It's Magic!

If you have worked with textiles of any kind, you know all about that necessary but evil job of ironing.  It isn't a fun job, but somebody has to do it!

We have tested and approved a product that takes your everyday ironing up to the next level!

It's the Magic Pressing Mat by Pam Damour.

The mat is a compressed felted wool product, about 1/2" thick and 12" x 18".

 Just place it on top of your ironing board and proceed to iron.   In the picture below, I have it on my little travel ironing board.  It sits right next to my machine in the sewing room for any small iroining jobs and for keeping some necessities handy.  In most cases, I use steam with this but it can work with a dry iron, too.  The wool fibers trap and hold onto the heat and steam, multiplying the effect on the item being ironed.  I can really tell the difference when I tested it by putting my hand beneath the block right after ironing.  It's HOT!

Here's a little before and after of some curvey quilt blocks--

These arcs of the Mini Rings by Sew Kind of Wonderful don't always look so wonderful!
Even after pressing with my regular ironing method,
 they left me wondering if those ripples would "quilt out" and look better when finished.

Then I repressed them with the Magic Pressing Mat and there is a visible difference in the look.
Much closer to the flat blocks that I want to see.
I'm getting this small quilt ready to teach for a summer class!

 And the benefits are just for quilting, either!  The concept of pressing on wool isn't new, it's been a useful tool of garment and tailoring skills for a long time.  Remember the pressing ham?  It's a sort of football shaped form, one side covered in wool, to put beneath curves that need to be shaped to fit a person.  I have a simple denim shirt that I love to wear because it's stretchy and comfortable.  But I was alway bothered by the fact that the back hem edge always rolled up on itself.  I could ignore it pretty well because I didn't have to look at the back while I was wearing it, but I always knew it was there.  It never stayed down after ironing it flat.  Until the Magic Pressing Mat happened!  I steam pressed the heck out of it on the Magic Mat, and voila, it stays flat now after multiple wearings!

One thing that almost everyone comments on after using the mat is the fact that there is a bit of a smell.  That's the hot wool smell!  Not unpleasant at all, so much nicer than the actual sheep barn!

Call us at the store (651-429-1039) to purchase your own Magic Pressing Mat for $55!  We have been selling a bunch of them, but we keep re-ordering so we can have them in stock for you!

Handmade

Love these sweet new patterns for wool applique!  These are from The Cottage at Cardiff Farms.

And a whole booklet of woolie fun from SamSarah Designs.  I am sooo tempted to drop everything else and just gather my wool and thread together!

This next part isn't quilt related, but it is inspiring.  This is a mosaic tile design on a big wall in the entrance to the women's restroom at Minneapolis St. Paul Airport.  I don't remember which concourse this was in, you will have to search it out if you ever get there!  I know it's not the only cool bathroom entrance out there, I glimpsed another picture as I walked past the men's restroom, too.

And on another occasion, down a different concourse, I found another beautiful bathroom entrance--seems like there is a surprise around every corner!

 Here's an excerpt from the plaque on the wall.

Seasons of Change

Barbara Benson Keith, fabricated by Mosaika

Hand glazed ceramic tiles  2012

To achieve pure happiness and calm, I have the perfect formula:

Step 1 - Take a blanket and spread it out in the woods.

Step 2 - Lie down on the blanket.

Step 3 - Look up into the treetops.  Relax. Dream. Think.

I would add step 4 - Take along something to stitch!

A Sampling of Patterns

Debbie and I challenged ourselves to find a broad range of new things to bring back to Bear Patch.  Here are some examples:

From My Heart To Your Hands (another Minnesota designer!) has so many beautiful samples hanging on display that it can be hard to choose.  Her work includes not only traditional quilts but applique, also.  Often that applique can involve the use of wool pieces, too, as in the one pictured below.  A good addition to our patterns for wool.

Who doesn't love a good bag?  And if you are like me, you are always on a quest for the perfect one!  So I was keeping my eyes open for something new to keep our bag samples fresh.  The 1st pattern below from By Annie's.  She puts out some great patterns with professional finishes.  And she was some friendly and helpful, she even taught me how to put a zipperpull back on a zipper if it comes off the end!

The tote pictured below is what I call a messenger bag.  The unique feature on this one is that the flap is removable and can be changed out for something else.  The best one was a cute bicycle applique, which I don't have a picture of, but we will get it along with the bag patterns from The Creative Thimble.  You might recognize this name from the Professional Tote and Mini Professional Tote.  I know that those bags have been made my many people.  Very well written instructions, a page of labels to mark the numerous pieces as they are cut, and good pictures/diagrams.

After ordering these and several other bag patterns, we hope to get several new samples made for the store.  I would love to put together a whole window display of bags of all shapes and sizes.

