Top 10 tips for slow stitching quilts.I love slow stitching it's very relaxing. I try to include a little in everything I do
Attention Quilters: If you aren’t trying this hack, you could be saving lots of time! 🚨 If you are prepping fabric for one inch hexagons, you can easily cut several at once: 1. Start with a 2.5...
Try out this collection of Irish chain patterns as your next quilting project that you can make for yourself and your loved ones.
Create a beautiful quilt with one of our patterns, ranging from beginner level to more challenging. Try a classic pattern or an original project.
With my excitement over Stonefields and a few other projects, I have fallen behind on my Di Ford mystery quilt. I suddenly realized that th...
Thank you for all your comments on my last post. Your ideas for other markers are great. I have so far tried the SewLine retractable pencil with the ceramic pencil leads. I have worked with them fo…
It has been awhile since I have had the chance to work on my Stonefields quilt, my other current long term project. I had to pack up all th...
This is block #22 in the Civil War block-of-the-week series offered by Barbara Brackman. It is called Blockade. Go to Barbara’s blog to get the pattern and to see the story and pictures rel…
The Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap was the first swap I followed on Instagram. I was pouring over the hashtag #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap and trying to figure out what the heck was going on! …
The most recent scrap-tastic series of Love of Quilting has got to be the 3200 series now available within our Quiling Daily TV offerings!
Also known as: Hungarian Braided Chain Stitch The braided chain stitch is worked almost the same way as the heavy chain stitch. There is only a slight difference in the way the needle is taken under the existing loops, thus giving it a totally...
What iron is best for quilters? Which one works well for applique? Cordless? Corded? Steam? So many options! Today we answer the question and view a few of my favorite.
This Sarah's Choice quilt block pattern combines the look of a star and a pinwheel. Choose from three sizes or mix and match sizes for a unique quilt.
Yes... More bojagi sewing for me! Practice & more practice, I am loving it... I am experimenting different colour combination...
People want to know what I do with my ‘going round in circles’ blocks. Here are some ideas: Make it into a piece of wearable art (tutorial): Make yourself a one of a kind needlebook (tutorial) Make tiny quilted hugs for your loved ones (tutorial) Make a lovely bookwrap (or i-phone or i-pad cover) Make […]
Monkey and I have prepared a one-page guide for machine sewing LeMoyne Stars and we would love you to try it!
The life of an UnRuly Quilter
Firstly, THANKYOU!!! Thimbleanna for letting me in on the 'kittens EAT thread' tip. Read it and at once went and removed the BIG needle with perle cotton from the arm of my couch where I have been hand quilting! Thanks...
See here so many tips and tricks while learning 2 styles of free motion quilting. Step by step and full instructions and pictures!
Life has been busy lately, so I thought I’d do a quick little summary of the happenings around these parts! Magazines: I’ve had a few projects published this past few weeks. I have my Priscilla Wall Hanging on the cover of Down Under Quilts (YAY!!) I also have a project in the current issue of Patchwork and Stitching Magazine called Tulip Time. It’s a foundation pieced table runner which is a project perfect for foundation piecing newbies. And I have my Reflect Quilt on the cover of the latest Patchwork and Stitching Magazine. So many secret projects which I’ve finally been able to share with you. Yay! My little man had his First Holy Communion over the weekend. It was a beautiful evening and all of the kids looked beautiful in their church finery. Doesn’t he look extra cute in his shirt, vest and tie? He thinks he quite likes this outfit and wants to wear it again to the school disco later this week. I think I’ve managed to talk him down from that idea. He is only 8 and one of the younger ones in his grade, but he’s at my nose height. A couple more years and he’ll be taller than I am! Wasn’t he only just born yesterday? I’ve been discovering new ways to use my slow cooker – not just for stews. I shared the pavlova recipe last week and later this week, I’ll be sharing the chocolate mint fudge recipe. After sharing the fudge with friends, there are only a couple of pieces left. I told the kids I’d save them for their after school treats… but they may not last that long. Sewing : More secret projects which I can share with you just yet. Well, maybe just a sneaky little peek… Do you have any slow cooker recipes you would like to share with me / us? Going from one extreme to another, I’m contemplating buying a pressure cooker. Do you have one? Do you recommend any specific features when choosing one? Have you discovered Aurifil thread on Massdrop?
