Events!!

I know this space has been kind of quiet lately, or more EPP focused, but if you want to hear me talk about my new book, Get Started Quilting, then please tune in this afternoon to Pat Sloan's podcast!

Follow this link to listen live, 4pm EST.

Upcoming in person events-- 

My Saturday Stitches group at the Rockville Centre Public Library is starting back up again next month.  Please join us from 10-12 on the following Saturdays this fall:

October 3 & 17

November 7 & 21

December 5 & 19

I also hope to do a separate book signing event at the library, I'll update the Events tab when the date is finalized.  

If your quilt group would like to have me come speak and show off a bunch of my quilts, I would love to set something up!  I've got some flexibility for travel in 2016 and I'd like to hang out with quilters as much as possible.  Please send me an email if you're interested and I can shoot out my list of lecture and workshop topics.  jessunderquilts at gmail dot com

It's time to Get Started Quilting!

I am very happy to announce today that my second book is here:

I just got my advanced copy and it will hit store shelves later this month in the UK and at the end of July in the US and Canada.

Please click the links below to order advanced copies via amazon:

(Yes, the UK edition has a different name: The Complete Quilter, but the content is the same)

The Complete Quilter

Get Started Quilting

or ask your favorite bookseller, fabric shop or quilt shop (brick and mortar or online) if they can carry it.  If you'd like a signed copy, check out my Events tab for where I'll be in the coming weeks.  If I'm not coming close to your neighborhood, why not ask your local quilt group to contact me to set up an event?  I've got some flexibility in my travel schedule coming up and I'd love to come out and talk to quilters anywhere.  (weekends next fall, Dec/January, March/April 2016 and July 2016 are my most flexible times for travel).  Don't you want to sit and sew with me?

So what's the book about, anyway?

Get Started Quilting is truly a beginner's guide, so if you area already an experienced quilter, you might not need it in your collection, BUT, we all know someone who likes quilts but hasn't taken the plunge.. why not get a copy for THEM?  Or give your local library a call and see if they want to carry it, for the good of the entire community?  

Inside are 20 something quilt blocks with instructions and step-by-step photographs.  They range from traditional machine pieced to handwork and a bit of improv.  My favorite at the moment are the Improv Baskets  (turn orphan blocks into baskets!) and the Free cut Ainu Inspired Spiral (hand applique).  

I can't get this pic to turn around!  Sorry!

The book is set up to encourage you to try things out and then mix and match to make projects.  If you try all the techniques, you can put them together into a sampler quilt:

If you want to see this quilt in person, it will be hanging outside at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show next month.  I'll be there too, let's take selfies!

Hopefully over the next few weeks I'll take time to show off each of the projects and talk a bit about my process.  

I'm so excited to share this book with everyone~ 

Thanks for checking it out!

Monday Afternoon Star Count 2014/46

It's finals week.  You know what that means?  I'm almost done~~  winter vacation sewing can be prepped and stitched in earnest in just a few more days!

I dumped out Travel Quilt #5's sewing box and this is what I found.. plum blossom block started in SEPTEMBER and a memory block from the 12 hexie blog hop that happened LAST JULY.  Yeahhh.. it's time I got back to this project..

Great motivation to get back to English Paper Piecing.. I'm going to be interviewed on Pat Sloan's radio show this afternoon!!

Do you want to listen?  I'll be on just after 4pm Eastern (1pm Pacific), click HERE and hear us chat about EPP and quilting in public~

 

And now.. if you have any EPP to link up (Anyone is welcome, join in any time!!), let's start the party!

Monday Afternoon Star Count 2014/44

I had a great week full of so many wonderful quilters and their stories.  Lots of EPP too, which is good because I hardly did any myself this week.

On Tuesday I was at the Long Island Modern Guild for a lecture on Becoming a Modern Quilter.  It was great, I just took every quilt in my house that I could fit in the car and then talked about them.  It was so fun to share and remember all the little steps along my quilting journey.  Afterwords, everyone oogled these Lucy Boston blocks by one of the guild members.  (someone comment with her name so I can give credit!!)

 This fussy cutting is intense!!

And then on Saturday we had our second meeting of the Saturday Stitches at Rockville Centre Library.  Well attended (10 quilters!), we had a sort of basting party for Helen's hexie quilt. 

Lots and lots of other EPP was going on too-- Maureen made more stars:

Eri was appliqueing pentagons to background fabrics:

Stephanie is my newest addict:

And Christa and Carol finally sat together to sew (we've been waiting for this all semester):

If you're in the area (or can get there by train) we'd love to see you next time, Dec. 6th, 10am-12.

Maybe next time I'll get to EPP too..

Monday Morning Star Count 2014/42

Guys, it was awesome.  I went to the library for the first meeting of our new Saturday Stitches quilt group and.. EVERYONE was doing EPP.  I swear, it wasn't even my idea! (of course half of them were my friends or blog readers, and the other half were brand new to quilting so I started them with EPP... so, I guess maybe it was my idea..)

(Look, Christa's quilt has gotten so big!!)

Anyway, it was great.  If you're around on 11/22, why not try to stop by?

Creating a Quilting Community-- Come Sit & Sew with me!

Hey Long Island!  Are you free this Saturday?  Want to come sit and sew with me?

