Playing the Blues

We all get the winter blues. But we love the blues too! Dark and stormy nights, moon shining through darkness, the deep of the ocean, the silence of the lake.






So dig into the blues! Grab your blue fabric and celebrate the richness and the blueberry goodness.

Great blue and white qult

Here are some great Blues quilts.

strip quilt

Cascade quilt by Christina Cameli.

Get into the blues. Don't let them get you down. Move with the rhythm. It's its own Jazz in fabric.

Reach for the Sun: The Warmth of Yelllow

Color is more than the color wheel. The color wheel maps the relationships between colors. Some of us don't care about that at all. How does it make you feel? 

We have cliches about color. We feel blue, we're green with envy, we're having a purple day. We're red hot mad.

But past that, we all have our private feelings about color. We'll be exploring a number of colors and combinations.

by Deaux Petite Souris

When I was younger I used to call it my enemy color. It's not pretty on me. But now I know it's light and heat in my quilt. And right now those sound kind of good.It also can be just goodness. And it brightens everything it's near.

Modern Pickle Relish

Of course yellow comes in a range of shades. Once we stretch a bit, we're into yellow orange, or yellow green. How marvelous!

Black and Yellow Chevron

Notice how much our neutrals change the feeling. This yellow against black and grey feels more dramatic and less sunny. But I still love it.

Use this time to think about colors differently. Reach for a color you never use. It could become your next best friend

Black and White and Red All Over: Modern Quilts with Snap

Black, red and white heart quilt

Color makes the quilt. We choose our patterns and we execute our stitchery, but what we take in first is the color. And it's great when your colors say"Wow". Particularly when they say it backwards.

Modern Red, white and black qult

Modern quilting celebrates streamed down patterns and bold statements. And nothing is as bold as red, black and white.
Why? Because it's the most dramatic color combination out there. It's the diva of  color combinations.Black and white are direct opposites  and red is as bold as courage or hearts.
One of the fun things about fabric line  collections is that they'll print the same fabric in different ways.
Here's a great run of red, white and black fabric.

It doesn't hurt that its a great print. But the contrast between the black and white is really exciting.

Another print of a different size gives it a different kind of contrast.

And add something with red in it...

You see what I mean.

Of course a great combination is something that's timeless. This quilt called Heart and Hat is over a hundred years old. And still fabulous!

Pick some white, black and red fabric and make a statement that is bold as you are. We've got a shelf of it waiting for you at Threadbenders

Here are some amazing fabrics that

Quilting for Boys: Boy Toy Fabric

Leslie Sischo's Nursery Rhyme Quilt 

With Jackie's new grandson, we're all fluttery about passing around the baby. It's time honored.He's a good sport about that. So is Jackie. Boy, when you do, you see what he's wrapped up in. 

Boy toy panels

It made us keenly aware that  boy fabric can be hard to find. So we were especially delighted to find this collection. It's bright, bold and full of tools and hardware and boy toys.

nuts and bolts fabric

wrench fabric

earth moving panel

Of course if you've got a little girl with a passion for building and Tonka toys, she may love it too. But it's great to have fabrics that any boy can immediately love in his quilt.

Threadbender's Elf on the Shelf,

We talk a lot about traditions at Threadbenders because so many quilters are in the tradition business. No, it's not a job. It's an adventure. It's the part where we love our families, friends, children and adult through what we do with them day to day. And for most of us, it's fun. And having fun is definitely a quilter's job.

But we forget that every tradition started somewhere. Christmas trees started with Prince Albert.  The Little Drummer Boy is a song that came out in the 60s and is not traditional. Silent Night was the result of a choir director trying to figure out what to do when the organ died on Christmas Eve.

So new to the scene is the elf on the shelf. He/she/it sits in unexpected places watching children to see if they're naughty or nice.And reports to Santa. He/she it come in both boy and girl figures in brown and white skin and blue and brown eyes. You can choose.

And she sees everything! And makes little encouraging comments. Of course there are those of us who feel this may have gone to far. 




How do really feel about big brother watching us? Snitches? People who tell on us?

Not everyone likes that. There have been reports of unhappy individuals arguing with the elf and his over judgemental attitude.

Henry decided to step up for this. He told us he really couldn't fit on the shelf but he would watch everyone for us and even wear the hat. Although the person who put it on him is on his naughty list.

Now Henry is a dog of lowered expectations.

1. Did you come visit?
2. Did you pet him or talk to him?
3. Did you bring home some cool Christmas fabric for projects and ornaments?
4. Were you as nice to everyone as you could be, including yourself?
5. Did you have fun?

Finally Henry said that if it was something your mom did it's a tradition.  And if you don't like it, you don't have to do it. Give yourself a break. The Elf is watching. And he wants to see you be good  to yourself.

Come in, stock up on Christmas fabric because it's on sale, and tell Henry what a good girl you've been.

Frog Stitching: Rethinking Ripping

Nobody likes that moment. When you look down at your stitching and realise something is just not right.The seam is jagged or missed one side or didn't end up equal. 

There's a deep breath. And a moment when you decide whether it's time for a trip down "denial". It's just fine. Well, no it's not just fine. It's quite "not fine".
And then you decide to rip it out.

There are several things that make this less nasty. A break is one of them. Get up. Go away from the sewing room and have a walk and a cup of whatever improves the day. If you're sewing with a friend, have her rip out your mistakes and you can rip out hers.
But it really helps to have excellent tools. 
Have seam rippers changed that much? Actually, yes!
Here are two ripping alternatives that are worthy.

These beautiful pens are actually seam rippers!

They have that lovely antique pen look. And pretty never hurts in your sewing basket. But they safely tuck their blades in so they can be in your pocket, right when you need them. And they're wickedly sharp for fast picking.

This brilliant seam ripper has an end that grabs loose threads. How cool is that!

And this is the best zigzag and serger ripper ever. Yes it's a mustache trimmer. Yes it's battery operated. You turn it upside down and shave across the offending stitch.

So frog stitching has changed. Good tools make for great sewing days. And these tools would make great stocking stuffers too. And if you are you're own best Secret Santa, you can make sure one is in your stocking as well. We have them waiting for you at Threadbenders!

An Ornament a Day: Christmas Traditions Make Memories

One of the things we can lose track of in this extra busy season are the home made pleasures. We shop until we drop, almost as an obligation we owe loved ones. But in truth, in a time when many of us are doing with less, trying to learn to enjoy the small things, it's nice to go back to the small wonders we make ourselves. 

One of my family traditions was the tv project bag. By your chair, tucked in a corner, was a small bag, plastic or otherwise with a project in it. And around Christmas that project was most likely a batch of ornaments. A santa out of yarn. A patchwork heart. An embroidered bird. Each year something different. You kept some for yourselves, and shared the rest with friends and loved ones. 

Working on a project while the specials played on always made us feel we weren't "wasting time." We weren't. Together we were making memories. And as the ornaments from other years were unpacked we'd remember making them together on a quiet wintery night.

So for 24 days we'll show you an ornament for your project bag. Some of them are obvious and need no instruction. More complicated ones we'll link you to information.

Take some time this season to sit together and make memories and ornaments, to treasure year after year.