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Some thoughts on Social Media…

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Note: This is a very different post for me.  I normally don’t post my thoughts about these types of things online… but these issues have been on my mind in recent weeks.  If you just want to quilt, please skip this post!

Hi everyone,

The quilting community has heavily embraced social media and it has been a really great thing.  It is seems strange that something so big and all-encompassing has actually made the world seem like a smaller place, but I think venues like Instagram and Facebook have accentuated the similarities between us all.  We’ve seen amazing things happen on these platforms that couldn’t have happened ten years ago, from people sharing creative ideas and thoughts to online communities providing support to those who have been sick or are going through a particularly tough time. It has been nothing short of incredible.

But having a teenage son and daughter has caused me to think about the influence of social media a lot lately.  Our kids are growing up in an age where every aspect of their lives is public in a way they probably won’t realize for years to come.  And while the “selfie” phenomenon can be fun, its overuse is disturbing.  What does it say about our society, or even about the way our daughters (especially) perceive or choose to project themselves?  Comments like, “You’re perfect!” followed by “You’re more perfect” are so perfunctory they are almost meaningless, and yet their popularity says so much about our times and culture.

A selfie, however well-staged, does not project the totality of who person is.  So, what “post-able things” might be fun to share?

The world around us.  Have you been somewhere amazing lately and just have to share?
Friends.  What do especially value in a particular person or people?  (Not yourself.)
What are your hobbies?  What do you like to do in your free time?
Something funny that happened to you.  (My mother – hi Mom! –  is forever telling people about the time she sat on a frappuccino.  I’d worry about embarrassing her here, but she probably has already told you so no worries.)
Something beautiful that you experience.  Maybe there was a beautiful garden you walked through or a store display that was really amazing?  
Pay it forward.  If you have a great idea for making the world a better place share it!  Maybe this morning you helped someone feel part of a group or maybe they helped you!  Just thinking about these things may start a trend!

If you have teens (or if you don’t) what are your thoughts?  I’d love to hear.

Thanks for listening.  Back to quilting the next time… I promise!  Have a good weekend!
Amanda

“20 Fresh Appliqué Techniques” now on Craftsy!

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I’m so excited to announce my third class with Craftsy – “20 Fresh Appliqué Techniques!”

As many of you know, I love machine appliqué and all the design possibilities it makes possible.  In this class, I cover the basics you need to achieve beautiful machine stitches and then we move on together to covering more advanced techniques.  You’ll see so many possibilities for incorporating these techniques into your own projects!

We’ll start with my swirl quilt, where we’ll master the blanket stitch on convex and concave turns and inner and outer corners, which is really the secret to great-looking machine appliqué.  This is a quick, charm-square-friendly quilt and all the threads end in the seams so there is no need to knot them!

Next we will tackle my Cutting Garden Runner.

This features two types of appliqué – the large blossoms are appliquéd before joining the blocks and the small blossoms are added afterward.  And you’ll learn how and why to “window” your fusible in this project.

Then we’ll tackle my Flower Power pillow.  This is a companion piece to my Flower Garden pattern (available in Craftsy and in my shop).  We’ll learn how to appliqué with speciality stitches, where to pivot stitches for a beautiful finish, and how accentuate your design with quilting to make it sing!

And along the way we’ll learn three different methods you can use to create bias bars…

Finally, we’ll add extra dimension to my Hawaiian Table Topper design using a Trapunto technique.  It is so much easier than it looks and you’ll find uses for it in all sorts of projects!
And I’ll teach you how to “face” an unusually shaped project along the way.
The projects are small and quick and make great gifts – and you’ll learn lots of new things along the way.
I hope you will joint me in “20 Fresh Appliqué Techniques”!  
Happy sewing!
Amanda
P.S.  Ann.ost was the lucky winner of the Craftsy class.  Congratulations, Ann!

Sundance Quilt: Part 5

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This month I sewed Part 5 of the Sundance Sampler, available exclusively through Bernina dealers, with my Topiary collection for Blend Fabrics and Aurifil threads.  Part 5 is easy – just appliqué blocks!

I love doing appliqué with Aurifil 28 wt. thread in a variety of colors – it creates a lovely ridge around each motif.  For this project I used colors 2440, 5017, and and 2425.  I still use 50 wt. in the bobbin in a neutral color and lower my thread tension so it doesn’t pop to the top.  I set my Bernina 780 to stitch 1329 and adjust the stitch width to 2.1, the length to 2.4 and the tension to 1.5 or 1.75.  (Lots more about appliqué in my upcoming Craftsy class, debuting tomorrow.)

I hope you are having a wonderful summer and get lots of time sewing this week!
Amanda

P.S.  Carrie P is that winner of the Garden Spot giveaway here on this blog.  I have lots of things happening all at once here and have subsequently had a lot of giveaways and am seriously behind on my replies.  I apologize.  I really appreciate all of your participation!