held in the Schoolhouse.
Last, but not least are many Non-quilter’s programs, including an Irish pub crawl (I know my husband that will be attending), fishing, woodcrafting, golf, Hell’s Kitchen Museum/Railway Museum (Nancy’s husband will certainly be attending), and much more.
The festival begins with a special GRAND RECEPTION on June 7th featuring legendary quilter Jinny Beyer, a 3 course dinner and a Riverdance-type show, Trad on the Prom. Nancy and I will be attending but space is limited so sign up soon.
For more information, click here:
http://www.iqfoi.com
Any questions, just email me at millilyn@aol.com .
Happy stitching,
Lynda Milligan
Sunday, January 23, 2011
My Alphabet Quilt Blog of the Month, Part 2B
Amy has done a terrific job giving you the order of placement for the appliqué pieces. However, I found that in some cases it helps to pre-construct some units. Place the pieces on the Appliqué Presser Sheet or the release paper from the fusible web, press in place and they will release when cool. I also have found that I like to mark some of the detail lines before I fuse the pieces together.
So, with that said, here are my hints for the first eight blocks...................
Letter a
I would mark the bow knot and tails; the eyes, nose, mouth; and the circles for the hair fasteners. I pre-constructed the paintbrush, and the collar and bow.
Letter b
I marked the eyes, nose, Band-Aid lines, fingers and bubble circles. I pre-constructed the hat, hat brim, and hair; and the hand, thumb, and bubble blower as one unit. After fusing pieces to the background, finish marking the bubble circles.
Letter c
Mark the eye, mouth, hair bow, and fingers. Pre-construct the camera as one unit.
Letter d
Mark the eyes, nose, and mouth. Pre-construct the headbands, top of hair, and reflector. You can also pre- construct the hair right, hair left, and face.
Letter e
Mark the eyes, nose, and mouth. Pre-construct the outside and inside of both earphones with the earphone wire.
Letter f
Mark the girl's eyes, nose, mouth and hair bows. Also mark the frog's eyes, mouth, and chin. Pre-construct the hair, frog, and frog eyes as a unit.
Letter g
Mark the eyes, nose, and mouth. Pre-construct the goggle lenses, goggles, goggle strap, and buckle as a unit.
Bus front
Mark "abc" on the top of the bus. Construct the top of the bus, the windshield, the mirror supports, and the mirrors as one unit. Construct the bottom of the bus, the bumper, the wheels, the stop sign support, and the Stop sign as a second unit.
Cut the fabric for the backgrounds.
From your background fabric, cut seven strips 11 1/2". Cut each of these strips into four blocks 9 1/2" x 11 1/2". I like to treat my backgrounds with a couple layers of Spray Starch to make them extra crisp so that they naturally act like they have been stabilized.
Follow step 8 of Amy's directions. Read the instructions directly below the block placement sheet for any instructions specific for Step 8. On a light table, put a 9 1/2 x 11 1/2" fabric block background right side up over a block placement sheet. There should be approximately 1/2" of extra fabric around the block. Place appliqué pieces and/or pre-constructed units in place on fabric background aligning with placement sheet. Fuse into place.
Lots of preparation for the applique to go smoothly, but well worth the effort. I will give you the order in which I will applique the pieces next.
We were able to put together a button kit for the eyes. The kit contains 50 small black buttons and one larger black button for the eye under the magnifying glass. It is $8.99 and is in limited supply. Click here for more information.
I'll be back soon,
Lynda
Friday, January 7, 2011
My Alphabet Quilt Blog of the Month, Part 2a
Because there is so much to talk about this first month, I am going to break the information up into a few blogs. We have made available on our website the My Alphabet Quilt pattern and book and two different kits to get you started. The first kit is our Skintones Kit. It includes 4 different mottled fabrics for the faces and hands. These will be the exact fabrics that I will be using, in fact, I accidentally used the wrong side of the fleshtone fabric for my artist's face--ooops, but it turned out fine and it gave me another choice. The second kit is the background/border kit which includes the white-on-white for the block backgrounds and borders, as well as the turquoise and the red. The fabrics may change but I will try to stay true to the colors. For more information on the kits and patterns, click here. There are also links on that page to the notions and tools that I will refer to.
