December 17th, 2011 Published by: NancysFabrics

Created using Zinepal. Go online to create your own eBooks in PDF, ePub, Kindle and Mobipocket formats. 1

Best of Nancy's FabricsBlog

This eBook was created using the Zinepal Online eBook

Creator. Use Zinepal to create your own eBooks in PDF,

ePub and Kindle/Mobipocket formats.

Upgrade to a Zinepal Pro Account to unlock more

features and hide this message.

Rotary Cutter CareBy Nancy's Fabrics on December 17th, 2011

RotaryCutter Care

Doyou get tired of replacing your rotary cutter blades? Thereareseveral ways to help your rotary cutter blades last longer.Yourrotary cutter needs to be maintained just as your sewingmachine,shears and other equipment. In recent years rotarycutters havealmost replaced the need for sewing shears forquilters. Manyquilters are using rotary cutters to cut all thestrips and piecesrequired for a quilt. Rotary cutters haveeven crossed over into cardmaking and scrap booking. Rotarycutters come in at least foursizes. The 18mm, 28mm arevery good for small cuts and cutting in thenew circle cuttingacrylic tools now available. The 45mm is thestandard sizeused by most quilters and the 60mm is recommended bymanyprofessional strip quilters. I use the 45mm cuter for moststripcuts and the 28mm for sub-cutting smaller pieces. The 18mmisexcellent for trimming triangle points for ease of piecing. The60mmcutter will cut faster and more layers but if you have asmallcutting area you might find it too large to maneuver. Youwill needto try out several sizes and decide which ones work foryou. A personwith a small hand may also find the 60mm cutterhandle too large. There are several different brands of rotarycutters. Some havestraight handles and some have curved orergonomic handles. Go toyour local quilt shop and try out thebrand of cutters they stock anddecide which brand works bestfor you. Remember if you purchase onewith a curved handle itcomes with the blade set up to use for aright handed person.If you are left handed, you will need to takethe blade assemblyapart and reverse everything for a left handedperson. Again aswith any other tool, be sure to buy a good qualityrotary cutter.

A good rotary cutter will last a long time. If youfind the safetyshield or the screw area is wearing, you might wantto replaceyour rotary cutter. I have recently noticed that a newcutter onsale is not much more expensive than a new replacementbladeso don't hesitate to purchase a new cutter if you needone.SafetyTipsBesure to always close your rotary cutter so the blade isprotectedbefore setting it down on your cutting table. If anopen cutter felloff the table it could injure your foot, a childor a pet. Be sure tokeep your rotary cutter out of childrenreach. Replacement bladesare readily available but somequilters consider rotary blades ratherpricey. I try to purchasea quantity of blades when I see them onsale and try to get amaximum cutting time from each blade.TipsTo Keep Your Blade SharpFirstalways use your rotary cutter on a special mat designed forthispurpose. Don't try to substitute another product. A goodmat is justas important as the cutter itself in keeping the bladesharp. Becareful when cutting to not accidentally scrape yourblade againstthe ruler or cut through pins. You could damagethe ruler and dull ornick the blade. Once the blade is nickedit is difficult to cut aseach time the blade comes around to thenick it leaves a small placethe width of a few threads uncut.This can be very frustrating tohave to go back and cut thoselittle threads again.

