What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Woohoo!  One of my quilts is featured in McCall’s Quick Quilts! Shaded Star is a fast, easy and...

Power Lines - A Ruler Quilting Workshop

I am thrilled to share my new ruler workshop, Power Lines. The workshop features designs and techniques using ONE acrylic free-motion quilting ruler. Power Lines is a foundational ruler quilting workshop. We explore basic ruler quilting techniques, straight and curved line designs. Some of the designs learned are featured HERE.

To make it a fun and easy one-day workshop, I’ve designed two pre-printed panels exclusively for the workshop. The 16-inch square panels are designed so you, the quilter, can apply techniques and designs learned in the workshop to a fun mini quilt that ...

 Modern Decor

When my niece, Amanda and her husband, Darnell, came for a visit a few months ago they requested I make a pillow.  The young couple have been diligently making their house a home.

Before I made their pillows, (pictured above), I did a little experimenting with stitch patterns.  The fabric was the inspiration for the surface thread design so any added elements should be simple and elegant. 

After I finished her pillows, I decided to experiment a little more and use the new Westalee Design Decorative Ruler Foot to stitch rattail cord. The black cord was used to ...

Line Drawing with Thread - Third in a Series

The Butterfly is third in a series of Line Drawing with Thread mini quilts.  Have you seen the tree, Abide and The Ladybug? Have you noticed they are all on a Log Cabin block? While it’s a series of stories on the garden it is also a study on Log Cabin blocks and different free motion quilting techniques.

The Butterfly is stitched on a Log Cabin where the center fabric is BIG surrounded on three sides with narrow strips. The traditional Log Cabin has a small center square that is historically ...

Line Drawing with Thread - What’s your Story?

I love flowers and ornamental gardening. I haven’t had much time to play and work in my garden now that I am a full-time quilter and teacher.  Here is picture of my garden a few years ago. Each plant was nurtured and tended for 5 years to reach what is seen in the photo below.

While preparing for a Line Drawing with Thread class, I decided to incorporate my love of gardening in a wall art series. Each piece has a log cabin block as the background. Each tells a different ...

Ruler Quilting Marathon

Last December I was finally home more than a week. So it was a good time to start learning how to use a few more templates. The Honeycomb template by Westalee Design was one.

The Honeycomb is a fun template with many possibilities.

I used the spacing gauge with each quilted rotation to help ensure the first and final rotation met and completed a uniform design.

Another template I am falling in love with is Spin an Echo # 6. Isn’t it a gorgeous design?!  Westalee Design has a Spin an Echo Sampler set that includes ...

Whole Cloth Ruler Quilting

Whole cloth ruler quilting isn’t new. What is new is the HUGE variety of acrylic rulers now available to domestic machine quilters. As we accumulate rulers for specific purposes, we should also consider how they can be used across a wide range of applications.

Combining some old favorites with a new spinning template is a fun exercise for learning, applying and designing with rulers.  I didn’t plan.

New Ruler Designs for a New Year

In 2017 many quilters have joined the free motion ruler quilting craze and are quilting with rulers on their domestic machines.  It’s becoming a central part of finishing our quilt projects. This small quilt top was completely quilted with rulers. 

For 2018, I am working on NEW designs(top) for the Westalee Design’s Sampler Set 1. The set has six templates that when the basics of the techniques are learned, the quilter will have the skills to use many of Westalee Design’s 250 plus templates. 

If you are ready to ...

Filling the Background

Have you heard about Westalee Design Mini Fills template set? The set includes five different patterns. Each template pattern includes four sizes.

Building a brick wall without marking a million lines made for quick and accurate quilting!

I chose to build the wall first and add the appliquéd vine after.

Considering appliqué is not my forte or cup of tea I gave it ago. Not to shabby for a novice.