Getting organized:
Pre-washing your fabric is a personal choice. We hardly ever pre-wash because we start projects at work and don't take the time. I am not pre-washing my fabric and I realize that the fabrics could possibly run. I will use Shout Color Catchers when I wash the quilt and not allow the quilt to soak.
Cut placement sheets and pattern sheets apart. Set placement sheets aside for now. There are many fusible products on the market. This project requires that you have a least one side covered in paper that you can trace on. The two that I use are Wonder Under and Steam-a-Seam 2 Lite. I like them both, although SaS 2 Lite creates a better bond because there is more fusible that comes in contact with the fabric. Whatever fusible product you use, be sure to read and follow the directions on the package.
Tracing the pattern pieces:
Place your fusible product over your pattern sheet with the paper side up. Leave at least 1/4" between pattern pieces. Using a Sewline Pencil in black, I trace all of the pieces from the pattern sheets onto my fusible web. I cut them out roughly--DO NOT CUT ON PENCIL LINE, but at least 1/8" away from it. I place them in a repurposed spiral notebook that I have marked with the alphabet letters, one set of pattern pieces per page.
If you want a softer feel for your appliqué blocks, trim out the inside of your fusible pattern pieces, about 1/8" inside of penciled line. I especially recommend this on any pieces that have many layers such as C is for Camera. Save these larger cutout pieces to trace smaller patterns, therefore saving on the amount of fusible that you will be needing. Be especially careful when trimming out the letters. Leave a bridge to connect the inner cutout pieces in letters such as "a and b" (see letter b below).
Some light fabrics placed over dark fabrics (such as the letter "m" where the dark fabric might show through the light skin) would benefit from lining the light fabric. To line the light fabric, iron a piece of fusible web to the wrong side of the light fabric, peel the paper off and iron to a separate piece of white fabric. Then treat this bonded fabric as one fabric. I will let you know which pieces I have lined.
Press fusible pattern pieces to fabric:
Place the pattern piece on the wrong side of your chosen fabric and press according to the fusible web instructions. Let cool. Now, cut out the pattern pieces on the pencil line. I find the Fiskar's Curved Scissor allows me to cut smoothly and accurately and can flip over to cut inside or outside curves.
Pattern Placement and Details:
This is where the Applique Presser Sheet (APS) pays for itself! Place the Letter Placement Sheet on an ironing board. Place the APS over it. Read the instructions directly below the block placement sheet for specific instructions from step 5 (refer back to the main Instruction Sheet for any steps not listed). Remove the paper backing from the fused pattern pieces. Place them in numerical oder on the APS using the placement sheet as your guide. Press as you go and the pieces will stick to the APS. When all pieces are placed, press again. Let cool. (Hmmm-I just noticed that I lost a bow for her braid-back to the ironing board).
Mark the detail lines and eye dots with a Sewline pencil in a color that contrasts with the fabric. Peel the applique away from the APS. Place the entire piece on your background rectangle and press into place.
If you don't have an APS, lay your background fabric over the placement sheet and center it. Place your applique pieces in order on the background and press into place. A light box might be helpful for placement, but do not press your pieces on it. Mark the detail lines and eye dots as described above.
Next up, Part 2b, Applique
If you have any questions as we go along please add a comment to the end of the blog entry or email me at millilyn@aol.com.
Back at you soon,
Lynda
Sunday, December 19, 2010
My Alphabet Quilt Blog of the Month, Part 1
Well, I'm off to gather my fabrics. We will be kitting a basic kit with the white-on-white fabric, the turquoise, and the red fabrics, as well as a kit for 4 skin tones. These should be ready in a few days. Fat quarters and scraps will work for most everything else.
I'll be back in a day or two to remind you of what else you need to gather so that we are ready to start January 1st.
Lynda
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Quilts for Afghanistan and the view from my office!
We put the word out for quilts on our weekly e-mail a couple of weeks ago, and of course, our wonderful customers and employees brought quilts, and coats, blankets, and even money for postage. Here is a picture of Kelly and the pile of gifts. We will be packing them up and sending them in a few days to Jason. Thank you to all who participated! Jason is really excited to get the packages and to be able to bring a little warmth to his friends.
