Cornerstones Newsletter
Content, Context and Contacts for Quilters Everywhere
September 2019
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Dear Friends,
Thank you seems so inadequate at times...but THANK YOU to those who took the time to let me know that they are glad to see this newsletter back. It was wonderful to reconnect with old friends again, and their words reassured me that I am once again moving forward. I truly want to commit to paying it forward along the way.
My trip to Springfield was interesting - it's a new venue to Mancuso - with all the growing pains that that entails. I spent most of my time free ranging it, but put some time into the White Glove Brigade to support my home guild,
Squanicook Colonial Quilt Guild
of Townsend. That stint led me to a quilt that made a significant impact on me...more on that one coming soon.
I am fortunate to have met some wonderful mentors along the way, and in Springfield, I reconnected with one of them purely by accident. Teri Lucas is a wonderful human being, an extraordinarily talented artist, and, in many ways an old soul. It's always a good day when she's in the building. We have talked along the way about doing some collaborations in one form or another...imagine how amazed I was to receive her latest blog post on her
Terificatons
blog...my feet didn't touch the floor for days.
In last month's post...I mentioned the term SPARK - and I've had a few questions about it. SPARK is an acronym for Shift, Possible, Actions, Results, Kind...my word of the year for 2019. If we've never met...I have a habit of over thinking things. One word would have been too easy...but truly, this is working for me this year. I hope that answers your questions...it's the first time I've been able to incorporate one of those word of the year exercises into my daily practice.
On one of Mike's and my trips north to Lake Winnipesaukee (you have to be a New England native to get that word on the first try!)...we stopped in at
Keepsake Quilting
. I left having made an interview request for this newsletter - in truth, not the first time I asked! - and one week later, the interview happened. I know that in the course of that, I learned a few things...I hope you enjoy it.
This coming month is going to be a busy one, in the workroom and on the road...but I like life like that. If you see me out and about, please say hi.
All my best...
Linda
PS...One of the things that I am looking forward to the most this month is participating in the
New England Quilt Museum's
annual event called Meet The Teachers. We have so many wonderful quilting teachers here in the area that you really only get to present to guilds every other year. So I'll be there on the 16th of September - and it's always wonderful to talk with guilds. My workshop and lecture offerings are on my website - and if you see something you like, ask your Guild rep going to this event to stop by my table. Thank you.
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Does anyone else feel like the first of September is like the New Year? I turned the page this morning, and went thunk. I'll be out and about this month for sure. I hope that if you see me, say hi!
First up - shout out to Liz at Bits and Pieces in Pelham...my 2 part Gnome class starts Sept 26, and we'll be learning to quilt with the Angela Walters rulers for Creative Grids in Session 2. Click on the photo to go to her website to see the details (and sign up!).
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BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...
09/10...Ninigret Quilters, Westerly RI lecture
09/14-09/15...Squanicook Colonial Quilt Guild, Townsend MA (vending)
09/16... New England Quilt Museum Annual Meet the Teachers Event
09/25...Gnomie class, Bits & Pieces Quilt Shoppe, Pelham NH
To be continued...
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THE WINNER OF "Modern Art Quilts: Design, Fuse & Quilt-As-You-Go" by
Sue Bleiweiss
is...
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Congratulations to Darlene Coit of West Townsend Ma! I've got a coffee date with Darlene soon to deliver her book.
Thanks again to
Sue Bleiweiss
for donating the book, and to everyone who entered the giveaway!
There won't always be giveaways, but there will be hidden gems along the way...so keep reading!
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September Color Challenge - Lilac/Lavender (or Violet?)
Happy September - I can't believe we're here already. I'm happy to be back participating in Patterns by Jen's Monthly Color Challenge again...this time for the Lilac/Lavender color for September. Truthfully, I'm also thinking of it as Violet -...
Read more
onequiltingcircle.com
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Reveal - Ringo Lake Renovation
This is the story of a quilt whose story I began almost two years ago, but the story isn't over yet. This is a sort of 'You get to pick the ending on this one.... this fall, in Houston (or online!).
Read more
onequiltingcircle.com
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Safeguarding Our Quilts - A New Look at Best Practices ( ...
Last week, I talked about the importance (for both safety and documentation) of putting a label on your quilts, and shared how I've recently updated how I do mine. In today's post, I'm going to show you how I add watermarks to my photos - for...
Read more
onequiltingcircle.com
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Safeguarding our Quilts - a New Look at Best Practices...
Today's blog post is the first in a two part series about safeguarding quilts - today's blog will cover the physical quilt, and the second will talk about the electronic image of your work.
Read more
onequiltingcircle.com
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Keepsake Quilting: The Interview!
As I mentioned in the introduction, I was pleasantly surprised when
Keepsake Quilting
was receptive to the interview for this edition of the newsletter.
