Go with Quilting Hub Trip Planner

It is our first quilty tech report of the new year. Wait, I mean of the new decade:) Remember I promised to share my favorite Quilting Hub feature with you? Here we go - TRIP PLANNER

To begin, chose the MAPS AND TRIPS button on the QuiltingHub.com home page.
Now, there are several ways to find all the quilty things happening around you.

Tell QH Trip Planner your location. Then set the mileage bar above the map to the distance you are willing to travel. Voila! You have pins marking everything quilting in the given radius. Too much? Un-check the options above the mileage bar to limit your search to just sales or just hops, etc.

Traveling? Set both the TO and FROM locations. Now, limit your search with the calendar bar to see all the quilt events along the road for the time you are traveling.

Need to search for a specific hop or exhibit? Use the OTHER TOOLS menu on the right. Drill down to the geographic region you are interested in. Instead of MAP, choose the MONTH view to see event dates.

And anytime you want specifics for a pin that interests you, use the LIST view. There be all the specifics; address, dates, registration, other notes or requirements. VIEW DETAILS button takes you to the Quilting Hub page for that entry.

Lastly, remember Quilting Hub Trip Planner is Interactive- if you know of an event or shop not listed, you can add it at the bottom of the page.

-off you go-

More PreQuilt

Last week when I wrote about all the WOW PreQuilt Features, I became extra interested in how this  creative "randomizer" evolved. So I've asked PreQuilt inventor Gar Liu to share more news here about how PreQuilt started and where it is going.

To begin with, a brief history. [Literally short-- PreQuilt is just one year old!]
PreQuilt began last July with Laura Henneberry's (Commonwealth Quilts) Circus Tent Quilt.

And it has evolved quickly from a color picking app, to an HST design tool, to a full application design platform. More designers joined, wishing coloring pages for their quilts too. Quilter/programmer Steph Skardal supplied the fabric catalogue. The latest feature is the custom block design tool. 

Have you tried PreQuilt? Check out the color randomizer in this video.

According to Gar, PreQuilt's best features are the one's that short-cut repetitive tasks, such as selecting quilt quadrants or checkerboard blocks for quilt design editing. This way, designers can stay focused on their planning, without getting discouraged by minutia. 
Gar says, "We hope that PreQuilt can leave people in an art director's position where they make decisions and then come in to tweak. Something like a self driving car where you can put your hands on the wheel at anytime to take back control."

Coming next for PreQuilt.....fabric calculations AND ombre mapping!

Happy Anniversary to Gar, Laura, and PreQuilt! And best wishes for many more creative years. Thanks for inviting us all to share in your amazing design tool :)

Symbols of Hospitality

What says hospitality to you?
The correct answer, of course, is coffee.
JK!

As we begin the holidays here celebrating us - the Hostesses, I'm hunting for traditional symbols of hospitality. What do you recognize most as cozy, open door, a true sign of welcome?

• wreath
• pineapple
• Quilt!!!
• rocking chair
• pie
• watermelon
• coasters
• gift tags
• canning jars
• cupcakes
• apron

Do you have a favorite theme or symbol I have missed? Is there a sign you associate with a time you felt most welcome? Have you made a welcome quilt?

For this Totally Tech Tuesday, here is a Treasury of Hospitality in Quilts: 
https://www.etsy.com/treasury/Nzk4MTk3MHwyNzI3Nzg0OTM4/hospitality-quilt-arts?index=3&ref=pr_treasury_more&atr_uid=
Always fun to see how quilts are used in artistic ways, and how many other arts reference quilting.

Bonus- here is another Treasury, More Hospitality Quilts,
just for quilt patterns with welcome themes:
https://www.etsy.com/treasury/Nzk4MTk3MHwyNzI3Nzg2MjQy/more-hospitality-quilts?index=0
Tomorrow we'll post a FREE hexagon quilt pattern with a welcome message!

WorkFlowy in Quiltland

Everyone is home in bed where they belong, at last. Grandpa has returned from another hospital stay. Alex is back from her school trip. Later today we will move furniture to make room for Grandpa's new walker. I love furniture shopping, and antiques, and a cozy home, so....you can imagine, we have way too much furniture. But for right now, I'm very glad to be having coffee and blogging with you. Seems every New Year starts with a little step backwards. Maybe now we can get back to business as usual.

