Beth Ferrier’s Blog

So much of life is a series of overlapping events. Projects ebb and flow around teaching trips and writing deadlines. Holiday and family celebrations pile on top of daily responsiblities, and chores never end.

I’m at one of those delicious moments when everything is done. I’m done teaching for the year and looking forward to three blissful, productive months at home. (Although we did have a good time in Kalamazoo and Northville, didn’t we ladies?)

I’ve completed my responsiblities for More! Hand Applique by Machine. Rumor has it that I’ll see my first copy on Wednesday, and the rest of the shipment should be along shortly.

The last step of Now & Forever has been posted, another block of the month finished. Well, the steps have all been posted, keeping my promise to all who have been working on the quilt (or just collecting the pattern). My quilt is lying in a heap waiting for the final seams and then quilting, but there’s no real deadline for that.

So, the question becomes, what do I do next? That decision is usually dicated by the proximity of the deadline. But instead of running to keep up, I’m at this lovely little moment where I get to decide where I go next.

What will it be? A book on piecing? Another applique book? Should I try my hand at writing fiction? Maybe I should make a quilt for competition. (Or not.) What do you think? Here’s your chance to tell me where to go. Be nice and I’ll draw a name for a stack of fat quarters from my fabric line.

One of the great mysteries in my life has been how fabric gets wrapped onto the bolts. I know, it’s a goofy thing to wonder about, but it’s only 7 am and I’ve already be accused (twice) of thinking too much.

While in Chicago at the Troy Fabric warehouse event my mystery was solved. In fact, I was very nearly late for one of my lectures because I was watching these guys wrapping the bolts. I just love learning how stuff works.

The fabric arrives on the warehouse rolled on a tube. Sometimes a shop will order an entire tube, about a hundred yards or so, for special kits they may be doing. While most of us quilters love the idea of a hundred yards of fabric, few of us want a hundred yards on ONE fabric.

The tube is unwrapped and loaded into the machine. Notice the stack of bolt forms?

It only takes this fellow a few minutes to thread the fabric through all the guides. It was a challenge to get these pictures because these guys moved so fast.

 Isn’t it cool how the machine puts a fold into the fabric? He’s placing the bolt board (what are those things called, anyway?), getting ready to spin fabric into a bolt. It’s not unlike how we wind thread onto a bobbin.

You can really see the fold here, turning the fabric from flat to wrong sides together. He’s working really hard to keep those selvege edges perfectly aligned. If you ever get a messy bolt then you’ll know this is the step where they slacked off. It won’t come from Troy, though, these guys were very careful.

There’s a little meter on the machine that tells them when to stop, usually ten or fifteen yards. Here he’s taping the bolt to keep it tidy.

From here the bolts are wrapped in plastic and stored in the warehouse until a shop owner places an order.  I’d like a fat quarter of each please.

Quilt Market is this weekend. The planes landing in Houston will be loaded with quilters from around the world. Market is the wholesale show. I’ll be there to introduce my new book. Shop owners will be placing orders for fabric, some of which isn’t even printed yet. We’ll be on the look out for fantastic new gadgets, new trends and the next big thing. My camera is packed. See you there?

It’s the day before the day before Quilt Market. Tomorrow is my travel day. Once again I will hand over my quilts and class materials to the baggage crew. It’s my little leap of faith at the beginning of each trip.

My first job will be a Schoolhouse lecture at 4:20 in Room 371 B&C. Schoolhouse is a pretty fun deal, a series of mini lectures, some only fifteen minutes, others a half an hour, presented all day Friday, the day before the show opens.

 Think passing classes in high school, only on speed. And there’s even homework. Once the lectures are done (or the feet give out), attendees head back to their hotel rooms to sort through the tons of paper work they’ve collected. Many use this stuff to map their path through the exhibits.

Before the exhibit floor opens on Saturday, I’ll be teaching a Take & Teach class. I’ve been plugging away at the kits, preparing a lot of the steps so my students can get right to the fun part. With only an hour and a half for class, we won’t have much time to get to details, but we’ll be sure to cover the important parts.

Later Saturday morning, at 11 am I’ll be in EE Schenk’s Booth (1230) to sign books. I’m told we won’t have actual books, but C&T will supply book plates and send the books as soon as they’re in.

On Sunday I’ll be in C&T’s booth (1344) at 11 am and Petersen Arne’s booth (2136)  at 1 PM for more book plate signing.

You know, it’s a good thing I’ve had all this practice signing books. The first time someone asked to sign one of my patterns I was so flummoxed that I spelled my own name wrong. And it was my first name, the one I’ve had my whole life. I left out the “t”. Beh. It’s still hard not to giggle. I mean, come on! This is me, signing books.

For now I need to get back to packing. While I work I’ll be thinking of something pithy to write with my signature. Any ideas?

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!

To say that we have fun in my workshops would be an understatement. While I’m oh-so-serious about bringing excellent applique, piecing or maching quilting tips and techniques to class, I must admit that I love my students’ laughter as much as their ”light bulb” moments when a new technique clicks home.

The ladies of the Cable Car Quilt Guild in Dubuque, IA were delightful, I must say. We had a good old time, to be sure.

Don’t you just love the super cool background fabric Barb chose? (Can you tell I took too long to snap the picture?)

Karen, one of the hardworking organizers, made great progress on her applique project.

And she kicked the stuffings out of the Sneaky Piecing Tricks class as well.

I’ve noticed that students often dress to coordinate with their projects. I’m thinking that maybe we surround ourselves with the colors and textures that we love.

Dubuque, IA is in a beautiful part of the country. The hills and valleys open up into incredible vistas. This flat lander wonders if folks remember to notice how incredible their part of the universe really is.

The drive to my next job, in Chicago, passed through more gorgeous countryside. Northwestern Illinios is also quite hilly. Our route traveled along a high ridge. One moment we would see farms and corn fields for miles to our left, and the next, the valley to the right would reappear.

Those corn fields, shading from green to golden, ran in perfect rows, up and over hills, only to tuck into little valleys. It reminded me of a cordoroy quilt, bunched and tangled over Mother Earth.

 We stopped for dinner in a tiny little town along the highway. Thinking we might enjoy a little frozen custard for dessert we pulled into a Culvers.

It was Saturday night, crisp and clear, perfect for the monthly car show. This is us, this is America. We love our cars, hopped up and decaled or sublimely restored. I feel sorry for those snotty coast-dwellers who think of us in the midwest as hicks, lost in “flyover land”. Just so you know, mister smarty-pants, it’s beautiful here, and we’re worth knowing.