Beth Ferrier’s Blog

It’s here, finally. Our second block of the month project for this year is ready to start, well almost. I’m still quilting the sample (my hands can only take so much before they start complaining), but the important stuff is done.

So, here’s a graphic of the design, in all it’s glory.

I’m calling it Flutterby Fancies. It will finish the same size as Be Still My Heart, about 37 x 42 inches.

We have a very limited number of kits available. First come, first serve. Because I know someone will ask, the applique fabric is by Lyndhurst Studio, a division of Northcott Fabrics. The line is the Rainbow Ombres in Nature’s Palette, by Michele Scott. It is gone from the manufacturer’s warehouses. You may be able to find it at your local shop, or online somewhere, but there is no more for your local shop to order. The background fabric is Kaufmann’s Kona Solids, in Snow, just like last month’s kit.

Here’s my version, with the quilting just started. What’s that you say? Are you noticing my spiffy new machine? It’s a Bernina 820, and it’s a honey. Flutterby Fancies is the first quilt I’ve made using it, and it’s been a treat. (You see a globe on the screen because it’s currently on “eco”, a power saving setting that lets me leave the machine on, but at a lower power level.)

I got to see the prototype of this machine over three years ago, while visiting the Bernina factory in Switzerland. It was my good luck to be one of many teachers asked for opinions on what would go into this machine. I’ve had it only a couple of weeks, and so far I’m maddly in love. Don’t tell Kent, he may be jealous.

The Ferrier family welcomed a new member on March 31st. Nicole Lynn arrived by c-section at about 7:45 am, weighing 9lbs 6 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. Of course, we think she is perfect in every way. Daddy (my oldest son, Nathan), big brother Alex and Mommy Amanda give baby Nicole the warm welcome she deserves.

Kent and I were thrilled to make it to the hospital just in time to greet our new granddaughter.

Kent’s usually the one taking the pictures, it’s about time we caught him in front of the camera. I was really happy that she decided to arrive before my trip to Oklahoma, but it was super hard to hand her back to her mom and other grandma while I was off doing what I do!

I must admit, I was more than a little nervous about making my first teaching trip after the accident. I’ve been so sedentary, healing, that I was not sure I’d have the stamina to make it through three lectures and four day-long workshops. Luckily everyone was very understanding about letting me hide out in my hotel room, resting, between jobs. I’m so grateful to all the wonderful quilters who did the heavy lifting for me. Lugging big suitcases and boxes of class supplies are part of the job, and a part that I don’t easily foist onto others.

It was, in the end, very good for me to be back in the classroom. I love to teach. Being with quilters fills me with energy and inspiration. It’s nice to know that even when I’m not at my tip top shape I can still offer a good and fun class. Knowing that sure helps in the dark times when life is handing out lemons.

While not a requirement, it’s handy to have a light box for my Hand Applique by Machine technique class. I’ve seen all sorts of them, store bought and home made. But I almost fell over laughing when Mary demonstrated her “laptop lightbox”.  I’m always impressed by how resourceful quilters can be.

I also need to thank Lerlene Nevaril, president of the Bartlesville, OK quilt guild. My last day of classes fell on my birthday, and Lerlene surprised me with a perfect cake: white cake and frosting and red roses! It was totally unexpected and left me speechless (really!).

This week I have been playing grandma. I’m off to Holland, Mi to help out my daughter in law and cuddle my grandchildren. Alex is nearly three, and he just keeps getting more spectacular. Watching him play takes me right back to when his daddy was little. Can you see the tiger that he’s chasing? Me either, but Alex kept me safe all afternoon, hot on the tail of that mean tiger. He insisted that I sit on the hill at the back of the yard while he chased and chastised that pesky tiger. And just often enough, he would run up the hill to me, to give me a reassuring hug, and to let me know that he’d keep keep that mean tiger away. My heart is full.

Baby sister Nicole just gets more beautiful every day. She’s a good natured baby, nursing well and beginning to stretch out the time between meals. Looks like she’s going to be a red head! I always wanted a red headed child, but it doesn’t run on either side of our family trees. Amanda brought red hair with her, and I’m thrilled to see it. It’s been a bit of a challenge, jumping straight from teaching to grandma-ing, but we’ve all been taking naps when the kids sleep. Naps are underappreciated, I’m thinking about allowing time for one in my classes.

I was really happy to have my cast removed at four weeks after the accident, but not at all happy to find out that my use of the hand was still just as restricted. The brace is so much nicer, especially the part about being able to remove it for showers. But the doc reminded me that the bone was still healing, not healed. No lifting more than a soup can, no yard work (very frustrating as spring is arriving and my gardens are calling to me), still no scissors.

I’ve just had my eight week check up and I’m still in the brace for six more weeks. I am not a happy camper. But I’m trying hard to follow doctor’s orders and keep my mood up. I’m sorry to say that the start of the next block of the month project is going to be delayed until May 15th. I have it started, but no where near ready to post. I’m trying to get back on track, but I’m afraid to say, my applique train was really derailed. Don’t you just hate when real life gets in the way of your quilting?

