Life doesn’t always happen the way we envision it. Last year I was all set to take a little break from design work after finishing the manuscript for Doodle Quilting Mania. I had delivered my projects
I don't know about you but every once in a while I get an order that is just so special, I have to say yes. In this case it was from a lovely couple that I had never met before. OK--why was it special? You see years ago--like almost thirty years ago--maybe it was even 32 years ago--I am not sure, they had purchased a quilt of mine from a gallery and hung in their living room all this time. Seen children grow, friends come and go. Indeed the only image they had of the quilt was from a large party. Alas though when they repainted, its time had come. They told me that they cried when it came down. And that would be enough to make a story. But they wanted me to make a quilt to replace it to hang for the next 30 years. Of course it wasn't going to look just like the quilt they had had. Styles had changed. The quilts I make have changed. Their furnishings have changed. They brought images of the room. Together we looked at quilts I had made and they found a piece I had made 8 or so years ago that they loved. prairie dawn--quilt--ann brauer They loved the blue sky in this quilt and the red "sun." But after some thought--they preferred the bottom of this quilt. rainbows of dawn--quilt--ann brauer OK--this would be interesting. Now I had not thought about these quilts for years. How do I make them? What colors work? Can I even figure it out? Remember that old saying that you never forget how to ride a bicycle--would it also work for making a quilt? I had to find out. I told myself to start with what I knew. Maybe that wonderful chartreuse green on the bottom. So I cut lots of fabric in those colors--the palette. fabric palette--quilt--ann brauer And started sewing. It is quilt as you go in blocks so I sew right sides together through the cotton batting onto the back. sewing--quilt--ann brauer--2016 And press open. sewing--quilt--ann brauer--2016 Check out the back to make sure it is working. sewing--quilt--ann brauer--2016 Repeat and continue until I have a block. sewing--quilt--ann brauer--2016 And start to pin it to my design board. This quilt is large enough it will occupy the design board until I get it done. I hope that will be incentive to work quickly. sewing--quilt--ann brauer--2016 So the story begins. The sewing I know how to do. But will I be able to get the colors to fall into place. Will the top and bottom designs work together? And when can I begin to get this off my design board since I do make work for the American Craft Exposition in Glencoe at the end of September? Then I have the Philadelphia Museum of Art Show in November and the One of a Kind Show in December--just to keep me off the streets. Yikes!!! And just like a TV show that leaves you dangling, this will be continued. What do you think?
Hi again! As I mentioned earlier today, what I like about these quilts is the ease of coordinating the colors. In decorating, I love it when a whole room is all blue or green and even though the greens or blues may not be exactly the same, the design works since the basic color carries […]
Never make a boring quilt again! Why leave a quilt well enough alone when you can adorn and enrich it with embellishments? This handy guide to embellishing
Happy March 1st! And because it is the first Wednesday in March, we are once again opening our monthly theme for the Modern Quilt Along series that we are doing in 2017. If you need a refresher of what this series is, go HERE to read the introduction post on the why’s and how’s. The theme […]
It is Mini Monday again! The weeks are just flying by. You will be able to whip up this fresh and simple bowtie quilt in no time. If you st...
I promise, your quilts will thank you! 🥰 It only takes one time of skipping this step and you’ll never bind your quilts again without doing it! Save yourself the trouble! ‼️Here’s the step you...
I dug into my smaller batik scraps this afternoon to start a project I’ve been thinking about. I saw this project on Instagram a couple of months ago and have been fascinated by it. An old fr…
Hello, again friends and fellow quilters! I'm back with a quick post to share some of my favorite places to find FREE downloadable quilt patterns.
I thought some of you might like to try my log cabin quilting pattern. It's a continuous line pattern that saves a lot of stop start sewing....
Taste buds do it. Ear worms do it. Lurking scents do it. Words do it. Dreams do it. If I see a picture of french fries I can actually taste them. Play a Joni Mitchell song for me and I will hum it for weeks. If I smell Old Spice aftershave I think of my father. If I see a drawing that speaks to
Getting perfect points in your quilt top isn't hard, but it does take a little aim! Continue reading to get perfect points in your quilts.
