What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Are you looking for an elegant free motion edge to edge design for your quilt project? Try Feather Flower!

The gorgeous Feather flower design moves in every direction and starts with a shape that you may have tried before: the feather with a pearl. I used this shape a couple of weeks ago in ‘Bubble Wave’.

After the feather with pearl, you stitch two more feathers and add a final leaf shape that can fill any area that needs to be filled. The leaf can go on either side of your stitched ‘branch’.

It looks really well on this red ...

A new tutorial, ohhh what a great way to start off 2024!

The Swirl Point design is a variation on the classic Ribbon Candy design. Let’s look at the basic Ribbon Candy first.

The pattern moves up and down with slightly angled lines that curve at the top and bottom. This creates teardrop shapes.

The design variation Swirl Point uses the space inside of the teardrops and fills it with a pointy curl. An s-curve starts off the design. Then a curl is added. The line then moves towards the centre the fabric strip, there it bounces back down ...

There are a lot of different ways to add feathers to a heart. I like to add lots of feathers on the inside and outside. Scrumptious, over the top and preferably in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

Adding feathers to a curved shape can be a bit challenging even for the best of us. Stacking feathers and curving them around each other is a skill that grows with practice. But besides growing your skillset, a few tips and guidelines will take most stress away. To help you on your way, I have created a handout for you that details ...

Oh I love this design! Instant Christmas feeling!

Are you looking for a new free motion quilting idea for a Christmas quilt? Apply this Holly design to a border or use it as an all-over.

These holly leaves are based on a square grid that is easily marked. Perhaps your quilt already has a grid because of the piecing.

Each holly leaf fits within a square. If you want to be more precise than that and aim for equally sized leaves, you could mark orange peels within the squares and stitch within those shapes.

If you look really closely you ...

The sound of crashing waves, the salty air, the gentle wind blowing the ruffles of our beach umbrella… It is one of my fondest memories of spending time with my loved ones at the beach.

The movement of the waves has a real calming effect on me. I don’t even have to be at the beach, just looking at videos of the sea will do that for me. I am always thankful when people post beach videos on social media. It takes me back to that wonderful memories even if it is just for a few minutes.

Do you ...

This is how you create fabulous texture!

I don’t even know how many times I have used this Swirl Hook pattern, I have lost count. Baby quilts, charity quilts, bag components, pillows. It looks good on all of these projects. I think I saw this pattern first in a tutorial by Angela Walters and I thought it was the best ever! It felt like a more advanced pattern, and it is, but once you are aware of its structure it becomes way easier.

The design starts with a smallish curl / spiral. From the centre of that spiral you move ...

Did you play with marbles as a child?

I love collecting them but also really enjoyed beating my classmates in a game. We made a little hole in the ground and took turns getting our marble into that hole in the least amount of turns. Some negotiation took place before the games started to make sure the marbles were of the same ‘level’ or value. The big galaxy-type marbles were prized possessions.

I really loved stitching with this 12W Accent thread by Wonderfil. I put a larger needle in my domestic machine and stitched way slower than I normally do ...

The last three FMQ design that I shared were inspired by nature and the today’s one is as well.

Pick any three different types of leaves and stitch them out along a pre-marked line. Alternate left and right and keep stitching them in the same order.

Select three different types of leaves: thin, curvy, smooth or with a serrated edge. The leaves can vary a bit in size and direction which makes them a bit more realistic. Curve them up or down. Play with it! See me do that in the YouTube video.

If the contrast in the video ...

Fall is in full swing here. The trees are turning colors, the wind and rain have picked up and the temperature is calling for sweaters. I adore all the colors, but all of the rest not so much.

Is Fall your favorite season?

Looking out the window from my sewing studio (attic) I can only see grey clouds in the sky. The windows are sprinkled with raindrops. We need to cheer it all up a bit with pink clouds, right?!

The pink clouds are stitched out on a pre-marked clamshell grid. In the photo below you can see I used ...

Spiral-shaped spider webs are on many Halloween quilts, and they for sure are on mine! I really like quilting these little wonders of nature.

I made a little fun animation where I ‘quilted’ and ‘unquilted’ a quilt block in my wall hanging that I talked about in my previous blog post. You can view the short animation here on Instagram.

Even though Halloween is now technically over, I still have a Halloween-inspired pattern for you today. Remember the tv-show Project Runway where Tim Gunn instructed the participants to ‘Make it work”?! Well the spider web pattern is just such a ...

