Honey Fork Fabrics

And the winners are...

2010-04-28T09:52:00.002-04:00

We accepted 54 pillowcases in the Pillowcase Challenge! The are divided and ready to be donated to Arcadia Acres Nursing Home for the residents and the Hocking County Children's Services for the foster kids. The photo shows the three winners as voted on by our customers. There is the Noah's Ark pillowcase that won Viewer's Choice, then the pique cotton butterflies and flowers that won Best Children's, and finally a paper pieced sailboat pillowcase that won Best Adult. Congrats to all volunteers and the winners!

1 Million Pillowcase Challenge

2010-03-08T14:04:00.002-05:00

Visit the shop and see all the handmade pillowcases we have had donated so far. They're all hung from the ceiling and you can vote for your favorite. $25 gift certificate goes to the Best Children's, Best Adult's and Viewer's Choice. Make your own pillowcase to donate and get in the running for the gift certificates.

Oh yes, and... Bring your pillowcases in during March. Prizes will be awarded April 1st, and pillowcases will be donated to Arcadia Acres Nursing Home, The Timothy House (Athens homeless shelter), Someone Cares (pregnancy distress center), or Hocking County Children's Services (foster children).

For more info on the challenge visit www.allpeoplequilt.com and click on the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge.

Stefanie has left us...

2009-11-20T12:25:00.002-05:00

It's a sad day, but we rejoice that Stefanie Spielman is in heaven now. She has finally succumbed to the breast cancer that has made her name a household name for her strength and focus on the battle. Her husband, Chris Spielman, gave up his pro-football career to focus on her care and health when she was first diagnosed.
We have been making quilts from volunteer blocks for over 5 years now and donating the proceeds of the quilts made to her foundation, the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research at the James Cancer Center at The Ohio State University. We will continue the volunteer work and strive for a cure some day. Until then, we thank Stefanie and Chris for their drive, their love, and their perserverance toward the cause. Thanks Stefanie for a fight well run!

Here it is! Scrapbag Picnic Quilt

2009-06-05T09:02:00.003-04:00

I got the top finished and it is pretty if I don't mind saying so myself!
Using 2 charm packs of the Moda - Miss Jump's Scrapbag and a neutral coordinate from Maywood along with Miss Rosie's Quilt Company Schnibbles pattern called Picnic, I made this top in about 4 days of a few hours a day. I ordered several more Picnic patterns from Carrie Nelson and we will offer this as a kit in the shop. If you have some nice neutral background fabric (about 7/8 yard), then you can just get the pattern and 2 charm packs. I think you'll be pleased with the composition and color values of the version we made. I would suggest that you be a confident beginner or intermediate quilter at least. You mostly need to make sure you make very accurate 1/4" seams so the final blocks fit together nicely. To order the Scrapbag Picnic Quilt kit. To order charm packs. To order the Schnibbles Picnic pattern.

Quilt Sample Progress

2009-05-29T09:53:00.003-04:00

Here's what I'm working on now! I got the blocks pieced and need to finish piecing the blocks together and do the borders. I should be able to do that today.
I woke up in the middle of the night (by the cat who urpped all over the front door sill) and while trying to get back to sleep I got a distinct vision of a fall table runner. I quickly got up and sketched it out so I would remember all the piecing. I plan also on using my EQ6 software to sketch it out better with graph paper lines. It has a double pumpkin in the center and ghosts on the one end. I didn't come up with a theme for the other end of the table runner, so what do you think? I want it to be pieced, not appliqued. I thought about a witch's hat, but I'm not into the witch thing - too creepy for me. Ghosts are okay, but witches I can do without. Maybe another ghost? Or is two ghosts too many? Maybe a corn stalk stack? That might be hard to visualize as to what it is unless I use true corn stalk print fabric. Or maybe Indian corn?! That might work. Hmmm. What else could I use as a visual image for autumn. I could go with the traditional leaf block, but I was hoping to use those for a border or corners. Let me know what you think. I'd love to have your help designing our next shop quilt kit!

