Tuesday Tip: Quick Color Confidence for Cautious Quilters

This week's Tuesday tip comes from Marian,  who works at our 4th Ave Outlet store. Marian was the Block of the Month leader at our dearly departed Issaquah store, and often helped beginning quilters with this awesome tip.

With our thousands of choices, the process of finding colors that harmonize and contrast attractively leaves many quilters feeling insecure and overwhelmed. Marian advises to make it simple  - go find a single colorful print that you love.  I found this gorgeous "Autumn Medley" print from Martha Negley:

Once you have found your print, look at the colors in it - you picked that print, so you must love those colors! Now wander the store, looking for tonal fabrics in those colors.  I collected these around Northgate:



Now I have a group of colors that harmonize and contrast, and I love them - I'm ready to start planning a quilt!

If you try this technique, don't forget to pick up some of the print you loved - it would make a fabulous backing or border for the quilt that was inspired by its colors.

 - Anna-Beth

For more complex explorations of color, be sure to check our classes!  We have a Color Confidence course at our Everett store, and a Choosing and Using Color class at our Bellevue store.  Lots of fun, and great confidence builders!

Spidey Table Topper: A Must for Halloween!

When this pattern came in to the stores I just had to try it. It was just too cute to refuse not to!


Spidey Table Topper Pattern


I went home and got out some of my Halloween fat quarters, black cotton and a left over piece of batting and off I went. This table topper went together so fast and easy; it is quilt-as-you-go making it a great project for quilters and non-quilters alike.



Finished Spidey on a web of Creep Cloth



I think my Spidey is going to live on the coffee table with a dish full of Halloween candy. It would also be really cute spread across the center of your dining room table with a black table cloth and some Creep Cloth (available at all of our stores).



This project would be a great addition to anyone's Halloween decorations and it is so fast and easy you'll have it ready in no time!

**The Spidey pattern is available at all of our stores except the Outlet and if you are in our Northgate store check out the great model on display.

Happy Halloween,

      Michelle

Adventures With Evie: My Alaskan Cruise

I'm back! I just spent a week cruising to Alaska with Chris and her husband, Dan and I just went ape over our most northern state!

The sea was rough the first night and I was quite seasick , but once I got my sock sea legs, I found that I loved bundling up in my stylish parka and lounging on the deck on the way to Glacier Bay. Ellen made me this stunning white Minky parka trimmed in ultra chic black faux fur. It really seemed to increase my natural animal magnetism. What happens onboard stays onboard, you know, but I can tell you I did attract plenty of attention!

Here I am sailing by John Hopkins Glacier. I was tired, but came out on deck and agreed to pose here for the papparazzi. The scenery took my little stuffed breath away. It was just spectacular!

Two days later we arrived in Ketchikan and Chris helped me tour the town. I just had to see the city where they have even more annual rainfall than Seattle. I'm wearing my black fleece pants here. They were nice and warm, but when Ellen made them, I was really worried that they would make me look fat. She assured me that my body was tubular enough to handle it. What do you think?

This is how I spent most of my time. Inside the cabin frolicking with the towel animals on the bed. It was like having a new BFF every night and I was so thrilled. It was really nice of the cruise line to plan this little surprise just for me! Maybe I'll send them some of my famous banana bread.

So, I'm back home, but I'm packing again. Sydney is taking me on her European tour. OMG! I can hardly wait!!! I hear Tracy has knitted me something special to wear. I'll be back in a couple of weeks, so watch for more pictures then. Ciao, all!

~ Evie

(Evie is a pink sock monkey who makes her home at the Everett store when she's not traveling. Ellen leads Block of the Month and she and Sydney both teach quilting classes at the store, Tracy leads the Everett Knitalong that is just starting for the year and teaches knitting and Chris is Assistant Manager as well as our ever enthusiastic 'Chris Claus' and company demo queen.)

Enchanted Rainforest, Eerie Alley & Seen on Halloween - Now in Our Stores!

Click on the pictures below to see a larger image, then click here to find the store nearest you!

Here's a lovely getaway for you! Enchanted Rainforest from Maywood Studios is warm, bright, inviting and full of glorious color. The "ombre" floral is just fabulous! You'll find two different colorways at our Bellevue, Everett, Northgate & Puyallup stores.

Darling (is that a Halloween word?) hearses, owls, spiders, pumpkins and coordinates to dance across your table or bed. (Or how about a happy hearse shirt?) Eerie Alley from Robert Kaufman will make your Halloween bootifully bright and just a wee bit scary! Marvelous colors and designs that you'll enjoy for many years. Available at our Bellevue, Everett, Northgate & Puyallup stores.

Seen on Halloween is Maywood Studios' spooky fun collection of spiders, candy corn, stars, cats and BOO.  Delightful colors to fill your Halloween home with frightful cheer! Available at all our stores except Outlet on 4th.

~ Annette

Warm for Winter Hat and Scarf Drive - with FREE hat pattern!

For the fourth year, Pacific Fabrics is collecting handmade hats and scarves for our local homeless population.  Thousands of men, women and children in Western Washington are facing another cold season without permanent shelter, and there are too many for even local shelters and services to accomodate.  The hats and scarves we make are tactile reminders that they are not alone, and that there are compassionate people who care for them. An unusually harsh winter is predicted for Western Washington, and the hats and scarves donated may even be life-savers as the winter approaches.