Earlier this month, I had a great conference call with Cheryl Millett, the VP of Merchandising for Keepsake, and we were joined by Bonnie Knott, the Copyrighter for the shop. Each of these are very long term employees of the shop. Our conversation centered around the physical location Center Harbor.
A bit of background to bring us up to this point in the Keepsake story. The company was purchased in early 2018 by Rick and Dot Kimelman, who also owned a company called
Pineapple Fabrics
. The companies operate independently from one another, with Pineapple Fabrics - known for its' kits and precuts merchandising - operating a retail store in the old Patternworks space, adjacent to Keepsake. Pineapple Fabrics has recently been named as one of the Top Shops in the
Fall/Winter 2019 issue of Quilt Sampler
magazine.
Keepsake has kept its’ own identity as a destination quilt shop, and during the summer months it’s often busy. They continue to tweak the traditions, this year adding a Sidewalk sale in August to it's legendary Tent Sale early in the summer. I'm still sorry I missed the warehouse clearance sale from last summer, when they first took the shop over. Dang!
As many Lakes Region entities will attest, the winter months can be a bit – lonely, and Keepsake is in good company with other Lake's Region businesses during the off season.
Here are 5 things I learned about Keepsake in the course of this article.
1. I knew that there are a lot of bolts of fabric there…but I did not know there are over 10,000 bolts on any given day. One of Cheryl’s favorite things still is when people who are new to Keepsake come in for the first time - their reaction at the amount of fabric that they carry is almost universal. You DO have to see it to believe it.
2. While most of us may think of Keepsake as a destination shop (and it is!), it’s also a functioning local quilt shop to those who live in the Lakes Region. On any given Friday morning, there’s a Fun Friday with Mary, where you can come in for a sit and sew kind of experience. That did surprise me, and calling ahead to make sure there’s room is recommended.
3. Keepsake is a Row by Row Shop for this year’s Program.
4. There is a seasonality to the shop, with the bulk of the business being done summer through fall. To counter that, Keepsake offers classes year round for those who are interested. There should be a link on their website for class offerings for this fall shortly.
5. I did not know that Keepsake has its’ own brand of the subscription box model…called the Keepsake Quilting Treasure Box, but I do know. Subscription boxes are something I haven't explored as a group yet...If anyone of you have experience with their Treasure Box, I'd love to speak with you.
Cheryl and Bonnie, along with other long term employees of the shop, are happier than almost anyone that the shop is back, and that the quilting community - those who shop in the store, their online customers, guilds, teachers and tour groups are all discovering Keepsake again.
And yes, if you're wondering...of course, I found several somethings I had to have.
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HELP WANTED...
OK, I'm ready to talk about this out loud. If you've been following me online, you know that I am a huge fan of working with the Cricut Maker. It's a great time saver whether you want to cut an intricate fusible applique piece, or a pattern with templates. I've got a very big reveal on a project that used templates cut entirely by the Maker... that blog post is scheduled for later this month.
But one of the questions I've been working through is how to share that with other quilters. Cricut has finally developed the cutting technology which makes the cricut very easy to work with for quilting cotton. They are selling fabric with their labels on it through the big box stores...but what if you want to use the fabric you already have?
That's what I've been working on, and what I need some help with. You'll get my heartfelt thanks, and a nifty souvenir as well.
I'm looking for 8 volunteers (the first 8 people will do!), who are willing to pay the postage to send me one 12" square of prewashed fabric to play with. I'll add the Mistyfuse, do the cut, and send the fabric back to you - asking you to answer a short survey as to how the process worked for you, and a few other things.
OK...the cut will be sewing related...you'll be able to add it into a project somewhere along the line, I'm sure.
Please reply
here
with the subj line "I want to help Linda" and I'll get the ball rolling. Please don't send me anything until I send you an email in response.
Love you guys!
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#DESTASH WRAPUP
This summer, I ran an online #Destash of items I no longer wanted to hang onto through my Facebook page.
This is what's left - some items which never were listed, some items which haven't sold. All at ROCK BOTTOM prices that you won't see again - and these items have been pulled from all online groups.
I'm really hoping that this stuff is gone by the next email.
PLEASE EMAIL ME TO CLAIM YOUR ITEM before you send me money.
THANK YOU!
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THE QUILTER'S CALENDAR IS NOW ONLINE!
My website is undergoing a bit of a refresh at the moment, but one thing that's not changing is
The Quilter's Calendar
.
It's still in the Menu Bar (for your convenience) at the top of the page.
The link to submit is still working as well.
This is a service I provide to the quilting community, and it's a free listing for non profits (guilds, NEQM, Quilts of Valor are good examples of this). If you're a shop, a shop hop, a vendor or a Quilting Professional who is interested in advertising, please reach out to me
here
and I'll be happy to send you my very modest ad rates.
NEW EVENTS:
Sept 14-15, 2019
October 5-6, 2019
Mar 14-15, 2020
May 2 - 3, 2020
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