Chatterbox Quilts News for January 2025

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Welcome to the January Chatterbox Quilts’ newsletter!

Any resolutions still in place or have they fallen by the wayside? I don’t make New Year’s resolutions – too much pressure – but I do often have goals to work towards. That always seems more doable.

What happened this month

With a new year comes some changes to The Quilter’s Way membership. We’ll still be making projects to learn and cement our knowledge of different techniques but members will be creating their own designs working from guidelines provided to them. In January and into February, TQW members are working on the “Designing with Dresdens” project. I’m looking forward to seeing all the different designs that TQW members create and share with the membership.

New membership launched! 😀 This month I launched the Patchwork Pals YouTube channel membership. This online membership is for those who enjoy watching my Chatterbox Quilts’ YouTube channel and want to support my small business. For a small monthly fee, you can help me continue to make great FREE content (2 videos a week!) and you get fantastic perks for doing so. For all the details on becoming a Patchwork Pal, click here. 😃

Tip

Because of the nature of how the Dresden Plate is constructed, small "variations" can compound into "alignment" problems or the plate not lying flat. The best way to avoid these issues is to create the plate by first stitching the blades into pairs, then stitching the pairs together to create larger shapes, and then putting the larger shapes together to form the entire circle. This reduces the effect of the material being "pushed" around the plate and also allows for some "alignment refinements" to sewing the pieces together.

Recommended Tools

I just received a new “baby” iron from Oliso, who is one of the Island Batik Ambassador sponsors. I already love using the full-size Pro Plus Oliso iron (and you can watch my video review of it here) and was thrilled to get the M3Pro to use. This small but mighty project iron has similar features to its larger companion (love the long 30 minute shut-off feature!) plus a few more and also comes with a silicone iron rest that can be used to store it. Get more details on the M3Pro project iron here.

YouTube Videos

Here are the new videos released in January for your viewing and learning pleasure (just click on the picture).

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Coming Soon

In The Quilter’s Way, members will be continuing with the “Designing with Dresdens” project into February.

I’ll be releasing my Island Batik Ambassador project for the February 2025 challenge in just a few days. I’m working with a new fabric collection called “Botanical Dreams” by Jerry Khiev and using a Deb Tucker’s Studio 180 Design Corner Pop tool.

While it’s still over a month away, Creative Spark Online will be hosting Piecing Palooza on March 20, 2025. I’ll be an affiliate for this online event and, when you register using my link, you’ll save $20.00 off the registration fee. More details are coming soon.

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Take care,

Kim

P.S. I use affiliate links in my emails and, if you click on a link, I will receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase an item. It doesn’t cost you anything extra but does help me to continue to create helpful content for you.