Setting Sail to the New World (Please pardon the shameless self promotion)

Thank you everyone for the good wishes and congratulations on our new endeavor - New World Quilt Company (NWQC).   Please pardon me hijacking my blog for shameless self-promotion.  But, I have received so many inquiries that I felt it was important to share with everyone what NWQC is all about and what we will be offering in the near future.  

We are hoping to have several original quilt patterns published and posted for sale by the end of the year.  All patterns include detailed instructions for BOTH hand and machine applique.

Currently, we have the first of the Aloha Collection patterns, Enchantment Under the Sea, posted for sale.  Future Hawaiian-style patterns will be published as part of this collection.

The next set of patterns will introduce the Tropical Botanical Collection.  The Tropical Botanicals patterns are realistic applique designs that depict the details of plant specimens similar to botanical illustrations.  These are a bit more challenging and are better suited to needle artist looking to stretch to the next level.  Here's a sneak peak at what's in the works.  Can you tell which were stitched by hand and which were stitched by machine?

Yes, the Gardenia above is machine appliqued!   The bougainvillea, Angel's Trumpet, and Hibiscus are all hand appliqued. 

 All blocks are marked and prepped waiting for me add the embroidery details.

And, many more on the drawing board!

Stay tuned for details of the third collection coming this Fall, Tropical Folk Art Collection!

There are a few hard-to-find notions that I find indispensable for my favorite machine quilting, machine applique, and template-free needle-turn applique techniques.  I encourage all of you to please support your local brick and mortar quilt shops and look for these notions there first.  However, if they do not carry these notions, you will be able to find then on the NWQC Online Store.

Here are a few of my favorites!

The sharpest, thinest blade embroidery scissors I ever used are made by KAI.  I lost my KAI scissors shortly after 911 to airline security.  They are impossible to find so I just moved on to a more expensive brand.  A few years ago I purchased a pair of inexpensive Omnigrid scissor for cutting paper and fell in love with the quality.  They had all the great characteristics of my old pair of KAI scissors and they soon replaced the expensive embroidery scissor in my applique basket.  Then one day I noticed that KAI was stamped on the blade!  That's why I loved them so much!!  My favorite scissors came back home to me!!!

My preferred hand applique preparation technique is the Template Free method.  This technique hinges on  basting the applique fabric to the background fabric with a thick needle and a thick thread to score the turn line. Size 8 Sharp needles do the trick!

My favorite applique needle is a Roxanne Size 12 Sharp.  It's one of the few needles that I cannot bend.  Plus the eye is always burr free so I don't have issues with my thread shredding.

Not everyone is a thimble person.  But if you are, I really like this hybrid metal/rubber thimble.  It's got the strength of a metal thimble, but the gripping, no slip ability of a rubber thimble.  Plus dimples to really hold the needle in place!

Awesome machine applique requires a quality, invisible nylon thread that really disappears!  SewArt thread is my favorite because it's very pliable and non-reflective.   The fact that it's inexpensive is a bonus!

For all machine work, a pair of quality thread snips is essential. Snip-Eze has incredibly sharp, thin blades with just the right amount of curve.  I can get in and trim as closely as I need to while my work is still in the machine, with needle down, and then just keep right on sewing. 

There are a few other notions available online.  Plus we will soon be carrying the large spools (1000m) of YLI #100 Silk thread for machine quilting.

I hope I have answered all your questions.  Again, I apologize for the infomercial and I promise to go back to my tutorial-style blogs with my next entry.

Until then, 

Best stitches,

Mercy in Miami

New World Quilt Company