What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I know you have been practicing every day for 15 minutes. You raised your right hand and made that promise. I saw you. I’m getting lots of comments from folks who are finding it to be very effective in improving their skills and it makes me so happy to hear that! It’s super easy to fit that 15 minutes a day into your schedule, when you always have your frame loaded with practice fabric. But what happens when you want to quilt something for real?

Switching from practice to for real

When your confidence swells and you think ...

I know you have been practicing every day for 15 minutes. You raised your right hand and made that promise. I saw you. I’m getting lots of comments from folks who are finding it to be very effective in improving their skills and it makes me so happy to hear that! It’s super easy to fit that 15 minutes a day into your schedule, when you always have your frame loaded with practice fabric. But what happens when you want to quilt something for real?

Switching from practice to for real

When your confidence swells and you think ...

Last week’s post explained how to stitch binding to the front of the quilt while the quilt is still loaded on the frame. You can read it here.  This week, I’d like to add a few extra tips when it comes to binding on the longarm frame.

Finish the last few inches at your domestic machine

Most of the time, I do not overlap the ends of the binding strip, the way I explained last week. I stop stitching about 12 inches before I get to the place where I started. I have tails of binding both at ...

Last week’s post explained how to stitch binding to the front of the quilt while the quilt is still loaded on the frame. You can read it here.  This week, I’d like to add a few extra tips when it comes to binding on the longarm frame.

Finish the last few inches at your domestic machine

Most of the time, I do not overlap the ends of the binding strip, the way I explained last week. I stop stitching about 12 inches before I get to the place where I started. I have tails of binding both at ...

I told you last week I would show you how to make a stencil from Golden Threads quilting paper. It’s easy and fun and results in a easy, follow-the-line, free-motion quilting guide that will make your quilts look fabulous!

Start with a design

You can take one of your fantastic doodles.

Or maybe something you found in a magazine or a book.

You might have seen a fabulous quilting design in nature,

or on some tile or carpet, or on a tissue box,

or on a plate.

Look at the fabrics in your quilt,

there might be a super ...

I told you last week I would show you how to make a stencil from Golden Threads quilting paper. It’s easy and fun and results in a easy, follow-the-line, free-motion quilting guide that will make your quilts look fabulous!

Start with a design

You can take one of your fantastic doodles.

Or maybe something you found in a magazine or a book.

You might have seen a fabulous quilting design in nature,

or on some tile or carpet, or on a tissue box,

or on a plate.

Look at the fabrics in your quilt,

there might be a super ...

I’ve been having a blast creating new fabrics and projects using my felting foot on my Amara. The Handi Felting Foot Kit transforms your HQ longarm into a felting machine with infinite possibilities! It creates new fun you can have with your Handi Quilter machine. I must give you the Sewing Surgeon General’s warning: felting is addictive.

What is Felting?

The Handi Felting Foot Kit puts a modern twist on an old way of creating embellished fabric by meshing fibers together so they interlock and become one. The kit includes a needle body that holds 5 barbed needles ...

I’ve been having a blast creating new fabrics and projects using my felting foot on my Amara. The Handi Felting Foot Kit transforms your HQ longarm into a felting machine with infinite possibilities! It creates new fun you can have with your Handi Quilter machine. I must give you the Sewing Surgeon General’s warning: felting is addictive.

What is Felting?

The Handi Felting Foot Kit puts a modern twist on an old way of creating embellished fabric by meshing fibers together so they interlock and become one. The kit includes a needle body that holds 5 barbed needles ...

Diane has been busy quilting away on her HQ Capri. She shared a tip on her HQ Stitch blog about target practice.

There are many times when you need to know exactly where the needle of your sewing machine is going to enter the fabric. It’s true with a domestic machine like HQ Stitch and it’s true with a longarm quilting machine. These times call for target practice!

I love sewing machines and I own more than one. On the machines I know well, I’m confident that I can get a bullseye where that needle is concerned ...

Diane has been busy quilting away on her HQ Capri. She shared a tip on her HQ Stitch blog about target practice.

There are many times when you need to know exactly where the needle of your sewing machine is going to enter the fabric. It’s true with a domestic machine like HQ Stitch and it’s true with a longarm quilting machine. These times call for target practice!

I love sewing machines and I own more than one. On the machines I know well, I’m confident that I can get a bullseye where that needle is concerned ...

We have introduced a lot of new things lately here at Handi Quilter, so I thought I’d fill you in on what’s new. I wouldn’t want you to miss anything!

I’ll start with storage solutions.

