Free Class Day at Craftsy

2013-05-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

Yippee. Today is Craftsy Free Class Day. This is a day where those that are new to Craftsy can sign up and select a class from a selection of favorite classes, for Free and you will help raise funds for DonorsChoose. Plus, like all classes at Craftsy, you can participate in your class at your leisure and repeat whenever you want. It is just a matter that this "Free Class Day" is only open to sign up today and you need to be new to Craftsy.

If you are already registered at Craftsy this is a great opportunity for you to share with your friends and family, as they too may also want to take fun and creative classes at Craftsy.

Craftsy has a wide selection of crafting classes (and they are adding more all the time), with excellent instructors from all over the world. Plus you can take an online class at your leisure and repeat as often as you'd like. You access never expires

Home and Garden

Cake Decorating

Food and Cooking

Knitting

Crocheting

Jewelry

Weaving

Spinning

Paper Crafting

Embroidery

Sewing

and Quilting!

On May 18th, Craftsy is hosting Free Class Day to benefit DonorsChoose. For one day only, new members can choose one free course from a selection of favorite Craftsy classes, up to a $39.99 value! If you haven't taken a Craftsy class yet, Saturday is your chance to sign up for your first by choosing from classes in quilting, sewing, knitting, cake decorating, and more.

If they meet their goal of giving away 10,000 classes, Craftsy will donate $5,000 to DonorsChoose to fund arts education in public schools across the US. Existing members are not eligible for the free course offer, but will still receive a special treat.

If you have never taken a class at Craftsy, this is a great opportunity to sign up for a class today. Just click here: Craftsy Free Class Day

There are many classes that you can sign up for free, that what I listed. And, the classes for a fee are really reasonably priced. SewCalGal loves taking classes at Craftsy!

A Mother's Love

2013-05-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

A Mother's Love

by Michael O. Adesanya

There are times only when a Mother's love
Can understand our tears,
Can soothe our disappointments
And calm all our fears.

There are times when only a Mother's Love
Can share the joy we feel
When something we've dreamed about
Quite suddenly is real.

There are times when only a Mother's faith
Can help on life's way
And inspire in us the confidence
We need from day to day.

For a Mother's heart and a Mother's faith
And a Mother's steadfast love
Were fashioned by the Angels
And sent from God above...

I had fun using Smilebox to create a little slideshow. I hope you like it.

Smilebox certainly made it easy and fun. Click the Smilebox button (above) if you want a free 7 day trial. You can also email directly from smilebox, but I wanted to upload it to my YouTube Channel.

If you are on a MAC, or have problems viewing this video within this blog post, click here to view direct from YouTube.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM AMI SIMMS/AAQI:

The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative is offering a special Mother’s Day Auction starting today and ending at 10 p.m. central time on Sunday night. During this special Mother’s Day weekend, we are offering one extraordinary quilt, shown above. “Remembering Mother” was made by Rhonda Dort of Houston, Texas. It is a tribute to Arline, Rhonda’s mother-in-law who passed in September of last year due to complications from Alzheimer’s.

Bid here:
http://www.benefitbidding.com/auctions/listings/details.cfm?item_id=6753 All profits fund Alzheimer’s research.

Happy Mother's Day!

Quilter's Favorites: Share and Learn and a Giveaway too!

2013-05-10T00:34:00.000-07:00

Today SewCalGal is delighted to be participating in Geta Gramma's (Geta's Quilting Studio) Quilter's Favorites. There are many bloggers that are linking up on Geta's site, all sharing tips, tricks and tutorials, plus there are some giveaways along the way too. I hope you will visit Geta's blog and all the blogs that are participating in this event. This is going to be a fun virtual quilting event where we all pick up a few tips and tricks along the way. I've learned so much from Geta that I'm truly honored to be part of this event.

First, a little bit about me, as you may be visiting SewCalGal for the first time: Those that follow me, know I rarely share personal insights. To me, SewCalGal is all about designers, teachers, stores, events, products (aka those in the business). I don't get paid for writing about any of this, but for me researching and sharing insights helps me to learn. And, I also hope to help others in sharing too! When I write a review I always share my own opinion, good or bad.

My approach to quilting has changed over the years. I still primarily do charity quilting (most samples I create when reviewing a product and/or blogging are donated to various charities), but I've also realized that we all need to take time to learn new techniques. It is important to not just become aware of a new technique, but to learn and master it. The difference takes time, but has long term payback. I just wish I had understood this when I first began to quilt, many years ago.

I now focus time on learning vs taking a class. For example, I spent a year seeing if I could become halfway decent at free-motion quilting and I was quite impressed with what I learned and how much I now enjoy it. Likewise, I'm now starting to work on my precision piecing skills, by way of reading tutorials on blogs, watching DVDs, taking classes, reading books and taking time to practice. You'll have to come back in a year to see if my piecing skills have improved! If it takes longer, I'll stick to my plan of focusing! I've spent way too much time and money, in the past getting "exposed" and creating a lot of UFOs, so I'm not trying hard to master a technique before I move on to a new one.

Favorite Tools:

My list of favorite tools is too large to list in this post, but for those that follow SewCalGal you'll definitely hear about them. I also like to try to stay on top of new products being introduced at Quilt Market, as well as throughout the year and share insights, as I can. But, today, I wanted to share insights on a few that I think are some great basics (aka "musts"):

Beam N Read Personal Light are perfect for those doing handwork and need of extra light. And definitely something to take with you when you travel and want to be able to read or do handwork.

