My Juki machine

Veronica has been sewing away on her beloved Juki sewing machine.  She started with a challenge last Wednesday.  Her friend Carol said they were going to use up some fabric!  Veronica told Carol she was in.  Veronica decided she wanted to get rid of her yellow fabric stash.  She doesn't like yellow, but she sure does have a ton of it.

So she cut cut yellow till she had over 100 2 1/2" strips for the pattern Carol said they were working on.  Then off she went to the sew-in that Dayton Quilt Guild had.  They sewed all day, they raced sewing fabric strips.  They were maniacs!  But they were having fun.  They talked about all the memories in these fabrics strips.  A few came from some friends who have passed away, but there were still some great memories of shopping trips and "what the heck possessed me to buy this fabric".  At night she came home to work on her mini stars.  She says they're a beast, she has so many seams using her tiny scraps, but her Juki sews right thru them like shes sewing butter.  Butter, Yum!  Sorry, this bear loves to eat.

She's been working on a lot of stuff, she even sewed mini yo-yos on the drive to Louisiana for her granddaughter's birthday party.  Then she worked on hexies going the other way.  Shes says she's cleaning up fabrics, using them up, putting them in quilts so they'll leave her house.  She does have a lot of fabric.  She's challenged herself to get it done. 

Shes' s got the orange challenge going with Mattie, Quiltsmart's owner. If you're interested in joining the Bitty Lone Star Challenge, you can find that on Bear Thread Design's Instagram at BTDQSFall Lone Star Challenge.  You've got time, it doesn't start till October 1st.  She's thinking of new challenges.  We'll see how long she keeps this up.  Stay tuned for more adventures with Veronica and Jaggie.

Sample making

Well, this may not be a subject that everyone is interested in, but I thought for those of you that are, I would sprinkle in a little advice.  Do you ever wonder where all the samples at your local quilt shop come from?  Sometimes the employees make them, sometimes customers make them.  Different shops have different formulas for calculating how you"get paid" for the samples. 

Some stores have you pay half of the cost, some give you the fabric and pattern, you make the quilt and after a certain amount of time, the sample is yours.  Sometimes the stores pay you to make them and the samples are theirs. 

Well, I've been making samples for local shops for years, probably 20 years or so.  I've never had a problem, I usually get the quilts after about 3 months, they like to rotate every quarter or so.  I agreed to make 6 quilts for a local shop that I had not made samples before, so I asked how long they would keep them.  I was told about 6 months or so.  That was fine, I was in no hurry to get them.  I guess I should have gotten that in writing. 

I delivered the quilts to them June 1, 2017.  Every time I asked for my "quilts", I was told I couldn't have them 'yet'. So yesterday was September 11, 2018, I thought it's been long enough, it's been 1 year, 3 months and 11 days.  I wanted my quilts, so I called and said we were coming to get them.  My daughter fell in love with 2 and so those were hers.  On the way out, my daughter was stopped and told that the quilts she had were not what me and the "person in charge had agreed on" me taking home. Apparently, we were only going to get half.  Huh?  Nope, too late! 

I will not name the shop or the "person in charge" who by the way is no the owner of the shop.  Not really sure what her position is, she acts like the person in charge, but I don't really think she is.  I will never make samples for this shop again.  I will get everything in writing from now on, I used to just believe that a persons word was their "word:. 

I've learned my lesson.

Sewing Cruise

Ahoy Matey!  I'm kayaking!!!!  Having fun in the sun!!!  Come join me and...Veronica.  She's teaching, and I'm having so much much fun, check out my nice "tan" fur.  Look at that blue water, yummmmy.

Join us on  this is a sewing cruise.  Veronica and all of the teachers have great projects for you.  We'll see you onboard!!!  Just look the furry "little" guy, that'll be me me.  I might be hanging out at the berry bar, do they have one of those?  I'm going in search of it.  Judy, one of my favorite "huggers" will be there.  When you call Bonnie to sign up, tell her to sit you at my table, it's the funnest one of

all.  You know not everyone gets to party with a bear and sew and cruise.  I'm shoving off now, see you in the waves...  

