NotJustQuiltZ | Quilting Services & Supplies, Embroidery | Historic Niles, Fremont, CA

Quilts, and a whole lot more…

Home of the Purple Cat Gang

icon facebook37831 Niles Blvd.
Fremont, CA 94536
510-797-6579
Tues-Sat: 10am – 6pm
Sun: 10am – 4pm, Mon: Closed

How not to be overwhelmed at the Pacific International Quilt Show (PIQF)

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PIQF is coming up soon, and as a veteran Quilt Show attendee, I wanted to offer a few words of advice, so that you can enjoy the show! As fun and exciting as these events are, they can also involve many hours on your feet, and an overwhelmingly stimulating array of visual and tactile experiences!

  1. Wear comfortable clothes and walking shoes (please no high heels.)
  2. Bring a small camera. There will be lots of beautiful quilts to take pictures of. However, if marked “no photographs,” please restrain yourself.
  3. Drink lots of water and take breaks to keep your strength up (you’ll see plenty of chairs).
  4. Bring a few singles and $5 dollar bills as you will want to buy tickets on the beautiful guild opportunity quilts. We can all dream of winning, right?
  5. Set a course map to allow plenty of time to view the beautiful quilts on display. Remember, there is never enough time.
  6. You’ll see lots of vendors here. If you know just what you want and find it, buy it. However, you’ll see so many new items, have a pocket notebook to write down the booth number, item and price for later reference.
  7. If you have time to attend more than one day, you may want to break the show up into shorter sessions. REMEMBER to have fun, enjoy yourself and vote for your favorite quilt.
  8. Lastly, you will also have the chance to attend classes and lectures by noted instructors (extra cost). Let us know of your experiences!

Visit the PIQF website for the latest event info.

Bali Boxes: the perfect gift for a quilter!

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bali 1We are so pleased to carry Designer Bali Boxes chock full of beautiful handmade batik fabrics!

Select your favorite color scheme and create a quilted Bali Tote from the included pattern or use the fabric for your own project. Each box contains 5 half-yard cuts of color coordinated fabric plus a pattern.

Once the project has been completed, you will have a lovely fabric-covered box left for personal use. The beautiful handcrafted Designer Bali Box can be used for storing sewing notions, jewelry or anything your heart desires.

Complete your quilt with eco-friendly batting

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dream greenDream Green is a soft, cozy batting made 100% from recycled plastic bottles! This batting can be machine-washed and dried with little to no shrinkage. Dream Green is wrinkle-resistant. We are quite pleased to be able to offer this to our customers as an alternative to more traditional batting materials.

Each pound of Dream Green Batting keeps 10 plastic bottles out of our landfills. 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 we 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.

Dream Green comes in these sizes:

  • Craft 46″ x 36″ (keeping 3.5 bottles from the landfill)
  • Crib 46″ x 60″  (keeping 5.5 bottles from the landfill)
  • Throw 60″ x 60″  (keeping 7 bottles from the landfill)
  • Twin 93″ x 72″  (keeping 13 bottles from the landfill)
  • Double 96″ x 93″ (keeping 17 bottles from the landfill)
  • Queen 108″ x 93″ (keeping 20 bottles from the landfill)
  • Super Queen 93″ x 121″ (keeping 24 bottles from the landfill)
  • King 122″ x 122″ (keeping 28 bottles from the landfill)
  • Bolts 46″ x 15 linear yards Just like a bolt of fabric! (keeping 49.5 bottles from the landfill)
  • 61″ x 15 linear yards Just like a bolt of fabric! (keeping 64 bottles from the landfill)
  • Throw Roll 60″ x 30 linear yards  (keeping 120 bottles from the landfill)
  • Queen Folded Roll 93″ x 30 linear yards  (keeping 200 bottles from the landfill)
  • King Folded Roll 122″ x 25 linear yards  (keeping 220 bottles from the landfill)

Tips for preparing your quilt top – Part 2

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Last week, we gave you a few tips for preparing your quilt top for long arm quilting. Here are a few more tips to help you out:

  • Please check the edges of the backing if you have pieced it to be sure the edges are even. If they are uneven, we will straighten them and there will be a charge.
  • If you have any embellishments on the quilt top, please bring them to our attention when you bring in the quilt, so we can be prepared to quilt around them.
  • If you have anything special about the quilt top or backing that we should know before quilting, such as a seam in the back should run vertical or horizontal, please let us know when you bring in your project.
  • We are happy to trim your quilt when we finish quilting it at no cost to you.

Tips for preparing your quilt top – Part 1

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Sometimes it happens that clients bring in beautiful quilt tops, but they have not been prepared in the best possible way for us to do the custom quilting on the long arm quilter.

Here are a few tips that can help you prepare your quilt before bringing it:

  • Please bring in a backing that is 6” to 8” larger than the quilt top. For example, if your quilt top is 50” w x 60” h, your backing should measure 56-58” w x 66-68” h.
  • Please press your top and backing well. Poorly pressed seams sometimes lead to broken needles and/or holes made in quilt tops. If you have pressed the top and bottom and can bring them in on a hanger, it will help keep the pieces neat until we can quilt it.
  • Please cut off the majority of loose thread from the front and back of the quilt top.
  • Please check your quilt top for any open seams as they can cause the toe of the presser foot to catch and rip the quilt top. If we find a seam that is open while the quilt is on the machine, we will fix it if possible and charge you for the time.

Check back next week for more tips!

Contact Us

NotJustQuiltZ, LLC
37831 Niles Blvd., in Historic Niles
Fremont, CA 94536
(510) 797-6579
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What People are Saying

“I have to tell you that whenever I enter your shop I feel like I’m visiting friends and I’m certainly greeted as one of the family. I’m looking forward to completing many fabulous quilts together.”
— Liz

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New Arrivals

Check out our Gallery of New Arrivals! – Come see our newest line of unique fabrics. These marbled cotton fabrics from Quilting Treasures are wonderful! We bought 8 different colors so you would have a wide variety to choose from. And, rather than pay high prices for the hand-marbled fabrics that you see at the quilt shows, these fabrics are $12.95 per yard on good quality cotton. Check them out.

home new fabric 08-18-16