Spring is here?

Well I'm not to sure about that actually - with all the wind, rain & stormy weather we are experiencing here in South Australia right now. I do hope that everyone is safe & warm this week.

My next few weeks are extremely busy travelling to a lot of new A1 quilting machine & Intelliquilter owners who are starting their journey in the wonderful world of machine quilting. All orders will be filled as soon as I return home each time.

This past week has seen me travelling to Hobart to the wonderful new quilt shop - Quarter Inch - where we set up a machine that will one day be available for rentals plus taught a number of classes on using the machine, pantos & allover techniques, rulers & custom & then a full day of feathers & ruler designs. We all had a great time & enjoyed each other's company. Tasmania sure put on the most magnificent weather whilst down there!

Next week will see me in Perth! I actually have a spare day on Thursday 6th October if anyone would like a machine serviced - or if enough interested we could repeat my 6 hour Master Design class that I've just done in Tasmania last week. Please email me if interested & I will see what I can work out?

A number of classes held recently at AMQ Festival used stencils to mark a quilt top to then use rulers to create some amazing quilting & appliqué designs. This technique has been used for many years with a variety of tools to create the guidelines to then create numerous design possibilities.

I've just received some amazing new stencils created & made by the amazing Cindy Needham. (Cindy was here in Australia teaching domestic machine quilting in 2012).

THE ULTIMATE STENCIL…The Only Ones You’ll Ever Need! from Cindy Needham

I am SO excited about this new design tool! Cindy has been designing stencils for Quilting Creations for many years and uses two basic grid systems to create her designs. It was an “ah ha” moment when she decided it would be a great idea to provide this system to YOU in stencil form. This will allow you to create hundreds of designs in any size you wish. This is a fabulous tool for everyone…not just quilters…scrapbookers, stained glass, paper piecing…any hobbyist needing designs.

This set of stencils, once purchased, will be mailed to you in a rigid envelope. This includes BOTH the circle and the square grids as well as the transparencies. . Cindy has a newly revised 13 page handbook below that you can download and print out. This provides detailed instructions on how to use these stencils. Cindy has several You Tube videos below that demonstrate different techniques. Visit her Pinterest page for even more inspiration!

CLICK HERE to download the FREE, newly revised handbook with instructions on using the Ultimate Stencils and the new transparency grids.

4/21/16 Cindy has a quick class where she teaches students how to easily create a basic 8-pointed star using the transparencies and The Ultimate Stencils. She has a 4-page handout that accompanies this quick lesson. There will be a YouTube video on this soon but for now, if you would like this handout, please CLICK HERE.
YouTube Video “The Ultimate Stencil…Working with Transparencies

Revised 2/17/16

This is Cindy’s new classroom demo where she demonstrates how to use the NEW transparencies to draft your designs on prior to marking them on your quilt with The Ultimate Stencils.
YouTube Video ” Sneak Peek into “New and Improved” Design Book
You Tube Video “Easily Create Curved Crosshatching”

Then I also have Cindy's Ultimate Background Stencils.


THE ULTIMATE BACKGROUNDS…The Only Ones You’ll Ever Need! by Cindy Needham

We all know that beautiful background designs are a very important part of any quilt. We also know that they take a great deal of time and effort to draft and quilt.

When Cindy teaches background designs in her workshops, many of them require a grid to be marked first and then the backgrounds created from that marked grid. That takes a LOT of time and also puts extra marking lines on your quilt. Cindy had an ah-ha moment when she realized she should have stencils made of these special backgrounds. So she did!

There are six background designs and each comes in three different sizes…Papa (10×11″), Mama (8×9″) and Baby (6×7″). This allows you to fill ANY size space. This special set of stencils also includes two grids in 1/2″ and 3/4″.

These 20 stencils, if sold separately, would retail for AU $150.00. Cindy has worked with her long-time friends at Quilting Creations and now we at Constantine Quilts are able to offer the set for AU $115.00.

Please download the FREE 32 page handbook below for lots of inspiration and instruction.Cindy has created YouTube videos for each design and will be adding more in the future. She have created a Pinterest page dedicated to these background stencils and will be adding photos frequently. You may access this here.

CLICK HERE to download the handbook.
Each of the videos below provides you with basic instruction and inspiration on how to use each of the stencils included in The Ultimate Backgrounds. She found that the class samples didn’t show up well on the video so as time allows she will be providing close up shots of each sample and posting them on her Pinterest page that is dedicated to these stencils.

1. DIAGONAL GRID.

This video demonstrates how to make different sized
grids from either the 1/2″ or the 3/4″ grid; double and
triple gridwork; cathedral windows; basket weave;
triple lines and triple line grid.



2. TWISTED GRID VIDEO
This video demonstrates how to use the Twisted Grid to
create beautiful backgrounds with movement; how to
use the reference lines for a totally different look;
how to make a perfect feather border in ANY size and
how this looks filled with repetitive lines and cathedral
windows.

3. TRIPLE LINES VIDEO

She included instructions for using the Triple Lines
stencil with the Diagonal Grid video above.

4. CLAMSHELLS VIDEO
This video demonstrates how to quilt a basic clam;
how to use marked lines to create straight-up clams
as well as diagonal clams; how to create whispie and
ginko fillers.


5. TWISTED CLAMS VIDEO
This video demonstrates how to quilt the twisted clams;
how to line up vertically and horizontally; how to fill
with repetitive lines and ginkos.


6. TRIANGLES/DIAMONDS VIDEO
This video demonstrates how to create beautiful
backgrounds using the diamond/triangle shape.


7. BAMBOO/BASKET WEAVE VIDEO




This video demonstrates how you can easily create an
heirloom basket weave/bamboo background.

Lastly, we have now received more stock of the
Miracle Chalk & Quick Swipe set




$24.00
The World’s Best Fabric Pounce Chalk Marking with
pounce chalk has just become easier, cleaner, and
highly visible

• Formulated for fabrics
• LESS airborne chalk particles
• No chalk bounce when sewing
• Marks removed with the swipe of a steam iron
• Mark a quilt BEFORE loading on long or short arm machine
• Stays on the fabric until removed with steam iron for great visibility

Miracle Chalk — The only chalk that vanishes like a ghost when the quilter wants it to go
The makers of Miracle Chalk recommend the Quick Swipe Pounce pad
This set comes with 2oz miracle chalk & Quick Swipe Pounce Pad

happy quilting! cheers Tracey