The goal was to be able to present the new block of the month project today. But then I decided that I’d like to offer fabric kits to go with the design. Shopping for yardage to sell is not nearly as much fun as shopping for fabric for my stash. Since it’s something that I don’t do all that often I don’t have a fabric rep or contacts at the manufacturers. Progress stalled.

 I have found this killer fabric to use for the applique, five shades across the width of the fabric! When it comes to applique it doesn’t get any better than that. Still working on the background fabric, but I am making progress.

These lovely sorbet colors came from two fabrics, medium and light. Isn’t that cool? The colors blend across the width, with magical swirls of shades. I especially like how the fabric reads as a solid, just begging for thread work and embellishment.

All of this applique came from just four fabrics! Oh, be still my heart.

So here’s the deal. This year, instead of one large project, we’ll be having four seasonal block of the month projects. The quilts will finish about 38 x 42 inches, a nice wall or lap size. We’ll post the projects in three steps each, and just as we’ve done for years, the steps will be free for one month.

New this year, we’re going to offer the complete pattern for sale, as a download, when the first step is posted. We’ll get our act together and offer fabric kits. I’d like to also offer thread or embellishment kits. And eventually I will combine the motifs from all four seasonal patterns into one really deluxe larger quilt. At least that’s the plan as it stands today.

I could use a little help with a name for this quilt. Ideas anyone?

There is a very long list of things I’d like to learn how to do. I’d like to learn to spin my own yarn. I’d like to raise chickens (which will never happen as long as we live downriver from a chemical plant, but I can dream). I’d love to learn how to throw pottery on a wheel. And it would be really good if I could learn how to take better pictures.

Everything that happens in my life is pretty much a crime of opportunity. Keeping chocolate morsels in the pantry significantly increases the likelihood of cookies, for example. I’ve gathered the supplies for painting on silk, painting lace, beading, machine embroidery, heirloom sewing and others just in case I have a dire need to paint, bead or embroider. It could happen. Over the last year or so I’ve been gathering the tools for rug hooking, or more precisely, punch needle rug hooking.

Several years ago (um, like maybe eight years ago, but who’s counting?) I started a rug with the traditional hook technique. I got as far as WE in “welcome” before I lost interest. Of course that hasn’t kept me from collecting wool to cut into strips. But still, I didn’t really enjoy using the hook to lift the strips to the front of the work, it hurt my hands. So, the base fabric hangs from the quilt hoop frame (that I bought thinking that I might like hand quilting someday), waiting.

After knitting myself crazy making the stranded projects for Christmas I decided the time was right to pull out those punchneedle supplies. I pushed a few lines around to create the design, snapped up a sharpie marker and set to work.

In no time at all I had the design traced and hooped, feeling very clever that I had the foresight to stash this stuff.

As with all things, there was a learning curve. My first leaves were too densely packed. The yarn was too thin for the punch needle, so I doubled it up. It didn’t occur to me to check the other punch needle I had stashed, trusting my memory that it was larger. (It isn’t.) But I found that I liked using two different shades at once, and the doubled strands filled the spaces faster.

Not bad for a first attempt. This thirteen inch circle took just a couple of hours and put a significant dent in my Christmas knitting leftover yarn. I guess it will become a pillow top, or something.

But what is an appliquist to do? The design just demanded that I applique it. I mean, really, how could I not?

Time to run to the stash and pull some fabrics the fine folks at Northcott sent me, gradation of shade and color across the width of the fabric, it’s an appliquist’s dream.

Here it is, laid out just as for the little rug thingie. It’s lovely, I really love it. I love the delicate shading that the fabric provides. I really like the circle showing through the background fabric, I’ve been thinking about how that should be incorporated into the design. 

But now I have a problem. What do I do with this design? I’m sort of obsessing on the Block of the Month for this year. I was thinking that I’d really like to do a Baltimore Album style quilt. Or a series of little quilts. Or, ideally, a series of little quilts that could be combined to make a Baltimore album quilt. My default setting for quilt design is to start with a queen size. I’m too practical. Everything must be useful, have a purpose. So, what do you think? A series of circles? A series of circles with no other plan than to let you decide what you’re doing with the end product? Arggg! Help me out here!

One of my favorite projects from the new book is the Calico Cat. She’s done over in three different fabric styles, from a modern city cat to a homey country cat. This is the mod, groovy kitty.

To keep the kitties company I also designed a Patchwork Pup. As cute as a whisker (sorry, I couldn’t help myself), these two critters would make darling pillow covers as well as charming wall hangings. Using the Wash Away Applique sheets instead of freezer paper let me embellish these sweeties to my heart’s content. (The paper is FINALLY on its way. We will start shipping orders on MONDAY!)

Hop on over to C&T’s blog to see the Patchwork Pup. You’ll find a link for a free pattern to make a pup of your very own.

It’s almost here. After a year of working and waiting and more working and more waiting, the new book is almost here.

