Book review "Quilting Possibilities- Freehand Filler Patterns"

I agree. It is one of the best I have seen. It was interesting to see the designs, as she is a long arm quilter; but her ideas are definitely transferable and the book is aimed at 'the majority' who do not have long arm machines. . In message , Leslie & The Furbabies in MO. writes

I didn't get it at a discount, I bought it at the Chicago quilt show this weekend. I agree, it's a really good book. I also bought some really neat stencils to use with the quilt pouncer...the one that looks like an eraser. I don't even know how to describe them. Ok, here's the website...they describe them quite well!

Gosh, that stencil looks good; and I am beginning to be 'driven' towards a 'pounce' gadget. Does the powder brush off? Any tips on what type of pounce 'thingy' would be best for a 'not-very-gadget-inclined' person? . In message , KJ writes

Jumping in...

I've used the pouncers for years (I think I got my first one in 2000). I rarely use "real" stencils -- I more often use them with Pam Clarke's "Design with Lines" stencils

First off, supplies. I have three pouncers. One has mostly white chalk with about 5% glow powder. (Glow powder will glow green under a black light -- handy for quilting on light fabrics). This is the powder I use 99.9% of the time. Another pouncer is mostly white with a little blue chalk. I only use this for white fabrics that glow under black light, making my glow powder useless. I'm chicken that one day the blue won't come out of a customer's quilt. (Hasn't happened yet, but there's always a first time. *grin*) The last one has miracle chalk in it.

The miracle chalk site has a good how-to-use bit that applies to any of the chalks. The regular chalk will bounce off a bit as you're quilting. I don't usually find that's a problem, but I also quilt it right away. Things might be different if I was doing it in bits and pieces (or hand quilting). I get the last of it off with one of those red lint brushes (the kind you use to get pet hair off the sofa). Washing would also work, but I don't wash customer quilts.

The pouncers are very user friendly, so long as you remember that the name is completely wrong, because you DON'T pounce with them, you wipe. Mess it up? Wipe it off and do it again. It only takes a couple of seconds to mark the whole stencil, so it's not the end of the world to do it over. (Er, not that I ever mess up. *cough, cough*)

Many quilting stencils have a smooth side and a rough side. The pouncer works better if the rough side is up -- the chalk comes out easier. Take care not to bend the stencil, and you have it made.

HTH!

The powder in my pounce brushes right off. The demonstrator at the stencil booth said to use a microfiber towel to brush it off. There is also a chalk that stays on until ironed off...yes, ironed off. But I think I've heard a few dissenters on that from another group I'm in. This pouncer isn't very gadgety....just like a chalkboard eraser! You don't really "pounce", just rub the eraser across the stencil. Very cool! It will also work on other stencils, but you do get a little hung up on the openings sometimes. That's why these solid fabric stencils are so nice.

I haven't quilted with them yet, but I did demo it for a friend who just stopped by. She was impressed!

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Thanks Kathyl. This looks like a real possibility. And, what luck! It's the Malvern show in a month, so I will have something to look for at the vendor stands!!! I much prefer that to simply wandering. I have a folder *full* of stencils - not like the one you showed, but I could look for those too. One or two of our quilt shops are very clued in to the American market (I think they go over to Houston), and have most of what you guys talk about. I'll make a note of the sites you mentioned before and see what I can find. There's no rush. (I'm not supposed to be doing deadlines this year >gThe powder in my pounce brushes right off. The demonstrator at the stencil

My friend bought a couple of those stencils at PIQF. She really is happy with them.

You can get a pounce with two different kinds of chalk.

One is regular old chalk powder. Yes, it just brushes off and sometimes faster than you want it to. :-) Comes in a couple of colors.

The other kind of chalk is called "miracle" chalk. It stays put until you iron it off. Personally, I LOVE this stuff. I can mark the whole top or border or whatever and then quilt away. No stopping to mark the next section. It irons off easily too.

marcella

Kathy, can you tell us a bit more about the "Design with Lines" idea? I saw the books on the site, but I don't understand how they work. Thanks!

You beat me to it Pat! Kathy is an encyclopedia of information! I may have to try the other chalks. In fact, I'll have to go look and see what color I have in mine!

I'll give it a stab -- let me know if I leave you more confused than when you started! LOL

First off, I learned this concept directly from her in a two-hour lecture. I don't have the books, so I don't know how well they track to her lecture handout. But the idea should be the same.

First, the straight line stencils. Let's say you're doing a border on a quilt. You want to do a repeating pattern, like the sunflowers on the border of the quilt I brought down to LV with me.

Same idea with the "s" stencil. You can use it to mark the spine for feathers and vines, or use it to make a nice guide for a motif inside a block (again, feathers and vines are awesome). Unfortunately, these don't come in as many sizes, so they aren't as useful as the straight line ones. The figure-8 stencil also is great for this.

The 8-line, 6-line, and spider web ones are good for blocks. I find the circles, ovals, etc are always the wrong size (as are the dozens of circle templates I have), so those are less useful to me.

So bottom line is you can definitely get the stencils without the books. But if I didn't have the hand outs, I'd probably want to have one book for ideas. Can you do it without the stencils? Sure. But it's easy to mismeasure, and it takes time to do. Even if I was just doing it for myself, I think the stencils are well worth it.

Wow! Nope -- I'm sitting here with my mouth hanging open at the very idea of being able to do this! You're costing me money, Kathy. ;)

Yes, that's the one I tried to hide so you'd forget to take it back with you....

This sounds fantastic!

Okay, I've bookmarked the site and will probably be ordering as soon as I've figured out my finances this month. Thanks for the explanation, Kathy!

Great! Thanks, Leslie!

Kathyl, just wondering what the dissenters are saying about the "Miracle" pounce powder? I use the same sort of chalk and have for years with no problems--as long as I use it on cottons and other natural fibers. It will leave a "grease" mark on many synthetics (especially polyester).

Pati, > The powder in my pounce brushes right off. The demonstrator at the stencil

I can't really quote the problem. It's a vague memory that one of the chalks didn't come out for someone at a critical time...perhaps a customer's quilt? Kathy might remember the discussion from the Quiltart list. Maybe it was the blue chalk? And that one isn't the ironable one, is it? So I may have it all screwed up. Not unusual for me!

I just got this book too, from Wal-Mart. I ordered it on Tuesday, and it arrived Saturday. I also saw it at the Lancaster Heritage Quilt Show last week for $10 more than I paid. I even pulled out a practice sandwich and gave a couple of the designs a try. It does have many good ideas for fillers, corners, and borders.

Hey, that's what friends are for! LOL