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Our Favorite Fabrics

Fabric1Often my blogs come about by a customer who asks an interesting question. Sometimes the ideas come from my staff as this one does today.

The bonus for this week’s “Weekly Web Special,” (available only to subscribers*) mentions how difficult it might be to pick your favorite fabric from fat quarter bundles we are offering. From this, one simple question captured our attention and had us all wondering.  What is your favorite Jinny Beyer fabric?

Now, you would think think this would be easy to answer but many found it quite difficult. Here’s what several of them had to say.

Betty, who posed the question, fondly remembered many past collections but stated Outback, several years old, was her favorite. She decided her single favorite, though, was a border print in teal and purple from the original Border Basics collection.Betty's 1Betty2My son, Sean, who manages our fabric inventory (which makes him well acquainted with each and every fabric) was in agreement with Outback being a favorite collection and this fabric, with its aboriginal designs, as his favorite.

0279-04 -- and it's on sale!
0279-04 — and it’s on sale!

Diane immediately popped up with an answer—Palette #119, chocolate leaf. It is a wonderful, rich brown and makes a great alternative to black as a background fabric as you can see in her Solstice quilt. Diane then tried to add another dozen favorites and wasn’t happy that we tried to limit her to just one.

Diane's SolsticePalette fabrics are pretty popular with the staff. Rebecca also chose a Palette fabric–#126—not only for the beautiful teal color but also for the design. She’s also fond of the 10 other colorways floral outline comes in.126 FloralThat design seems to be a favorite. Lura said, “I keep going back to this beautiful red, Palette #30. It is so vibrant!”P30

Another fan of the floral outline is Nancy, choosing #58. “Solid white is just too boring for me. This fabric has much more depth and is my current favorite background fabric.”Nancy1Linda wanted in on the fun even though she was in California at the time. Although she has a stockpile of older fabrics she loves, she says, “Black eyelash (#48) is probably my all-time favorite because it just works with everything!”Linda's projectsThe blue/green/purple of Bedfordshire received votes from both Judy and Julia. Neither could imagine I was asking them to pick just one or two. Judy loves the “elegant feel” of these fabrics.

Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire

For Julia, “the Bedfordshire collection really spoke to me when I was challenged in my guild to create a chevron quilt.  I used all the fabrics, with the light blue being the predominant fabric.  The border prints were fussy cut.  I guess you could call the light blue my favorite.”Julia's quiltDana is a quilter with a degree in fashion design so she often uses quilting fabric for clothing. While she loves Rajasthan Spray— “the colors are spectacular and each of these works well as a backing, a middle border or as a blender with a novelty fabric”—she has always loved the floral print from Rajasthan. “It works great for garments. I have used the yellow in a dress and the blue in a skirt.”

Dana's FavoritesSharon is a big fan of black and white quilts. She made this signature quilt for her son’s wedding and added the Monochrome border print. She loves this fabric because it always gives her quilts a nice finishing touch.Sharon2I am often asked what my favorites are and my usual response is my latest collection.  That would be Safari with my favorite from there being the teal elephants. They make me smile. If I had to pick an old favorite or two, I’d probably have to say cream thunder and black eyelash because they are so useful. Cream thunder is long gone but, now that I think about it, I might just have to bring that back again.

Jinny's favorites

If you would like to subscribe to our Weekly Web Special emails and be eligible for the Subscriber Bonus, please go to www.jinnybeyer.com and follow the instructions under “Newsletter Signup.”

Do you have an old favorite that you would like Jinny to bring back?  Send your comments to studio@jinnybeyer.com.

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Jinny Beyer Club

Jinny in clubOften on Facebook we show photos of people bringing show and tell to Jinny Beyer Club. I realized some of you may not know what “Club” is.

Jinny Beyer Club is a gathering of quilt enthusiasts at our shop on the second Saturday of each month (except for November when we are in the middle of our annual Shop Hop “Quilters’ Quest”).

There is a nominal fee for the year and a daily fee for visitors. We have Show and Tell, give out door prizes, talk about what is new at the Studio, and have a theme that we follow throughout the year.

Borders 1This year the theme is all about border print fabrics and all the things you can do with them. Border prints are not just for going around the outside of quilts. So far this year we have shown how they can be used in stars (fussy cutting to get a kaleidoscopic effect). Each block of our Block of the Month quilt, Cosmos, has the border print “fussy cut” in some way.Cosmos with bordersWe have also shown how they can be cut up and used in triangles for a Thousand Pyramids quilt.

Thousand PyramidsBP1This month we talked about the book One-Derful 1 Fabric Quilts by Kay Nickols. She shows so many ways to cut a single fabric and achieve amazing results. Many of her examples use border prints. One of our favorites is featured on the cover of her book.One-derful BookKay explains in detail lots of options and how to cut the fabric to the best advantage. In a nutshell:

Cut identical squares and divide them diagonally from corner to cornerone fabric 1Sort the triangles into like piles and join them into squares

one fabric 2Alternate the squares for the quilt.

one fabric 3Here are just a few examples made by staff members that we shared at Club this past Saturday.

Borders 5If you would like to try this technique, check out this week’s web special featuring “One-derful 1 Fabric” kits. If you are not subscribed to our newsletter, sign-up and be eligible for our subscriber bonus as well. To sign up, just go to www.jinnybeyer.com and click on “Newsletter Signup.”

