Hello My Quilting Friends! Today I'm chatting with Grace Medina from Handy and Crafty. She's originally from Venezuela but has been living in Qatar and has an interesting perspective on quilting, teaching and making tutorials online. Listen to the podcast or download it using the player below:
You can also watch the episode and see what I'm working on and this video:
Click here to check out Grace's YouTube Channel Handy and Crafty.
When we spoke, Grace was working on a quilt tutorial for Valentine's Day. I record the podcast several weeks in advance so she's already had a chance to post this and you can find it here.
Grace went to college for journalism and learned to tell stories by asking who, what, when, where, how? She brings the same perspective to her quilting tutorials and tries to answer all the questions someone would have about a particular technique.
Living in the Middle East does create some challenges for quilting. Grace mentioned being able to find any fabric she wants, but it's very challenging to find notions like rotary cutters and blades.
Luis Sanchez, my friend from Costa Rica also mentioned struggling to find thread and machines in his country.
Grace shares tutorials on quilting and sewing in Spanish because there are very few books instructions in her mother language. Because she lives in a place where it's hard to find special tools she had to figure out a way to teach with just the basics. She wants quilters everywhere to have access to videos in Spanish so everyone is supported and can learn how to make beautiful quilts.
Moving forward Grace really wants her abilities to grow and to take it more seriously. She plans to write a book on quilting in Spanish and I think that it will be a huge hit!
Click here to check out Handy and Crafty Sewing with Grace.
Updates from around the house...
This week I got a lot of time in on my evening project, this Mother Earth Goddess cross stitch project. I took the embroidery frame with me to James's karate competition:
It's really coming along well and I can't wait to see what the border will look like when it's complete. Yes, I'm thinking about creating a design and maybe a kit so you can make one too.
In the studio, we have been busy cutting 5-inch squares from all of my print fabric. Most of these fabrics I purchased years ago and well, if I was going to use them, I should have done it by now.
I'm planning to design a special friendship quilt sampler and offer my stash in the Quilt Shop so you could create a quilt from some of my fabrics as well as some of yours. My inspiration for the friendship quilt idea comes from Jenny Beyers Quilter's Album book which is a terrific resource for quilting inspiration and design.
Mally the Maker Update
I'm still editing and finishing the ending of my fiction novel Mally the Maker: the Queen in the Quilt. Writing about the grandmother character in the book has made me think of my grandma and her treadle sewing machine. I began looking for treadles and learning more about them and we will have more interviews and podcast guests talking about historical machines coming soon.
I found this set of treadle drawers on eBay and plan to upcycle them to create a new cabinet or attach them to my existing sewing table. Yep, I'll share a video on how I decide to use them because I think this is such a cool way to reuse vintage sewing accessories in a new way.
I expect a treadle sewing machine will make it's way to my home in the near future! I'm craving a new project after finishing so many older projects and refinishing a treadle machine and cabinet just sounds like fun.
New Workshop Coming Next Week!
I've finished the videos and quilt pattern for the Super Squares and Sashing Workshop.
In this quilting class, you'll learn how to quilt 33 quilting designs on a smaller scale in small squares and narrow sashing spaces. Why the smaller scale? It gives you so much more bang for your buck and you'll be able to get more repetitions of each design in less space.
Even if quilting densely isn't something you want to do, it's a great way to get the hang of free motion quilting and master moving the quilt on your home machine. Click Here to learn more about this upcoming workshop!
Prism Path Begins April 2nd
This week I've also been working on the videos for Prism Path, the next quilt we're making from the book Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day.
I love this new version of the quilt with black background fabric. It makes the rainbow batik fabrics I'm using glow off the surface. The quilting designs we're using for Prism Path will also show up much better using a darker background too.
New Quilt Alongs Coming Soon
It takes several months to plan and create a successful quilt along. In past years, we've shared Block of the Month quilt alongs which help bring steady sales to support our business. This year is feeling very different because we're making whole quilts from start to finish together.
So I've already started thinking about more projects to share this summer and fall. A quilt I've been wanting to share for several months is this Eternal Love Goddess quilt. It's constructed with fusible applique and comes together to create a beautiful wall hanging:
Click Here to find the Eternal Love Quilt Along
I'm also working with another designer, Sheri Cilfaldi-Morrill to create a quilt along for this fall. Here's a sneak peek of the fabrics I'm using for this beautiful seasonal quilt:
I'm interested to see how it works collaborating with another designer and I certainly hope it makes the posting process easier and more fun.
Upcoming Quilting Tutorials
I have a lot of fun quilting tutorials for this month! This past week I darned my socks and have lots of tips to share with you.
I know this is kind of a weird thing to want to do, but I find it annoying when only one part of my sock is worn out and all the rest is still in great shape. I'm still playing around with hoops and trying to find the best way to shift the sock out of the way so I can darn the toes. It's really tricky, but I know there must be a way we can do this by machine.
I also finally tackled my Twisted Square Quilt and will be sharing this as a free double sided quilt pattern this month.
This quilt is a little weird because it's quilted upside down with the Twisted Squares backing fabric on top and the quilt I pieced on the bottom.
Click Here to check out the Twisted Squares fabric. I made my quilt with 2 yards printed on Minky fabric.
Final Thoughts and Challenge for the Week...
Working on this Twisted Squares quilt maybe realize how I rarely prioritize my own projects. I also see this with my goddess quilts and more artistic pursuits. It always seems to end up at the end of the pile.
This month I'm actively working on putting my projects on the top of the list and making them the top priority. As you can see, I have a lot of irons in the fire here, but it feels great to be sharing new quilting tutorials I'm passionate about.
I hope you enjoyed this episode and are looking forward to all things we have in store.
Let's go quilt,
Leah day
