Hi everyone, hope all’s well at your place. My apologies for being oh so late with this weeks newsletter, it’s all my fault!! I managed to lock myself out of the Bella Editing Website. Anyway it’s fixed now, so better late than never I say! But with every cloud there is a silver lining and from this newsletter I will be posting it and photos onto the website for you to view. Here’s the link to the Newsletter & Photos. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art1321.asp

It will be the same link every week, only the content will change. So pop over and see the photos that accompany this newsletter.

I’ve been a busy bee over the past week. I’ve been busy finishing my daughters’ birthday present, she asked for an apron and so I’ve embroidered on a bought apron. Here’s the photos of the finished apron:

I’ve also been very busy finishing a Rag Mat for my sewing room floor. It came about when I was thrashing though my stash looking for “that fabric” when I realized that I have a great deal of “out of date” fabric and stuff that I probably wouldn’t put into a quilt, well, not in this lifetime anyway. So I got to thinking how could I use up the fabric in a useful way? So I surfed the web, and came across some great tutorials for this type of craft, and cut up the strips and started work. The only problem was that it wasn’t very neat, and when you start in this fashion, the centre is pretty important. Eventually, I got an oversized crochet hook and started the middle section off with about 6dc’s, then used my bodkin to commence the buttonholing of the mat. Anyway, it’s coming along beautifully and I’m on the last colour now, need to make about 20 more rounds and it will be the size I want. Here are some photos for you:

I posted the last State Block last Sunday – Georgia, for those who wanted a block instead of the Atlanta Mystery Quilt that had been posted. I hope you like it; I think it’s one of the loveliest of them all. Here’s the link to that article: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art1132.asp

Now, the FORUM. I’ve come up with this brainwave (don’t run and hide, it’s not THAT bad) and I’ve decided to start a new thread – QUILT TIPS FROM BELLONLINE READERS. I’ll get is started with my first tip and I invite anyone who is interested to offer a tip about quilting. It can be anything to do with quilting, any genre of quilting and so forth. You can post as many tips as you wish. The only point that I’d make is in the Subject section at the top before you type in your tip or hints; make sure that the Subject clearly reflects the tip subject. The subject line doesn’t have many characters, so you need to think of the most precise description for your tip or hint.

So here’s the link to the forum thread and my tip. I invite all the Bellaonline readers to KNOCK YOURSELF OUT!!!! http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=newpost&Board=43

Onto my gift for you this week. I had a request for details for folding quilts in order to avoid creasing of the quilt. So here’s the website that I’ve used for the instructions:
http://appliqueandpatches.blogspot.com/2009/03/quilt-folding.html

And a couple of instructions for making pretty tablemats and tablecloths from your patchwork fabrics.
http://home.howstuffworks.com/triangles-quilted-place-mat-pattern.htm
http://home.howstuffworks.com/quilted-tablecloth-patterns.htm

Well, I guess that’s all from me this week. Hope you are busy with your quilting and managing to fit some time for yourself in your busy life. Don’t forget to take care of yourself. You are worth it!!
Cheerio for now and have fun quilting,

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

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