Welcome to our first edition of Buy a Thread, and thanks for reading. We are excited to use this platform to share exciting news, keep you updated with events happening at the store, and share quilt-related stories. I would like to start by saying that this newsletter is for you, and if you want to see something in our newsletter, all you have to do is ask. In the meantime, I will try my best to deliver entertaining content!
Recently I was asked to make a card trick quilt and was suggested to me that I use the simplified version on YouTube to follow. To my understanding, the original card trick block was made from many, many half-square triangles. As well as using the same four colors for every block, to simplify piecing the blocks together. This method gives you a beautiful offset card trick block but takes a lot of time. I have also seen a nine-patch card trick, that uses half-square triangles and quarter-square triangles but again it’s the same four colors and takes time.
Jenny Doan from Missouri Quilt Co. teaches the block using 2 ½” strips which lets us use jelly rolls or Bali-pops to create this quilt, and that brings in many more colors. Don’t let the extra colors confuse you because it’s quite simple. The key is to keep your pieces organized while cutting. Of one 2 ½” strip you will be able to fit four 4 ½” rectangles and eight 2 ½” squares, then keep one rectangle with one square, I used paperclips! Now you may be asking, why did I cut double the number of squares? Jenny has added cornerstones in her version of the card trick, and I think it really set the quilt off. While you are pairing your rectangles and squares, toss the extra four squares into a pile. And I mean toss, because the cornerstones will be completely random. The next step is to find four colors that will sit well together in the block and keep the same color rectangle and square together. For me, it was simplest to completely sew together the center four-patch and then stack it with the four coordinating rectangles until I was ready to sew them on. We offset the block with two background squares, adding our cornerstones before sewing them on to complete the block.
The card trick is a beautiful block, but the real trick is how Jenny pieces it without using half-square triangles. Thank you, Jenny, for inspiring this project and making a doable block!
Homestead Fabric & Quilting is celebrating our 20-year anniversary this year! We are beginning celebrations on May 25 with a presentation with Rob from Trendtex! After the presentation, we plan to serve wine and cheese and enjoy good company! If you are unable to attend this celebration, we will also be hosting a show and tell in the late summer, more information to come.
Our Young Quilter class is coming to a close for the summer and we have two finished quilts so far! It’s been an honor to teach these ladies.
We celebrated Mother’s Day in style this year by making flower purses! It was a great day of sewing, thank you to those who attended!
Maureen Wood, a certified Judy Niemeyer instructor will be at Homestead from June 23 to 28. We have planned patterns for anyone who would like to start a paper piecing project, or if you have any Judy Niemeyer pattern that you’d like help on, you are more than welcome to join the class for a day. For $125 Maureen will help you for the day and you will get lunch. Please let us know your pattern at the time of RSVPing!
We have many upcoming plans and are very excited to see what the future will bring us. Thanks for tagging along for the ride with us! That’s all for now, see you next time, and thanks for reading!
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