Come Stitch With Me

Quilt retreats and classes in my area are few and far between right now. For my sanity, I needed some quilty fun with other like-minded folks. An invitation to join a virtual quilt retreat appeared in my inbox. It worked with my schedule and the price was certainly right so I signed up. A small retreat swag packet appeared in my mailbox a few days later.

I really wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a fun time.

The meeting “location” involved a private FB group and 2-3 daily Zoom calls lasting about 90 minutes each.

As with a regular sewing retreat, you choose your level of participation. I worked on personal projects while I listened to the conversation and would stop to chime in when I felt I could add to the conversation. Participant sewing experience varied widely and the wealth of knowledge in this particular group was wonderful. People were very willing to share their knowledge and expertise with the entire group. I credit the retreat organizer with creating such a warm, trusting environment for attendees.

Prizes and giveaways were really nice. Each evening Zoom session had a giveaway, as did the Bingo game.

Surprisingly, I accomplished quite a bit on my sewing “to-do” list. The retreat organizer runs an online quilting group whose purpose is to keep quilters moving forward on projects. I definitely benefit from/need this type of accountability.

Would I do this again? Yes. My preference is certainly for F2F retreats; however, I did enjoy the real-time interaction with fellow quilters this virtual retreat offered. That’s the part I find missing in online quilt/sew-al-longs.

Yep, I had my own close encounter of the Covid kind this week. A coworker was diagnosed with Covid-19. Fortunately, I was not identified as a high risk individual during contact tracing. Given our situation, however, my doctor recommended I get tested as a precaution. Nasal swab and 48 hours later, my results were negative. Thank goodness! Masks, hand sanitizer, and keeping away from people appear to work.

After spending much of the week as a recluse, I ventured out today with Sadie to complete another of the required field observations on our way to becoming a certified therapy dog team. We passed and have only one observation left. One week from now, we should be finished with our field observations! Then, it’s a matter of paperwork.

Although 2020 has been a crappy year – Boomer’s illness & crossing the Rainbow Bridge, pandemic, social unrest, election season, house damage from Hurricane Zeta…being able to get back in the therapy dog game with Sadie gives me hope for the future and a much needed dose of “normalcy” in my life.

Here’s hoping the remainder of 2020 veers more toward the normal side of things for us all.

Good grief, I can’t keep up anymore! I have noticed three things though:

(1) Fabric collections are starting to look alike.
(2) Designers are taking existing content/patterns and repackaging to sell as new.
(3) Prices for both have increased dramatically since the pandemic began.

The Good:
I’ve been working on my Granny’s Flower Garden applique quilt for several months now. The project came to a halt because I needed additional background fabrics and couldn’t find ones I liked. On Saturday, I spied a couple of new vintage floral lines at a new-to-me quilt shop. I purchased 1/2 yard cuts of several fabrics from this shop. They go beautifully with the existing fabrics in my project. Now working on Granny’s Garden again!

The Hmmmmm:
The repackaging of existing content is nothing new. Magazines do it all the time. Publishers convert print into electronic format. Pattern designers do the same. What really frustrates me (as both a librarian and a quilter) is that the same price is being charged for an electronic copy as the original print copy. I firmly believe there should be a substantial discount for digital copies in lieu of print. Why? It’s my paper, ink and time going towards prepping the pattern so I can use it OR I must invest in a device to be able to access the content. On the flip side, a number of magazine publishers and designers do make free content and patterns available online. Enter your local public library to the rescue! You can often borrow both print and digital books & magazines for FREE. If you don’t have a device, you can read digital materials using computers at the public library (and print for a nominal fee). I keep a Moleskine notebook just for taking notes of things that resonate with me while I flip through a book or magazine. If I really like the book, I’ll add a copy to my collection (preferably through a local second-hand shop). For digital items, I bookmark the site and download/save any free project pdfs at the same time. On more than one occasion, I’ve returned to a bookmarked site only to find the formerly free pattern now for sale in the designer’s online shop. (Nothing wrong with this practice – designer has to make money, too!).

