When I was making my recent series of random strip pieced quilts I had a lot of leftover scraps of fabric. Hand dyed scraps left over fro...
Quilting Counts! Really, when you think about it, it’s the stitching through the layers that transforms a top into a quilt, so make sure it contributes in full measure to the beauty of your quilt! Elegant & Powerful Straight Lines: Fully integrated and thoughtfully planned quilting enhances and supports the quilt. By integrated, I mean that the quilted stitch design should tell the same story as the quilt’s composition. Strong lines make a very noticeable contribution to the visual impact of a quilt. Lines have the power to direct attention toward or away from its various parts. They can affect the mood of the work by adding movement and excitement or contribute a quieter, mellower feel. For example, horizontal lines commonly create the impression of calm, tranquility and space. Strong vertical lines can give the feeling of importance, drama and height. Diagonals tend to indicate action or forward movement. Tightly angled lines that constantly meet and cross each other give a dynamic, lively effect to the work. The same kind of line, running in different directions, can add interest to the overall quilting pattern. Repeated lines of parallel stitching on traditional quilts often changed direction upon reaching the outside border, thus highlighting the center or the border – or both! Decoding the Magic of Lines: There are three basic qualities of any stitched line; visibility, style and scale. Understanding them lets us easily expand the range of potential designs we can create. Varying each of them opens an endless range of quilting ideas. Melody’s TIP: A great way to test a design before stitching is to draw it onto a piece of clear Duralar™ or Plexiglas™, a piece about 18” by 24”. Mark the edges with tape so you know where to stop from drawing on your quilt top. Place it over your quilt, test patterns directly onto the plastic with a Vis-à-Vis Wet Erase™ pen. This allows you to evaluate how the lines and shapes of your planned quilting design will relate to the pattern of your quilt top In Conclusion…Your quilt top is beautiful – and the quilting is the delicious frosting on the cake! Let the feel of your quilt and your unique artistic interpretation play out in your work. The result? Pure genius!
In May 2011 my wonderfully creative mother died at the age of 85. Her death was unexpected but not surprising - nonetheless, it still left...
A blog about quilting and a newbie quilter's journey.
Easy quilts to make in a day. A lot of beautiful patterns, designs, and quilt ideas for you to make in one day only and the tips to finish it
It has been a weird week. I am running up against the deadline for finishing the "Elements" pieces and I essentially lost two days this week. Monday morning I woke up with a stiff neck and by bedtime I was in a serious amount of pain. Did not sleep and by morning I was in such pain and fear of what might be causing it that I went straight to the Urgent Care Clinic near us. It was a strained trapezius muscle in my neck, making my neck impossible to move without screaming, hot pain and sending tentacles of pain winding up around my skull. The recommendation was rest and drugs and sleep and a soft cervical collar to support the weight of my head. So I lounged around all day on Tuesday reading and sleeping, felt a little better on Wednesday and much better today. So I was back in the studio this afternoon. "Water" should have been easy (that's why I left it for last), but I had a hard time settling on an idea. Close to my heart is the wetland area where we walk, so that began to take shape in my head. I started with an assortment of blue, gray and tan fabrics and fused some strips to form a base. At the end of today I had this: I think I am nearly there. A few additions, then I will trim it to size and bind it. Speaking of the wetland area, we had a surprise when we walked last week. Sofia was with us, and as we came around the corner near the Fanno Farmhouse, Beth and I were talking away and Sofia piped in "look at the turtle!" There, studiously digging in the dirt at the side of the trail, was a large turtle. I took its picture with my phone. That evening on the local news was a story of another turtle that was captured in a backyard several miles away. They are snapping turtles that have invaded the wetlands and creek. They are not native to the area and are thought to have been pets, originally, that were released into the creek and have bred there for years. This is the season when they come onto land to dig holes and lay eggs. They are quite destructive, eating the native fish, frogs, even baby ducks and can take a finger off if you are dumb enough to offer it to one. We found this one pretty interesting and were happy to have encountered it until we learned later what pests they are. If we see another we are advised to call the Parks department or Fish and Wildlife, who will come and take it away. Wish I had known. Now I am on the lookout when we walk.
This video demonstrates how quick and easy it is to make melted fiber beads to add excitement to your quilt.
Check out these picture quilt patterns and projects from the Bluprint community to inspire you to plan your first picture quilt.
As many of you know, I take July and August "off". What that really means is that I do not longarm for customers, but I do other projects. Some of those project include doing summer vacation things with my kid, but others are quilting projects that I don't have time to do during the school
How to Design a Simple Art Quilt. Create an image and make it into an Art Quilt. Fabric scrap and fusible web will make it simple and quick
Creating a landscape quilt from a photo my husband sent me from one of his bike rides on Kelly Drive. See the process.
There's an imminent new arrival in our extended family, so it's time for me to get working on another version of my baby beach scenes. Simon suggested I incorporate surfing since the father is a keen surfer. That was the starting point for my designing, anyway. I ended up with this row of (potentially surfable?!) waves which will go across the top of the reef/water section, and I started by piecing them. I divided the waves into organic shapes, much like those I used in the much larger Australian scene and space quilts, which I could then piece from different colour water fabrics. The first step was to trace these onto mid-weight non-woven interfacing and mark some registration points along the curved seams to help piece thems evenly, then cut the pieces apart. After carefully selecting the fabrics to use for each piece (colour, and a smooth gradation was the main consideration)I placed the interfacing patter piece directly on the fabric and drew around it with a air-erasable marker, adding the 1/4in seam allowance by eye as I went. I then added the registration marks and the piece number with a fine-tip permanent pen before cutting it out. I've saved all the interfacing pieces in case I want to do the waves again. Then I pinned all the pieces in place on my pattern and checked I was happy with my fabric choices. Then it was just a case of gradually sewing them all together, carefully easing the curves. The wave section is all done now and will be pieced to the top of the reef/water section once that's done (the bottom is straight-ish).