 

I have the opportunity to start a new quilting group at the Rockville Centre Public Library and I'd like all my quilting friends from real life and blogland to join me. (10 am - noon)  Everybody's welcome, any experience level.  We are going to talk about quilting, not just focus on learning a new technique, so the more people in on the discussion, the better.

 

Why did I want to do this, you may ask?  Well, I've been thinking..

What I need right now as a quilter is not more images of quilts through social media, more fabric,  more patterns, over-inspiration, but time to focus on what's in front of me.  I'd like to pay more attention to actual quilts and quilters, focus on and study specific patterns, and try to figure out what appeals to me and why.  Are you interested in being part of a quilt discussion group of sorts? 

Come sit and sew with us and discuss the craft of quiltmaking.

 

What we'll do:

Please bring some hand sewing to work on.  If you're new to hand sewing, I can teach you how to EPP.  This is going to be mainly a discussion group.  There will be show and tell, of course, and opportunities to get to know other quilters but not just what they're making, but how they feel about what we do.

Everyone is welcome.  No experience necessary.  Quilters are always happy to teach and share.

 

The schedule looks like this:

November 8  --   Quilting Communities

November 22  --   Shapes and Patterns

December 6  --  Process, the steps of making a quilt

December 20  --  Dating quilts, quilt labels, gift quilts

 

Please come ready to share and learn.

If you have questions about techniques and what you're working on, that's great, but it's more of a sharing group than a teaching group. Please join us.  We will also spend some time each week exploring the library's quilt book collection.  You can find inspiration or give inspiration. 

For more information and directions to the library:  http://rvclibrary.org/

You can totally get there by public transportation, it's only a 3 block walk from the Rockville Centre LIRR station! (or a $4 taxi)

Hey Ohio!

Are you in northern Ohio (or willing to drive there to see me?) and curious about EPP?
I'll be giving a short lecture and hands-on English Paper Piecing demo at M&E Quilt Shoppe in Sandusky on Thursday next week (5/22). 
All the information is here on the shop's website.

I'll be showing off a few of my quilts and projects, signing books, and converting everyone to EPP.  It would be great to see some of you there~

EPP Demo and Book Signing Thursday, May 22, 2014    12-2p.m. Mabel & Ethel's Quilt Shoppe 279 E. Market Street, Sandusky, OH 44870
419-502-9123
ME@mequiltshoppe.com Space is limited.  Advanced registration required.  For more info, click here.

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Monday Morning Star Count 2014/12

Upcoming English Paper Piecing Events
 I've got a lot going on in the next few weeks, and if you're local, I'd love for you to join me and do some EPP!  Here's a list of my upcoming lectures and workshops..

March 29th     Hexagon Pillow Workshop, 1-4 pm
+ This is a workshop for Huntington Guild members only, please contact Laura or Gilma if you are interested in attending. 

April 3rd   EPP Lecture at the Evening Star Quilters Guild, Mineola, NY
+ 7:30 p.m.

Mineola Community Center

155 Washington Avenue

Mineola, NY

For more information on the guild, see their website.

April 4th  Hexagon Pillow Workshop, 10am-1pm
+ This workshop is open to non-guild members, and there are still plenty of spots available.   If you'd like to join us, please email me (jessunderquilts at yahoo dot com) and I'll send details.

April 6th     Hexagon Pillow Workshop
+ This is a workshop for Huntington Guild members only, please contact Laura or Gilma if you are interested in attending.  (tentative date)

May 17th  English Paper Piecing Demo, 2-4 pm
+ This is a free workshop, open to the public, but space is limited so reservations are necessary.
To reserve your spot, please register online using this form or write to handmade@nypl.org with your name and the date of this event.
New York Public Library
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, Rm. 227
New York City

Sadly, my Greek Island Quilt Retreat had to be cancelled due to low enrollment.  I'm very disappointed, hopefully we'll have a better turn out for 2015.  When details are available, I'll post them here.

For my EPP progress this week, I've got the following:  

I still need a lot more to meet my goal of 20 by the summer.. but can I count the partials on the edge towards that number?  Is that cheating?

How are you doing?

Monday Morning Star Count 10

It's Monday again and I don't have too much to show for the week..

I haven't finished the 7th star or any more fillers, just basted a pile of hexies.
My book signing last Monday went well though.. ok, it was pretty awesome.  I got to talk quilting with 40 women and give a simple demo to non-quilters.  That was fun!  Well, I guess more than half of the attendees were quilters, and I suppose I have a reputation around these parts because someone actually brought me a bag of scrap fabric, hehe.  Now that I know the work that goes into planning an event and the excitement that comes out of one, I am ready (and waiting) for the next one..

So..  next week will be our last MMSC.. link up today and we'll push you to be as productive as possible by then!

Mark your calendars-- Book Signing!

What are you doing on Monday, August 19th at 7:30 p.m.?
If you're free, why not come out to my first book signing?

 

I'll be doing an EPP demo (hands on fun!) and book signing at the East Meadow Public Library.  Directions can be found here.  

You can see all of the projects and samples from the book in person!  Ask any question that's been on your mind, and have a nice chat with a room full of quilters.  I'll have copies of Quilting on the Go for sale, as well as some EPP templates and small/medium bags of fabric scraps.  The first 75 guests will receive sample template packs from Paperpieces.com.  Hope to see you there~~

When:         Monday, August 19th, 7:30 pm

Where:        East Meadow Public Library, lower level

                    1886 Front Street

                    East Meadow, NY