PennyBentley

Last week I celebrated my 55th birthday, and I want to thank everyone for the e-mails, cards and personal messages on Facebook and Instagram. I am feeling loved!  

This morning I got this card from Donna, Penny and Joanne who work with me here at Sue Pelland Designs. Many of you know my amazing team of Suzettes, but if you don’t, here is the crew…celebrating with a margarita toast, then in Nashville on our way to a Paducah Quilt Show and then in NYC gazing at Christmas lights through Magic Glasses! From left to right with cowboy hats are Sue, Penny, Joanne and Donna.  

It  has been a trend in the last few years for people to choose a word of the year. I have neglected to do so knowing that I have a hard time sticking to just about anything for an entire year! 

Yet, this word keeps popping into my mind, Grace. I have found that working primarily with women that we are all so hard on ourselves. We demand so much of ourselves whether at work, with family, our community, even our craft, we are often perfectionist and our own worst critics. We all need to give ourselves and those around us more Grace.  

Notice that we are already three weeks into 2021…and I am just choosing now? That is me…always late to the party! I can’t get this word out of my head and its positive vibe is really inspiring me. So, you may see my word of the year pop up in e-mails, newsletters and in my workshops and presentations. 

Grace has so many meanings…

It can be God’s Grace, which is the freely given and unmerited love of God for every human. Also, the Spirit of God which gives every person strength. By the Grace of God, we are all here together enjoying the sisterhood of quilting!   

Grace can be a blessing before meals when we express how thankful we are for the abundance of food and company of those we eat with.   

It can mean Courtesy. Give yourself the GRACE to make mistakes, to learn, to experiment and to play! 

It can mean charm, elegance and poise. As in, the tulip leaves curved gracefully around the flower. I aspire to make all my applique flowers appear graceful!

Let 2021 be a year of Grace for all of you in every meaning of the word!    

 

Sue Pelland

 

 

Big Daddy Clam Shells is finished and quilted!  I just love what Pam at the Quilted Seahorse did with this quilt!  The quilting pattern is perfect.  

Big Daddy uses a TON of fusible web to make this large scale clamshell quilt in the fastest, easiest way possible.  The clamshells are fused, cut and fused again to a lightweight muslin.  The alternative is curved piecing, YUCK!  I will take the fused version any day.  With Mistyfuse the quilt is still soft and beautiful.  

Ready to give it a go?  Get the Big Daddy Clamshell pattern instantly with  our first ever PDF pattern.  Then, use the Rings and Things tools to MAKE A BIG SPLASH  with Big Daddy Clamshells!  

 

Once you wrap your head around Free Motion Quilting (like we did in the Inner Circle Workshop) it is easy to transfer that skill to Free Motion Monogramming like I did on My Grand Nephew Liam’s stocking. I use Iron Off Marking Chalk in a Clover Marking Tool, then write the name in cursive on the project. The wheel on the tool is directional so it takes a bit of practice to get it to write cleanly.

Once the name is written, I put my free motion foot on my sewing machine, change the straight stitch to a Zig-Zag stitch and start the cursive writing. I used Rayon thread to add a little extra shine.  

The side to side Zig-Zag stitch acts like a calligraphy pen. When you move up and down the Zig-Zag is wide, but when you move side to side, the lines are thin. This gives a very elegant look to my standard cursive handwriting. It takes a little practice to follow the written lines, just as it does to follow the marked lines in machine quilting. 

You can monogram on cork to make a cork notebook cover, or monogram your next baby quilt with the baby’s name and birth date. This is an easy skill to learn if you already machine quilt and there is no special embroidery machine needed!  

Give it a go! 

It’s still the Christmas season, even though the big day is over.  It was a little odd having Christmas alone at home this year, but I did my best to bring on the spirit of the Holidays. We got a real tree, covered it with lights and baubles. I truly wish I could bottle up the scent and share it with all of you. The scent alone is making me MERRY! 

Did you catch my Facebook Live and IGTV segment a few weeks ago on making fabric roses?  These are not applique roses but a craft project using fabric to make realistic, fabric roses! I started this project to say Happy Birthday to my Mom! December 9th was Mom’s 85^th birthday. Although the roses are in the mail, there is not telling how long they will take to get to her!  Happy Late Birthday MOM!  I’m disappointed that they did not arrive in time for Christmas!

While it is time to take down the brittle tree, the Christmas village will stay up for a bit longer.  We added a Barber shop this year in honor of Jason’s training as a barber…and of course there is a quilt shop!  

We were blessed to have my three kids and the pup home with us for Christmas. There weree a few traditions that remained the same like decorating this sad, bare tree. On Christmas morning we will gathered around the tree with cinnamon rolls and steaming hot coffee. 