New Projects

2009-05-26T20:21:00.003-04:00

I've got two new projects in the works from the Miss Rosie's patterns I picked up at Quilt Market. First project is using Picnic, a Schnibbles charm square pattern. I chose the Miss Jump's collection of charms and it seems to be going together pretty quickly! The Picnic pattern has baskets and since the Miss Jump charms has good contrast in the colorways and the tones, it's working out very well. Lots of half square triangles, but Carrie Nelson has a very ingenious way to quickly make lots of the HST with the 5" charms. Two evenings so far and I'm hoping to get the blocks together tonight! I'll photograph my progress with my posting for tomorrow. (I'd do it now, but I forgot the digital camera at the shop!) The image shown is the front cover of Picnic, but my colorway uses teal, browns, ecru, sage and brick red. It'll look much different! Check back tomorrow night for the progress. Until then, sew something pretty yourself.
The second project is using a jelly roll from the Moda - Portobello line. I bought way too many of these specific collection of jelly rolls and even though the fabrics are gorgeous, I still have way too many in the shop. So.....I'm making a shop sample using the Portobello jelly roll and a nice Maywood printed plaid and floral background. I'm hoping it won't be too "busy", but I'll see once I get it cut out. I just chose the pattern and the fabrics today, so I'll need a few days to get everything cut out. Stay tuned for more from the Honey Fork studio!

Charity Quilt

2009-05-03T17:09:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I spent all day selling raffle tickets for a quilt that I donated to the Pickaway-Ross school's Scholarship program. We sold over $800 worth of tickets! Great way to raise $$ for assisting Appalachian area kids to further their education. This quilt was the one our shop created for the Mystery Harvest Shop Hop last October. It really is a gorgeous batik quilt using an exclusively designed batik by Hoffman for our shop hop. The batik has the image of Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky on it plus the state bird for all three states, the cardinal. The winning ticket holder was Mary Lou and hopefully she will cherish the quilt. If I hadn't donated it to the school it probably would have been just another one of the quilts that I fold, stack up and keep. This way it was put to good use.

Embellishments !

2009-04-01T04:52:00.003-04:00

Recently I taught a class on fabric embellishments and to do so I needed to brush up on older techniques I hadn't used in a while, plus I got to play with some of the new embellishments that are available now. What fun!
I demonstrated a foiling on fabric technique that is gorgeous, soft, and sturdy. It's a foil that is iron-on once you prepare your fabric (or paper or whatever) with Steam A Seam II. In minutes I had embellished a great little cell phone bag with a cursive N.
The foil come in copper, gold, silver and a marbled silver that looks like motor oil on water. I know, not so pretty sounding, but it is beautiful none the less. The foil is made by Bella Nonna and is available at Honey Fork Fabrics in the online catalog under Embellishments. Full instructions that are very easy to understand are included in the foil kit.
Check it out!

Winter Thoughts

2009-01-28T13:10:00.004-05:00

. a

Has it really been since August for my last posting? Wow, where did the time go. We've been busy making samples for the shop, working on the website, shipping orders, and enjoying the holidays with family and friends.
I want to share with you a quilt that I didn't make, but we have hanging in the shop with the hope that someone will purchase it to help out a local family. The mother of 5 sons just found out she has a recurrence of breast cancer. A few friends of the family made this gorgeous Wheel of Mystery batik quilt to sell with 100% of the proceeds to go directly to the family to help with medical costs. This is being done as a surprise for the mother, so limited information about the family is being shared, so that she won't recognize herself - hopefully! The quilters want to be able to surprise her.
Please share this link with all quilt collectors so we can brighten this woman's situation and give her hope for her 5 sons (4 are still at home). The quilt can be purchased through our website http://www.honeyforkfabrics.com and go to the Online Catalog page. Scroll down to Quilts for Sale category and click. More details about its size, price, etc. are there also. You'll find this and other quilts there.
Thanks!

Electric Quilt 6 Seminar Notes

2008-08-25T07:15:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I attended and completed a basic EQ6 seminar/class to learn functional ways to teach EQ6 to our customers. I have only used Quilt Pro as my quilt design software in past years and was eager to try stepping up my skills and professional presentation.
I'm in LOVE! I stayed up way too late (actually early) in my hotel room last night importing images, playing and designing.
The image here is a first draft of one that I designed. I got kind of bleary eyed by about 2am, but I think you get the idea - it's fun and addicting!
As I design more, I'll show you - let me know what you think.

