I'm a senior - I have no filters!

OK—the purple rotary cutter has found a new home, and not the person I envisioned, but they worked it out in the comments. Yeah!!!!

The fun in the Quiltmaker magazines doesn't end!!! 

Here are some fun facts for anyone who wants to know what life was like when quilting started to become popular again. Those marketers were at it from the beginning! These pictures are from the July/August 1994 issue. 

Actually, the whole thing started way before the magazines did. Bonnie Lehman started selling quilt patterns and plastic templates by mail in 1968. Then, in the 70s, they founded a quilt store, continued the mail-order catalog, and called it Quilts and Other Comforts. Here are some milestones over the years. These relate only to the store, not the Quilter's Newsletter, which Bonnie founded in 1969; the first issue was released on September 21, 1969. WOW!!!! Quiltmaker came along 13 years later in 1982. 

The "birth" of quilt magazines 

Quilters' Newsletter was the first quilting magazine published regularly. And then Quiltmaker came along in the 1980s. Bonnie was a busy lady!!!

By the way, Quilters' Newsletter ran for 47 years, with the last issue published in October/November 2016. By then, F+W Media had bought it, and it owned a bunch of magazine titles across multiple disciplines. Golden Peak Media now owns most of the quilt magazine titles, including the soon-to-be defunct Quiltmaker.  

Here are some of the products they introduced. 

Since there were no rotary cutters, they introduced plastic templates you could mix and match. Hmmmm—what does this remind you of? 

Plastic pre-cut quilting templates were introduced.

It looks suspiciously like the Go! Cutter Cube die sets!!!!

Quilt as you go frames

Quilt as you go frames!!!! Of course there were, because that was a very popular type of quilting at the time and still is for people who can't quilt a large quilt. 

Leaflets with answers to all your quilting questions. Remember—there was no Google to ask questions. The information in the leaflets came from magazine articles in either publication. 

Leaflets with quilting information!

OMG—stencils you could peel and stick to your quilt so you could stitch around the edges!!!! Can you imagine? Maybe that was for hand quilting! It must have been hand quilting. Of course it was for hand quilting - DUH!!!

Peel and stick quilt stencils.

You've seen these pictures before, but more pre-cut squares - the precursor to charm packs!!!

And that amazing book on scrap quilts!!! I didn't realize this one came from this organization. 

Scrappy charm packs and scrappy quilt book

OMG --- a complete pre-cut kit!!! And you thought the concept was new when you bought those pre-cut quilt kits. Nope!!!

Pre-cut quilt kits!

Let's not forget the block contests! I don't know if this is as popular as it was back then. 

Block contest

Note cards!!! With quilts on them! Yep --- nothing is new!!! That was super popular, but I think that has dwindled out since people no longer seem to send anything by mail. Notice the store was located in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. 

Printed cards with quilt images on them

So that information came out in 1994, and obviously some of the trends had been around for a while. That was over 30 years ago!!!! So the next time you think something is new, it's not! Someone just found a new way to update the technique/tool. 

Remebmer what I said yesterday that the magazines never changed their take on binding? Well, I was wrong. This was in the editor's note in the latter half of 94. 

They decided to change their binding to double-fold binding cut at 2½". Yeah!!!! I can't imagine working with a single fold at 1½". That would have been insane!!

Change the binding width!!!

Oh, before I move on, there were many fabric clubs at Quilts and Other Comforts. And now you know why we have so much fabric. I participated in all kinds of exchanges and a fabric club (only once, I think) from Keepsake Quilting. All of this happened before I started quilting in 1998, but you can see that there was already plenty of encouragement for people to BUY!!!! 

Fabric Clubs!!

Quilts and other Comforts also showed up at various shows around the country, and they encouraged readers to stop by, say hello (and buy, of course!). And did you see the carrot? You could win a FREE quilt! 

While the emphasis was moving to machine piecing, read the comment here. I think some people in the industry struggled with machine piecing being REAL piecing. 