ToClean Your Rotary Cutter

Yournew rotary cutter will come packaged with a small amountof oil onthe blade. Do not wipe the oil off. Leave it on, it will notharmyour fabric and your cutter will cut smoother. The smallamount ofoil will also keep the safety shield from wearing asyou open andclose the blade. When cutting very linty fabrics,be sure to cleanyour cutter often. To clean the cutter, removethe nut on the back ofthe area where the blade is attached.Then remove the curved washer,and the screw. Lay everythingon the table in the order that youremoved it -- pay attentionto the direction of the washer and nut.Also remove the bladeprotector. Clean the blade and the blackplastic shield with aclean cloth moistened with a few drops ofsewing machine oil.Place a small drop of oil on both sides of theblade and replaceeverything in the order you removed it. Most rotarycutterpackages have a diagram of how to reassemble the cutter.Nexttime you purchase a new cutter, save a package to referto whenassembling your cutter after cleaning. Manyquilterstighten the screw so tight that the blade doesn't rolleasily.To test this, open the cutter and place the blade on yourmatwithout fabric. Roll the blade across your mat. You willwant theblade to turn easily on the mat. If the blade seems tightloosen it,and if it is loose and sloppy, tighten it. When the bladeis rollingfreely it is much easier to make a cut through yourfabric. If youfind you need a new rotary cutter blade and one

December 17th, 2011 Published by: NancysFabrics

Created using Zinepal. Go online to create your own eBooks in PDF, ePub, Kindle and Mobipocket formats. 2

is not available,take your rotary cutter apart, clean and oil asinstructed. Whenreassembling the cutter, replace all the piecesin reverse of how itwas taken apart. My brand of blades haslittle numbers on one sidethat usually show when the cutter isassembled. If you turn it overso the numbers are toward thesafety cover, you might get a few morehours of cutting fromthe reversed blade. You could keep up yourcutting momentumwithout having to stop and go to the quiltstore.

Rememberto keep your rotary cutter and blades well oiled andrunningsmoothly. It will only take a few minutes of your timeand yourrewards in a smoother, sharper cutter will save you agreat deal ofcutting time in the future.

Reprintedfrom Quilting Board Newsletter. QuiltingBoardnewsletter

Easy Tissue HolderBy Nancy's Fabrics on December 17th, 2011

You can make these in 5 minutes, or less if you chain piece.Great way to use up your scraps.cut main fabric 6 1/2 x 5 1/2, lining 7 1/2 x 5 1/2

you need two pieces of fabric, one main piece and one for thelining

sew 1/4 inch seam along both ends of the 5 1/2 sides, rightsides together

turn right sides out and press so that your lining fabric showsevenly on both sides of your main fabric

bring both sides to the center and press

sew across the ends using 1/4" seam

then zig zag stitch across the same ends

Turn the tissue holder right side out, use a point turner to pokethe corners neatly

December 17th, 2011 Published by: NancysFabrics

Created using Zinepal. Go online to create your own eBooks in PDF, ePub, Kindle and Mobipocket formats. 3

From the Quilting Board

Making a Mouse Pad with theStar Point BlockBy Nancy's Fabrics on December 17th, 2011

Making a Mouse Pad

with the Star Point BlockBy Rhonda Woodsmall

Mouse Pad 8" x 8" finished

This tutorial is an introduction to my Star Point Block.

You can find an in-depth explanation together with sampleprojects and designs in my Star Point Blocks e-book .And yes you can run the mouse over this pad with noproblems!!

This tutorial focuses on how to make the block. In myupcoming Ebook you will find more information on using thisblock in a lot more of my original designs. 6 more projectsare included in the Ebook with lots of pictures so you can usethe Star Point Block in more designs than I can show here.I am almost always available for answering questions or justchatting about quilting! Just let me know if I can help!

You will need:

- Basic sewing supplies.- Fat eighth to fat quarter of each color.- Or use scraps - you will need a piece large enough for the backfabric.- Ruler with a 30 degree mark and a 2 1/2" template.- 1 layer of med to thin batting about 8 1/2" square.- I use traditional from Fairfield Co.

Making the Star Point Blocks

OK, now lets start making a Star Point Block.

1. Cut swatches (pieces of fabric).

2. Sew two together-one dark and one med.

3 Cut a 30 degree angle on the med swatch.

4. Sew on the other dark swatch.

5. Lay on cutting mat and cut out a square with a template.

You will need to make 4 each of these -- paying attention towhere the colors (light/med/dark) go in each block.

