My friend Penny has never made a quilt.  In fact she doesn’t sew at all. Because she helps me in my booth at shows, I think it is important that she has a quilting experience.  So we are making this quilt as her very first quilt!  We found this antique quilt while we were on the road in California for a show.  Penny and I both spotted the quilt, and loved it’s soft homey feel.  I bought it for myself as a birthday gift (we were antique shopping on my birthday!), but I knew it would be the perfect quilt to get Penny hooked on quilting.  I’ll let you know how that goes!

Last week, I lectured for the Concord Piecemakers in West Concord MA.  There, I met the most wonderful quilters!  One of these quilters, Diane is also a blogger who specializes in Paper Crafting.  When I visited her site I had one of these “WOW” moments. Don’t worry, I am not suddenly going to start scrap booking instead of quilting!  BUT, I love her motto, a little crafting every day and I know I can incorporate that into my quilting!  Diane was kind enough to take photos during the lecture and you can see her blog about my lecture here.  http://www.capadiadesign.com/2012/04/sue-pelland-leaves-galore-quilting.htm

So if you are ready to put a little applique into your life every day, come quilt with me!  You can ask your guild to have me in for a lecture or class, or you can take a class with me at the World Quilt Show in Manchester NH in August.  http://www.quiltfest.com/activities.asp?id=18H

Happy Applique!

I am playing with a few new threads to work out the satin stitch along the edge of the leaves.  Cathy Racine at Charlton sewing Center is a sewing machine and thread expert.  She recommended this Hemminworth thread.  It is Polyselect 40 weight and I am using it in my top and bobbin thread.  I started with a very tight satin stitch, but soon realized that I was making all my edges fray as I ran the quilt back and forth through my Elna Excellence 740.   So, I switched to a narrow zig zag at 2.2width and 2.8 length.  I am working on sewing all the rows with a loose zig-zag to nail down the edges, then I will go back and do the slow, boring satin stitch over the zig-zag.  The sheen on this thread is wonderful!

The satin stitch requires a stabilizer, otherwise I get stretching and tunneling, even with a fairly narrow stitch.  The fusible is so soft, it does not act as a stabilizer along the edge of the fused pieces.  I tried using parchment paper to stabilize the stitching, but that didn’t work very well.  The parchment tore too easily, and bits of paper were coming to the surface and getting stuck in the satin stitch.  Also, my stitches were out of balance on the back.  Using OESD (professional quality tear away, lightweight) I got a much better result.

I will be at MQX this week, so stop in and say hello if you want to see me or Magic Carpet Ride in person!

• Come see the inchie quilt exhibit at the Thimble Pleasures Quilt Show this weekend, March 24 and 25: Saturday and Sunday, 10 to 4 at Blackstone Valley Tech High School in Upton, MA.  I will be vending at the show and will have a few quilts in the display of member’s work.  Hope to see you there!  Sue Pelland

Sue Pelland Designs is on our way to the Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA.  My sister Gina and friend Penny will be joining me on this new adventure!  This is our first time in Hampton and I have heard that it is quite a show.  If you are visiting the festival, look us up and say hello!

If you are trying to order while I am gone, no worries!! Joanne is here to fill orders and to help with customer service.  However, if you are having trouble reaching me by e-mail or phone, know that I do want to talk to you!! It is very hard to return messages while I am at a show, but I will do my best, or get Joanne to give you a call back.

If you have tried to reach me via e-mail and have not gotten a response, I am starting to think I have a little bug in my e-mail service.  Last week several people said they e-mailed and I never got them.  So please, please, try again, and I will be sure to respond by next week when I am home again.

Thanks for your patience!  Sue

The lucky winner of the Cedar Canyon and Sue Pelland Designs give a way is Roselyn Scheultze from Stowe MA!  Roselyn entered to win the give a way for Eve’s Garden pattern, a Norme Leaves Galore Template, a selection of Shiva Paint Sticks and a stencil brush.  Congratulations Roselyn!

Above is a photo of a floor cloth that I made for Roclon Industries.  Roclon makes a fabric that is a heavy canvas type multi-purpose fabric.  I used this fabric, and my hope’s diamond pattern to make a floor cloth for the Roclon booth at Fall Quilt Market in Houston.  I just love the way it came out, and need to make myself one!!  The floor cloth was so large, I had to place it on my deck, and hang out a 2nd story window to get this picture.  Do you see the sliding glass door in the lower left?   In my February Newsletter, I will outline the steps to make the  floor cloth, so you can see how easy it is!  Watch for the newsletter coming to your mailbox soon.

Santa landed on our Quilt Shop and dropped off  presents for the following Blog Hoppers:

Kathy Harris – Christmas Ribbons

Mary Collier – Eve’s Garden

Becky Greene – Hope’s Diamond

Leah Baird – Melissa’s Quilt

Desiree – Promise Ring

Diane Wild – Hot and Cold Flow

Thank you all for stopping in on the blog hop!  To celebrate the holidays, I am giving each of you a coupon code for 20% off on my website shoppe.  If you won a pattern, here is your chance to get the templates at a discount.  If you didn’t win, you can still make these lovely quilts and save! Coupon code SHOPHOP expires January 1, 2012.

Merry Christmas to all!  Happy Hanukkah!  Happy Holidays!! From all of us at Sue Pelland Designs

Here is my Norme size Leaves Galore Template.  Isn’t it wild?  This funny looking tool does so many neat things.  You can use it to cut standard shaped applique leaves, up to 5 layers at a time, with fusible or without.  This makes your applique a whole lot faster and easier!  You can also cut vines with either side, making vine and leaf borders a cinch.  Shift the template just a little bit, and you get “S” shaped curves like the ones used to make applique ribbons on my Christmas Ribbons quilt pattern.

My patterns are the best way to learn to use the templates.  That is, after you watch the free online video!  The video is like having me come into your home for a private lesson, but the patterns are where you practice the quick cutting methods.  You can find the video on the home page of my website, Suepellanddesigns.com

If you haven’t visited my website or blog before, you will find it is all about saving quilters time!  I have a passion for quilting and of course, inventing tools to make every quilter’s life a little easier.  Three years ago, I invented the Leaves Galore Templates for Rotary cut applique.  This year, I am venturing into magazine advertising, writing a book, and of course, some wonderful new patterns!  I even have a new tool to tell you about, the Hearts and More template, but for now, that is a big secret.  It is being developed and will come out on the market in about a year.  I hope you will continue to check out my blog to learn about my techniques, and to see what is new with the secret templates, book and pattern ideas.

I hope you enjoy a wonderful holiday season, and have fun hopping on the blog hop!  Don’t forget to tell me which pattern you wan to win below…

Until then, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year!

I can't remember who wrote this pattern. It is a beauty!

Here is the link to the blog hop party… Have fun!   http://quiltinggallery.com/quilters-fun/quilters-blog-hop-party/

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E132-12 Rotary Cut Appliqué with “Leaves Galore”™ With: Susan Pelland 4hour workshop:Use fabric from your stash. Go home with the knowledge and samples of how to use Leaves Galore Rotary-cut Applique in your next project. Samples include leaf and vine borders, flowers, geometric patterns, dragonflies and more. Supply List to be e-mailed.