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This sweet and magical grid design is based on a clamshell pattern. The design is pretty dense and it would be perfect for a bag or backpack. This grid design looks great on projects with themes like nature, plant, flowers, butterflies, fairies, fairytales and fantasy.

The design is pretty dense and it would be perfect for a bag or backpack. This grid design looks great on projects with themes like nature, plant, flowers, butterflies, fairies, fairytales and fantasy.

The pattern is based on the work by Jen Eskridge of Quilty Quill, and it is featured in her book “Quilted Clamshell ...

Fall is one of my favorite seasons to quilt for—the cozy colors, the warm textures, and of course, the excuse to start all the autumn projects. Whether you’re making a table runner for your living room, a seasonal mini quilt, or even a playful Halloween quilt, fall quilting fabric collections always bring a special warmth. [...]

The post Fall Quilting Fabric Collections & a Free Mystery Quilt Along

Taking photos of sewing machines is not as easy as you might imagine. Quilt Direct had a media and marketing apprentice for a while and she did most of the social media posts but I am now responsible for the “on the fly” studio posts. I had to take pictures of the new Bernina 7 Series Pro machines but they looked grey or had glare because I was not getting the lighting right. There is a bit of a weird phenomenon where videos of the machines can be flickery so I had to turn off their LED lights. I am ...

✨ Free Motion Quilting Class Summit 2025 – Learn, Quilt, and Be Inspired Are you ready to take your quilting journey to the next level? Whether you’re a newbie quilter working on your first quilt or an experienced quilter with lots of new pieced tops waiting to be finished, the Free Motion Quilting Summit 2025 [...]

The post Free Motion Quilting Class Summit 2025 appeared first on The Little Mushroom Cap: A Quilting Blog.

I started with the RISE pattern from Woodbury Way.

It is a great starting point. The directions for the basket alone are worth the price of the pattern. But, I did branch out and design some blocks of my own, many using scraps and leftovers from previous projects. The blocks using the bear’s paw and pinwheels were that way. The black balloon in the lower left and the green/blue one on the second row up are modeled on pictures of real balloons. So many options! So much inspiration! (SIDE NOTE: I used flying geese in the border rather ...

If you love quilting and advent calendars, you’ve come to the right place! I design a custom Advent Calendar every year, and

The post All About Advent 2025 appeared first on Always Expect Moore.

This fun and whimsical grid border design is based on a series of loops and echoes. It can be used in a wider border with some simple pre-marked lines. This playful border design looks great in modern quilts or quilts intended for children.

This fun and whimsical grid border design is based on a series of loops and echoes. It can be used in a wider border and a few pre-marked guidelines will help tremendously with stitching this design out evenly.

Pattern Tutorial

This loop-based border design takes a step back to move around one of the loops before continuing ...

 Immer wieder zieht es mich zu den dezenten Low Volume Quilts. Sie sind sehr zurückhaltend, aber sie sind auch gleichzeitig elegant und klassisch. Sie fügen sich in ein neutrales Umfeld ein und ergeben dann eine hübsche Einheit.

Low Volume Love

Inzwischen habe ich schon ziemlich viele neutrale Low Volume Quilts gemacht. Sie gefallen mir besonders gut in den hellen Sommermonaten. Bereits 2009 hatte ich einen Low Volume Sampler begonnen, der aber erst viel später fertig wurde. Anderer Low Volume Quilts waren mein Bubbles Quilt, ein Scrappy Quilt und der Lady of the Lake Quilt.

Meine letzten Quilt-Tops habe ich wirklich ...

It has been a while since we talked about zigzag quilts. In 2022 I put together several resources for you about zigzags. I will be sharing these again in this blogpost, so keep reading.

Zigzag quilts are pretty easy to piece, but how do you quilt them? You could definitely choose an allover / edge to edge design, but you can opt for a design that shows off the zigzag angles more by placing a design inside of each zigzag row. You could even do different designs in each row.

Let’s take a closer look at one design that was ...

Do you take loads of photos of museum art? And then they sit forever in your computer?
They make wonderful palette cleansers -- fast projects, low on stress, high on learning, as you study the art, figure out what the artist was doing, and what makes the piece so compelling. 

In a December blog post I showed a bejeweled tribute to a 1763 painting by Fragonard that I photographed in the Louvre five years ago. (Find that article here.) 

Here's the next piece of art I tackled, from the same Louvre visit, and more than 100 years older. It's ...

A free pattern is worth trying, right? Especially when the fabric is free, too!

I received a bundle of cut 2-1/2″ strips of assorted blue and green fabrics. There were so many I couldn’t see them getting used any time in the near future if I added them to my general stash of strips.

So, it was a try at something new. If I did it again I would make the quilting a darker shade of brown to help tie the front, the quilting, and the backing together better. I don’t love it, but someone will. If ...

Yes, we have a name: Fringe Benefit.

A fringe benefit is a perk, extra or bonus received in addition to regular compensation. In this case, those cut off triangles can turn into a buy one-get one special.

If you are interested in making a quilt, large or small, using this block, I have a few suggestions:

1. Get a bloc lock ruler, if you don’t have one already. Mine is 6-1/2″. It makes the trimming faster and more accurate. They are available in many local shops or a variety of locations online.
2. Dig out all those bonus triangles. They ...

This fun 12″ finished quilt block stitches up a simple tractor! Part of the “Farm” series for this month’s Quilt block mania,

The post Free Tractor Quilt Block appeared first on Always Expect Moore.

Yep, you guessed it: Started as a handful of scraps in a hand-me-down bag. Maybe someday I’ll get tired of these, but it hasn’t happened yet. It gives a sense of freedom and creative challenge.

That said, some go better than others. I chose to experiment with the quilting on this one. I do believe the red was a good choice, but maybe a different design, something more floral to match the back?

Either way, it is done now. The blocks measure 12″ finished. The entire top is 38″ finished.

Another one for the donation pile. Though it ...

I can’t believe that I am already back from FoQ! The journey from Devon is only around 4 hours including stops, rather than a 2-day marathon to NE Scotland. One minute we were setting up the full range of Bernina longarms and a few short days later we were packing everything up again. 

I felt that this year the show was buzzing again with more international visitors, great quilts and enthusiastic traders. It seemed as almost as busy as it was pre-Covid. With 2 large halls in use, there was plenty of space and places to stop and reflect ...

Before we delve into this week’s design, I wanted to let you know that there will be another Free Motion Quilting Summit in two weeks time! This multiple day free event focuses on all things freemotion. I think you would really enjoy taking part.

Maybe you spotted my face in amongst the teachers read more

Quilt Guilt  Can we pause for a second and talk about quilt guilt? You know the feeling—when you see that pile of unfinished quilts and think, “Ugh, I really should finish that…” Or when you scroll through social media and someone has just posted another beautifully bound quilt while yours is still just blocks in [...]

The post Quilting Guilt or Embracing My “Squirrel Brain” Quilting Life appeared first on The Little Mushroom Cap: A Quilting Blog.

The polka dots and animal print showed up in a hand me down bag cut into 5″ x 7-1/2″ rectangles. And there weren’t many of them. Only six each.

I trimmed the rectangles down to 5″ x 7″. And created four HST blocks using bonus triangles from previous projects.

An assortment of brown solids became asymmetrical borders for the scraps and HST, creating 16 9″ blocks. I wanted the quilt to have a “jump around” feeling without being too busy.

Just right for a 36″ baby quilt. So very cute!