Nine Patch Place Mat Version 6 I decided to try a geometric design on this place mat. No leaves or flowers; just geometric patterns. These are the three elements that make up the design. The first o
Hi everyone -- I hope you're surviving this crazy March weather. Here in the Northeastern USA we've had a few days of nearly 50 degree temps and sun - but many more days with sub freezing temps, nasty wind and snow. Although the sewing days have been fun, we're all ready to break into spring. Here's hoping it comes soon - these are the evenings I'm dreaming of... Keuka Lake - Summer 2013 - Family Fishin' In case you missed it, my latest free quilt design, "Chevron with a Twist" was published on the Moda Bake Shop on February 23rd. You can read my introductory blog post here or go directly to the Moda Bake Shop recipe by clicking here. In the recipe, I outline all the cutting, piecing and applique details for making the quilt, but only a few images and details about the free motion quilting. What's fun was that the free motion quilting was stitched using Aurifil 50Wt Mako Cotton (love that thread!!) on my Janome Horizon domestic sewing machine -- YOU can do it too!! In today's post I would like to share more about free motion quilting Chevron with a Twist and let you in on a great giveaway! Woohoo... Let's start with detailing the Curved Crosshatch quilting. Some background: Chevron with a Twist was my first attempt at using EQ7 software for designing a quilt. Although the learning curve was big, it was well worth the investment (time and $$). EQ7 Chevron with a Twist Design Print Just prior to finishing Chevron with a Twist, Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple announced her brand new QP Curve Templates for Free Motion Quilting (long arm, mid-arm, and domestic machines). Linda is one of the amazingly talented quilters that I follow on social media. She has a great blog, a Facebook page and an Instagram account that I stalk. I'm always inspired by what she creates on her long arm machine -- really -- over the top beautiful every time! Follow her - I promise you won't be disappointed. Even if you don't FMQ your own quilts, Linda's quilting designs will give you tons of ideas to share with your long arm quilter. Here is a sample of Linda's beautiful quilting. "Portland Rose" was created by the amazing Lisa Bongean (Primitive Gatherings Quilt Shop) and quilted by Linda Hrcka. The Linda and Lisa quilt won a BLUE RIBBON at AQS Paducah in 2014! What an honor and certainly much deserved by these two talented ladies. You can read/see more "Portland Rose" on Linda's blog here. Image courtesy The Quilted Pineapple SO, here is this very talented professional long arm quilter with a awesome set of curved acrylic templates that SHE DESIGNED... The QP Curve Templates. I had to have them! I ordered the entire set and started on a mission to find a way to use them. Back to EQ7 -- What's neat about EQ7 is that you can print a black and white image of your design (layout only) and use it to sketch potential FMQ motif. I was pretty sure I wanted to stitch feathers in the Chevrons, and because I was itching to use the QP Curve Templates, I came up with this new to me "Feather Fireworks" aka "Feather Star-Burst" design for the non-Chevron blocks I kinda liked the sketch so I started quilting. Chevrons first... after considering two different designs for the Chevrons I settled on feathers. What a great way to hone your feather skill - that's a lot of feathers! I will share the chevron feather process in a separate post. Next quilting step: Feather Star-Burst aka Feather Fireworks! Here's the design and I'll share how to stitch this one too -- in a separate post. **NOTE: I posted more information about Feather Starburst here -- check it out ** The full-size on-point blocks were all filled with Feather Star-Burst. I'm really having fun with this quilt and learning The QP Curve Templates! At this point I realize I need something a little different in the half blocks or the setting blocks.... A new sketch... Hummmh... this might work...Curved Crosshatching! Note: I'd been itching to stitch a curved crosshatch on my domestic machine since I purchased Karen McTavish's "Custom Curves" book. Karen and Rhonda Beyer make beautiful designs with curved templates in that book (a must have book for anyone that FMQ's). Ok - lets see if I can actually create a acceptable curved crosshatch on my domestic machine using The QP Curve Templates... I used the #20 QP Curve Template for the Curved Crosshatch Remember, I'm new to using rulers of any type on my domestic machine... Here's the trial run with a narrow Crosshatch... Trial run for the large Crosshatch Trial run for "Just the right size" Crosshatch It was fun to learn how to use The QP Curve templates on practice pieces ... Once they were created and I placed them near the quilt -- it was obvious that I should go with the "not too wide, not too narrow" design... ha ha ha!! (I won't mention that it had a lot to do with how much time I wanted to spend quilting...). The "just the right size" crosshatch had 11 lines each side of the crosshatch. Because I'm new to using