What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I haven’t turned my machine on in a couple weeks and I am getting ready to load one of my UFO’s.

Can’t wait to get started on it. So I have my quilting plan and it involves some continuous curves. I realized its been awhile since I’ve done CC so I thought I better practice. Since I needed to practice… I thought maybe I wasn’t the only one. LOL.

Here is a quick video… If I want precision… I will use a ruler to do these simple CC but in ...

My older A/C unit that we put back in the dining room window bit the dust Friday. 90 degrees and humid and ...

So, you’ve been practicing quilting those five basic shapes in all different orientations. Now it’s time to start putting it together into free motion designs, basic ones that are fun to use on quilts. We will start with straight lines.

Putting it together – Straight lines

Modern quilters love straight line quilting. So do traditional quilters. You really can’t go wrong with straight lines. Here are some super useful straight line design ideas you’ll use over and over again.

Piano Keys

Piano keys is probably the #1 most useful quilting design ever. I use it on almost ...

So, you’ve been practicing quilting those five basic shapes in all different orientations. Now it’s time to start putting it together into free motion designs, basic ones that are fun to use on quilts. We will start with straight lines.

Putting it together – Straight lines

Modern quilters love straight line quilting. So do traditional quilters. You really can’t go wrong with straight lines. Here are some super useful straight line design ideas you’ll use over and over again.

Piano Keys

Piano keys is probably the #1 most useful quilting design ever. I use it on almost ...

3 Radiant Star Quilts, 3 Machine Quilting Options

We started another 3 quilt machine quilting comparison series. This time we are looking at my Radiant Star quilt.

The first machine quilting option uses free-motion and ruler quilting to create a beautiful surface design. 

WATCH

Watch the replay of Quilt Conversations LIVE! Episode 4  to learn how it was quilted with rulers to create space for  free motion quilting.

The second Radiant Star quilt is a patchwork of color.  This option looks at using the patchwork to contain free-motion quilting. This is perfect for practicing new quilting patterns.  

WATCH the replay ...

quilted houses and some thread choices

This top was inspired by all the cute house quilts I was seeing on social media at the end of last year and it is made entirely from my ...

Now that you’re ready, we can delve a bit into the theory. Wait, you’re not ready? Be sure to read Part 1 and prepare to have some fun learning free motion quilting.

Theory

Theory sounds boring, right? But I’m a big believer that the more you know, the more you can do. And this is not rocket surgery or even brain science. Just a little deeper thought into what forms free motion designs.

All the designs we can ever quilt or even think of quilting are made up of 5 basic shapes.

5 Basic Shapes

Take a ...

Now that you’re ready, we can delve a bit into the theory. Wait, you’re not ready? Be sure to read Part 1 and prepare to have some fun learning free motion quilting.

Theory

Theory sounds boring, right? But I’m a big believer that the more you know, the more you can do. And this is not rocket surgery or even brain science. Just a little deeper thought into what forms free motion designs.

All the designs we can ever quilt or even think of quilting are made up of 5 basic shapes.

5 Basic Shapes

Take a ...

 The Rainbow Scrap Challenge colour for June is Purple so I made two purple blocks for my project this week...one is purple (violet) and the other is magenta (red-violet).  Some of these fabrics have been in my stash for a long time and others are more recent acquisitions. 

Here are the 8 blocks I have made for this project so far. I will keep making one or two blocks a month until the end of the year and then put the top together.  I really like building a quilt this way--just a little sewing and cutting each month and ...

Machine Quilting Pillow Talk

Boy of boy, there are so many decisions to make to machine quilt our projects. It can be daunting.

• What machine quilting design do I use?
  
• How do I stitch the design in a pleasing way?
• What  thread color and a thread weight will I use?
• Should the quilting be dense or light?
  

Let’s Make Some Decisions

We can take machine quilting and break it into manageable steps. When we concentrate on different parts of the machine quilting process it gives of freedom. With freedom comes courage. Courage to experiment and learn.

In Quilt Conversations ...

With so many new Moxie owners out there, I am going to start a series of tips on free-motion quilting for beginners. These tips will not only apply to those using movable machines on a frame, (like Moxie, Amara, Simply Sixteen, Forte, and Infinity) but also to stationary machine quilters. That means Capri and Sweet Sixteen owners, as well as domestic machine quilters, will benefit from the series as well. I hope you’ll all come along!

Getting Started

To prepare to really improve your skills will take a few steps. No worries, they are easy!

#1 – Make the commitment ...

With so many new Moxie owners out there, I am going to start a series of tips on free-motion quilting for beginners. These tips will not only apply to those using movable machines on a frame, (like Moxie, Amara, Simply Sixteen, Forte, and Infinity) but also to stationary machine quilters. That means Capri and Sweet Sixteen owners, as well as domestic machine quilters, will benefit from the series as well. I hope you’ll all come along!

Getting Started

To prepare to really improve your skills will take a few steps. No worries, they are easy!

#1 – Make the commitment ...

Ruler Quilting Circles - A Few Design Options

I love quilting circles.

In the latest episode of Quilt Conversations LIVE! we talk about circles as design and function in quilts.

Are you looking for new quilting design options for your projects? Have you considered circles? If not, you should. Watch Episode 15 to learn the design potential of circles.

The LIVE! episode is now available as a replay. Learn and see the progress of quilting designs from small quilt projects like table runners to large quilts.

Large or small, circles are easy to stitch with acrylic rulers. I use Westalee Design ...

I had the privilege of quilting a hand-pieced beauty this past week. Oh, how I'd love to know the history of this one. How old is it? From where did it come? If you study closely, you can see the hand stitches that were lovingly placed, joining together this lively array of feedsacks and vintage fabrics. The top was purchased by a friend of a friend. She machine washed it (!!) before I received

I had the privilege of quilting a hand-pieced beauty this past week. Oh, how I'd love to know the history of this one. How old is it? From where did it come? If you study closely, you can see the hand stitches that were lovingly placed, joining together this lively array of feedsacks and vintage fabrics. The top was purchased by a friend of a friend. She machine washed it (!!) before I received

Many Handi Quilter machines are equipped with a thread break sensor. The sensor lets you know with an audible alarm that your thread is broken. This can be especially useful to Pro-Stitcher users. The sensor will sound the alarm and in the case of Pro-Stitcher, stop the machine. I’ve had some questions lately about how it works and why it sometimes gives a false alarm. The alarm is telling me the thread is broken, but the thread is just fine. So let me explain a bit.

How the Thread Break Sensor Works

The thread break sensor is the round ...

Many Handi Quilter machines are equipped with a thread break sensor. The sensor lets you know with an audible alarm that your thread is broken. This can be especially useful to Pro-Stitcher users. The sensor will sound the alarm and in the case of Pro-Stitcher, stop the machine. I’ve had some questions lately about how it works and why it sometimes gives a false alarm. The alarm is telling me the thread is broken, but the thread is just fine. So let me explain a bit.

How the Thread Break Sensor Works

The thread break sensor is the round ...