Hi all, another mid week newsletter arrives on your portal. How are you all? I do hope you’re managing OK in “these times”. I’m not sure what “these times” really means. I think perhaps it’s the new “normal”. So I guess we all need to take a big deep breath and stay positive.

I’ve got a busy day today. Over the past few months I have been organizing the establishment of a craft group at our local library. It is planned that this group is for anyone who stitches with a needle which encompasses such crafts as knitting, crochet, tatting, quilting, embroidery, cross stitch, tapestry and so forth. The community library offers rooms for no charge as long as the group is a non profit organization. That means the group can remain free to all. I think this is the way for us to (a) bring the community of crafters together in an unthreatening environment (ie, no competition); (b) have a profile within the community; and (c) hopefully, bring craft to the younger community who are always at the library for some reason or another. If we want our crafts to be continued in future generations, I guess this is one way to raise the awareness that such pastimes exist and are practiced regularly.

Anyway, that’s what’s happening today, the first of these meetings. I’ve arranged to have these meetings once per month for this year, and once it’s up to speed and has found its feet, we’ll set the wheels in motion for a more frequent gathering calendar. So I’m very excited and nervous. Haven’t a clue how many people are going to attend. I’ve done all the free advertising that I can with local newspapers and free online advertising sites, so it’s a wait and see situation now. Keep your fingers crossed for a successful beginning won’t you.

I’ve been busy surfing again, and have revamped the Free Appliqué patterns on the Quilting site. I’ve found some really great patterns, and have been amazed that some of these are being offered for free, they are so detailed and very well put together. Anyway, here’s the link to the new patterns, knock yourself out!!
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art806.asp . I also resurrected from the archives an article I wrote some time ago on Keeping a Quilting Stash. Here’s the link to that article for those who haven’t seen it yet:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art797.asp

Don’t forget the forum that is attached to the BellaOnline Quilting site – it’s there for all the readers to participate in. Have you got anything you’d like to say about this website or anything else to do with quilting? Here’s your forum – pop on and tell us what you think. Here’s the link: http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=43&page=1

My gift to you today is a bit quirky, but my friend Kate found this site and I think it’s a beauty. If you’ve ever wondered about color and things like complimentary and split-complimentary terms etc, this little site will help you to understand what it’s all about. It’s a site for those that are using color schemes in their websites, but I thought it was a goody for us too. Have a look: http://colorschemedesigner.com/ . I’ll be commencing a comprehensive Color for Quilters Workshop on the BellaOnline Quilting site soon, so stay tuned for that.

Well, folks, that’s all for now, stay well and happy, and keep those fingers crafting. Till next week,


Judie Bellingham, Quilting Editor
http://Quilting.bellaonline.com

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