Yep --- machine piecers sacrificed!!! 

And a tip from the editor about using the wrong side of the fabrics if you didn't like the front. Great advice then, and still valid today. 

Great advice to use the back of the fabric!

OK—while I have time (I'm writing this the night before because I have to be on the road early in the morning), here's the cell phone story. 

This was on the Editorial page in the Globe and Mail this past weekend. Seriously? This needs an editorial? 

From the Editorial page

YES—sadly, it does, and this issue apparently landed on the desk of Britain's PM. I agree 1000% with the editorial, and it has become a very serious issue. You are on the bus, the train, in a restaurant, or wherever. Some people think it's OK to chat with someone (usually via video call) with NO headphones and the phone in front of them, either held horizontally in front of their mouth (the most ridiculous-looking thing I've ever seen) or sitting on the table in front of them. Please tell me you are NOT among the people who do this. 

They tend to speak louder than normal, and it's super annoying. Why do I need to listen to both sides of a ridiculous conversation? So rather than introduce laws, people—we don't need laws; we need common sense. Before we introduce laws, it is up to us to tell these people to shut up!!!

It drives DH and me crazy. We were in a restaurant at the float plane dock in Vancouver. A single person sat at the table next to us and proceeded to talk on his phone without headphones. Do they think the rest of the restaurant can't hear them? Are these people extremely rude or completely unself-aware, or are they just waiting to see if someone will say something? 

Anyway, it was extremely disruptive for us having a conversation. So I got up and told the guy to tone it down, since his call was disrupting our lunch. He actually argued with me that he was no worse than the other patrons in the restaurant talking to each other. Oh buddy—you are loud, and they are not! He shut up!

The other day, I was at Tim's waiting for the winter tires to be put on the car, and some guy waltzed in and started a conversation on his phone with someone. No headphones or earbuds. This time? I didn't get up - I just yelled at him across two tables to shut the F up! Well, I didn't exactly say that, but I told him he was being very rude and distracting. He shut up! 

What's worse is that I had glanced at him several times, and he looked right at me - almost like a dare. Well, don't dare me because I have no filter! I'm a senior!!!

There are still lots of pretty flowers around these days—here are three blooms we saw this morning. 

Well, it was a great day in my sewing world. I have a number of events coming up, and I need to get organized, since I don't have much time to prep. 

As I was working on some homework for a class next weekend, guess what I found? Strips of that deep purple eyelash fabric. And the best news? I didn't need all the strips. They will be perfect to finish off that block, and then I'll have to find something else for the other blocks in the quilt. But that's OK. 

Strips of the purple eyelash fabric

All four of the blocks will have the same border! I guess while the fabric was in my hand for one project, I used it for the next one as well!!

Missing fabric to complete my block!

I was a wee bit behind on the homework for the Show and Tell quilt. I hadn't quite finished the three blocks from last month, so I managed to complete one more block. These blocks are huge, but the animals are adorable!!! 

One more deer block

There is still one more deer block to make, and it's half cut out. It'll have to wait until next week. Hmmm—did you notice what I did? Look at the spacing between the legs. It's the same deer pattern, but one is wider than the other! Which one is correct? I think the one on the right is correct because I remember having to trim some excess fabric from that first block. Hmmm—I don't have time to check, but I will next week. 

Two of the three deer blocks are done! 

I managed to sew a whole bunch of half-square triangles while piecing that block. 

Busy making half-square triangles

I now have a huge basket full that needs trimming, but there is no time. Perhaps at the virtual retreat at the end of the month!

Half-square triangles to trim

I am mostly packed for tomorrow. I'll edit the blog in the morning before I leave, as well as throw the last few items into a bag or suitcase - whatever comes first. 

So if you are in the London, Ontario area, be sure to stop by Stache Fabrics and Notions and say hello. I'll be doing demos all day tomorrow and two lectures on Sunday. 

I'm also doing a Facebook Live next week - I'm just not sure where it's advertised, and I'll try to find that out. 

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!