He Loves Me. He Loves Me Lots.

I like that better than He Loves Me Not. I mean, what’s not to love? (wink) You’re going to love the new free three-yard download pattern we have for you. Introducing, 3YD Juliett.

3YD Juliett is our latest featured quilt pattern in our 2024 3Yd Quilt Series Sew Along. Created in a plucky Pink, Black, and White, reminiscent of the Good and Plenty candies, this little 36″ square quilt makes a great baby, wall, or table topper quilt. Get your free download before the end of March. The free download link expires on 3/31/24.

Lora made the Pink/Black/White 3YD Juliett. Notice her amazing quilting? I made the scrappy version below, all from my stash, for my 10-month-old granddaughter, Micah. Micah has brilliant blue eyes. She loves me. She loves me lots. I haven’t quilted it yet, but I have a leftover cobalt blue minky that is just wide enough for this baby quilt. I’ll bind it in the same yellow as the center circles. I can’t wait to give it to her.

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Donation Quilts

How are you doing with the donation quilt challenge part of the 3YD Quilt Series Sew Along? Honestly, I had hoped to get more donation quilts done than I have so far (one and counting). Yet, it is only March! We have lots of time to get these finished. Lora and I are members of the Delta Quilters of Brentwood, CA. DeltaQuilters.org has it going on. The majority of the donation quilts are donated to programs supporting foster children, women rebuilding lives from addiction or abuse, veterans, adults in memory care, and neonatal units in hospitals.

There is a quilter’s charity program near you.

If you’re not participating in your local quilter’s charity program, a quick Google can give you a list of places to donate your charity quilts. We can make a difference together.

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The Material Girlfriends Misadventure

How many quilts do you need to tie end-to-end to escape from a 2nd floor hotel room?

We were headed home from the Sewing & Stitchery Expo in Puyallup Washington just a couple of weeks ago. We left WA early and drove through snowy and rainy weather, arriving in Redding, CA just about 6pm. It was quite exhausting to have to ride in the passenger seat all day while Lora drove. I was hungry and tired, ready to have dinner and put my feet up. I think Lora was too. Holiday Inn Express is our favorite home on the road when we’re traveling. We were assigned a room on the 2nd floor, unloaded our car into the room, and went for dinner next door.

After an enjoyable dinner, we went back to our 2nd floor hotel room, played on our iPads for a little while and conked out early. We were SOUND asleep, deep, deep, lovely sleep, when a horribly loud alarm goes off just before midnight. It was sooo loud! Louder than a normal fire alarm in a normal house. We covered our ears and quickly found slippers and robe. I grabbed my purse and we headed for the door. Fortunately, the handle was cool so we didn’t have to calculate how many quilts we needed to tie end-to-end to escape our 2nd floor hotel room. We opened the door and followed the other staggering guests down the hall and to the stairwell.

It was raining. Hard. There was no overhang, or eve to stand under. Like lemmings, we followed each other around the hotel building to the front and were all standing crammed under the entrance eve. One sleep-deprived hotel guest was cranky and went back into the hotel (no, it wasn’t Lora). No visible fire or smoke, so the rest of us followed to get out of the cold rain. The young hotel desk clerk had no idea what was going on, nor had been trained on what to do in such an emergency. Another guest, with concierge experience, helped her to turn off the most annoying alarm and call the fire dept.

Once the firemen gave the all-clear, we decided not to wait for the elevator and to climb the multiple flights of stairs to our second floor room.

The next day I asked the desk clerk (different gal this time) what had set off the alarm? She said, “Evidently, some man had wanted to clip a tag off his clothes. He used a lighter to melt the plastic tag instead of using fabric scissor.” Alright, then. Forgiven.

No quilts were harmed in this misadventure.

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A Little Help, Please?

Have you checked our YouTube channel? Currently, we have 87 videos! If you’re stuck, or you can’t sleep one night, we’re here to help. We have a Video Series for each of our Block of the Month quilts, plus many quilting techniques. We also have a new 3YD Juliett video!

https://www.youtube.com/@materialgirlfriendspattern4612/videos

Be sure to subscribe. You’ll get a little notification when we upload a new video.

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Etsy Coupon

You love me. You love me lots. Here is a coupon code to get 20% off your digital download patterns on our Etsy Store. Enter coupon code ASF10 for 20% off any and everything. I also have our 3YD patterns at 50% off so… doing a little math in my head… that is a LOT off of a 3YD pattern when you add the coupon code. 3YD Juliett is there too but you can download that free at the link above until the end of the month. *Well, rats! I created a sale and then a discount code but Etsy won’t let you apply the discount code on the sale items. Hmmm. I’ll make the 3YD patterns 60% off for a limited time since we can’t get the coupon code to apply to the 3YD pattern sale. Ugh!

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To Pre-Wash or Not to Pre-Wash

You bought a kit. Do you pre-wash or not? Well, that depends. Mostly, I’d recommend that you don’t prewash. You risk falling short on the fabrics required for your kit. Washing and drying will reduce the size of your fabric. Drying will just shrink your fibers so your 1 yard is now 7/8 of a yard. Washing will fray your edges so your one yard, which now 7/8 of a yard, is now 3/4 of a yard. I exaggerated a bit. But truth, you will have less than a yard of fabric. Three Yard patterns are SQUEEZING as much out of that yard as possible. I’d not pre-wash any kits or pre-cuts (5″ squares, 10″ squares, or jelly rolls 2 1/2″ strips).

You bought yardage from a yard sale. Wash and dry and put that yardage in your organized bins. You’re fine. However, when making a quilt, be sure that all of the fabrics are either pre-washed or not pre-washed. You’ll not want your piecework to be distorted after the quilt was washed and some fabrics shrunk and others did not.

If I bought yardage to make a garment (not likely, but just roll with me here), I’d pre-wash and dry that fabric. I don’t want it to shrink after I form-fitted that garment to my ample form.

Reasons to Pre-wash

Formaldehyde is used in the manufacturing of some synthetic fabrics (for example: permanent press). It used to be used in cottons too and if you’re not certain of the age or quality of your fabrics, pre-washing can be a good idea. Most cotton mills no longer use formaldehyde. The good news, the FDA’s proposal to ban formaldehyde and other formaldehyde-releasing chemicals like methylene glycol in straightening products (wrinkle-free agent)— is aimed to go into effect in April 2024.

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For the Local Quilters

Sometimes it just isn’t fair that you live far away from us. However, if you want a little road trip, Lora’s quilt room will be in a Sewing Room Tour. (I know! Isn’t that a great fund-raising idea? You can get the deets for your guild by going to deltaquilters.org.)

Sewing Room Tour will be in the Oakley/Brentwood area of California. Enjoy the five quilt rooms to tour, plus a lovely reception at the end. Whoohoo! Vendors will be at the reception for a little shopping too (Material Girlfriends will have a little booth at Lora’s house since we can’t be two places at once). There will be demos at each house plus free pattern giveaways. Attendance is limited. Get your tickets ahead of time or check the day of the Sewing Room Tour to be sure it hasn’t sold out.

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Featured Artists

We have the honor of being the featured artists at the 2024 Annual Quilt Show of the Guild of Quilters of Contra Costa County. Come see us April 6 & 7, 2024, 10 am – 4 pm, at the Elks Lodge, 1475 Creekside Dr. Walnut Creek, CA. The cost is $12 at the door, $10 in advance. There will be plenty of vendors offering fabric, kits, notions, and collectibles. Chef’s Touch Food truck will be on hand for lunch or take-home dinner. Visit gqcccquiltshow.org for more information.

Guild of Quilters of Contra Costa County Opportunity Quilt. Purchase a raffle ticket to win this Confetti Star Quilt!

You love us. You love us lots.

Happy sewing friend!

Lisa W. Norton and Lora W. Zmak