December 17th, 2011 Published by: NancysFabrics

Created using Zinepal. Go online to create your own eBooks in PDF, ePub, Kindle and Mobipocket formats. 4

Cut swatches, Sew two together

Use ruler to cut a 30-degree angle

30 degree angle cut, Third swatch added, All three swatchessewn together

Use the lines on the template to center the point, You need tohave a 1/2" seam allowance Between the corner and the point

December 17th, 2011 Published by: NancysFabrics

Created using Zinepal. Go online to create your own eBooks in PDF, ePub, Kindle and Mobipocket formats. 5

Template on the swatches, Recycle the leftovers, Star PointBlock

Making the Pieced top

After you have all of your blocks made just lay them out as yousee in the layout picture below. Sew blocks together into rowsand then sew the rows together.

Quilt block, Layout

Making the Mouse Pad

Lay your pieced top face down onto the backing fabric. Pin inplace. Lay it on a cutting mat and trim the back to match thetop.

Lay your pinned fabric(pieced top goes in the middle) onto thebatting. You will have to remove the pins and replace them onthe backing which should be on top of your sandwich.

Trim the batting even with the pieced top.

Top on back fabric, Batting

One edge, Sew edge

December 17th, 2011 Published by: NancysFabrics

Created using Zinepal. Go online to create your own eBooks in PDF, ePub, Kindle and Mobipocket formats. 6

Sew around the edge

On one edge fold the back fabric back out of the way and sewalong one edge to sew(basting) the top to the batting - This willcatch the seams and keep them from fraying when you turn thepad right side out. Fold the back fabric back in place and repin.

Make sure you start on the edge you just basted.

Starting at the bottom sew around the edge until you get backto the bottom and leave a 2" opening to turn the pad with.

Now turn the pad right side out and poke the corners out. Iron.

Repin across the whole pad to quilt this pad down.

Turn right side out and pin

Closing the opening

Finished seam & quilted

I put the bottom right corner of the pad under the machineneedle and put the needle down. Hold the left corner and pullit taut. Use your small scissors or a turning tool and push andstraighten the opening until it is even with the rest of the edge.If you hold it taut this helps pull the opening into line and youcan continue to sew over it as you do make sure you use yourscissors to keep the fabric of the opening in place so it doesn'tmove.

Now continue to sew a seam around the edge until you get backto the bottom.

Quilting your Mouse Pad - Optional

Quilt in the Ditch

You can quilt your mouse pad or leave it as is. I quilt in the ditchbecause that is the extent of my quilting skills!! Just sew closeto or on the seams. I choose which seams I want to highlightand which ones I don't want to sew over. I may not want thethread to show there.

Invisible Tie

I sometimes use what I call an invisible tie. I use regularthread(not yarn) and needle and starting on the backside I runthe needle up through the fabric. Then go back down throughthe fabric but make sure the needle is not going through inexactly the same place it came up or it will just pull out. I godown just off a little from where I came up and then do thisseveral times. End with your needle on the back side and I clipthe threads really close to the fabric. If you sew through severaltimes it will cross over itself enough to hold the tie in placewithout having to leave a long tail. 3 or 4 times should work.

If you match your thread to the fabric this will help to hide thetie. So you get an invisible tie!

I have a lap size quilt I made this way several years ago and itis still just fine.

Iron it flat. I like to spray with Magic Sizing because it makesit lay flat and gives it a little stiffness when it dries. This is upto you however.Now you have a finished Mouse Pad!

December 17th, 2011 Published by: NancysFabrics

Created using Zinepal. Go online to create your own eBooks in PDF, ePub, Kindle and Mobipocket formats. 7

Reprinted from the Quilting Board Newsletter

You can purchase Rhonda Woodsmall's ebook by clickinghere Star Point Block

Harriet Powers-----AmericanQuilt MakerBy Nancy's Fabrics on December 17th, 2011

I thought I would pass this information I found about thisextraordinary woman. Harriet Powers, October 1837-January1910.