Have you have your Halloween decorations still up? I have taken down about half, mostly those that are visible from the street. I will tackle to ‘indoors’ ones later this weekend. I do think I will leave some of them up a bit longer, like my Halloween quilt, the pillows and the ceramic items. They bring in the so needed splash of color. Most people here will not pull out their Christmas decorations for another month or so (after Saint Nicolas Day at the beginning of December). I think it is fine to leave some ghosts, black cats and a ...

What did you call these seedlings from the maple tree a child?

We called them helicopters, but technically they are called samaras. The maple tree produces this type of dry fruit that has two paper-like wings that helps the seeds to disperse.

The Free Motion Quilting pattern resembles a maple seed, but it is not an exact copy. There should actually be a pair of seeds per set of wings. But for the ease and speed of quilting I decided on just one circle at the centre of the design. The wings of the seeds are more teardrop shaped and ...

This blogpost is a love letter to the Ribbon Candy pattern!

I just adore the curves of the design, the possibilities of adding design elements and the timeless look.

The fascination runs deep, so deep that I have been creating a large course to show you all the possibilities that the Ribbon Candy pattern holds. But, it is not the moment to talk this course right now. I will share more about it at a later moment.

Let’s look at the Ribbon Candy variation that may be my favorite! Hairpin!!!

Does it look like bobby pins that you use ...

Have you made one of those Halloween quilts that has jars or flasks of poison on it? And you don’t know what to quilt inside of those jars and bottles? Well I have the perfect idea for you!

Fill the jars with a string of eyes!

I have been doing a little halloween decor shopping and some of the things I ordered will be delivered today. I can’t wait to see what the items look like in my house. I have never actually decorated my house for Halloween so I am actually starting from scratch here. What have been your most favorite and treasured Halloween decorations? Please tell!

So this Halloween is a whole series of first for me. First time buying Halloween decor, first time looking for Halloween recipes, first time trying to get my hands on some special Halloween candy here in the ...

Octopuses are amazingly intelligent creatures! Not only are they super clever, but they are also mesmerizing to look at. Graceful, colorful, fast, able to shapeshift, great at hiding, but also flamboyant when they want to be, outwitting their prey, able to leave their natural environment, and even being super social for some of the species. Wow, that is a great line up!

All of the octopuses in this free motion quilting pattern have a set of 8 tentacles of course. Those tentacles move in all the areas that need to be filled. It is a bit of wiggle actually! The ...

Last week I shared a pattern that looked like people doing the wave, and this week second pattern depicts wild and crazy ocean waves. Strong currents, wild winds and smashing waves were the inspiration for this dense pattern. After all it is Maritime Day today!

This pattern is great as a background filler and that is why I chose a thread that blended with the fabric more. I don’t want to thread to stand out much with a filler, it is supposed to flatten the background so other elements stand out more. The wave design also adds a lot ...

How do you like your coffee? Strong or with a lot of milk, with an extra added flavor or just plain?

I am not much of a coffee drinker myself, but most of my family members LOVE their coffee in the morning. Shiny appliances with lots of buttons on the counter tops, speciality roasted beans and unique cups to drink it from. Making coffee is turned into an art form!

Can you add a specialty flavor to your quilting?

Yes you can! Add some more depth to your design bij using a slightly darker thread. Some areas of the Coffee ...

One arm up, two arms up… WOOHOO!

Tomorrow our high school students will visit an amusement park. I will not join them this time as a chaperone, but I can imagine their cheerful screams in the many rollercoasters. Some of them even dare to hold their arms up into the air while riding the coaster. Personally I don’t mind the speed of that type of ride, but the height is an issue… and let’s not even talk about the vertigo it causes me. So I normally will admire their joy from the ground.

This week’s pattern is ...

Do you have exotic plants in your garden? 

In my street a lot of neighbors have lovely Japanse maple trees and bushes in their gardens. The maples really stand out beautifully against the white painted modern houses. There are even a few neighbors who have a type of bamboo that doesn’t spread. 

Today, September 18th, bamboo is celebrated on a global level to spread awareness on its conservation. Let’s enjoy this gorgeous plant in our weird and wonderful quilting corner of the internet too.

This Bamboo pattern is pretty easy to stitch out. The bamboo design can be ...