Now for another subject, here is a cute little Christmas tree pattern.  It is made with the Basix ruler, which Laurel demonstrated for 3 days during the Twin Cities Shop Hop last May.  If you were in the store them, you might have purchased one of these.  The pattern dovetails perfectly with the ruler, and could help you make use of one of those things you bought but only used once!  Now we will have this and several other patterns to help you get the best use out of your Basix ruler!

Machine embroidery designs were another segment of the pattern world that we shopped.  We really liked the look of these little mug rug patterns from Amelie Scott Designs.   We chose the wintery look and another for the football fans.  Make it in any color to show support for you favorite team!  Hopefully it will be beer-proof!  Additionally, we ordered the book of quilting designs to be done on your embroidery machine.

That's a fair sampling of the types of patterns that we seek out.  Watch for these and many more at Bear Patch!

The Trip to Quilt Market in Houston

Finally!  I get to share a recap of Houston International Quilt Market 1 week ago.  Due to some "technical difficulties" I couldn't get this written and posted while I was there, but I did get some pictures for you.  I actually did write a post but it vaporized into thin air.  Once we got home Tuesday, I was right back in the middle of homelife without time to put my thinking cap on to write.

International Quilt Market is a trade show for everything about sewing and quilting.  It is only open to people "in the business" in one way or another.  It is followed by a quilt show and marketplace for the general public.  From machines to fabric to tools and gadgets, this is the place to be to keep up with the constantly changing ideas in the business.  There are also classes and seminars for shop owners to learn and discuss ways to make our stores better places for customers.  And there is a lot of networking and connecting going on at the same time.  There are hundreds of vendor booths in the convention center.  We spent 3 full days on our feet, walking up and down the aisles to find the latest and greatest for Bear Patch.  

And when it was done, we felt like we hadn't had enough time to see it all.

Now, to review:

We stayed at the Magnolia Hotel in downtown Houston, within walking distance of the convention center.  It was a few blocks, but doable, plus Debbie was counting her steps so we needed to get the total boosted.  These pretty colored lights were hanging in the hotel lobby.

Here's a look at some new tools and templates for miniatures of traditional blocks.  Miniaturization seems to be a big trend, possibly less here in the midwest than in other locations, but still a popular technique.  I put that business card in there to show you the tininess of this sample.  (Is that a word?)

I even got to sit down and sew a couple of seams under the guidance of Darlene Zimmerman in the EZ Quilting booth.  Many of the makers and distributors of sewing notions partner with real live quilters to develop and promote their products.  Darlene has several specialty rulers and templates with the EZ Quilting label.  And since she's a Minnesota quilter, we always are glad to see her!

The little seam I sewed above goes into the quilt below.  I didn't get very far, just enough to know that it is easy to sew this curve without pins.  Become liberated and sew without pins!

 We paused at the booth of Whirligig patterns, also a Minnesota connection!  

Since I had just finished teaching an English Paper Piecing class (Paper Pizzazz) with much smaller pieces, I was interested in this quilt called Hump Day.  These clamshell pieces are about 5.5" across and are machine sewn.

Whirligig has another pattern called Full Moon Rising which I have seen done in dark colors, but when I saw it in these pretty light prints I said to myself, "Self, what a good idea to go to the light."  Would love to use some of our pretty Art Gallery fabrics at the store to make this.

Full Moon Rising

 We found a new-to-us company, Lumenaris, supplying kits for wool applique.  We did some picking and choosing of just the right things to stock at the shop.  These are going to be a great addition to our selection of wool supplies.  The boxed kit contains the precut wool felt pieces, thread, directions and even a needle, I think.  I picked one ornament kit to carry home with me and I opened it up and started stitching right away.  Then I checked my sister's blog, and found out she was one step ahead of me!  Since she is way out there in California (probably still hoarse from cheering for the Giants), I can only say that it must be in the blood!

So that's the beginning and I will continue to add more pictures and information in the next few days.

Bertie Is Ready For Thanksgiving!

Join us for the start of a new block-of-the-month program: 

Bertie's Year by Bonnie Sullivan.
The November sample of Bertie's Year is hanging in the store! Anne and Kristina have been working hard to get the samples and kits of these wonderful wool appliqué wall hangings ready for you. The background and border is special flannel that has the look of woven wool.  The applique pieces are felted wool.  Make them as individual hangings or sew together and make a larger wall quilt.

 New patterns and kits will be put out the 15th of each month. 

Kits contain the wool and flannel to make each block.  

Patterns sold separately.  An optional thread collection is also available, 6 balls of Valdani 12 wt perle cotton selected to go perfectly with the wool and flannel through the year. 
Finished size is approximately 13"x17".
A limited number of kits are available each month. Sign up now to request that your monthly kit is reserved for you, or choose the months that you would most like to make. 
A poster of all the months is displayed in the store. 

Got Wool?

We are adding some more fabulous hand dyed wool to our shelves today, and it's such a pleasure to feel and admire these pieces.  This batch comes to us from Mary Flanagan Wools and is a portion of the cuts that we have ordered.  If you are looking for just the right color, stop in and you will probably find it!