Isn’t it beautiful? I think so too!

For those who are new to the  Hand Applique by Machine process we’ve included the basics. But it’s the new stuff, all the possiblities of the technique that I always knew were there, that’s what I’m most excited to share.

How about adding trapunto to our applique? It’s in there. What about decorating our applique with those fancy stitches on our machines that we never use? It’s in there! How about bobbinworking embellishment our designs? It’s in there too!

Even though I was wary in the beginning, I have loved the process of working with a publisher. I’ve gone from being the boss of everything to being part of a great team. The book design is exactly what I’ve always wanted and could never quite achieve on my own. The editors have asked all the right questions, helping me to write the clearest, easiest to follow directions. And the photography is spectacular.

But Wait! There’s More!

We’ve found the most amazing stuff. This paper acts like water soluble freezer paper! It irons on, just like freezer paper, but instead of wrestling it back out of the project this stuff just washes away! I know!

I’ve been asking for this stuff for years. And now it’s here! I’ve been using it in it’s orginial form for a couple of years, and all I can says is, I’ll never use freezer paper again!

We’re set up to take early orders for the book on my website (click here), we’ll add the paper site tonight. We don’t have an exact delivery date just yet, so we’ve set up a system that will take credit card numbers without automatically charging them. (We will add PayPal when we know the books are on the way.) Our best estimate for delivery is by early December. You better bet you’ll hear when the books are on the way!

We are coming down to the wire on my next applique book. I’ll be approving the final layout in the next few days and then it’s off to the printer! (And, I’ll be able to start showing you what I’ve been working on for the last year, finally!)

But before all that, I need testimonials from students for the back of the book. So, if you have something nice to say about my classes or my first applique book, or me (I’m blushing here, to be fishing for compliments), please leave a comment or email me at beth at applewd.com.  Thanks!

The brown envelope containing my advance copy of the magazine has been sitting on my desk for a few days. While I knew that the issue would include a project from me, I had no idea the quilt would end up on the cover! It was a fun little quilt to make. The applique was completed on one of my teaching trips earlier this year.

The fabric has great designs for applique. Especially the border print, its large flowers were perfect for the inner stars of the applique flowers. One of the coordinating prints has zippy little starbursts that just begged to be turned into circles. How could I resist?

The issue is on the newsstands now.

 On newsstands now, in the May issue of McCall’s Quick Quilts, you’ll find this easy and speedy quilt project. Isn’t it a cheerful quilt? It’s made with fabric from my Audrey’s Garden fabric line from P&B. I pieced the quilt (truthfully, in one long day, it’s that easy) and Terrie McCullough did a spectacular job of quilting it for me. (While I usually do my own quilting, I was dead in the middle of manuscript deadline when the project needed to be done.)

The working title was Garden Trellis, but it’s called “May Morning” in the magazine (which I think is a much better name). Our kits have already sold out. Sorry! They don’t even have some of the fabrics in the warehouse any more, darn it all.

 PS. If you’d like to hunt down the fabric for this quilt , this link will take you to a list of the shops that bought the whole collection. You’ll need:

1 1/8 yards AUDG 784 B; 1 1/8 AUDG 784 G; 1 yard AUDG 783 BY; 5/8 yard AUDG 783 RC; 1 1/4 yard AUDG 785 WR; 4 1/2 yards AUDG 780 R

It’s an old Chinese curse: may you have an interesting life. Thankfully the last few weeks have been blissfully uninteresting. Good for getting things done, mundane things like making kits, filling orders and writing patterns. Good for enjoying time with the family and puttering around the house. Not so good for conjuring up interesting blog posts.

For a few days last week we had spring. We set a record high, whoo hoo! We were practically in bathing suits, even if the high was only sixty degrees. (For my California friends, sixty degrees is down jacket weather. For us it’s time to break out the sunscreen.)

The ice covering the pond melted completely and look who came out from under the rocks!

 I know it’s dark, there was a lot of glare on the water’s surface. I think it was sunlight but since we haven’t seen much of that since last October don’t take my word for it. I’m happy to report that seven fish have survived the winter so far. (That’s a leaf on the surface.) Of course, we had another six inches of snow dumped on us last weekend and temps into the single digits, so the pond is frozen over again.

In between trimming and trimming and trimming the bazillion applique shapes for Now & Forever (who designed this quilt anyway?) I’ve been ruminating on my next challenge. Once again the powers that be invited me to be a part of the Pilgrim and Roy Challenge to benefit the American Quilters Society Museum.

This is the fabric. Now this is interesting. I’m only allowed to add one fabric. I don’t have to use all of them. I can’t use the other side. And the quilt needs to finish around 40 inches square.

I’m playing around with the idea of a pieced background and some applique (there’s a surprise). I’d like to showcase a technique (or two) out of the new book. I’ve purchased a quiet dark blue as one possible additional fabric and a zippy green with confetti of all the colors here as another. I’ll post a picture of the two additional fabrics soon. The blue is safe. The green has a lot of energy. What do you think? What would you do?