This blog touches on a couple of things, our November 2020 $100 shopping Spree Winner, Toma Garst, and some easy ways to store your Full Line Stencils.  It's a question that comes up a lot, so it was time the answer made its way into a blog post. Whether they are machine quilting stencils or hand quilting stencils, storing solutions apply to all. Organizing projects are a natural thing to turn our attention to this time of year. I hope you find it useful and timely! 

Our November $100 Shopping Spree Winner is Toma Garst from Woodland Park, Colorado!

Check out Toma's quilts below; she's submitted several over this past year. I'd be smiling, too, if I got as many quilts finished this year as she has. All are so unique and inspiring. When I wrote to her telling her she had won I asked her if she could tell us a bit about herself and this is what she wrote back: 

"I live in beautiful Colorado, just a few miles from Pike's Peak (seen in the picture). Yes, that's the view I see every day from my sewing room! I've been married 27 years and have two children, an 18-year-old son, and a 17-year-old daughter. I took an interest in quilting almost 20 years ago and at last count have made over 50 quilts plus just as many other smaller projects. Most of the quilts I make are for family, friends, or charities. I taught myself how to free motion quilt about 5 years ago because I wanted to be able to finish my own quilts. The Christmas Quatrefoil quilt in the picture is one of the first quilts I free-motion quilted myself and is still one of my favorites!  Thanks so much for your wonderful stencils! They make the process so much easier! Merry Christmas!"

  I love hearing from our customers and seeing all the wonderful things they've made. Being able to bless someone every month with $100 of free product is the highlight of my month. So keep sending in your photos! Everyone has an equal chance to win! Click here to find out how easy it is to enter. Let's see what you've been up to!                                                

Beautiful Fall, Indeed! 

This eye-catching wall hanging Pictured below has an overall design quilted in it called Meandering Leaves. We have several variations of this continuous line stencil. This one is #30327.  Toma says, "I used the Meandering Leaves stencil and a variegated thread with oranges, yellows, and browns. I was afraid an all-over design might be too busy with the background, but I really like how it turned out."  Me too, Toma!    

Oh! My! Stars! 

Toma used our Overall Stars stencil on this quilt she made for her great-nephew Carson born August 31 of this year. I'm sure he's getting lots of use out of it! We have two sizes of this design. You can see them both here. 

A Splash of Love, the perfect touch.

This lovely quilt is quilted with our machine quilting template, Splash of Love stencil #60037 by Anne Bright. Toma wrote, "I love the new Splash of Love stencil! I was looking for a design to use to quilt this top made by my 83-year-old mother for her great-granddaughter, Savannah, and I think the heart design was perfect to represent a grandmother’s love. I love Full Line Stencils and recommend them to everyone I can!" 

And last but not least...

This fun quilt is quilted with the ever-popular Overall Swirl, designed for continuous line quilting by Patty Clayton. We have two sizes of this Full Line Stencil design. Toma said, "I used All-Over Swirl for this Hawaiian themed quilt because the recipient thought the design had a ‘Polynesian’  feel. I really like how it turned out. Love using your stencils!"

The Quatrefoil quilt pictured in the top photo, being held up by Toma, is a pattern that you can get a tutorial for on youtube. Jenny Doan from Missouri Star Quilt Co. shows how to make it from a couple of layer cake precuts. Click here to see the video. We have designed two stencils that fit the blocks in it. You can see them here. 

Four Easy Ways to Store Your Full Line Stencils 

There are a lot of solutions to the storage question. The thing to remember is you want to prevent the quilting stencils from getting creased, and you don't want to forget where you stored them! Trust me, it happens. Please don't lose them in a magazine or book where you used them to bookmark a pattern! 

Full Line Stencils can be rolled. Some quilters use paper towel tubes to store them in. You can get very creative by grouping stencils together and labeling the rolls, and stack them up. They don't hold their rolled-up shape for long.  

Another solution is to keep them in a shallow tub big enough for them to lie flat in. If you get too many, it can be hard to see what's in it. The nice thing is, looking through the pile freshens your memory of what's in there. There could be something you forgot you had! 

All but the largest sizes of our stencils will fit in sheet protectors and can be kept in a notebook! The envelope we ship them in is also a great place to keep them. They hold many stencils, and they're big enough for the large ones to stay flat. 

 My favorite way to store them is to clip them together with pants hangers and hang them somewhere close and convenient. It's easy to flip through and find what you're looking for, and they're out of the way when not in use, safe where they won't get wrinkled.  

With all this talk about wrinkles, I should mention that it's not really a problem if you crease your stencil. The wrinkles can be ironed away. Use Medium to Medium-high heat with no steam and press out those creases! Ironing is an easy fix, but it's nice to avoid them in the first place. That's why it's stressed here to store them in ways that creases can be avoided.  

Do you store your stencils in another way? We'd love to hear about it! Write your ideas in the comments! Thanks for reading this and happy quilting,

Marilyn