acrylic rulers/templates I chose to mark each line on each block - it gave me piece of mind to get the quilting done with minimal ripping (picking). I used a run of the mill water soluble marking pen to mark each line. (Details in the video below) What's in a Foot? To work with acrylic templates on a domestic machine you need a foot that won't slip under or on-top-of the template. Many thanks to Amy at Amy's Free Motion Quilting Adventures for sharing her knowledge on the subject last year. I ordered the Janome "Free Motion Frame Quilting Feet Set" for the 1600P - Part# 767-434-005 which included a 1/4" Ruler Foot and an Open Toe Quilting Foot. Also showing (below) is the closed toe foot (not included in the kit) I use when stitching around wool applique. The 1/4" Ruler Foot is similar to a hopping foot for a long-arm machine. It is perfect to ride against an acrylic template that is 1/4 thick. On the Janome, if the template was much thicker than a 1/4", I may have run into trouble with it hitting against the built in walking foot mechanism. I'm just sneaking under it with The QP Curve Templates (thankfully). So I marked and quilted 13 outside 1/2 blocks, 6 inside 1/2 blocks, and 2 corner 1/4 blocks with the curved crosshatch. By the time I finished them I was feeling pretty confident -- maybe the next time I'll only have to mark my starting lines. Now I'll share with you my Not So Professional YouTube videos outlining the marking and quilting process using The QP Curve Templates. The first video shows you how I marked this particular quilt using The #20 QP Curve Template. (Click the image below to watch the video) The second video shows you how I quilted the blocks using The #20 QP Curve Template and my Janome Ruler foot. (Click the image below to watch the video) Please note -- these are first takes of videos AND the first time I've prepared anything like them. I stumble over a few words - but I hope they will still be helpful to you. Prepare yourself to see and hear me at my quilting finest ;) Do you want to see more of my quilting videos ? Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for upcoming videos. See more about Feather Starburst in this post !! *** Wow... that was a bunch of information... Now we're at the fun part of the post! The wonderfully talented and always gracious Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple is providing a COMPLETE SET of The QP Curve Templates to one lucky reader! Yes, that's right, an entire set of QP Curve Templates - that is 6 different templates including the smallest template that Linda has coined the "BFF Template" (Best Friend Forever). Image Courtesy The Quilted Pineapple The giveaway is open to domestic AND international friends alike!! The giveaway will close at midnight on Saturday, March 28th. *** This Giveaway has Ended - Congratulations Laura *** To enter the giveaway, leave One comment below letting me know what YOU would like to use The QP Curved Templates for, what kind of machine you're stitching on and how long you've been free motion quilting (if you are). For a 2nd chance to win, hop over to one of The Quilted Pineapple social outlets (Blog, Facebook or Instagram and let Linda know how much you appreciate her sharing TheQPCurveTemplates with us. Be sure to come back and leave me a second comment letting me know how you reached out to Linda. Please Note: If you are NOT A BLOGGER and/or you're not sure if blogger shares your email address on a comment, please, please leave your email address in the comment(s). For the last giveaway the random winner was tossed out twice because I had no way to contact them (So Sad). Blogger does not always share your email address with me - so please, if you're not sure, leave an email address in your comment(s). Thank You!! Also, many thanks for the support and encouragement you've shown me lately -- It's been a little nuts and I haven't been able to reply to each comment. Know that I read and cherish each and every one and I so appreciate you leaving them. Stay tuned - I'll share more FMQ details for Chevron with a Twist in near term posts. Hugs, Karen PS - Linking up to other blogging friends like Hope Studios Tutorial Tuesday, Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday, and FreeMotion by the River...
The recording of the new two-part Sewing With Nancy mini-series, Tried and True Sewing & Quilting Tips, took place during Nancy’s Notions annual Sewing
My Favorite day of the month is Aurifil Designer Challenge day! Our theme this year is the rainbow of colors found in the color wheel. Each designer is assigned a color going around the wheel and Feb
I love tatting with magic square method, while you can tat the work in one pass. However, I have to pay lots of attention where to join the picots, and also plan ahead for what size you want to mak…
This Sarah's Choice quilt block pattern combines the look of a star and a pinwheel. Choose from three sizes or mix and match sizes for a unique quilt.
Are you a Camille Roskelley fan?? I am betting you are and you don’t even know it. Camille is the force behind her blog Simplify. She’s also 1/2 of Moda’s design team Bonnie an…