Home   |    Sew Fun Cruise   |   Info for Exhibitors   |   Contact Info
NOW BOOKINGRound Bobbin Sewing Cruise May 10-17, 2015  Ports of Call: Cozumel, Mexico • Belize City, Belize • Roatan Honduras Departing from Galveston, TX for seven nights on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas Sponsored by Sew Fun Cruise Instructors: Connie Crawford Connie is a licensed designer for Butterick Patterns and is owner of Fashion Patterns by Coni. She is a nationally recognized lecturer, fashion specialist, educator, and author of sewing and pattern books, including A Guide to Fashion Sewing, The Art of Fashion Draping, and Patternmaking Made Easy. Drawing on her 35 years of experience in apparel manufacturing and 23 years teaching fashion design classes in patternmaking, sewing and draping at The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, Connie created her own pattern line with true-to-body fit from sizes X-Small to 6X. Londa Rohlfing Londa's passion is teaching design and techniques to create well-designed and fitted wearable art garments, with specialization on sweatshirt and knit top bases. Londa's innovative Talking Patterns™ provide step-by-step instructions that can be read, seen and even HEARD online. Londa has had articles published in Threads, Sew Beautiful, Sew News, Creative Needle and Sew Savvy magazines, and is a designer and guest instructor on It's Sew Easy PBS sewing series. She also is regularly selected to be on the select Faculty at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. C&T published her book: Sweatshirt Transformations in 2012. She travels the country inspiring and teaching sewers at sewing expos, quilt and sewing guilds, and shops. Veronica Cox Veronica is the owner of Bear Thread Designs, Inc. and has traveled extensively, teaching fusible appique using The Applique Pressing Sheet. She has demonstrated the technique at quilt shows, quilt shops, cruises, quilt guild meetings and on television. Veronica was taught to sew by her grandmother at the age of four. She learned how to sew buttons, and she sewed buttons on everything in sight. She learned how to use a sewing machine by sewing through her finger and has since learned the proper way to use a sewing machine. She has sewn for herself and her two children while they were growing up. In 1990, she was introduced to quilting by her mother-in-law. After her first class she was hooked. Veronica has taught many classes and workshops. She also does trunk shows on stage and loves to pass her 70+ quilts around in the audience. Sam Fung Sam is an educator for Janome America. Prior to joining the company Sam had his own custom sewing business in Texas where he designed and created wedding gowns, brides maids dresses, home decor, and other things. Some of Sam's creations appeared in the opening numbers of the Miss Texas Pageant. Whether teaching adults or children, his passion for and love of sewing is apparent. Complete class listings will be included later but you can reserve your cabin now by contacting: Bonnie at CruiseOne 800-784-4480 Prices start at $910 per person Leave your sewing machine at home. Sewing machines used on the ship are sponsored by Janome America Price includes class fees. Kit fees are extra when applicable.

Yellow 9 patches, What To Do?

So what do you do with a pile of yellow 9 patches?  Well, you make a quilt, of course.  Here they are all laid out on Veronica's floor.  She said she knew she had a pattern that would be perfect for these yellow 9 patch blocks.  

So today we'll work on it and show you our progress as we go. She decided to do a fusible applique in the middle of the 9 patches.  What else would she do?  So here is her background.  Looks like a bird in the middle of that blue, but alas, it's not.  It's her fish mobile thingy she has hanging off of the bottom of her ceiling fan.   

 

This is what we've got, we'll add more pictures throughout the day.  I know, it's different, but we thought we would be unpredictable today.  Check back before lunch to see where we're at.

And Here She Is-Our New Baby

Ok, so it's not a "real" baby.  But Veronica was sure excited to see her.

We've got a few more things to set up before we get quilting on her, but isn't she big and shiny and pretty.  It's those "friends" that made Veronica get her.  Thank You friends!!!

Wow, that's a long table!  One of Veronica's friends bought that lamp and another told her that there was another one of those at her house for this machine.  I guess she'll be "lit up" like a Christmas Tree!

