Gift from the States
My friend Di has just been to the USA on a short holiday (with her husband on a business trip). She knows of my fabric obsession and asked if she could bring me something home. What do you say to that? Di is not a quilter, but one of the friends she stays with in Oregan is a quilter. Where to begin? So I asked her if she would get me this book which I haven't found here, and it would be much better value for money if she bought it, then there would be no postage to pay.
I am very lucky to have such a nice friend. Here it is. I have been looking at it, and realise that some of the blocks look quite complicated (to me), and it looks like I will have to have a go at foundation piecing eeeek! Look at this block which is 6 inches finished. What you see here is the sum total of the instructions
I have discovered a Yahoo group run by the author, who each week gives advice on the order of sewing a block using the foundation method. There is also a CD which will run on EQ5 which I suppose would allow me to print out a foundation sheet? Of course it is US$10 for the CD and US$9 for the postage! I know it isn't that much money, but it really irks me to pay that much for postage. Then there is the exchange rate..
In fact it is quite an expensive business living on an island - postage from the only place that has any exciting quilting stuff (US) to this island (Australia), and the $220 I will be paying the aircon man tomorrow for coming to 'this' island to fix my broken aircon which is UNDER WARRANTY! Oh yes, I have to pay for the barge, then compensate him for the time he has to spend while sitting in the fresh air on the barge reading the paper. The I have to pay for the time he spends driving from the factory to the barge and home again. And all of this is contingent on whether or not his girlfriend has a baby today!
Sorry to whinge, but to me the bottom line is that if their inferior product didn't break down less than 12 months after being installed, there would be no need to come out at all.
Back to the quilting... Any advice on foundation piecing? I was interested to read about Tazzie's post about freezer paper templates. The link she gave was good too. Maybe this would work. All experiences gratefully received. I imagine the Dear Jane-ers would know too?
Looks like a very nice book. I am also very interested in the history about quilting and love such books. But agree that the postage is far too much. I use to order books from usa because books are very expensive in Norway.
ReplyDeleteYou ought to try working with freezer paper. I use it very often. Both to applique and as templates.
I love that block! Boy are you brave or what to attempt that. Sorry about the aircon man and; yes; I agree with you qbout P&P and exchange rates. BTW your red and white blocks look great! Take a look sometime.
ReplyDeleteOpps - keyboard! Sorry about mistakes :-)
ReplyDeleteI have had my eye on that book for sometime now. I may just have to add it to my 'wish'list *s*
ReplyDeleteJenni, I've looked at that book and it's on my list, too! I did the "Nearly Insane" quilt (6" blocks, some quite complex) using a combination of regular and paper piecing. If you already have EQ, you could practice drafting the Civil War blocks and print out your own foundation papers instead of buying more software... and I'm sure you could learn the PP technique in a minute! (don't use freezer paper if you're going to sew through it, though -- it's a real pain to tear it away)
ReplyDelete"(don't use freezer paper if you're going to sew through it, though -- it's a real pain to tear it away)"
ReplyDeleteAmen to that.
I am making a Dear Jane quilt and I use the freezer paper as the template and drawing the sewing line on the wrong side of the fabric and then removing the freezer paper before sewing the pieces together by hand. I have the Dear Jane CD and I print each outline block pattern out on the freezer paper made for the printer. I find because the individual pieces are so small that it is easier to sew them together by hand. I bet you could easily just copy the outline patterns of the blocks onto the freezer paper, if they are difficult to see you could use a light box.
ReplyDeleteI have wanted that book for some time, but yes, can only find it from the states. Sometime it shows up on ebay, but the postage is still a killer.
ReplyDeleteHope the baby is late and you get your aircon going.
Jodie
testing. So far I haven't foundation pieced anything even though I have made many Jane blocks.
ReplyDeleteThat last anonymous comment was from me. I had taken the challenge from your last post and tried to post a comment. It didn't show any problems, and then it wouldn't let me sign in, and then when I changed to anonymous, it took away the word verification. I guess I have to be anonymous from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice book. That's horrible about the extra money paid for shipping, and especially for transporting the repairman.
Shelina
Foundation piecing isn't nearly as hard as it looks. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it! Try googling Foundation Piecing - there should be a ton of stuff to help you out :-) Bummer about the air con man!
ReplyDeleteThat book looks fab. Yes, it's awful how much quilting costs as a hobby in Australia!
ReplyDeleteBut there upsides to living on an island too :)