Have you heard me rave about WorkFlowy? For this Totally Tech Tuesday, I'd like to share my favorite organizing app: WorkFlowy lets you keep all your do and plan lists in one place,
in outline format! That's why it works for helping you get stuff done- because your bottomless lists

• can be seen in their true hierarchical structure
• collapse/expand, so that you can intimately focus on relevant sections as needed
• WorkFlowy is searchable! You can even use hashtags:)
• you can cross things off when completed without erasing them

But wait, of course there is more -

• WorkFlowy can be shared, for collaboration on one document
• You can work seamless across desktops (you get the same views and features no matter where you're working, wish all apps could say that)
• HTML Links work inside WorkFlowy

But how does that help your quilting? Here is what I'll be using WorkFlowy for this year:

• Thread Catalog (so I know what I have when I find a great sale;)
• Reading List (searchable by author and publisher)
• Blog Calendar
• UFOs (status, needed supplies, deadlines)
• Shopping Lists
• Etsy Inventory
• Ideas!
• Things to worry about....later.

Best of all, WorkFlowy is beautifully simple. So for pictures, I'll refer you to this WorkFlowy Blog post: WorkFlowy is for Thinking, begging with Conquer the World.
I like how those they think, don't you?

Carpe Quiltum!

Jingle All the Way - in July

Did you hear, I won Jingle All the Way on Notions, the Connecting Threads blog!!! No, not the movie. The Nancy Halvorsen book, of course!!!

Look - it's really hear!

And just in time, too. I've learned that July is the best time to start holiday projects. Otherwise you end up putting on your binding at the Thanksgiving table...but that's another story.

So what does this have to do with Totally Tech Tuesdays? Well, it turns out the nice people at Connecting Threads understand about the the creative holiday timeline. [I wonder if they've ever had to finish a binding on Thanksgiving?]

CT started an online group for people working on holiday and gift projects in 8 craft books, including Jingle All the Way.  The Gifty Galore Quilt Along is a group in Quilt With Us, the social network hosted by our Connecting Threads friends.

Quilt With Us is alot like FB, except everyone there is quilty. There are posts, messaging, groups, chat, everything. Most of all, I like the giant album of members quilt photos. It's nice not to have to visit each friend's page in turn to see their quilts.  The CT Designers are there too, and they've made a whole library of tutorials.

So when you stop by Quilt With Us, visit my page and say "hi". Let me know where you find the quilty group of your dreams.

**HAPPY HOLIDAYS** 

How to make your own selvage dots

You know those cool dots on the selvage of fabric? You use them to help you find matching colors when fabric shopping, right? What if you could have those dots for any picture?
http://www.cssdrive.com/imagepalette/index.php
This photo website makes color samples from your photos. Or, if you can scan your fabrics, from your whole stash.
Called Colors Palette Generator, this cool tech tool "lists" every hue in a picture you upload, and even lets you sort them by grade..

Totally Tech Applique

My sister sent me this Fototiller Blog instructions for "3 easy steps to make your photos into coloring pages." She thinks it is fun to let the kids take pictures and then turn them into line drawings so they can build there own coloring books.

But as a quilter, I'm sure you've already seen another application:

Turn your photos into applique patterns!

And an easier way to draft those photo landscape quilts too!!!

Remember to add seam allowances. Happy Tech Quilting!

Quilting Tech - Vanishing Design Wall from Salt Lake

Happy Totally Tech Tuesday! I saw something truly unique at the Phoenix Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival. A new company from Salt Lake City, no website but you can like them on FB. Vanishing Design Wall solves the problem of where to put the biggest space investment of your sewing center. They have created a design wall, full size 54" x 72", that truly does vanish out of site. Not a kit wall that you have to set-up and take down. This Vanishing Wall stays in a permanent secure home, and shows up quickly only when you need it! And, it is no more expensive than other quality design walls. I can't wait to get one!!!

The Organized Quilter software

Welcome to Totally Tech Tuesdays at Road Home Quilting!

Mary Reinhardt is a software engineer and quilter who has combined her talents to create Eureka Documentation System, featuring three easy to use, affordable softwares to help quilters with tedious business operations, and even just be your own reminder.

The Organized Quilter software tracks everything you have, everything you have loaned, and everything you need to buy. No kidding!

• Books
• patterns
• templates
• pantographs
• completed quilts
• the fabric in your stash
• even thread and more

can all be recorded with provenance, manufacture, quantity, size, and a product of project photo. You can set a chief location and a secondary (or loan) location for every yard and scrap basket! Furthermore, you can print shopping lists of items you wish you had or supplies you need to replenish.

Materials can be linked by planned projects, kits, or by projects where they were used. Best of all, you can search all your materials by category (holiday, for example) or by subject (stencils, quilting designs, etc.).

For only $60, now you can't afford not to be organized.

The illustration above is for a book entry. You can see all fields of Organized Quilter Software at EurekaDocumentation.com.

While you are there, see video demonstrations of Mary Reinhardt's Machine Quilter's Business Manager Software, and Quilt Show Manager Software. You'll be even more amazed at how many tedious tasks Mary has solved for you, and for your next guild show.