I’d love to hear about your favorite holiday traditions. What were you able to keep the same and what new traditions did you start this season? My newest holiday tradition was having  a party with the “AOC” members on our last Tuesday gathering of the year. That happend yesterday with all the new members joining our wonderful community of quilters!

This group has has brought some much needed fun and friendship into a dark year!

Thank you all my Applique Friends who made 2020 bearable!  Looking forward to 2021!   

 

Last week we had a snowstorm and I snapped this photo as I was writing my newsletter.  As I took this photo outside my front door, I thought to myself:  

“It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!” 

This quote from Mr. Rogers brought me back to my childhood. I am not embarrassed to say that I grew up watching Mr. Rogers. Looking through the jaded eyes of an adult…his shows were boring and his puppets were creepy, but through the eyes of a child, his show was a bit of MAGIC. Fred Rogers was the Grandpa that I never had! And like all grandfathers, he had words of wisdom that resonated with me even at 5 years old.  

Look up “words of wisdom by Mr. Rogers” on the internet you will be treated to a couple dozen gems!   

“All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we’re giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That’s one of the things that connects us as neighbors–in our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver.  ~ Fred Rogers  

In this giving season, we often talk about Giving and Receiving presents. Mr. Rogers words go so much deeper than that. Fred is talking about the things that connect us…not material “things” but giving of ourselves in a much more profound way. I for one, have been on the receiving end just yesterday. 

During a ZOOM workshop yesterday, I goofed and removed one of our participants from the meeting. I scurried around for almost half an hour and couldn’t get her back into the workshop, so I called her and explained the problem. Brenda sweetly said, “No problem Sue, I was just going to watch you today anyway!  I can watch the replay on the video instead!” 

The other workshop participants patiently waited for me to try to solve the problem. They all chimed in, “Don’t worry Sue! If it were me, I would want you to take the time to figure this out!” “Ditto” said the other dozen voices! 

We went on to have a fabulous creative workshop, Making Waves with Fabrics .  In Facebook this week there have been several fabulous Finishes using this technique!  After the workshop, I received several e-mails reassuring me that it was one of the best workshops ever, to spite the rocky start. There YOU were again, giving me more support, and more kindness.   

I have found that this community that we have formed since the beginning of the pandemic is the most kind and caring group of quilters I have ever encountered. 

I am so proud to be part of this Neighborhood and I know that Mr. Rogers would be pleased too! 

 Won’t you be my neighbor?  

Tip #1

What is the best way to transfer an applique design to the background fabric when you can’t see through the fabric? I like using Transdoodle but Mistyfuse discontinued Transdoodle Jr. in blue, yellow and white. What is a quilter to do?

I have just discovered that we can get four big sheets that are 18” x 24” and they are now available on the website. ​

When will I use these sheets? These are perfect for projects like Belle en Rouge and My Magical Garden when I want to transfer the applique placement diagram to the background fabric.

Tip #2

What If you don’t have the big Transdoodle sheets? Try using the paper pattern on top of your background fabric and run your chalk wheel over the lines two or more times. The first pass will create perforations in the paper. The second pass will let a little chalk sift through the perforations. This will not leave as dark a line as the Transdoodle, but it will work in a pinch!​

Hi Quilters! This is Penny Bentley, I work with Sue as her Event Coordinator.  I would like to share that I have been blessed and fortunate to share in Sue’s successes with her expanding quilting business.  Sue is an extremely creative and professional businesswoman who has Donna, Joanne, and I to assist her along the way, but, of course, it is her business sense and practices that has brought her to this time and place.

Sue has much confidence in her team and in her Certified Instructors to share her techniques and products at shows that she cannot find herself attending.  In January, Donna and Joanne will be vending at Mancuso’s Orlando show being held in none other than Orlando, Florida from January 18-20, 2018 as Sue embarks on personal travel to London.  

When Sue returns from London her first New Year lecture will be for the Soo-Nipi Quilt Guild in Newport, NH on Thursday, January 18, 2018.  Sue loves to teach, as many of you already know, and I just want to share that she has taught me so many practices over these seven years, she even tries to teach me to quilt and sew, not happening!!  If you have a minute to go to her website 2018 calendar, make note on your calendars, and try to attend a lecture or a workshop near you.  

I have been with Sue since the very beginning of her venture with her templates/tools and it seems like eons ago!  It continues to amaze and impress me that this quilting gadget has grown into the business that it is.  Little ole Penny, working at little ole Sue’s office, in little ole Upton, in this big ole world of quilters in the USA. Amazing and Wonderful!!

In closing this Blog and this year of 2017, I would like to wish all of you, quilter friends, a Healthy and Happy New Year!!!