On a different subject (although it still has to do with sons) here is the view from my office this morning--a very content Kian in his jumper swing. He amused both Ashley and I for a good half an hour. Kian is Nancy's grandson and you might remember him from the blog Baby Boy Blue in a Box!
I'm off to work on my next blog which will be the notions to gather to start the "My Alphabet Quilt" Blog of the Month.
Happy Stitching,
Lynda
Friday, November 19, 2010
Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Blog Tour winners! Hip Hip Hooray!
It's only 6 days until Thanksgiving!
Where did November go?
I feel so unprepared!
As does this guy ; ) !

My daughter special ordered 6 loaves of Stuffin' Bread at our local King Soopers. Do you realize how much stuffing that will make? (Stuffin' bread is basically a white bread that is enhanced with herbs and spices that you usually put in stuffing--it smells and tastes delicious.) Stuffing is Kim's favorite Thanksgiving dish and she will eat it for a week--morning, noon, and night. I'll cut the loaves up tonight and start the drying process. I think I will only use 4 loaves and save the other two for Christmas--unless she has another special order in. ; ) I've watched a few of the Food Network specials on Thanksgiving dishes lately and have to laugh when they cut up 3 stalks of celery, 1/2 onion etc. I'll be cutting up 3 bunches of celery and at least 2 onions. Maybe this year I will be more attentive to the ingredients so that I can give her a recipe to make it herself.
Now, to announce our winners of the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Blog Tour! First of all I would like to thank all of you who commented on the blog. I'm so happy that you liked the free Table Runner pattern. I hope that you can see the Possibilities if you just replace the applique block with a different applique block or even a pieced block. If you do, please send me a picture. You've all inspired me to design more Table Runners--Thanks!
The 3 winners (chosen by a random number generator) are Mary from Illinois, Becky from Georgia, and Nancy from Maine. Mary wins the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks magazine from Quiltmaker. Becky wins a copy of the magazine from Possibilities. Nancy wins the prize pack from Possibilities. You should have received an email from us asking for your addresses, if not, contact Ashley and we will get your prizes to you ASAP!
Enjoy a very peaceful, yummy, and Thankful Thanksgiving!
Here's to a little stitching in between holiday activities!
Lynda
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Baby Boy Blue in a Box and My First Favorite Notion
Now, on to my favorite notions. One of my very favorite's (could not live without) is an Applique Pressing Sheet. This double-sided sheet is made from an ultra high temperature fabric that is coated with non-stick Polylon. We carry it in two sizes--13 x 17" and 18 x 20". The sheet has many uses. It can be used as a craft and painting surface. Paint and glue peel off easily when dry. It can also be used in the oven to bake shrink-art, clay, and salt dough projects. MY FAVORITE USE, though, is for fusing applique pieces together. The transparent construction allows me to see my pattern through the sheet to use as a placement guide while I fuse overlapping pieces together into one unit. Fused fabrics peel right off the sheet. I also use it to protect my ironing board cover when I am fusing fabric. I have both sizes and I've also cut a second large one into two smaller pieces.
Call the store, or check our website for pricing and availability. If we don't have them in stock, leave a request because we order both sizes often.
If there is a notion you would like to recommend or to learn about, please leave me a comment. All of the notions that I will be showing you will be great to have if you join me for the Alphabet Quilt Blog of the Month.
Happy Stitching,
Lynda
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Quiltmaker's 100 Block Blog Tour part 2

We are giving you a Sneak Peek at this incredible Collector's Edition. Each day this week, you have an opportunity to go to about 12 different designer's blogs to learn a little about what inspired them and/or get free patterns. The Blog Tour started Monday and continues through Friday, Nov 12th. Make sure that you visit all of the sites for prizes and free patterns, including ours!

We have designed a beautiful table runner that incorporates two of our Spring Flowers Blocks, #111 on page 27. The table runner is approx. 18 x 54". This is a free download for you to enjoy--click here.