Harriet Powers(October 29, 1837 – January 1, 1910) was anAfrican American slave, folk artist and quilt maker from ruralGeorgia. She used traditional applique techniques to recordlocal legends, Bible stories, and astronomical events on herquilts. Only two of her quilts have survived: Bible Quilt 1886and Pictorial Quilt 1898. Her quilts are considered amongthe finest examples of nineteenth-century Southern quilting.Her work is on display at the National Museum of AmericanHistory in Washington, DC and the Museum of Fine Arts inBoston, Massachusetts.

Early life

Powers was born to slaves near Athens,Georgia. For most of her life she lived inClarke County, mainly in Sandy Creek andBuck Branch.

In 1886, Powers began exhibiting her quilts. Her first quilt wasshown at a cotton fair in Athens; it is this quilt that is now inthe Smithsonian Institution. Jennie Smith, an artist and artteacher from the Lucy Cobb Institute, saw the quilt at the fairand asked to purchase it, but Powers refused to sell. The twowomen remained in touch, however, and when Powers metwith financial difficulties five years later, she agreed to sellthe piece for five dollars. At the same time Powers explainedthe imagery on the quilt; Smith recorded these explanations,adding notes of her own in her personal diary.The history of the second quilt is unclear. One accountsuggests that it was commissioned by the wives of facultymembers of Atlanta University, who had seen the first quiltat the Cotton States Exhibition in Atlanta in 1895. Accordingto another source, the quilt was purchased in Nashville,Tennessee, in 1898. Whatever its origins, the piece waspresented to the Reverend Charles Cuthbert Hall of New YorkCity, who was serving as the vice-chairman of the university'sboard of trustees at the time. The reverend's heirs sold thequilt to collector Maxim Karolik, who then donated it to themuseum in Boston. Powers died on January 1, 1910, andwas buried in the Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery in Athens. Power'sgrave was rediscovered in January 2005.

Bible Quilt 1886 and Pictorial Quilt 1898 consist of numerouspictorial squares depicting either biblical scenes or celestialphenomena. Hand and machine stitched, they were madethrough applique and piecework, demonstrating both Africanand African American influences; they are notable for theirbold use of these techniques in storytelling. The reason forPowers' interest in celestial bodies is unclear; it has beensuggested that they had religious significance for her, orwere related to a fraternal organization of some sort. Herinterpretations of both quilts have survived, though they likelyhave been influenced by their recorders. Although we now

December 17th, 2011 Published by: NancysFabrics

Created using Zinepal. Go online to create your own eBooks in PDF, ePub, Kindle and Mobipocket formats. 8

know that Powers was literate (see next paragraph), she mighthave used her quilts as teaching tools. In 2009, a copy ofan 1896 letter from Harriet Powers to a prominent Keokuk,Iowa woman surfaced. In the letter Powers shares insights intoher life as a slave, when she learned to read and write, anddescriptions of at least four quilts she stitched. In her letter,Harriet Powers also describes a quilt made about 1882 that shecalled the Lord's Supper quilt. It is unclear if the presumablyappliqued quilt still physically exists today. Given that two ofPowers' appliqued quilts have survived for over 100 years, it ispossible the Lord's Supper quilt could be in a collection.

Be sure to visit Nancy's Fabrics for the start of younextapplique quilt project.

Information and pictures taken from Wikipedia---The FreeEncyclopedia.

Block of the Month 2011Nancy's FabricsBy Nancy's Fabrics on December 17th, 2011

Here are a few pictures of Nancy's Fabrics BOM 2011. Fabricchoices were by Robert Baker, owner Nancy's Fabrics andquilt design by Virginia Houchins, Union, WV. The quilt isnot completed as the BOM just ended but I will get up somepictures of the finished quilt soon. The fabric line used in thisyear's BOM was Noble Family by Benartex. Look for the NobleFamily fabric line on Nancy's Fabrics.

December 17th, 2011 Published by: NancysFabrics

Created using Zinepal. Go online to create your own eBooks in PDF, ePub, Kindle and Mobipocket formats. 9