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Another Beyer Book

Darren photoMost of you know me as a quilter first and foremost. But there are other aspects of my life that you know very little about. So this blog is a bit of a departure. My husband and I have three children—two sons and a daughter. We are proud of all of them. Our oldest, Sean, works in my quilting business, our daughter, Kiran, is an emergency room doctor and our other son, Darren, worked for NASA on the Space Shuttle program for ten years and then left to pursue his interests in science and web technology.

Darren is the one who more than 20 years ago came for a visit and told me he needed my credit card because he had to do something for my business. He said to just trust him, because if he told me what he was going to do I would probably say no.

The outcome of that was that he had designed and set up a website for me. He needed my credit card to make it go live. That was the beginning of my web site and his creativity and technical knowledge helped to make the site what it is today.

Screen shot of home pageDarren has always been interested in space technology and science fiction and for the last few years has pooled his knowledge, experience and creative bent into writing a three-book series.

Book 1 of the Anghazi Series, Casimir Bridge, has just been released. It combines political intrigue with realistic science and technology to create a science fiction thriller. Its unique blend of genres will appeal to a wide audience.Darren's BookHere are the bullet points from the back cover:

*A deep space survey ship is lost while exploring the distant Rho Indi star system.

*A nuclear terror plot is thwarted just across the river from Washington, D.C.

*A conspiracy is uncovered to lay blame on the company that holds the key to interstellar travel.

*The search for truth crosses four star systems and five planets in its attempt to determine who is behind the conspiracy that could threaten the very future of humanity.

If you or someone you know are interested in a fast paced, heart pounding thriller set in a science fiction backdrop, give this book a try. It is available in Kindle format or paperback on Amazon and a variety of ebook formats on Smashwords. If you order from Smashwords, you can use the coupon code HE83G to get it for 50% off until April 10th.

Proud Mom,

Jinny

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Travel with Me to Nepal

nepal-kathmanduI am so excited to announce that I will be going to Nepal on a tour with Sew Many Places October 14-22 this year.

We all gain inspiration for our work in a lot of different ways. I definitely know that the two years I lived in Nepal from 1968-1970 had a direct impact on the way I design fabrics and make quilts. October is the perfect month to visit and I can hardly wait to return to this incredible country with its gentle people who always have a ready smile.

nepal_claypotsOfficially the highest country on earth, Nepal is as rich in culture as it is in geography. From vibrant, cosmopolitan cities to tranquil temples, stunning landscapes to ancient architecture, Nepal has it all. It is consistently named as one of the top places to visit in your lifetime for the amazing cultural discoveries, unbelievable scenery, delicious food and some of the friendliest people on the planet.

nepal_bhaktapurWe will be participating in hands-on workshops and see lots of craft demonstrations.  As part of the trip, for those who want to participate, we also be working on a hand pieced project. If you have never hand pieced, don’t worry. I will help. On one of our trips I even taught Jim West, the founder of Sew Many Places, how to sew. He did great!

nepal-khokanaI hope you can join me on this amazing journey. If so, be ready to be inspired by the design all around, whether it is in weavings, rugs, temples, ornately carved window frames, awe-inspiring landscape and so much more.

As the Nepalis say for either hello or good-bye,

Namaste,

Jinny

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Printing Templates Using Your Home Printer

With the Lucy Boston and Millefiori craze, I have been pleased that so many people are finding the joys of hand piecing, and are exploring more complex designs.

Cosmos redMany designs can be cut using rotary cutting techniques but others such as my 2016 BOM, Cosmos, are template based. We usually make our templates by placing semi-transparent template plastic over a pattern and tracing using a permanent marker. It’s a quick process if you are making only a couple of templates. I demonstrate the process at the beginning of my video Magical Effects with Border Prints.  This is a free video to watch.

Sampler quilts are another story — they might incorporate dozens of templates. Furthermore, some template plastics are very hard to write on. They are usually smooth, so they slip on the fabric and it is hard to get a good mark with pen or pencil. It is also easy to lose a little accuracy as you trace the templates onto the plastic. I wanted to find a faster, easier, more accurate way to make the templates.

After much searching we found the perfect product and have packaged it as Jinny Beyer Template Film. This all-purpose template material is matte on both sides, making it very easy to write on and adheres to the fabric without slipping.  Best of all it is heat resistant and can be run through your home laser printer or copier. If you don’t have a laser printer, most office supply stores have copying facilities and can run it through their machines.

Please note that it will not work on an inkjet printer or copier. The ink will not be dry and will smudge and give uneven lines.

For printing on a laser printer or copier follow these steps:

  1. Print a sample template page on paper and make sure that the size is 100%. If it is not the correct size, adjust your printer until you get it to print at 100%.
  2. Feed the template film into the printer one page at a time. Since both sides have a matte finish it does not matter which side you print on.

Template1Many of my patterns have pieces that are enhanced by “fussy cutting” border prints or other fabrics with mirror image motifs. For instance, a border print square is made by cutting four identical triangles. In order to insure that the triangles are cut exactly the same, I recommend marking some portion of the design onto the template. These registration marks will serve as a guide for cutting the additional pieces. BP1It is amazing to see how many different squares you can get from the same border print.

BP2If you are trying to make all of your squares just a little different, very soon it will be easy to get confused by all the different marks on the template. The nice thing about the Jinny Beyer Template Film is that the marks can be erased. Remove pencil or pen with a standard eraser. Remove permanent pen with rubbing alcohol.

**Tip: Put the registration marks on the side of the template that has not been printed. That way you will not inadvertently erase some of the template information.

Many of my patterns are template based and, in the future, we will be offering pre-printed templates that can be purchased separately from the pattern. We already have these available for the six pages of templates required for the 2016 Block of the Month.