I've been away. Did you miss me?
I went to London and I went shopping...all things embroidery related.
A video show and tell.
We are nearly to my favorite part of any quilt – the machine quilting! But first we need to prep our quilts by making sure the backing is big enough, and then basting. I love making pieced backs from leftovers or other coordinating fabrics because that makes the quilt twice as nice!!
Because I had too many pictures of this process to share, I thought it would be much easier to put them all together into a super short video and talk over the process. You can watch that by clicking play below:
Once the quilt is basted, you are ready ...
read moreHow are your Daisy Chain blocks coming along? If you are just starting, be sure to grab a copy of the Daisy Chain quilt pattern and join the fun. We are currently working through pages 12-13 of the pattern. But the tips I’m sharing below can apply to any quilt in your UFO pile!!
Click here to see how I made my design wall.
The first thing I like to do whenever sewing a quilt top together is to get all of my blocks up on the design wall and spread out the color. Then I’ll take time ...
read moreI’m so excited about my debut fabric line with Riley Blake called Quilt in Color. Now you may be wondering why I switched fabric companies? Simply put, it was time for me to stretch my wings and grow. In all of my previous 10 fabric collections, I had help with the technical aspects of design. But this one is ALL me and I couldn’t be more proud! Take a look at the color cards below:
What do you think? I poured my heart and soul into this collection. It includes 21 colorful prints + 3 machine quilting practice panels ...
read moreAnd there is always the chaos factor.
Case in point: a few weekends ago I went to Marshall Dry Goods with one of the besties. I purchased flannel to make two receiving blankets for our great-grandson that's due to arrive in April. I was thinking I had plenty of time to make them. But two weeks ago, darling granddaughter landed in the ER, was admitted to the hospital due to complications, was told she would stay two weeks to allow little man to grow a bit more, then told it would be three weeks, and he was born a ...
read moreFollow along in the Daisy Chain quilt pattern pages 8-11 as you work on this week’s quilty “homework.” Start by chain piecing your strips that create the small 4-patch units. I’ve given step-by-step diagrams to follow in the pattern so it shouldn’t feel so daunting. Just remember to take it one section at a time!
Aren’t these units so cute??
Keep all similar colors together so it’s easier to create each chain block or border unit. I’m pressing all of my seams open and sewing with a shorter stitch length so my small pieces ...
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Whenever I’m sewing quilt blocks that have lots of pieces, I find it much easier to sew the smaller units of each block into larger units, then chain piece everything for speed and efficiency. Follow along in the Daisy Chain quilt pattern on page 6-7s for the images and tips shown below. I’m making two of these at the same time in 2 different colorways: Autumn & Purple Vibrations.
So the first thing we are doing is sewing all of the stitch-n-flip units which will make the petals of each daisy flower block. You can either ...
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One of my favorite free-motion quilting techniques to do is combining two different designs for a unique stitch combination. That’s what I did in this week’s video. Combine spirals and pebbles to make Swirls & Pearls! Watch the video on my YouTube channel by clicking the image below:
Make My Block Chain Quilt
This week’s featured quilt is called Block Chain. I’ve made it twice over the years and it’s the perfect pattern to showcase a set of charm packs. Pair them up with light and dark accent fabrics for a quick make! You can grab ...
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We hit the low 80s on Friday and Saturday, but it's supposed to cool off today with a chance of showers. We need the showers, but that's not looking too lightly right now. Unfortunately the higher temps have meant more pollen so my allergies have been keeping me up at night. Afternoon naps have been my theme all week, but that didn't keep me from the sewing room.
Welcome to Week 1 of Daisy Chain quilt along! We will dive right into cutting all of our pieces to make this quilt. I’m making 2 versions of the quilt in the throw size, but you can make any size you wish!
If you are just joining in, be sure to ask for the Daisy Chain quilt pattern from your favorite local quilt shop! (Shops can order it through Riley Blake, Checker, or EE Schenck.)
We will be working through the cutting charts on pages 2-6 of the quilt pattern. There is a LOT of cutting for ...
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Check out my latest video from my 99 Machine Quilting Designs Series – Episode 54 – for 6 fun variations. Watch and learn below:
This week’s featured quilt is one of my free patterns called Beaded Lanterns. It’s another one I’ve made several times because it’s just so darn fun to stitch!
Click here download any of my free quilt patterns.
While supplies last you can check out my kits to make Beaded Lanterns as well as many other fun designs made from my fabrics!
Click here to view all in-stock quilt kits.
WordPress recently notified me that I’ve been blogging on this site for 18 years. First of all, where did that time go? And secondly, there is a need to post with greater frequency. So here I am today blogging away with my favorite movie in the background. Tidying up my studio from four weeks of… Continue reading Well, where did that 18 years go?
read moreLevel up your walking foot quilting with another fun decorative stitched design: Geometric Spirals. Watch and learn below:
Make This Quilt
This week’s featured quilt is called Blooming Wallflowers and I’ve made it more than once! See two different versions below:
I hope you are enjoying these video tutorials and inspiring quilts to make. I’m excited to be your cheerleader for domestic machine quilting!
read moreReady to practice your modern machine quilting? Try these 2 fabulous free-motion fills and see how you can tweak them to make them your own. Click the video below to watch:
I turned the bumps from clamshells into a floral swirl design by combining them with a basic swirl technique. Then I quilted it edge to edge on the white version below Grab the Surplus Strips quilt pattern to make one for yourself!
See how I quilted both of the quilts below using 2 different free-motion motifs. You can ...
read moreLearn to quilt two innovative designs with your walking foot: decorative-stitch wonky squares and decorative-stitch spiral maze. Watch & learn below:
This week’s featured quilt comes from my book, The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting that I co-authored with Angela Walters. You can grab the PDF download to see how I quilted Fractured Squares using only walking foot motifs.
In case you missed it, check out the pre-cursor video showing how to quilt the exact same designs using regular straight-line quilting, below:
Please let me know how you are liking these videos – I only have ...
read moreThis week’s machine quilting tutorial takes the traditional paisley design and modernizes it by adding filler motifs inside the design! It’s a fun way to change things up. Click the image below to watch on my YouTube channel:
Throughout this series, I’ve loved showing how I quilted these designs on actual, real quilts. The quilt shown in the video behind me is called Star Struck and it’s fun to see how different it looks depending on the fabrics that are chosen. Complete, start to finish instructions for this pattern are included in my ...
read moreFor this week’s tutorial we are back in business with free-motion quilting! This design, Hourglass, is basically a geometric and modern version of an earlier design: Cursive L’s. The technique of these two designs is very similar, so if you got one down, you can easily do the other!
I admit I haven’t actually made a full-size quilt with Hourglass – that is on my bucket list! However, I’ve quilted a similar design on Dot n’ Dash, the featured quilt of this week. I call this ...
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