Zion National Park

One of the things we love about working and living here in St. George, Utah is the natural beauty that surrounds us.

Court of the Patriarchs

St. George is a major gateway to Zion National Park, only 40 miles away.
Zion National park covers 229 miles and is open year round for hiking, biking and camping.

Zion is Utah's oldest national park, and home to Kolob Arch, one of the largest free standing arches in the world.

Kolob Arch has a span of 310 feet.

The Narrows

Zion is known for it's incredible slot canyons.

Hogs Back leading to Angels Landing

Sandstone makes up most of the rock formations.
For those coming to our School of Threadology, think about including extra days on your schedule to see some of our beautiful nearby sites.

Snapshot: Shannon's Bantam

Our congratulations to Denise Havlan of Plainfield, Illinois for winning the $5,000 Fairfield Master Award for Contemporary Artist at Houston IQF 2009.

"Snapshot: Shannon's Bantam" took 4 years to construct. Denise shared that her biggest challenge when working on the quilt was that Shannon kept growing up!

Denise is an award winning fiber artist who does not conform to any particular technique or method. "I do not have an absolute approach when I begin a piece but let it evolve spontaneously throughout the creative process," Denise said.
You can learn more about Denise and her beautiful quilts on her web site.

Texture Magic Tuesday/ Baby Bibs

Make mealtime fun and cleanup simple with these easy to make bibs accented with Texture Magic.

Baby Bibs by Annie Unrein can be ordered on our web site, along with all other Texture Magic friendly patterns.

Toddler bibs (9"w X 11"l) has an extended shoulder piece.

Texturized animals, (a lamb or a chick) are easily appliqued in place using a fusible thread.

The Itty Bitty Bibs (about 7" X 7") can be made in two versions: a cute lady bug bib with texturized wings,

or a simple bib with a texturized inserted strip.

You can make several bibs out of one 1/2 yard package of Texture Magic.

These bibs would make wonderful baby shower presents too!

Our Congratulations

Being selected as a Master Award winner at IQA Houston 2009 is quite an accomplishment. Our congratulations go to all that were honored.

Today we will share with you three of the top Master Awards.

The Founders Award sponsored by International Quilt Festival

"Garden of Dream" by Fusako Takido of Shizuoka Shi, Shizuoka Ken, Japan.

The World of Beauty Award sponsored by eQuilter.com

"Hearts and Garlands" by Liz Jones of Leominster, Herefordshire, United Kingdom

Robert S. Cohan Master Award for Traditional Artistry, Sponsored by RJR Fabrics.

"Santa Claus Has Come to Kirara's Hometown!" by Ayako Kawakami of Funabashi-City, Chiba, Japan

Texture Magic Tuesday/ Owl Softies

"Hoot 'N' Annie"
What could be a more appropriate name for an owl softie made by designer Annie Unrein?
Adding Texture Magic for the owl's tummy is the perfect touch.

You can make several toys out of one half yard package of Texture Magic.
Hoot 'N' Annie can be purchased on our web site, along with all the other Texture Magic friendly patterns designed by Annie.

Try texturizing some Minkee or other plush fabric to look like feathers.

And as Annie has said "Just be warned: against all your good gift giving intentions, these little cuties might prove to be too lovable to let go!"

On The Wings of A Dream

Our congratulations to Caryl Bryer Fallert of Paducah, Kentucky for winning Best Of Show IQF Houston 2009 for her quilt "On The Wings of A Dream".

Caryl won the $10,000 prize sponsored by Handi-Quilter for this self portrait.

The outline of the white bird was stitched with Brytes by Superior, heavy #30 white topstitch thread.

The remaining details of the bird was stitched with #40 white topstitch thread.

On The Wings of A Dream took 15 months to complete, and represented for Caryl, starting a new life in a new place.

With the loss of her husband in 2006, Caryl drew a series of designs to fulfill her life long dream of learning to dance.

You can read more about Caryl's experience in designing and creating her award winning quilt on her web site.

Texture Magic Tuesday/ Bags by Linda Hopkins

Linda Hopkins, owner of Sonoran Silks, is a professional quilt maker who's award winning quilts, patterns and wall hangings have appeared in magazines and national quilting catalogs.
Lately, she has been playing with Texture Magic in the design of two bags.

"The tote bag is a pattern of mine called Totes des Fleurs. The instructions for the grid work are on the main page of Patchworks.com., a great quilt store in Sayville NY. I used silk dupioni and Quilters Dream Select as a batting between the fabric and the Texture Magic." Linda said.

Linda will be teaching both bags at Mulqueens Sewing Center in Mesa, Arizona

"The red and black purse pattern is a free download from Exclusively You at Leisure Arts. Linda made several adjustments to the pattern.
I micro stippled around the poppy motif using Superior's Bottom Line (#625) black thread. The poppies were outlined in a matching color to the poppy and minor thread play was added. The beaded poppy closure was a free standing embroidery from Jenny Haskins Lotty's Poppies that I beaded and then backed with Ultrasuede. " Linda continued.
Thank you Linda for sharing with us your beautiful designs. We look forward to seeing your use of Texture Magic in future projects.

The Art of Display

When we attend trade shows, there is a real art of display when setting up a booth.
After years of trial and error, we have learned a lot.

Sometimes we have items that are difficult to display.
We want to make sure you can readily see what each article really looks like.

We take a lot of pictures because we may never be able to reproduce the exact setting again.

Wobbling Cones

Education is our number one priority, and we love to answer questions. One of our readers asked how we work with wobbling cones on a thread stand.

Q: What do I use to insert in the large spools with the overly large openings to keep them from wobbling about? I assume there must be some type of cone to place over the thread stand.
A: If the wobbling is a problem, stuff a wad of batting inside the cone opening and it works great.

We recommend always using our heavy duty thread stand for cones.

Join us at Road To California

We would love to have you join us at Road To California, January 15th-16th, in Ontario, California.

Southern California in January is beautiful, with the average temperature around 70 degrees. We might even get Bob to wear his Hawaiian shirt.
Bob will present two lectures and Superior Threads will teach two hands-on classes using Texture Magic.

Road To California is celebrating their 15th year, and will be held at the Ontario Convention Center.
You can read more details on their web site.

Texture Magic Tuesday/ Wedding Clutch

Mary Chick is recently semi-retired, and with her new found time she desired to run a quilting related business from her home. When she read in our newsletter that we were looking for Texture Magic Reps, Mary knew she had found her niche.
Our Texture Magic Reps cover a certain geographical area and Mary now serves in Maine, New Hampshire and part of Vermont.
Mary loves to explore new techniques and share them with others. Recently she shared with us a wedding clutch and purse made with Texture Magic.

Mary said " The one on the left was the small clutch requested by my daughter, the bride. I stitched the Texture Magic on using a sketch of a calla lily which was the flower she chose to carry.
The one on the right is the one for her daughter, my 9 yr.old granddaughter. I followed the lines of the heart applique to stitch the pattern with the Texture Magic. I stitched the applique on after the steaming. Her gown featured one caramel colored ribbon- the same as in the applique."

Feeling Poorly

Trenten, a member of our shipping staff had his wisdom teeth removed.
All great young men need 1,000 mothers to give a lot of advice. Whether they like it or not is beside the point!

Trenten received the wisdom of all of us here at Superior Threads. We suggested he use frozen vegetables to keep the swelling down. They work much better than ice-packs that are much too cold.