Fellow Quilters,
Northcott’s office is a virtual whirlwind of activity these days, as we prepare our booth for our semi-annual Quilt Market trade show, and also continue to collect quilts for the victims in Japan.

My trusty piecing assistant Susanne was Betty Binder on Tuesday, sewing the binding onto the 4 quilts that I finished quilting last week for our shipment to Japan.  We have a slick quick way of binding that is particularly good for quilts that will see a lot of use.  We make double-folded binding, and sew it onto the back of the quilt first, then turn it and machine-stitch it to the front of the quilt using a mock-applique/blind-hem stitch, just covering the previous line of stitching.  When we stitch the binding on the front side, we use monofilament polyester thread (our favorite is Mono-Poly by Superior Threads) so that the stitching blends right in.  We can completely bind a lap quilt in just over an hour.

There has been a constant flow of visitors to our office as various groups drop off their donated quilts before our April 30 deadline.  Since my last post, we have received 600 more quilts!!  Thanks goes out to:

• Gisele Lapointe of Pointe Claire, QC (2)
• Pamela Chasen (1)
• Upper Canada Quilt Guild (4)
• Country Quilter in Richmond, ON (6)
• Garden Thyme in Kingston, ON (8)
• Quilting Quarters in Almonte, ON (6)
• Marnie & friends in Prescott
• Lois Miller in Sherwood Park, AB (2)
• Maria Hrabovsky in Mississauga, ON (1)
• Mrs. Maguire in Brantford, ON (1)
• Fran Auty in Toronto, ON (1)
• Michele of Kindred Spirits in St. Catherines and her local guilds (25)
• Mississauga Quilt Guild (25)
• Sunshine Piecemakers & friends from Fabricland Orillia, ON (71)
• Sew Have Fun in Oshawa, ON (7)
• Daphne Greig of Patchworks Studio in Victoria, BC (8)
• Cheryl of Ye Olde Fabric Shoppe in Stratford, ON (126)
• Quilters by the square in Goderich, ON (46)
• Helen Foreman of Oliver, BC (1)
• Quilts & Calicos in Exeter, ON (1)
• Louise Rogers of Conception Bay, NL (2)
• Melville & District Quilt Guild in Melville , SK (6)
• Country Concessions in Cookstown, ON (108)
• Thimbles & Things in Bracebridge, ON (80)
• Aline Chan, Brant Quilters Guild, Paris Quilting Bee & Ladies of the Night (10)
• Oakville Sewing Centre in Oakville, ON (50)
• Agota Dolinay of Toronto, ON (1)
• Aileen Conway of Victoria, BC (3)

Thank you one and all!  Your generosity is so inspiring.  Please keep those quilts coming!

I am pleased and excited to announce that I, or more accurately, my block, was selected to be in Quiltmaker magazine’s issue of 100 Blocks Volume 3, on newsstands any day now.  I received my advance copy yesterday, and eagerly flipped through it to find my block right there in living colour on page 57.  I am also on the blog tour next week promoting the issue – my day is Tuesday.  I shall post images of my block with other new fabulous Northcott fabrics, and will have a prize offered that day, so please come by for a visit.  I hear that these 100 Blocks issues sell out, so you’ll want to get your copy early.

Well, off to finish quilts for our Quilt Market booth.  As always, I’ll keep you posted with pictures.
Cheers,
Patti

Tags: japan, japan relief, northcott, quilted, quilters, quilting, quilts for japan, quilts to japan, sewing