Chatterbox Quilts News for May 2024

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Welcome to the May Chatterbox Quilts’ newsletter!

It’s the end of May and I’m sure that many of you are already out in your garden working away. I like flowers but I’m not much of a gardener. This year I didn’t even get bedding out plants to put in our deck containers but my hubby did and he also planted them all. Now I just get to enjoy them!

What happened this month

It’s been a busy month with some health concerns with my family (everyone is okay) and lots of travelling.

I attended one of my favourite local-ish shows, the Central Alberta Quilters’ Guild show in Red Deer, AB. As always, there were stunning quilts on display and lots of vendors (over 40!). I spent most of my time chatting with friends and vendors (no surprise there! 😉) but didn’t come home with many items (that is a surprise! 🤣). Here are a few of the quilts that caught my eye at this annual show.

Two days later I was off to Las Vegas to celebrate a friend’s big birthday 🎂 and managed to squeeze in some quilting too. I finally got to meet my friend, G Elizondo (you might know her as half of Wombmate Creations) and after some business chatting, she was kind enough to chauffeur my hubby and I around to some quilt shops before dropping us off at the airport for our trip home. Again, I didn’t buy much but I did enjoy visiting some new-to-me quilt stores and G’s company, of course.

May was also the month for me to create a quilt using a paper pieced technique in my role as an Island Batik Ambassador. I got to use one of their new fabric collections, The Grove, to make a quilt to celebrate my favourite holiday. I chose Christmas and made “Christmas at The Grove” for my project. You can read all about this fun project and the paper piecing technique I used here.

Tip

Since I was travelling in another country and limited in what I could bring back from Las Vegas, here’s my tip: always know the monetary amount that you are allowed to bring back to save paying duty (I was way under for a change). Also, I like to bring along a collapsible duffel bag that can be used as carry on if I do buy my monetary limit 😉. I use one similar to this.

Recommended Tools

I’d be lost without my Sew Steady Spacing Gauge when ruler quilting. It helps to make sure that I stitch where I want to and allows me to ruler quilt a specific distance (1/4”, ½”, etc.) away from a previously stitched line. This tool is always next to me when I’m ruler quilting.

YouTube Videos

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

Coming Soon

I’ll be working on another Island Batik Ambassador project, this one using a Studio 180 Design tool to make a charity quilt. I’m looking forward to using various Island Batik fabrics in this design that will feature flying geese. (Can you guess what Studio 10 Design tool I’ll be using?).

In The Quilter’s Way membership we’ll be diving into a log cabin quilt but not your tradition one! I’ll be using what I learned in making the Far Out! quilt that I created with the Woodstock fabric collection from Island Batik for the February Ambassador challenge, to teach my members how to make an uneven log cabin quilt. It’s all about the width of the fabric strips and also the fabric choices that you make. Click here to see more information.

And…last but certainly not least, I’ll be in Edmonton, AB from June 20 – 23, 2024 for Quilt Canada 2024. I’ll be demonstrating at the Janome booth, hosted by Johnson’s Sewing Centre, on Friday, June 21, so be sure to pop in to say hi if you’re at the show. I’ll be showing customers how to use the ASR (Accurate Stitch Regulator) when doing ruler work on Janome machines.

Take care,

Kim

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