What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

With the complex piecing on this quilt, it was begging for custom quilting. I had a fair amount of negative space to play with, now to decide on what to put where.

I loaded it on the longarm, using the same print as in the border between the pinwheels and the flying geese for backing. That print is also the light background print in the medallion. It was from a bolt I had bought at Foust, and thankfully, this finally used it up.

One of the things I learned on a recent class on quilt judging is that judges like ...

Thank you QT fabrics for providing Dawn & Dusk panels to make this fabulous OBW quilt.

Terri Butler & I designed a OBW with Dawn & Dusk in Adobe Illustrator first.

The version above was computer generated. I was not able to recreate the same hexagons exactly, but I stayed pretty close. I cut 3.25″ strips using my First-Choice Ruler, that yield 5″ finished hexies.

Hexies sorted by predominate color.

I created 10 ” stars by choosing 2 sets of equilateral triangles to make diamonds and used my Star 60 Tool to cut the side triangles.

hexies are moved around a lot during ...

A very Norfolk expression is “Slow you down!”-  meaning you should rush around less and chill out more.

That has NOT been me this week…

At work I bound 2 quilts, supervised 5 DIY quilts, did some one-to-one tuition, prepared for the Quilt Direct Open Day, attended the Tavistock Goosey Quilters exhibition, sold 2 machines, and carried out all of my usual side missions.

I was too worn out to do much in the evenings apart from veg out with Nessie but my Saturday was a blur of activity. I packed the non-essential kitchen items which means I obviously own ...

The video explains it all! One of the most ambitious art quilts I’ve ever created. From the first pieces of fabric to the final stitches, this textile wall hanging became a much bigger undertaking than I ever imagined. So many … Continue reading →

I just received two boxes from Timeless Treasures. One for Dragonfly Mist which has been out for a while and one containing Lumiere.

Terri Butler, my partner in creation already had Dragonfly Mist and now I have it too so we can make a One Block Wonder (OBW) jacket and quilt.

Follow Terri and me on our joint Facebook page Mama Said These Threads Could Talk & www.mamasaidsewllc.com

My Facebook page If These Threads Could Talk

@TimelessTreasures #TimelessTreasures #DragonflyMist #Lumiere

When we left off last time, I was in the process of making 160 flying geese. I was doing them in batches of 20 so I wouldn’t have to do the same thing 160 times at once. Here I have some in all three stages of piecing. I stacked the finished ones up in groups of 10 so I could keep count.

Seventy done, ninety to go.

I took a break from the geese to add a border to the quilt top. I thought it would be good to have a border between the pinwheels and the geese.

When ...

Back in June, I was asked to participate in showing a demo at our guild area on rulers. We had four members showing different rulers. Members divided into groups, and shifted tables every 15 minutes. It was a fun program for the members. My demo was on the 60º ruler, which makes a hexagonal table topper. After the demo, I finished sewing the topper, then was wondering what I could do with it. I didn’t need another table topper, and these have not sold well at the shop or Fiber Fair. I thought it was a reader on a ...

While Joy’s directions are as helpful as ever, I was overtired or distracted or something, which meant that I had to pick out the first two blocks due to incorrect assembly…arrgh.

But, I am pleased with the outcome. Four more blocks. Looking forward to future blocks and starting to consider layout options.

read more

All schools run a little differently. Some have days off because of teacher in-service. School for my Hanken grandkids is different. They just get out of school every Wednesday at 1 pm. So, on Wednesday, when the kids got out at 1 pm, Kelli picked them up they came for a visit. It was great. …

Wednesday with the Hankens Read More »

Here’s a beginner-friendly appliqué butterfly and stars quilt that looks great as a scrappy quilt or with your favorite fabric collection!

Fly Away – purchase quilt pattern here

Fly Away is my newest pattern release of this year. It measures 56″ x 68″, and the blocks finish at 9″. I worked with the Pixie Patch collection by Lumin Fabrics. If you want your quilt to look just like mine, wait a little, as the collection will ship to stores in January 2027. In the meantime, you can make a scrappy quilt using your batiks or other fabrics you have on ...

The past two years Worldwide Quilting day challenges have produced interesting projects, but I have no use for them after the challenge is done. I entered one into the fair last year and both were exhibited at the guild show this past May. So, now, what to do with them? I can’t throw them away, but I have no desire to hang them in our home either. I was cleaning out some things from my speaking days and found a fidget quilt that I still had. I actually thought I’d given it away some time ago. But pulling ...

How are you all? I'm keeping very busy in the house and in the garden. Here is a view of the wooden house from the right side. I let that Birch tree grow from a tiny sapling and now I wonder if I should have done that. I love Birches and they don't have the longevity that other kinds of trees have so it won't be there forever. I thought it provides a little shade and privacy too. Anyway, it is now as tall as the roof!

This fun sunflower quilt block is a take on a Dresden fan pattern, without having to make a single Dresden! This block

The post Sunflower Quilt Block appeared first on Always Expect Moore.

Life has overtaken my life. HA!! Don’t you feel that was sometimes?? Well things have settled down a bit. The grandkids are back in school. Rick has settled into his new schedule with classes. I checked off a whole bunch of doctor appointments so I’m in the clear to start getting back to me things…and …

Getting Back in the Swing of Things Read More »

 These monthly Under the Needle posts really help keep me on track. I still sew what I want to sew, but I don't feel so scatterbrained and I often start writing them at the beginning of the month, giving me something to aim for. Shall we begin with the mess in my sewing room? I really need to address this. Sigh.I made all the blocks for my Americana 250 quilt last month, but I pieced it into

I had another unusually busy week long arming which makes me happy! There was a house quilt, postage stamp squares and a Kaffe Fassett diamonds one. In addition, there was class preparation to do and sewing machine demos plus an interesting phone call where the customer was irritated by me asking what brand of thread she was using – all she could tell me was that it was “cotton”. 

So now for some Big News… I am moving to Norfolk! It all boils down to Big Family Stuff and I want to be around so I can help out. Plus Nella ...

Here is a twist on our beloved quilted Welcome Wreaths! Download this Modern Log Cabin Wreath Pattern and hang it year-round in your house!

Welcome Wreath Quilt. Purchase the pattern here.

I am in love with my Welcome Wreath! It measures 28″ x 28″ with blocks that finish at 10″. It is a perfect scrap buster, too!

For this project, I worked with fabrics from the Chromatics collection by FreeSpirit and Lower the Volume by Blank Quilting, as I was going for a pastel look. Whatever fabric you decide to use, I recommend tiny prints of contrasting fabrics, so each ...

I don't spend a lot of time watching television or scrolling through social media, but I do watch the girls at the Fabric Patch and a few weeks ago they mentioned this Tres Leches quilt pattern and they casually suggested folks whip one up and they'd do a show and tell on October 1st for fun. Sure. I can do that.Simple pattern. Easy stitching. Plenty of choices in my fabric pantry. And yet, I

Every so often, questions and comments come from readers, and I think others would like to hear my response. That’s when I feature them on the  blog. This is one of those days.  I have had two different blog readers recently ask me about hanging quilts off my porch. They were curious to know what I …

Ask Jo: Hanging Quilts on my Porch Read More »