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I hope you are all well and enjoying the longer days, warmer temperatures, and the flowers, trees and hedges returning to life.
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This past month was spent with family. We stayed two weeks with one of our sons and his young family. It was lovely to be with them and play with the grandchildren--two young, active boys, ages 5 and 3, who love cars, trucks, tractors, construction vehicles, emergency vehicles--basically anything that rolls.. They kept us very busy! Then our 10-year-old granddaughter came to stay with us for a week. She is a lovely young girl with many interests including ice hockey. She plays on a local team near to where she lives and enjoys that very much.
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As a result, not much time for quilting, and I don't have any new products to show you this month. However, I have lots of new fabrics in and am working on new items, so keep checking the website.
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As a reminder, Red Bridge Quilts offers free standard postage to anywhere within the island of Ireland. So those of you lucky enough to live on this beautiful Emerald Isle always have this advantage should you choose to order anything. All other destinations will incur the normal postage charge unless the total reaches the 'free postage' amount. We also offer a free local pick-up service for everyone.
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FEATURED CONTENT THIS MONTH
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Quilting news and tips
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New this month
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Following are the new posts up on the website this month. They are a gathering of various topics and articles from the world of quilting. I hope you find them of interest.
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*Just a note to say that I am having a small issue with my website where the News & More section (where the following posts are found) is displaying a blank page. The following new posts are readable when clicking on the red "Read more" buttons, but aren't accessible directly through the website at the moment. I hope to get this issue sorted soon. I often wish I had a degree in IT!
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1
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Is your quilting vocabulary up to snuff? Are you comfortable reading a quilting pattern? Do you know the difference between bearding and bleeding? Between borders and sashing? Between echo quilting and continuous line quilting? You need a glossary of quilting terms to help you improve your knowledge of quilting jargon and sound like an expert. Here's just the thing for you.
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2
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What can you do with your old jeans? They are still in good condition, but perhaps they don't fit you anymore. Or maybe they are out of style, or perhaps you would just like to have a new pair. So what can you do with them? You could recycle them by donating them to a clothes collection or a charity shop. Perhaps you could repurpose them. Surely they must have some use. Ask a quilter!
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3
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Grandma's aren't gentle creatures all the time. Sometimes they have to be extra strong both physically and mentally. For example, the grandma in this account ran a farm which required physical strength. She had to perform many chores, a few of which probably required a shovel. Read how this feisty grandma once used a shovel, and not for its intended purpose.
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Watch this space for new products. Coming soon--a new throw quilt, wall hanging and baby quilts. Keep an eye on the website to find out what's new.
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Use Those Wadding Scraps!
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If you quilt a lot, you are bound to have leftover pieces of wadding. Usually they are not large enough to use in another quilt, so what can you do with them? You really don't want to throw them away as that would seem wasteful. So perhaps you put them in a box or a bag hoping that you will find a use for them. After all, wadding can be expensive. So how can you use them?
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There is an easy solution! You can sew leftover pieces of wadding together (as long as they are the same kind of wadding) to make one piece large enough for another quilt. However, in order to do this, you must first prepare your odd pieces by cutting a straight edge on them so they will be easier to sew together. To do this, overlay the edges 1/2" or a bit larger if necessary to make sure that the edge of each piece is within the overlay. Making sure that the two pieces are straight and overlayed correctly, use your long straight-edge ruler and your rotary cutter to cut down the centre of the overlayed area. You will end up with two pieces of wadding, each with a clean straight edge.
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Next, you will need to sew these pieces together. You don't want to have a seam allowance as that would be bulky and cause a lump in your quilt. To avoid this, carefully lay the two pieces of wadding with their straight edges butted up against each other. Using a neutral thread, or one matching the colour of your wadding, machine zig-zag stitch the wadding together. Use the largest zig-zag stitch on your machine and go slowly keeping the pieces butted up against each other with no overlap. Avoid puckering by not pushing or pulling the wadding through the machine.
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There are a few other methods of joining wadding pieces together, but personally I prefer as above and find it quick and easy. The wadding is held together securely enough for quilting, and the final quilting stitches will definitely hold it in place and prevent shifting. When done correctly, you will never notice where that zig-zag seam is!
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On this topic, Lo & Behold Stitchery has an excellent comprehensive guide on everything you need to know about wadding/batting. You can find it here.
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Under my needle
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It seems this throw quilt has been under my need for a while now. I keep interrupting work on it to do something else. It's a wild mix of colours and patterns that will match almost any décor and will add a bright focus point when tossed over a sofa or chair. I am about to load it onto my longarm, so it will be finished soon. It will end up at about 130 cm wide by 155 cm long. Look for it in the Shop soon.
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Looking for a Gift?
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Do you know someone who loves quilts? Or someone who appreciates a handmade item for the home? A Gift Card from Red Bridge Quilts takes away the hassle of trying to choose just the right gift. You won't have to worry if they will like what you choose or will want to return it or exchange it. Let them decide what they'd really like!! See RBQ's Gift Card options.
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Did you know?
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With every online order from Red Bridge Quilts you will receive a free quilted glasses case. These sturdy 100% cotton cases will protect reading glasses as well as sunglasses. The photo shows a few of the cases from a recent selection.
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Red Bridge Quilts offers a Longarm Quilting Service. This means that if you are a quilter, and either don't have the time, are afraid of doing the quilting yourself, or you would like to have a professionally finished look to your quilt, then you might have a "longarmer" do the job for you.
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I hope you have enjoyed reading this newsletter. Please feel free to forward it on to anyone you think might like to read it. As always, thank you very much for being here.
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Vectors designed by Freepik and Vecteezy
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