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The worth of a good grey thread….

Last month I had the privilege of judging the quilts at the Georgia National Fair. Check out THIS POST to read about my insights from the “other side of the table”!!

One of the things that I noticed was how much difference it made when the piecing thread matched the fabrics….or at least didn’t CONTRAST with the fabrics.

Now, I am the queen of putting one BIG spool of thread on my machine….

…….(Signature Natural White) and using it for everything.

But as I was preparing to work on the Retreat scrap quilt, I got to thinking about whether the white thread was appropriate for the myriad of colors that would appear in my piecing.

Based on what I had learned at the judging, the answer to that question was NO!!

So, out came a light grey thread…..

…which was used for top and bobbin threads.

The result is that the stitching doesn’t show and I, yet again, learned how to make my quilts better!!!

It is always amazing how much difference a very small change can make!!!

Here’s to a good grey thread!!!

Stash Smashing!!

As I have talked about earlier this year, I am involved in a “Smash That Stash” Quilting bee hosted by Make Modern Magazine. There are 6 of us participating….1 from New Zealand, 4 from Australia, and ME!!

We have been making blocks for each other with some new, fun designs.

The months of August and September were MY months so I got to pick the pattern and the colors….FUN!!

I posted about the intricate plans for my blocks…..

…but when it came down to it, I really didn’t want to make all of the additional blocks that I would have needed to create my masterpiece!!

Since I didn’t want another UFO hanging around, I went for something simpler and more fun!!

While I was at the retreat, Michael called to tell me that I had a package from Australia….MY FIRST SET OF BLOCKS HAD ARRIVED!!!!

They are from Janet and are wonderful…..

I believe that all of the other blocks have been made, but since Australia and New Zealand are in a major COVID lockdown, they can’t get to the post office to send them on.

I suppose that this is teaching me patience, but that is a hard lesson for me to learn!!!

I will update you when more arrive!!!