Friday, January 8, 2010

QUILTERS' UNIVERSITY VIA BB (BONNIE'S BLOG)

We have so many new quilters in our Ocean Wave Quilters' Guild in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and Cashiers' Quilters' Guild in Cashiers and Highlands, NC, that I think it is time that we start learning more about this wonderful art of quilting.
I am going to start teaching Quilting skills on my blog that will help you in your seek for perfection in this wonderful art form, and it IS an art.

QUILTERS' UNIVERSITY LESSON #1 BIAS BARS

I decided to start this by improving your skills of applique. The first skill is to learn the use of BIAS BARS that may be found in most Quilt Shops in the areas.
Most appliqued flowers require the use of tiny stems. Making these stems without Bias Bars is almost impossible. Most packages of BB have sizes from 1/2" stems down to 1/16". The plastic ones are heat resistant and do not burn your fingers as badly as the metal bars, needless to say. I have tried both, and highly recommend the plastic ones. Follow the directions on the packages for the best results with the ones you have bought.
Making uniform size stems makes any applique piece look more professionally done! This is a MUST HAVE set of tools for quilting!

CASHIERS/HIGHLANDS KNITTING GUILD MEETING

Wow, the knitting guild has taken off with a bang. Every week there are more eager knitters meeting together. Most of them are knitting feverishly on the helmet liners for our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Tess Cowen has written to me that the next meeting, Jan. 13th will be at Buck's Cafe in Cashiers at 10:00 - 11:30; however, the group is growing by leaps and bounds, and she has found out that the Cashiers Library will let the group meet there in the future. Just be sure that you go to Buck's on Jan. 13th to find out the details. Happy Knitting, ladies! (gentlemen welcome, too naturally!)