It's the first day of summer and here in Arizona and it is HOT, HOT, HOT! It's definitely time to hole up in my studio and make new things until cooler weather is with us again. This year I got back from my latest trip and started studio clean up. Usually that process begins with putting away my scraps from recent projects, but this time I was confronted with this image. What a wreck! Not only can I not find anything in my scrap drawers, but I also can't fit any more in those drawers. As yo
These free-motion quilting design tutorials include videos of me stitching them! Wibbly Wobbly Starbles (Stars + Marbles) Way...
I dug into my smaller batik scraps this afternoon to start a project I’ve been thinking about. I saw this project on Instagram a couple of months ago and have been fascinated by it. An old fr…
Have you heard about our Digital Panto Club? Join the Club to get every NEW design we release sent to your inbox at no additional charge! Also, you'll get an unlimited 20% off discount for all designs that have already been released (like this one). Click here to sign up and get your discount code. We love to choose to edge-to-edge designs with simple, repeated shapes to play up the texture without complicating a quilt top. The Turnstiles design would look great on modern quilts, quilts for kids, or quilts that have a floral theme. Read more about the design in our blog post.The quilt pattern used in the example photos is called Hodgepodge by Modernly Morgan. Upon completing your purchase, an email containing your download will be sent immediately. Please note: WE DO NOT SELL ANY PAPER PANTOGRAPHS. You will get the following file formats in your zipped folder along with a PDF containing design info: .bqm, .dxf, .hqf, .pat, .plt, .qcc, .qli, .ssd, .iqp, .txt, .wmf Shown in the sample (quilt size 60" x 72"):Row height: 1.653"Gap: -1.197" Pattern height: 2.85" (total measurement from top to bottom of repeat)Offsetting: 50%Backtracking: minimal We'd love to see how you use this in your quilting! Use #turnstilespanto on social media and tag @longarmleague if you are on Instagram. We'd love to see what you're up to!
While I was researching last week’s post about slow fashion, I found so many beautiful examples of sashiko (Japanese quilting)-inspired mending and boro, the traditional Japanese practise of …
Lascaux is located in south-west France. The site has earned international fame as a tourist hot-spot for its prehistoric cave paintings. Situated near the village of Montignac, the Paleolithic art is estimated to be a good 15,000 years old.
Washing a quilt can be a stressful process for many quilters because the risk of ruining a quilt that you just spent hours and hours to make is scary! However, washing your quilt doesn’t have to be as scary as we make it out to be. Plus, you can even wash and dry your quilt...
From first stitch to joining the ends and the mitered corners in between, here's how to attach your binding to your quilt.
I am a passionate quilter, but sometimes I branch out into other sewing projects. This time I made a dragon stuffie for a friend's new baby.
Closeup of "Start Again" by Kimie Yanagisawa, shown at the Jan 2011 Tokyo Quilt Festival. Note how she uses large scale fabrics, cutting into small pieces to integrate into the overall patchwork pattern.
Hello again! Are you ready for some more wishbone variations? The last two tutorials (in part 4 of this series) may have been a bit complex for some quilters with all of that mirroring going on. Th…
More storms and tornado warnings a couple miles south last night so I had the machine unplugged again for awhile. 8/10 of an inch of rain and lots of wind. I finished sewing this together by 11p.m. and then pressed it and did a row of stay-stitching around the edge. When it is sewn together I can really tell if it is successful. When it is just pieces on the design wall I have my doubts. I'll call this one a success! It is 44" x 64". I will be posting a couple collages of the progress as I worked on this one.
It’s finally March here in New England, which by our weather standards means absolutely nothing. The Groundhog cruelly predicted an early spring and we got a few days of weather in the 70’s (in Februa
This is a tutorial previously shared as a guest post on another site. It is no longer available there, so I want to share it again with you. Its about a year and a half since I made this tutorial, so I will try my best to remember how I made it. If you have...
