A call for thoughts and prayers.

If you are a member of the quilting world, chances are good that you know who Ricky Tims is.  Chances are also good that you may have heard of his Super Seminar where he travels with Alex Anderson and Libby Lehman to teach quilters around the world various and sundry things.  We are both lucky to have been able to attend a Super Seminar and it was very enlightening.

We have been dismayed to learn that Libby Lehman is very ill.  She is such a creative talent.  We are sending our thoughts and prayers for her and her family during what I'm sure is a very emotional and difficult time.

If you are on Facebook you can check out Ricky Tims page where he has been providing daily updates regarding Libby.  The short story is that she had a brain aneurysm and surgery to clamp that off.  Subsequently she suffered a  massive stroke on her left side and is left handed.  She is currently kept sedated so her body can heal.  The last couple of days have brought some optimistic news in that her left side, which they had thought to be paralyzed, is regaining movement.  That is certainly something to be thankful for.

Obviously it will be a very long road to recovery for Libby and she is not out of the proverbial woods yet.  Please keep her and her family in your thoughts.

I give a lot of kudos to Ricky for keeping the fan base in the know as well as for what I'm sure were difficult messages to post the last couple of days.  Those messages are unrelated to her condition, but are geared toward the enormous generosity that quilters tend to have.  Those who have been touched by Libby of course want to send their love and support and what better way to do that than to organize the creation of a quilt for her.  While that sounds like an incredibly marvelous idea, the truth is that the family is overwhelmed as it is and Libby is not in condition to be able to enjoy the fruits of that labor.  The family did encourage sending cards and Ricky echoed that and encouraged the cards to be our quilts for Libby.  I also saw some great things in the comments for his posts - that the quilters were not offended to have their efforts scaled down and instead some were suggesting perhaps instead of a quilt sent to Libby, it could be a quilt donated to your favorite charity in Libby's name.

If you are interested in sending a card for Libby, you can find her address on Ricky Tims' facebook page.  Or, leave a comment and I will send the address to you.  I don't want to be posting her personal information without permission.

Take care everyone.

The 3 yard rule

I think this time we're just going to get right down to it.  The tip this week is about the 3 yard rule.  Obviously it pertains to fabric.  This is a very simple rule.  If you see a fabric that you really like buy 3 yards, even if you don't have a project in mind for it.  Why?  Well, 3 yards will border out a queen sized quilt.  3 yards at 36" = 108" length.  Perfect for not having to piece your border.  You can even get a nice 8" border and perhaps a 10" border providing the selvages aren't taking up too much space.  If you go with a smaller border such as 6" you should have enough for binding.  You may want to do the math yourself to make sure and if you have doubt an extra yard certainly won't hurt.

A side note here, typically a queen sized quilt is around 90x108, or at least that is how the prepackaged batting is sized.  I realize that at 3 yards we are getting exactly 108", so you would want to put your two long sized borders on first so that you don't use up all 108" or close to the 108".  Hopefully I've worded that in a way that makes sense.  If not, leave us a comment and we'll try to make it a little clearer.

I know 3 yards can seem like a bit of a commitment when you may be used to only purchasing fat quarters or half yards or maybe a full yard if you really like it, but those fat quarter quilts and scrappy sensations will need a nice border to tie them all in together.  Or, perhaps you will find some inspiration in those border prints as you look for your next project.  You can use that border fabric to shop your stash and build a quilt around the colors in the border.

At least that is one way to think about it.  I didn't always adhere to the 3 yard rule.  Instead, I was one who purchased a yard here and a yard there of those fabrics that I really liked.  Now I have some nice big chunks of fabric that I can use for borders.

Oh, and if you are somewhere that is having a great sale on fabric and you want to stock up on backing fabrics - you would want to get 7-8 yards.  Just in case you were wondering. 

At the shop this week we are playing catch up on getting some customer quilts finished.  Our waiting list is starting to grow a bit, but we should have things cleared out soon.  Stop in and see us!

Happy Quilting!