Look what I found!

2008-08-02T09:12:00.004-04:00

While taking a few days off I spent the better part of a day in my hotel room working on budgeting and planning for next year. I actually like that part of the business and don't mind crunching numbers. Okay maybe I'm a bit weird...
Anyhow I was online getting statistics and such and found this neat website that has some free quilt patterns. I'm all about free when it comes to finding new stuff!
http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpatternsprojects/ig/Free-Quilt-Patterns/

Will take you to the site. There are 49 different complete patterns from table runner size to bed quilt size. Print out the ones you like and then plan a new project for yourself or a friend! The one shown is called Vintage Chains and would work great with Kansas Troubles type prints or even any neutral batiks. I printed this one out myself and since I like batiks I'll be trying this one out for my own pleasure.

Eco-friendly Quilt Batting is here!

2008-05-28T12:22:00.000-04:00

Quilter's Dream has designed and produced a "green", eco-friendly quilt batting! Dream Green is a soft, cozy batting made 100% from recycled plastic bottles!
Dream Green meets the highest standards of quality, function and performance.
Each pound of Dream Green Batting keeps 10 plastic bottles out of our landfills! Recycled plastic bottles are cut into chips, washed, melted and extruded into fine polyester fibers. These recycled fibers are indistinguishable from “virgin” polyester fibers yet are made without depleting our precious natural resources.
To avoid additional processing they have kept the soft “natural” green bottle color – but you can rest assured that Dream Green is colorfast and compatible to all your finest quilts and projects. Your needles will glide through this unique eco-friendly batting.
Finished quilt may be machine-washed and dried with little to no shrinkage.
Dream Green is wrinkle-resistant.
Dream Green has been carded, crosslapped and needlepunched for uniformity, strength, and resiliency. There is no scrim or resins yet you can stitch up to 12” apart!
Craft is 46" x 36", Crib is 60" x 46", Throw is 60" x 60", Twin is 93" x 72", Double is 96" x 93", Queen is 108" x 93", Super Queen is 121" x 93", and King is 122" x 122".

Check out our online catalog under the New Fabrics, Notins & Books category to order your "green" batting today!

More Fairy Frost colors arrive!

2007-08-03T10:45:00.002-04:00

Dateline: May 27, 2008

Fairy Frost is one of the most stunning cotton fabrics available on the retail market today. The shimmer and shine (and metallic overprint on some) add twinkle to any project.
We have 59 of the most popular colors in the shop and we will special order ANY of the current 101 colors available. Email us with the color name and we will order it in for you!
To view all the colors available, check out the Michael Miller website at http://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com and click on New Products on the left hand side bar.
The colors we stock currently are: ivory, natural, champagne, butter, gold, coin, sprout, mint, lavender, orchid, onyx, glow-in-the-dark, snow, parchment, cameo pink, platinum, amber, and holly berry, Ribbon, Glass, Vanilla, Emerald, Pomegranate, Banana, Aqua, Twinkle, Lemon, Rose, Violet, blush, Quartz and Shell. Shown above is Pomegranate.
Our everyday low price is just $8.19 per yard!
Go to our Online Catalog at http://www.honeyforkfabrics.com and scroll down to Michael Miller - Fairy Frost to order.

Welcome!

2007-07-30T12:56:00.000-04:00

Hello to all quilters, fabric lovers and friends!
With this new way of communicating with you, we at Honey Fork Fabrics hope to be able to have an open dialogue to serve you better. Anytime you have a question, are searching for a specific sewing notion or fabric, or just want to toot your horn about a project you've completed - we'd love to hear from you!
In the upper right corner is a link to sign in if you want to post a comment or question. All you need is an email address and a password to post.
As I find interesting facts, new tools or notions, exceptional works of art, or funny stories relating to sewing I'll post them.
If you post, please consider that anyone can and may read your post. I expect you to respect others and do not flame or use inappropriate language. Thanks and enjoy this new communications tool!