We're going to ba having fun with this soon.  Stay tuned...I'm sure we'll have some "funnies" that go on.

New uses for Baby Mattresses

Last night Veronica was at her daughter's house trying to help her figure out what to do as a corner unit and they needed a design wall.  So up against the wall was a brand new baby mattress.  They looked at each other, giggled and began to pin the quilt top to the mattress.  Good thing it was a small wallhanging, otherwise no telling what these two would have used.

Here is a picture of the bottom of the quilt top.  Can you see the little sheep.  Good thing there was no baby on the mattress.

Quilting Machines

I had a very interesting conversation today with a dealer that sells longarm quilting machines.  He said that it usually takes a person a couple of years to decide which machine to buy.  Not to buy one, but which machine itself.  I told him that was not how Veronica bought her machine.  Her best friend bought one and Veronica came home and told her husband, "Honey, Mary bought a Gammill, I want one."  So guess what, he told her to call and order her machine, and she did.  She had that machine for 11 years and then sold it because she needed the space.  She has been looking off and on because she keeps making those tops and the pile is growing.  She thought she might get another Gammill, just because that's what she had.  Then one of her dear friends bought a machine and it was an Innova.  So she told her husband, "Honey, I want one."   Then she told him, no not really, I don't have anywhere to put it.  Then another friend told her she wanted...

This is trouble with friends, we love them, but we want what they have, especially if it's a great big bright shiny new longarm machine.  Well, guess what, she got one, no not a Gammill or the Innova, she got an artistic 18-8 DX.  She had never seen them, never heard of it, but that doggone Scott from Citrus Sew and Vac ordered it for her.  She just said, how much, here's my credit card number and that was that.  All because her really good friend said, you need it!  So here's the best part, the machine was put together in October...at another friends house (she doesn't live there), it's a long story, but has Veronica even seen it?  No, not at all.  She and her other friend Suzy have a date to go "look" at the machine on Thursday.  That Veronica and her friends.  We'll get pictures on Thursday  and show you that big, bright, shiny new longarm quilting machine.  What would you do without friends???????????????        
     

What's this?

This is the newest member of out family!  Scott sent this to Veronica.  She wanted a light weight machine that had a thread cutter and an extension table.  This is what arrived a few days later.  This is an EX30.  This machine is so light,  Veronica just puts in a tote bag, throws it over her shoulder and off to class she goes.  It's got a 1/4" foot for piecing.  It sews like a dream!   Want one?  Call Scott at Citrus Sew and Vac 352-620-0225, tell them Jaggie the Bear said to call.  They can drop one in the mail, well, rather UPS for you and you'll have it in a couple of days.  And yes, we know it's not a Janome, but Janome is the parent company.

  

That's a sewing kit???????????

Wow, this is a cool sewing kit.  Check out what Veronica's friend Connie made.  Connie teaches this at Quiltworks in Cypress, Texas.  This little house lives with another friend up north.  Veronica is still working on hers, actually she started hers in April of, hmmmmmmmmmm, 2013.  Yes, it's not high on her priority list.  Oh, well, she's thinking of taking it on the next cruise to work on.

Look at all the hand work... Awesome!!!

Pretty little flowers.

Look at the tree.  All silk ribbon.

Isn't it great?  I'm impressed.  But I'm wondering why there is no bear in the window?

Cool Australian Fabric

Check out this great Australian fabric that Veronica received as a thank you gift from several Janome store owners who were in the states for Janome International Institute several years ago. She found these while she was doing her "deep" cleaning a couple of weeks ago.  She's been wondering what to do with them and it hit her.  She's going to use it for her next Round Robin. But then again, she has that Basket block she made for the Round Robin, and she's got that Lemoyne Star and she's got.... Ok, so that list goes on and on, but isn't this fabric great?

Here is a second piece.  It is pretty cool. 

I'm sure all these designs mean something, and we'll have to do some research, but just looking at them is great.

I'm thinking this is the Tasmania Devil, maybe.

Just really pretty fabric and it feels good, it's yummy.......