Purple Bobbins

These beautiful bobbins are a gorgeous shade of Handi Quilter purple. You get 30 bobbins packaged in a storage case with an insert that keeps all your bobbins neat and tidy. They are EZ-wind slotted M class bobbins perfect for all Handi Quilter longarm machines and the height of bobbin fashion!

Bobbin Tree

The HQ Bobbin Tree provides stacked ...

We have introduced a lot of new things lately here at Handi Quilter, so I thought I’d fill you in on what’s new. I wouldn’t want you to miss anything!

I’ll start with storage solutions.

Purple Bobbins

These beautiful bobbins are a gorgeous shade of Handi Quilter purple. You get 30 bobbins packaged in a storage case with an insert that keeps all your bobbins neat and tidy. They are EZ-wind slotted M class bobbins perfect for all Handi Quilter longarm machines and the height of bobbin fashion!

Bobbin Tree

The HQ Bobbin Tree provides stacked ...

Last week we saw Diane’s Vintage Zigzag quilt and I made some suggestions about how she might quilt it. She made some choices and she is having a great time using her Capri to get it done.  Whenever you are repeating a motif in several places on a quilt it’s really nice to have them look similar. It’s almost impossible with free-motion quilting to make the motifs identical but some consistency is a good thing. So I like to use some tricks and some tools to help me get it done, the way I want it done ...

Last week we saw Diane’s Vintage Zigzag quilt and I made some suggestions about how she might quilt it. She made some choices and she is having a great time using her Capri to get it done.  Whenever you are repeating a motif in several places on a quilt it’s really nice to have them look similar. It’s almost impossible with free-motion quilting to make the motifs identical but some consistency is a good thing. So I like to use some tricks and some tools to help me get it done, the way I want it done ...

Shop @ Home Live!  If you’re on Facebook you probably already know about this fun new event that Handi Quilter hosts on our Facebook page each week.

If not, I’m gonna get you up to speed!

It happens every Tuesday at 2p Eastern, 1p Central, Noon Mountain, and 11a Pacific time.

It is on our Facebook fan page. Facebook.com/handiquilter

It’s a LIVE video filled with quilting tips and education. You can ask questions in the comments. Some questions are answered LIVE on the air and others are answered in the comments.

There are chances to win ...

Shop @ Home Live!  If you’re on Facebook you probably already know about this fun new event that Handi Quilter hosts on our Facebook page each week.

If not, I’m gonna get you up to speed!

It happens every Tuesday at 2p Eastern, 1p Central, Noon Mountain, and 11a Pacific time.

It is on our Facebook fan page. Facebook.com/handiquilter

It’s a LIVE video filled with quilting tips and education. You can ask questions in the comments. Some questions are answered LIVE on the air and others are answered in the comments.

There are chances to win ...

Oh my - what happens when you get two friends together to make a backpack. Actually, we were each making our own backpack. That was good because we couldn't have made the same one!

If you remember, I had quilted my fabric the day before and all went well with that. Ronda arrived and I threw her fabric on the long arm (again with the foam inside) and it quilted up beautifully.

This is the lining side of her yardage. She used a solid white. I quilted it with a dark blue thread. I LOVE, LOVE that texture and I ...

In my obsession with organizing my happy space, I recently organized my quilting rulers.

The large rulers hang on the wall near my cutting mat. Medium rulers now hang in the inside of a door on my tall cabinet. Command hooks work great. I like the ones with the narrow metal hooks best. They fit easily through the ruler hang holes.

And…. drumroll please. (I wish I had a before picture, but I don’t, and there is no use going backwards!)

All of my small rulers used to reside piled in a single drawer of a cabinet. Now, they ...

PROBLEM:   Traditional spray bottles tend to dispense either too much, or non-uniform spray patterns.  When using them to starch or spray fabric, it can leave wet spots, and require more spray than would have been necessary.

Over the last couple of years,  a spray bottle made by a company called Flairosol has become popular in the quilting community.  I think that the bottle was originally popular in beauty salons.  The spray nozzle is remarkable, delivering a finer mist than any nozzles I have used in the past.  It also requires less pump action, as it is a continuous spray.  This ...

PROBLEM:  How do you keep you marking tools, mini scissors, and stylus close without rolling round on your sewing table?

The “it’s sew emma”, Stash ‘n Store tool does the trick.  I had seen the longer ones in my local quilting shop, but recently came across the mini version and decided that would fit the bill.  It is stable enough to hold most of my tools upright.  However,  if you have a tendency to knock things off (or have a cat that help you!),  some Velcro attachment on the bottom might do the trick.

“Mischief Managed”
I hope you ...