Well, there are actually plenty of other cottons used in quilting. And, if you are new to quilting, all these fabrics can get confusing.

So, let’s take a look at some fabrics you might use in your beginning quilts, as well as some you just might want to avoid for a while, and why:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/1053-fabric-for-quilts.php

Happy Quilting!

Penny

And, unless you want to risk buying way too much or way too little, this inevitably involves utilizing your math skills (or a fabric calculator, if you have one handy).

Today you’ll learn how to “do the math” to allow you to confidently purchase just enough of each fabric to make sure you don’t run out in the middle of the project – or the middle of the night:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/2014-fabric-requirements.php

Happy Quilting!

Penny

If you live in an area prone to earthquakes (or any other natural disaster), you should plan to have an emergency preparedness kit on hand.

You’ll find a helpful list of essential items to include in your kit when you visit:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/4080-quilts-and-earthquakes.php

Happy Quilting!

Penny

In today’s article, I’ll show you how combining this block with a simple Snowball block creates a fun and lively pattern for any combination of colors.

And, if you need help figuring out how much fabric you need for this or any of your quilting projects, be sure to join us on February 2nd for the next in our series of webinars.

Susie Blades, the inventor of the FabriCalc, will be using the Tennessee Waltz block as her example in this session.

You’ll find all the information when you visit:

http://how-to-quilt.com/articles/1120-tennessee-waltz.php

Happy Quilting!

Penny

Christmas Cheer Quilt Block

Oh, I know – it’s not really time for the year end holidays yet! But it doesn’t hurt to start thinking about quilts or wall hangings to decorate the halls for the end of the year.

In this week’s newsletter, you’ll find some star quilt blocks you can create in holiday colors to include in your quilts, as well as:

• There’s only one more day to take advantage of the special FabriCalc deal
• Tips on pre-washing batting
• A survey on what you’d like to learn about transferring photos to fabric
• The deadline for the Christmas Postcard Quilts for the Troops is November 18^th
• Ten free quilt block patterns

You’ll find it all when you visit:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/newsletter/holidayquiltblocks.php

Happy Quilting!

Penny

m. mouse relaxing on a stack of quilts

Finally!

Soon the annual mad dash to mail off those tax returns will be over and we can all get back to doing the more fun things in life.

And, here’s our first fun thing – - -

By now, you may know that m. mouse, the official http://www.How-To-Quilt diabetic cat will be 15 years old this September.

Now that calls for some major celebrating, so we decided that we would turn tax day into something special for our quilters.

Maybe you wore out your calculator figuring out your taxes, and are ready for a new one.

Or possibly, you are hissing at the calculator that you used because it figured out that you had to send in more than you really wanted to.

Whatever the case, m. mouse is here to help you get back on the fun road to quilting.

We all know how hard it can be to figure out how much fabric to get for a quilt. And, especially now, we all want to make sure that we have enough fabric for our project, but won’t get 5 yards too much – just to add to our stash.

The ultimate solution (because paper and pencil is just too boring) is a FabriCalc.

The FabriCalc has become one of the necessary tools for every quilter.

Once you spend a few minutes getting familiar with your FabriCalc, you will know exactly how to use it, and you will want to take it on every fabric excursion.

Here at How-to-Quilt.com, we are here to help you figure all of it out, too.

When you get your FabriCalc from us, you get a complete step-by-step guide showing a real, live example of how to figure out yardage. The guide includes actual pictures of each screen in the process, so you know exactly how to proceed.

It’s a free bonus – just from http://www.How-to-Quilt.com!

And, because we are celebrating m. mouse’s birthday, he has come up with a super-special tax and birthday deal.

He spent hours paw-picking (because he doesn’t have hands, you know) 15 quilt block patterns that remind him of his favorite things.

And, when you reserve your FabriCalc sometime during the next 15 times 2 hours (he’s really into 15 today, but we decided that 15 hours was too short a time) you will get all of these fantastic patterns.

You’ll get all of the details about the FabriCalc and his special paw-picked patterns here:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/fabriCalc-mousespecial.php

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren