erasable pens

Recently, I had an email from Charlotte Warr Anderson, with her permission, I am sharing it here. Please give it a read, Charlotte has done some wonderful research for all of us in the quilting world.  Thanks, Charlotte!

 

“I thought I’d give you all a heads up about Frixion Erasable pens. A student showed me hers at Road to California in January. She drew a line, thin but quite black, and then ironed it and the line disappeared. It looked like the coolest thing ever!

So I went in search of these pens, which you can get a Staples. I bought the pack that has three colors in it – black, red and blue. Being quite the skeptic about things that are too good to be true, I read the back of the package. In small print it says: “Do not expose to extreme temperatures (<14 degrees F;> 140 degrees F). If pen is exposed to temperature that reaches 140 degrees F the ink will be colorless when writing. To restore color, cool to at least 14 degrees F and the ink will again write in color.”

Aha! I said to myself. If you iron the ink it’s going to be way over 140 degrees so it’s going to disappear. So I took some fabric and scribbled on it with all three colors. Then I ironed it and, sure enough, all the scribbles disappeared. But then I put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes and all the lines reappeared. I left it for about a week and a half while I went travelling and today I tried to wash the ink out. It didn’t come out with soap and hard scrubbing and not even after I put rubbing alcohol on it. So then I ironed the piece dry and all the lines disappeared and then it went back to the freezer and all the lines reappeared (perhaps just a bit fainter).

This experiment was enough to persuade me that these pens are too good to be true and even sort of creepy – the ink is always there even if you can’t see it. I wouldn’t use them on any fabric or quilt you really cared about.

If I had a blog I would have put this on there,  but since I don’t any of you who want to pass on what I’ve written can feel free to copy and paste this post

Charlotte”

facebook – new “Karen Combs’ Studio” page

Join me on Facebook!   I’ve just set up a new page: Karen Combs Studio Fan Page.  

We already have almost 500 fans and are having so much fun! Right now, we have a lively discussion about our favorite sewing machines.

You can also see photos of my fabric lines, patterns, books and a peek into my sewing studio.  The Fan Page will be the first place I’ll post new patterns, fabric lines, quilt news and other fun stuff. 

Hope to see you there!

celtic pieced illusions and a “sew along”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love creating Celtic designs in my quilts.  My book, Celtic Pieced Illusions was the result of that love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently, I received a wonderful email from Lynne Crowley.  She also loves Celtic designs.  She is creating a Celtic Pieced Illusions quilt of her own.  On her website, she has a intriguing feature – a sew along!  If you would like to follow Lynne as she creates her Celtic Pieced Illusions quilt or would like to make your own as she does, visit her blog at
http://lynnesfreshhope.blogspot.com/
 .  It looks like fun!!

 

 

find a quilt teacher website

My good friend, Ami Simms has begun a new enterprise to help teachers and those looking to hire them network better.

FindAQuiltTeacher.com rolled out at the beginning of February and is growing steadily.

It is more than just a list of email address and names, Ami’s hope is that it will make like a lot easier for guilds and shops to find teachers that match the needs of their guild members and customers.

 

 

Each teacher gets their own web page, and subscribing guilds and shops get access to Teacher Data Sheets which puts a great deal of information all on one page for easy evaluation. No more hunting through web pages to find teacher requirements, classes, fees, contract preferences, lodging likes and dislikes.

I love this idea and was one of the first to sign up!  You can see my page at
http://www.findaquiltteacher.com/combsk.html
 .

Whether you are a guild, a shop, a program chair, quilt show chair or looking for a quilt teacher, you need this website! If you have not had a chance yet, please look.

featured on QNNtv.com newsletter

 This week, I had the honor of being featured on QNNtv.com’s newsletter. They featured my quilt Cube2!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Quilting Friends, A master at creating two-dimensional quilts that trick the eye into seeing three dimensions, Karen Combs used 60-degree diamonds to give an amazing illusion of depth in her quilt Cube2. How did she do it? Warm colors in the 3-D Churn Dash blocks pull the design forward and cool colors in the outer portion of the quilt draw the sides away from the center. This interplay enhances the illusion of depth in the quilt.  What amazing things quilters do with fabric! Quilt Market always delivers excitement and beauty, and this fall Market was no exception. Taping our videos from Market gives me a chance to see what ingenious products are being introduced, and meeting with my friends at fabric companies and seeing the quilts our editors collect to run in our magazines makes for a lot of oh-ing and ah-ing. And, as for the quilts on exhibit, once gain I was dazzled. I’ve shared pictures of some of my favorites on my blog. While there, you can check in on the progress of the Maasai quilt I’m making for my aunt. After a busy travel month in October, it’s great to have some sewing time! Happy quilting, Jodie Davis

Omnigrid

Often, I am asked, “What are your favorite tools?” From time to time, I’ll blog about some of my “can’t live without” quilting tools.

My Omnigrid rulers would fall into that category. I love them! They are the first rulers I reach for whenever I am rotary cutting.

My favorite sizes are 6″ x 14″ rectangle, 12 1/2″ square and 6 1/2″ square.

I’ve discovered a new size, a 20″ x 20″ square. I love it! It is perfect for sizing up larger blocks.

 I’ve also discovered a perfect cutting resource on the Omnigrid webpage.

I’ve Been Tagged!

Jodie Davis tagged me!

Tagging–not to be confused with tagging of blog posts–is a friendly game of cyber-tag that has become a source of fun in the blogosphere.

In this case,  Pat Sloan  tagged Jodie, and Jodie tagged me.  I am to blog about seven things you may not know about me, and I am to tag seven other bloggers to do the same.

Here goes.  .  .

1. I love chocolate! The darker, the better.

2. I HATE socks. I can never find them to fit my foot. (I wear a size 5.) I will wear them when I need to, but most of the time. . .NOT!

3. I am a deaf interpreter at church. I learned to sign about 5 years ago, and am still learning. The deaf are very patience with me as I continue to learn.

4. My husband and I are high school sweethearts. We started dating when we were 16 and in a few weeks, we will have been married for 30 years. 

Our newest hobby is riding on Rick’s new Yamaha V-Star 1100.

5. I have been designing fabric for Blank Quilting for 7 years.

 

Shade Cascade is my newest fabric collection.

6. I love quilts of illusion, okay, you probably know that already.

7. My newest book, Celtic Pieced Illusions, only uses two blocks to create almost unlimited pieced Celtic Designs.

Now onto 7 of my favorite quilters who blog. Check them out!

Mary Stori   – She has am amazing sense of humor and is the queen of beading. A wonderful friend! 

Pam Holland- Fantastic blog. Prepared to be inspired by her photographs.

 Pepper Cory - A good friend for years! Love her quilts and love her! She encouraged me to start this blog.  Thanks, Pepper!

Beth Ferrier - Fantastic sense of humor! Love her blog and love her quilts.

 Bonnie McCaffrey  - Another good friend. Her work and blog are wonderful!

Pat Sloan -  Wonderful blog!

 Mark Lipinski - My bud, Mark. Need I say more? If you haven’t checked out the Quilter’s Home magazine or Mark’s blog, you are missing out!