Please leave a comment on our blog for a chance to win one of 3 prizes. We have two copies of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks to give away, as well as a special prize--a variety of Possibilities books and patterns. Make sure you leave a way for us to contact you, should you win. Winners will be chosen at random.
Be sure to check out Quiltmaker's website for the schedule of daily bloggers and to enter to win the Grand Prize!
Best of luck to you and thank you again for visiting!
Happy stitching,
Lynda and Nancy
P.S. We are going to be listing our favorite notions on our blog in the next few days. You can suscribe by clicking on the RSS feed on the sidebar and we would love to know what notion is your favorite, too!
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour

These magazines are truly Collector's Editions and feature today's top designers as well as up and coming newbies. Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks will be on the newstand November 16th, but until then enjoy the sneak peeks.
Back to designing,
My Alphabet Quilt Blog of the Month
Amy's daughter Ashley Heryer, wrote the story for her daughter, and Amy illustrated it with quilt blocks. I am going to present it as a Blog of the Month like I did with Amy's Happy Halloween pattern. It will be an 8 month program. Each month, for seven months I will present 4 blocks and give you hints, techniques, and notions that will help you complete the alphabet blocks and then month 8 will be set aside for borders, quilting, and binding. To get a general idea of how it works, click on the Happy Halloween icon on the sidebar. Below is a close-up of block B.
I'm still working out the details but will let you know ASAP! I'd love for you to join me!
Happy Stitching,
Lynda
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Judy's birthday flowers and a favorite little Autumn quilt!
Judy's birthday is October 17th and her son in Atlanta always sends a bouquet to her at the store, so we get to enjoy it also. It comes from my favorite florist-Happy Canyon Flowers. Every year we think that they can't beat last years, but they always do. Maybe it's because I love fall colors and fall flowers (achoo, achoo). Here are two pictures of this years bouquet. I think you will agree that it is absolutely goooorgeous!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Halloween and Home For the Harvest
One of my favorite books that we have published is Home For the Harvest! It is filled with wonderful Autumn and Halloween projects. This is one of my favorites with Dracula, a blue-faced Witch, Frankenstein, and a Princess. We show this in the book as a long, narrow wallhanging and also as separate placemats. What fun!I sent my son an advertisement for an iPhone app from Pottery Barn Kids. You take a photo of your child (in his case, 5 year old twins) and then try on different Halloween costumes and send them out for friends and relatives to see. Hello Patrick and Lori--we are waiting for the pics!
The weather is absolutely gorgeous here. If you have been reading our blog for awhile, you might remember my post of I Love Orange. We have a bush in our backyard that starts out kind of red in the Spring and then turns to green for the Summer and then totally shines in orange for Fall. I am going to try to take pics of it everyday for the next couple of weeks to show you just how beautiful it becomes.
Today has been my day at the computer. I started out with my Quilt University homework for EQ6, worked on my EQ7 Bee homework, did a little blog hopping, tweeted a bit, and am now blogging. Be sure to check out our website for a Halloween Scavenger Hunt--some really great prizes will be awarded.
Busy, busy weekend, but I hope to actually sew some tomorrow. Until next time,
Happy stitching!
Lynda
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Another Patchwork Lottery Winner

The quilt is beautiful and Ginny got to pick the Possibilities book of her choice for bringing it in and sharing it with us and she chose Home for the Harvest.
Thanks Ginny!
Lynda and Nancy
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Patchwork Lottery
Bess Lantz from Beatrice, NB won 29 blocks in the May Patchwork Lottery. She made one extra block and set the quilt together with yellow sashing and a dark blue border. The block is named Prairie Queen. We think the quilt is lovely and we thank her for sharing the picture with us. And, by the way, if you do make a quilt and send us the picture you get your choice of an autographed Possibilities book--nice prize!

If you are interested in participating in our Patchwork Lottery click here to go to the link on our homepage. September's block is a pretty red apple with blue sashing and we have already received several blocks.
Thank you Bess for sharing your quilt!
Happy stitching,
Lynda and Nancym
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Projects our customers shared!
Thank you both for sharing your creative endeavors!
Lynda and Nancy