Every so often questions and comments come from readers that I think others would like to hear my response to. That’s when I feature them on the blog. This is one of those days… I’m working on some follow-up questions today.
Last week I had a couple of questions from you after I posted about Kathy from Cotton Cabin asking why I provided Amazon links for people in my blog posts (Find that post HERE), particularly for quilt books…like this current favorite of mine Scrap School. You can find it HERE.
I explained that if you click the link up above that I provided for the Scrap School book, and end up purchasing the book, Amazon pays me a small commission. Something like 4%. You don’t pay anything more for the book. It’s called an affiliate link and it’s great for bloggers like me.
The commission is a way that we can keep the costs of having a blog down and not require people to pay for content and give away free patterns.
Now if you click on the link above and end up deciding, “No, I’m not going to buy the book but while I’m here, I am going to get my nephew a birthday present”, Amazon will give me the commission on the birthday gift you buy.
Christy asked:
“Hi Jo! Do you only get commissions on items you recommend and provide a link for? Today I ordered a vacuum. I started Amazon from one of your links, do you get credit for that too?”
Kit asked a similar question:
“? so if I enter Amazon through your blog, and then shop for something unrelated (ie, vitamins), will you still get credit for my purchase?
… or do you need to be directly linked to the product purchased?  It’s a learning curve thing!!”
The answers are YES! As long as you start at my blog and then go to Amazon, regardless of what you buy, vacuum cleaners, office chairs, a book, vitamins, or anything else you can think of, Amazon does pay me that commission on whatever it is. It is VERY helpful to me and the pennies do add up.
If you go to the right-hand column of the blog, this explanation and Amazon ad are there…You can click that anytime and go and shop. I really appreciate it when you do.
The next question is unrelated. I don’t have a clue on how to answer this as I’ve never heard of it. Can any of you help Jane with this question?
She writes:
“Do you know the name of the quilts/ quilting technique where to batting is laid on the backing, and then each patch is attached – by hand stitching- and you work your way around the edges of the project.
Each patch has just one or two edges folded under. As you go round all sides and move inwards you finally finish up in the middle of the quilt and turn under all edges of the final patch. It is now finished and quilted too.
Help please, I have tried google for days, but don’t know the keyword to use.”
Please leave a comment in the comment section if you can help Jane. I’m curious now too.
Melissa asked:
“I’m sorry to ask this on your blog, but I couldn’t get the email to send. I have fallen in love with your Bohemian Rhapsody quilt pattern. Is there any way I can get the names of the fabrics used?”
This is the quilt that Melissa is referring to. It can be found in our book Country Girl Modern. You can get the book HERE.
Now for the question…the fabric line. Darn it, I don’t know. Kelli and I both tried to figure it out. Neither of us remembers. Kelli said this is the best clue she has to what fabric line it was…
So…all I can tell you was that it was a Free Spirit fabric line. I’m really sorry I can’t tell you more. Do any of you readers know?
A blog readers asked;
“I saw your Halloween Hoopla quilt advertised on a Facebook ad for American Patchwork & Quilting and loved it! I have so much Halloween fabric I don’t know what to do with. Anyway, I still ended up buying another 8 yards! My question is what did you use for your white patterned background? I love it, but couldn’t seem to find anything like it.”
The top fifth from the left was the backing fabric I used.
I had talked about this in an earlier blog post. It seems there is an update. I checked at The Fat Quarter Shop. I told you it was originally supposed to hit the shelves at your favorite quilt shops in April…then August and now it appears that the shipment date is October. Oh my!
I had a question from Judy. She wrote:
“What is the cross stitch pattern you are working on. Every time I see a small area of it I like it more. I’d love to get the pattern.”
Hmm. I am currently working on several patterns.
This is A Changed World…the creator is The Scarlett House.
Another piece I’ve recently been showing is this…
I love this piece too. It’s a Teresa Kogut design called Heaven and Nature.
I’m guessing you are referring to this one…
This is Anniversaries of the Heart. I am stitching the August block in this picture.
This is all laid out and ironed from last month after I finished the July block. The piece comes in 12 charts. Chart #7 and Chart #12 have bonus charts. One chart is the alphabet in the top middle.
Sorry, this picture really washes it out. The top picture is more of a true color.
The last chart is in #12 as a bonus. I haven’t gotten to that yet.
Stitchers are encouraged to record their family information on this piece so there is a bit of revamping and changing to stitch this depending on your choice of what and who you are adding to your sampler.
I absolutely love stitching this. I’m so thankful I took the leap and stitched it. I’m not a super experienced stitcher so this was definitely a challenge piece. The first month I hated stitching it…now I like it…but I still struggle a little with name placement or colors. It’s one of those things that is worth it though and I will continue on with it.