Warm for Winter, a local organization that works on homelessness awareness and advocacy, coordinates the distribution of the garments we collect, and they all go to people experiencing homelessness in the counties from which they are gathered. One of my best friends works in services for the homeless population, and I always remember her telling me about meeting two fellows sheltering themselves under I-5 one night, who had been given new hats and scarves from Warm for Winter - possibly from Pacific Fabrics customers. She recounted for me the pride in their voices as they told her that "someone knitted these - just for us!" 

If you would like to help, Pacific Fabrics will be collecting handmade hats and scarves for the month of October.  Knitted, crocheted, or sewn from fleece,  what is important is that they are warm, and that they are made with caring and compassion.

My wonderful friend Leah, who works at our Northgate store, wrote this simple hat pattern for the drive:

Warm for Winter Hat



This easy Beanie is simple and quick to make. Jazz it up with some stripes, and enjoy using up all your bits of worsted yarn!

Supplies:
Sizes 6 and 8 US 16” circular needles
US size 8 double pointed needles
Approximately 150 yard of worsted weight yarn - For example: Cascade 220 Superwash, Vanna's Choice

Cast on 93 sts on smaller needles. While being careful not to twist the stitches, knit the first and last cast on stitches together to join the round. Place marker to mark the beginning of the round. 92 sts.
K2, P2 for 1 inch, longer if a folded brim is desired.

Switch to larger needles and knit all stitches in round. Keep going till you have five inches in stockinette stitch.
After you have five inches in stockinette stitch, decrease two stitches in the next row – K2tog, K 44, K2tog, K44. 90 stitches remain. Now you will begin to knit the crown:

Leah’s Tip: For the crown, it is helpful to place markers where the decreases are going to be placed. The decreases happen right after the markers so you don't need to count.


R 1: K2tog, knit 8. Repeat till end of round - 81 sts
R 2 and every even round till Row 16: knit all stitches

R 3: K2tog, K7. Repeat till end of round - 72 sts

R 5: K2tog K6 Repeat till end of round - 63sts
R7: K2tog K5 Repeat till end of round - 54sts
R9: K2tog K4 Repeat till end of round - 45sts
R11: K2tog K3 Repeat till end of round - 36sts
R13: K2tog K2 Repeat till end of round - 27sts
R15: K2tog K1 Repeat till end of round - 18sts
R16: K2tog all the way around. - 9 sts.

Cut yarn and thread tail with yarn needle through live stitches to bind off. Weave in ends and keep Warm for Winter.

 -Anna-Beth

Tuesday Tip: Don't be scared to try AGAIN!

As I continue to explore different arts and crafts I have learned a very important rule- Don’t be scared to experiment!

 I was looking for a new knitting project and with the arrival of Fall I decided on the cute little pumpkin in Debbie Bliss’ A Knitter’s Year. I am not a very advanced knitter but I am somewhat fearless when choosing a pattern. If I don’t know how to do a stitch or technique my theory is that I can always learn.

So I bought some Debbie Bliss Rialto and set off knitting. I finished my pumpkin in two evenings and while it was adorable I wasn’t completely satisfied with the result. Since it is knitted and then stuffed, you can see some of the stuffing through the stitches as well as imperfections in the knitting that in other projects would disappear.



Pumpkin Take 1

I still had plenty of yarn left so I decided to try it again- Pumpkin Take 2. This time I used twice the thickness of yarn. My thinking was that maybe this would help fill some of the holes and guess what- it did just that! It also made the pumpkin a bit larger which I guess isn’t a bad thing. In the book it is a pumpkin pincushion but I think a few of them would be fun to have around the house for the season.

The two pumpkins together. Aren't they cute!

The moral of this story is don’t get frustrated when something doesn’t come out just the way you wanted it to. It is an opportunity to try something new and learn how to make it better next time. The trick is to then remember these lessons and apply them to other projects. You never know when your new trick might come in handy!  

Michelle

My Spooky Spectacular Shirt

Every girl needs a new shirt for Halloween, so I went looking for the perfect pattern for mine.

I found McCall's 6124, liked the look and decided this was the one. Just the lines and simplicity I was after.

Now for the fabric. Must be spooky, must be spectacular, must be The Ghastlies! So I chose this great print from Alexander Henry's Haunted House collection.

And here I am in my finished shirt ready for tricking, treating and any other fun October opportunities that come along. The pattern called for lots of handstitching to hold down facings and such, but that seemed like a bother, so I topstitched instead. I think it looks great and the topstitching added a nice design element. (I think that sounds better than saying I'm lazy!)

This really was an easy shirt to make and the pattern went together well. The spectacular touch was the pink buttons I used down the front and on the cuffs. They coordinate perfectly with the color accents on the fabric and now I have a Spooky Spectacular Shirt!

~ Janet

(Janet is the talented manager of our Puyallup store and also enjoys quilting and sewing for her sweet grandchildren. You can see more of her wonderful creations at the store!)