Continuing our school celebration of Black History Month last year, my 1st grade students created Faith Ringgold story quilts. We started off the lesson by watching a Reading Rainbow video of Tar B…
52 of my favorite modern quilts from QuiltCon 2024.
Every year, thousands of quilters and quilt lovers descend on Houston, Texas for the International Quilt Festival and Quilt Market. This year, Quilt Festival is from November 2-5, 2023. Many attendees’ favorite part of their annual trip is seeing the Festival Judged Show presented by Quilts, Inc.
This quilting video teaches you how to make small, embellished art quilts that fit into a frame. See examples of art quilts and get tips for materials to use.
Dear Liza, This week, I have learned about a whole new kind of quilting! It has been an adventure in history, geography, and craft. Kawandi quilting is from Western India and Pakistan, but it was b…
Learn how Melissa Averinos uses these appliqué techniques and design wall tips in making her quilts.
So you want to make a fabric collage quilt. Great! After choosing an image to work from, the next step in creating a fabric collage quilt is making a simple pattern. This is a critical step, one th…
A step by step tutorial with a video and photos to show you how to create a mitered corner in your quilt binding! Don't get frustrated, I can show you how.
Make a super-simple landscape art quilt with free-motion thread sketched embellishments, regardless of whether you’re a beginner or advanced.
52 of my favorite modern quilts from QuiltCon 2024.
It's finally here! The video showing you how I do big stitch quilting - a super easy and fun hand quilting technique! Big stitch quilting is my new favorite way to hand quilt - I'm not sure I'll ever go back to traditional hand quilting. It's just so much fun! I love the chunkiness of the
How do you use the Fibonacci sequence in quilts? This article gives examples showing the different ways of using Fibonacci in quilting.
Improv quilting. The modern scrap quilt?
Carbide is inspired by the luxury and glamour of the Art Deco period. It is a modern Art Deco quilt pattern that has blocks set on point.
Quilted fabric postcards are fun to make! Use a heavy fusible interfacing for the core. Add background fabric and design elements!
This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission.
Layout stage before the final felt
Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission from the sale if you click through and purchase. Are you scared of sewing with curves? Have no fear! Today I am sharing a few tips and tricks that have been helpful for me. Give this post a read and try out the Sunroom Quilt Pattern. The quilt pattern above is The Natural Harmony Quilt Pattern . 1. Sew slow. It's tempting to put the pedal to the metal when you're comfortable sewing, but with curves it's all about slow sewing. You want to take your time and ease that curve slowly through the machine. 2. Needle Down. I set my machine in the needle down position when I sew. That means every time I lift my foot off the pedal the machine stops with the needle down. This helps to hold all the layers in place so that I can lift the presser foot and adjust around the curve. This will help you make that curve nice and smooth. Every few stitches, I raise the foot and turn the fabric slightly around the curve. 3. Pin, Pin, Pin!! Don't be stingy with those pins. As you pin your curved pieces together make sure you pin all the way around that curve to the very end. I also find it most helpful to start in the middle, work my way to one end, back to the middle and to the other end. 4. Steam Iron. I personally find that using steam is helpful. First of all it helps work out all those wrinkles from the pins so you can see if there are any puckers. Second, I think it helps ease out any accidental puckers if there are any. This is simply personal preference. I know there are mixed opinions on using a steam iron while quilting. I make sure not to pull or stretch the fabric too much since the steam will cause that to happen on it's own a little. 5. Tailor's Clapper! Alright this might be a new tool you haven't heard of before. I use this handmade clapper from Lamb and Loom. It makes such a difference to me! When I'm ready to press I open the seam, press and then quickly place the clapper over the seam and let it sit while I move on to the next piece. Then I repeat that process. The clapper helps to hold the heat on the seam and really make it crisp! I'm hooked on my clapper. The pattern above makes great practice - The Natural Harmony Quilt Pattern. If you feel like you can conquer the curves try out the Sunroom Quilt Pattern. This pattern was my first attempt at sewing curves. You can do this! You have all the skills you need now. Good luck! Here are some additional blog posts you might enjoy: Sewing with Triangles Quilting Curves Making Half-Square Triangles The quilt pattern above is The Natural Harmony Quilt Pattern.
I wanted to learn more about Kawandi quilts and the Siddis who make them. So last spring I took a kawandi quilt making workshop.
With these tips, you'll be able to create beautiful projects with your slow stitching. Ways to plan before you begin an improv quilt or stitched piece and ideas for how to fix a project you don’t love (which can happen in our work at times and becomes a 'learning' for the next piece).
Join us as we learn how to make picture quilts with expert fiber artist Wendy Butler Berns whose method is simple, fast, and oh-sew fun!
I stitch a lot. And I have a lot of raw materials that can be stitched. So I do. I stitch.
The quilt-along starts Saturday 30th September- see below for more details! When I first started quilting back in 2019, it was via a lot of hacked together Youtube videos. But quilting brings me SO much joy that I want as many people to do it as possible, hence why I pulled together my free Quil