It does take a bit to collect the charts as you do need 12 different charts to stitch it. I got most of mine through 123Stitch online but did have to order from another shop to get two that they didn’t have.
I think wraps up the questions. I’m off to get some stitching done. I am bound and determined to finish my Anniversaries of the Heart before the new year. I started it on January 1st as my New Year/New Start. The goal for me was to finish it by the end of the year. I need to keep stitching if I am going to accomplish that goal.
If you have other questions, please leave them in the comment section.
The technique Jane refers to is Kawandi quilting. It is an Indian quilt technique but based on an African one brought to India by East Africans. It utilises worn out clothing and textiles, giving them a new life.
Kawandi was mentioned by another Blogger this summer – possibly See Preeti or Samelia’s Mum. But googling will bring lots of information and some tutorials.
GloryB, thanks, this is exactly what I meant. I even had the first letter right and still got no correct hits. Thanks for taking the time to reply to me. Jane
Joe Cunningham has a friend, Margaret Fabrizio, who made several videos illustrating Kwandi examples. She ordered cotton thread from India if I remember correctly. The rows of stitches cannot be too far apart. I highly recommend pushing with a thimble. If the wrist is bent or not taking care with fingers can wear you out before your time. His youTube of Mar 9 2021 shows a quiet demonstration at 37:08. It is called “Margaret’s Kawandi”.
In response to Jane’s question about the quilting technique, I believe she is referring to either Kawandi quilts or Patchwork Sashiko.. She can check Instagram and find many examples.
Hi Tina, thanks for taking the time to reply. This is exactly what I was looking for. Now I can give it a try. Thanks again, Jane
Sujata Shah teaches Kawandi.
Yes, Sujata Shah teaches Kawandi. I took a Zoom class from her and it was wonderful. The technique is pretty straightforward and I found it very soothing. If you google her name you can find her site and email her if you’re interested in a class.
On the Halloween quilt, the question was asking about the white background fabric on the front of the quilt, not what fabric is on the back.
I think the blog reader that asked about the background fabric of your Halloween quilt meant the white background not the backing fabric. I too had a hard time finding it. If you are reading, blog reader, I believe she used the 1st square in the fabric set picture. It’s white with black and orange stars. Just ordered the magazine myself as I couldn’t find it in my little hometown. Can’t wait to make this!
Answering Jane’s question – try kawandi- sounds like what you are describing. I saw it on flourishing palms blog from June but hers is small, not a big quilt, ends in center, very pretty :) Hope this helps :)
Hi Pamela,
That is what I was looking for, thanks ever so much. I think it is interesting. I will have a look at Flourishing Palms. Thanks for the info. Jane
You’re welcome! Flourishing palms is one of my favorite blogs to read, pretty quilt patterns, knowledgeable and enjoy her life snippets just like miss Jo here
When the person first asked about the background fabric for the Halloween quilt I went looking for it. The pattern calls for about 7 to 8 yards of background fabric. That is almost 1/2 of a bolt. What I read was there has been a delay after delays. I would strongly suggest looking for something similar. Many stores had costumers pre-order the fabric so finding an 1/2 of bolt might be hard. One shop in IA that is really good with costumer service over the phone and with shipping is Off The Rails Quilting near DesMonies IA. They believe in no more boring backgrounds. Of course everyone has they favorite ship. Happy Quilting.
Jane,
Responses from others sent me to investigate Kawandi too. I found that this blog post was interesting
https://dizzyquilter.com/2021/02/24/kawandi-quilting-with-quilt-lab/
Hi Camille,
I saw a little comment about this style and had to find out more! Thanks to you and other commenters I have now started my first Kawandi quilt – but it is more like a placemat size! Thanks again, Jane
I’m pretty sure the fabric used in the Bohemian Rhapsody quilt was a line from Anna Maria Horner called Bohemian, it’s likely hard to find now but she has a newer collection out with similar fabrics. You can find it on Fat Quarter Shop as well. Also I believe the background fabric for the Halloween quilt is the first one on the Midnight Magic 2 picture.
Jo, thank you for being so kind and patient when you answer readers questions. You always explain everything so wonderfully. I hope you know how much the answers and YOU are appreciated.
Interesting that on my screen there isn’t a link to Amazon so I can shop and get you a commission. I’ve always had to hunt for a recommendation and find a link…not always willing to take the time to do that so having a link that lives on your page would be wonderful. I wonder why I can’t see it!?
Do you have a program that strips ads? If you do that could be it.