Festival of Quilts, Heritage Park Saturday & Sunday • May 26 & 27

17th Annual Festival of Quilts
Festival of Quilts, Heritage Park
1900 Heritage Dr SW Calgary, Alberta
Saturday & Sunday • May 26 & 27, 2012 9:30am – 5:00pm

APQS Dealer, Matt Sparrow from Sparrow Studioz in Edmonton is bringing his show floor to Calgary & area quilters. Join him in Booth 105-106 where you can test-drive an APQS Millennium, LENNI & George in the vendor’s mall, talk machine maintenance or read all about the great longarm classes they offer at Sparrow Studioz for beginners thru to advanced owners of all brands of mid-arm & longarm quilting machines.

Want to know what to pay attention to when shopping for a longarm? Come by Matt’s booth and grab a comparison chart.

Wondering how things might turn out if you own a longarm? There is only one way to find out and it all starts with a test-drive.

Award Winning Claudia Pfeil Classes Aug 7-11, 2012

International Quilt Festival of Ireland

As many of you know, quilting for show gives me irritable bowel syndrome. Maybe not that bad but it definitely causes me great stress. That is why I have no plans in putting a quilt in a show anytime in the future. That being said, my good friend Peggy Bass has twisted my arm into breaking my own rules.

Peggy and four other American quilters, respectively known as ‘Team USA’ are entering Quilts into “Patchwork Promises” an international round robin exhibit taking place at the first ever “International Quilt Festival of Ireland“.

Matt Sparrow in Ireland

Peggy asked me to quilt her quilt and after seeing a photo of her center block, I was unable to refuse. Several months later, I finally finished quilting her quilt and as I type this, her quilt is on a truck out for delivery. This will be the first time Peggy has seen her quilt since sending it to me months ago. I am only allowed to share this one photo.

International-Quilt-Festival-of-Ireland

 

I am taking my mom to see the quilt hanging in Ireland in June. Can’t wait!!!!!! I hope you enjoy this photo and wait patiently to see the eleven borders around the center block. YES I said eleven!!!

 

Calgary Alberta – Heritage Park – Festival of Quilts – May 28-29

It is my pleasure to participate in the Merchants Mall this year at Heritage Park’s Festival of Quilts. The Festival takes place at Heritage Park Historical Village in Calgary, AB – Saturday, May 28th and Sunday, May 29th 2011. The event plays host to exhibitors, merchants, demonstrators, guilds and thousands of quilt enthusiasts for a weekend devoted to the craft and art of quilts.

I am very excited to bring Sparrow Studioz to the merchant Mall. The last vendor’s mall I participated in (as Manquilter.Com) was in the Creative Stitches show in both Calgary and Edmonton. I was extremely dissapointed at the Calgary show as 3/4 of the booths were dedicated to scrapbooking. Not sure where the word ‘stitches’ fits in there but I have recently learned the reason for the lack of a quilty presence in Calgary. Edmonton on the other hand was a much better show with lots and lots of quilters encouraging the growth of the quilted crafts by coming out and supporting the vendors.

What am I brining to the event next weekend you ask?

Why my buddies GEORGE and LENNI of course!

Who is George you ask?

George is a space-saving stationary APQS machine with an amazing 20″ of throat space. George uses the same sewing components & belt-driven technology as our other machines but in a smaller, basic package. A fast, affordable way to move to a professional longarm machine without sacrificing quality. Warranty: 8-year (96-months) parts/labor.

APQS George Complete quilting system

Although I look like an extremely happy George owner, looks can be deceiving.

Although George is in my Studio, it is only temporary as this little man belongs to a brand new APQS owner in Cochrane, AB. She has graciously allowed me to use her new portable longarm to demo in my booth at Heritage Park next weekend. I’ve been having a blast playing with her new toy even if I lack any skill at all. OMG did my first samples look terrible. It didn’t take me long to realize I needed practice, practice and more practice.

So what does a longarm quilter do when they want to improve their skills?

