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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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Happy New Year! I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and are now ready for another year. Ready or not, 2024 is here! Time always seems to go by so quickly (is that age related??), but 2023 sure went by in a flash.
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December was a very busy month for Red Bridge Quilts. Participating in two 2-day Christmas craft fairs (Lisdoonvarna and Kinvara) was loads of fun, and I am happy to say that both were a great success. So much so, that I have decided to start making my Christmas items earlier in the year so I have plenty of stock on hand when the festive season arrives!
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After finishing the Christmas markets, I took a complete break from quilting and caught up with other interests. The Christmas holidays were spent relaxing with family and friends, and I am now ready for 2024 and looking forward to making lots of lovely new things.
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New this month
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Following are the new posts up on the website this month. I hope you find them interesting.
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FEATURED CONTENT THIS MONTH
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Quilting news and tips
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1
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What is a rag quilt? In general, a rag quilt is a quilt made with exposed seams that fray when laundered. How are they made? What fabrics are used? Find out the answers to these questions in this post by RBQ.
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2
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The "Women's Encyclopedia" Exhibit at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this year featured interpretive work by French quilting artist, Galla Grotto. You will no doubt be impressed by this very creative quilter's colourful quilts.
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3
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Quilting is not just a women's hobby. There are quite a number of men who quilt.. And they are very good at it! Read about two men's quilting journey. What influenced them, how they got started, and what their goals are.
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Obviously, I did not make any new products over the Christmas holidays as I was taking a break. However, here are a few items that I have made since the last newsletter.
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I made quite a few large Christmas wreaths in December which were featured in last month's newsletter. I also made a couple of small wreaths after sending out the December newsletter. Unfortunately, I captured a photo of only one of them (shown here), but it is still available in the Shop. It features red cardinals and fir tree branches. This wreath measures 35 cm in diameter and is perfect for a small table, wall space or interior door.
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I didn't make this "Quiltmas Tree", but just had to feature it here. What an epic project! This Christmas tree is all quilt and stands 8 feet/nearly 2.5 meters tall! It has tiny buttonholes through which LED lights are inserted from the inside. This fantastic tree was designed and made by Elaine Poplin, and the pattern can be purchased on Etsy. Maybe, one day...
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This "secret window" Christmas wall hanging is made from a fabric panel. Because of the way it is constructed, it gives the illusion of looking through a window at a decorated Christmas tree. The lovely red and gold panel fabric is complemented by the small gold metallic stars on an off-white background. Read the Technique section to see how it was made.
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I have made a number of "Birds of a Feather" table runners already with these beautiful bird images. They are always quite popular. The red ones I made for the Christmas markets sold very quickly. The green one shown here is always a very popular choice and is available now in the Shop. It's perfect for year-round décor and measures 25.5 cm high by 105 cm long.
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Using Fabric Panels
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There are many ways to use fabric panels to make quilts. For the wall hanging shown above, I cut this panel into strips of various widths, cut the strips to different lengths, and then sewed them together with strips from the background fabric. The trick is to match up the panel strips again horizontally so that the image looks right. Then I quilted it and added the binding. And voilà!
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There are several tutorials on the internet for this pattern. I used the tutorial by Donna Jordan for this one.
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Under my needle
I decided to "clean up" my website to start off 2024. I did this by removing all the sold products from the site. I went from 47 listings down to 25! And that included Gift Cards. This told me that I needed to get quilting and increase my listings in the Shop.
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I have decided to make a homespun rag quilt throw. If you've read my post, "What is a Rag Quilt?", you will know that I like to make these. They are a lot of work, but I love the result. The photo shows the two fabrics that I will use to make this rag throw. One is a medium-check fabric in blue and off-white, and the other is a small-check fabric in blue, red, green and beige. I think they will go together very nicely.
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Looking for a Gift?
A Gift Card from Red Bridge Quilts takes away the hassle of trying to choose a present for someone. You won't have to wonder if they will like it or will want to return it. Let them choose 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 the current selection.
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I hope you have enjoyed reading this newsletter. Thank you very much for being here.
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Wishing you a great start to the New Year 2024!
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Julie
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