The Concern:
The continuing affordability of fabric, patterns and notions for new quilters is a concern. Sure, you can always hand-piece or do EPP, meaning your investment might be about the same as someone who knits. However, most of us prefer to use a sewing machine. Quilting happens to be a hobby that can come with a high cost of entry. I spied charm packs at $14.95 each and yardage averaging $13.95/yard on my Saturday shopping trip. Patterns now seem to range from $12-$20. Rulers, mats, thread, scissors and other notions have also gone up. What to do?
Suggestions:
1) Pre-shop and compare prices. Cruise the big box store (Joann, Hobby Lobby etc.) with your shopping list. What do they carry that’s on your list? Make note of listed retail prices. Next, go visit a couple of quilt shops and price the same items, plus any items not available at the big box store. Finally, come home and check amazon plus other favorite online fabric shops. Yes, online prices may be cheaper, but remember to factor in shipping costs. You may also have an immediate need for an item and can’t wait the week or more it will take to arrive.

2) Know where you can substitute. For me, Hobby Lobby’s Sewology 50wt quilting thread (on the modern spool) is a fine substitute for Aurifil – especially if 50% off. If using solids, Hobby Lobby and Joann’s carry most, if not all, the Kona Cotton line. If your project calls for solid fabrics and you have a limited budget, splurge on the focus fabric at the LQS and head to the big box store to substitute a Kona Cotton for the pricier Moda or Riley Blake solids.

3) Invest in quality tools that will last. Splurge on a pair of 8″ Gingher scissors. Buy a quality cutting mat. Test all rotary cutters, then buy the 45mm one that feels right in your hand. Buy titanium rotary cutter blades when on sale. Buy quality glass-head pins. Buy the iron that feels comfortable to you. Starting to get the picture?

4) Curate, curate, curate the items you add to your fabric stash, book collection and tool box. You do not need every ruler sold. Start with 3: 6×24, 6×12 and 3×18 or similar measurements. Add 6-1/2″ and 12-1/2″ square rulers. The small 2-1/2″ x 6-1/2″ Creative Grids ruler (often emblazoned with your favorite quilt shop’s logo) that you see while checking out also comes in handy.

5) Resist the temptation to buy every pattern and book you see. Challenge yourself to Google it first to see if a free pdf is available. (You may be surprised by what you find!). Despite the fancy name, most quilts are on based on the same set of universal quilt blocks. I found “The New Quick & Easy Block Tool” from C&T Publishing to be well worth its $17.95 cover price. As your skills and knowledge increase, don’t be surprised if you discover that you can use your block book to re-create a quilt you pinned on Pinterest – no pattern necessary. Likewise, your favorite designer probably has a certain block size and construction techniques that they consistently use. Once you’ve made a couple of their quilts and invested in a book or two by them, you may be able to save on buying new patterns for simple quilts because you can probably figure it out once you see a picture and know the block size or finished dimensions. Case in point, a favorite designer recently released a new version of an older quilt pattern. I clicked for pattern info only to discover it retailed for $17.95. Nope. Not buying that one. I looked at pictures of the finished quilt, read the available pattern info, consulted my book and did a little math. A few minutes later, I had the info needed to make my version of the quilt recorded in my Moleskine book. This is perfectly fine for you to do. Just don’t take that info and publish it online or share it with your entire quilt guild. This is most definitely not considered an ethical use of information.

Personally, I have been conducting a mindful destash over the past few months. I purged, donated or gave stuff to fellow sewists. I still need to list the items that I’ve set aside to sell – but that will come. At least I can now breathe, relax and find stuff in my studio.

If you find yourself with an abundance of stash, try one of the following:
Challenge yourself to use only what’s in your stash to make a project.
Only buy a project that you are actually going to make.
Cull your stash – give away, donate or sell what you’re not going to use.

Goals for 2021:
List and sell designated items
1 stash-only challenge per quarter (baby/lap quilt for charity)
Complete one UFO per month.