Easy! They take a class. Seeing as how I teach a Longarm Quilting Class at Sparrow Studioz, I decided I just might be the best teacher for the job. So off to my filing cabinet I went to dig out my Muscle Memory handout. After only twenty minutes I could see a noticeable improvement. I plan to spend at least an hour/day practicing my muscle memory so I look somewhat competent while demo’ing the George in my booth this weekend. Drop by my booth and see how much I have improved after only one week. You can meet George and I’ll tell you everything about him while you sit and sew. Bring your husband along as he may want to remind you later how well built APQS machines look. In the mean time, watch Claudia Clark Meyers (who just happens to use the APQS George long-arm quilting system to machine quilt her projects) kick ass with George.

Come and See me At Quilt Canada 2010 in Calgary

Yesterday I  loaded my Manquilter mobile to the roof with long arm quilting machines to make the three hour drive south from Edmonton.  This was all for today, when I will be setting up the APQS booth at Quilt Canada 2010 in Calgary Alberta. The show doesn’t officially begin until Wednesday, so be sure to stop by and test drive an APQS Millennium or Lenni while you’re there. You do not want to miss out on these crazy deals that Heidi has authorized for the show. Here are just  a few more reasons to come and check out your new APQS long arm quilting machine….

Quilt Canada 2010 – Show Specials-2

You can find out more about Quilt Canada 2010 at their website. See you there!

The Mecca for Long Arm Quilters welcomes Toby Lischko

Machine Quilters Exposition

41 days and counting…

As MQX’s biggest fan, I am going to be talking obsessively about it over the next, let’s say, 41 days.

Today I would like to tell you about a Non Long Arm Quilting Teacher. This quilter, author and teacher is bringing a set of classes to MQX this year to teach all us long arm quilters that we may want to consider piecing a few quilts in our spare time. Toby may just remove my fear of paper piecing and sewing curves. I can always hope. Here is a list of the classes that Toby Lischko will be offering this year at Machine Quilters Exposition in Providence, RI.

Toby Lischko – 102 – Unfoundation Piecing

Tired of tearing off foundation paper? This beginner class is for foundation piecing and sewing curves. Learn a foolproof method using freezer paper for the founda- tion and sewing curves. Easy, fun and lots of ‘light bulb moments’!

205 – Glorified 9 patch with a Turn

The Glorified Nine-Patch or Improved Nine-Patch block has been made famous by retired teacher Sharyn Craig. Toby has adapted her class to create her own unique pat- terns using John Flynn’s template sets. If you have been fearful of curved piecing, then this is where you’ll have a breakthrough!

303 – Stars Over St Louis

Every quilt in this class comes out unique! Featured in Toby’s new book, St Louis Stars, students will learn the secret to piecing this 8-point star block with no “Y” seams. Improve your accuracy using mirrors in this fasci- nating, cutting-edge class.

423 – Fast Easy Appliquéd Circle (or Appliqué for Dummies)

Not being much of an appliquér, Toby wanted to share this surprisingly easy technique. Using circles cut out of a pieced block, create easy quilts that you can make in a weekend. This is a fusible appliqué technique using a decorative zigzag stitch to finish.

Countdown to MQX 2010

42 Days and Counting!

Where o’ where does the time go. I’m so freakin excited about my trip this year.  After looking over the class list, I have to admit it was extremely hard to narrow down the classes I wanted to take. Here is what I finally decided on.

Class 205, APQS Maintenance Anderson

Class 210, New! Stunning Sashings, SPatten

Class 314, Spines with Designs Blocks, S Patten

Class 214, Free Motion Possibilities, SPatten

Class 302, How am I Supposed to Quilt This? KMcTavish

Class 320, Linda’s Cool Tools, LTaylor

Class 425, Freehand Artistry Advanced, LTaylor

Check out the selection of amazing teachers this year at http://mqxshow.com

When I’m not learning tons of great tips and tricks, you can find me volunteering in various positions to contribute to this amazing Exposition.

I am honored to be giving two presentations on the Aurifil Stage.

Thursday, April 15    10:30 to 11:00 MATT SPARROW “Thread Colors Every LAQuilter should have in their stash“

Thursday, April 15     4:30 to  5:00 DONNA MORALES OEMIG “Understanding Thread Weights”

Friday,   April 16    11:30 to 12:00 MATT SPARROW “Thread Colors Every LAQuilter should have in their stash“

Saturday, April 17    10:30 to 11:00 DONNA MORALES OEMIG “Understanding Thread Weights”

I hope you can make it to Providence between April 12-18.