Source: readinglight.com via SewCalGal on Pinterest

Famore MicroFine Tweezers are something every quilter should have. They are excellent for picking up small pieces of thread, ripping out free-motion quilting or other stitches, etc..

Striptube Ruler is an amazing ruler that is very handy make fast strip quilts, but can be used for a variety of designs.

Source: cozyquilt.com via SewCalGal on Pinterest

Sewline Glue Pen is easier than pins when piecing. Just lightly dab the glue pin to one block, at every spot that you would have placed a pin, then add the top block and finger press the seams. Wait a few seconds and stitch. Amazing how the seams line up so perfectly and no pins, no shifting, plus great for stacking sets and assembly sewing.

Tips:

Josh Madison has a free CONVERT program you can download that is so easy to use to convert a variety of measurements. I keep it on my desktop and frequently use it when I'm doing machine embroidery, as well as working with designs in metric.

When working with adhesive stabilizers consider placing a sheet of freezer paper, shiny side down, on top of your ironing board. It is an inexpensive way tol protect your ironing board cover.

Freebies/Tutorials:

I have a page on my blog labeled "My Favorite Tutorials" that have links to a variety of great tutorials. But, I also love how easy it is for quilters today, to be able to search the internet to find a tutorial to help them do just about anything that they are interested in. Plus, many of us find tutorials on things we had never thought about doing, but want to! Can you tell I love networking with quilters on the internet? Possibilities are endless.

I do want to heighten awareness "freebies" should not be copies of purchased patterns, books, machine embroidery designs, etc. that are shared with friends or posted on blogs. This includes copies of tutorials and insights on blogs, where some copy and post on their blog, or print and distribute with others. Ask permission before sharing. And remember professions, those that earn their living through their skills, are negatively impacted when you copy and give away their designs, tutorials, etc. "Their" freebies might be sharable, but be professional and ask permission and recognize the source when you do so. This includes when you pin on Pinterest. Our world of quilting is a wonderful world, thanks to those in the business who make it sew....but quilters need to adhere to good ethics to support those in the business, so let's all try to remind each other of the importance for each of us to stitch with integrity!

Classes

SewCalGal definitely recommends to quilters of all levels to take classes, take classes, take classes. Don't ever stop trying to learn. You may want to think about how you approach what classes. For example, you may want to focus on basic quilting, or a style of quilting such as applique'. As such, you may not want to take a class that the topic isn't on your priority list. For me, I've found that it has helped to minimize the UFOs that can happen when taking a class. And, I don't hesitate taking classes from a variety of teachers, on the same topic. I enjoy taking classes at my local quilt shop (LQS), quilt shows that I can attend, as well as classes online.

Craftsy has definitely become a favorite source for me to take classes online. They have a variety of topics, with great teachers and you can take the class at your leisure, as well as repeat is as often as you wish. Plus the price is so darn reasonable and they have some great free classes too. If you haven't yet tried classes at Craftsy, I want to encourage you to give them a try soon! I think you'll enjoy it too!

Did I mention a Giveaway:

SewCalGal frequently hosts a sponsored Fun Friday Giveaway every week. And, as today I'm talking about Quilter's Favorites, it seemed natural to host a giveaway sponsored by Hoffman California Fabrics!

The Fun Friday Giveaway prize this week is a yummy Sushi Fabric bundle of Hoffman batiks, perfect for anyone that love batiks and wants to have a variety of fabrics for their projects.

A Hoffman "Sushi" Bundle of fabric isn't something you'll find in your local quilt shop, nor will you find any two exactly alike. Hoffman was kind enough to give SewCalGal a few of these yummy fabric bundles, which SewCalGal calls "Sushi" rolls. You don't have to like Sushi, but many will love these rolls. Each are different and each are filled with yummy Hoffman Batiks and hand dyed fabrics. And, SewCalGal is willing to ship this bundle to any follower, any place in the world.

Want to enter to win this yummy Sushi Fabric Bundle? Simply enter via this Rafflecopter form. I know not everyone is comfortable with this form, but it has a plus of avoiding the "no reply blogger" feature with Google profile settings that frequently stop someone from winning, if they can't be contacted via email thru their profile. SewCalGal still encourages everyone to check their settings (click here for more info if you are not confident you are not a no reply blogger)

Please complete this Rafflecopter form to officially enter this giveaway

Hoffman California Fabrics
25792 Obrero Drive, Mission Viejo, CA 92691-3140
949.770.2922
800.547.0100
hoffmanfabrics.com

Don't forget to visit Geta's Quilting Studio for the complete list of bloggers participating in Geta's Quilting Favorites. They'll be linking up this week, sharing oods of tips, tricks and tutorials. This is a great way to learn, have fun and win some yummy prizes along the way too!

Lastly, SewCalGal is delighted to announce the winners of the Fun Friday Giveaway, from last week, sponsored by Fun Stitch Studio, an imprint from CT Publishing. The three winners are:

Ohio Lori
Mary on Lake Pulaski
Gene Black

!Insights From SewCalGal

Free Class Day at Craftsy

A Mother's Love

A Mother's Love

Quilter's Favorites: Share and Learn and a Giveaway too!