There’s a wall in my sewing room that’s pretty much “dead space”. It is right when you walk into the room, and it is too narrow to put an actual shelving unit, and yet, as someone who needs to maximize every inch of her sewing space, I brainstormed what I could do to make it usable. I especially was looking for more thread storage with my growing collection of hand quilting thread. I wanted somethingContinue reading
Getting bored of quilting straight lines? Want to quilt something else, but also don’t want it to be too complicated or difficult? Well, let me introduce you to decorative stitches! In this post I’ll cover three different decorative stitches I use on my Janome machine that add such a fun quilted touch! I’ll show you the stitch length I use so that you can replicate the results. If you don’t have a Janome, check yourContinue reading
I field a lot of questions about hand-quilting. These mainly center around supplies, but once in a while I find out that someone heard from someone else that…fill-in-the-blank. Today I’m debunking 3 common hand quilting myths. If you want to know even more about hand-quilting, check out my YouTube video where I walk you through the process step-by-step, and my hand quilting Tips & Tricks blog post. Myth #1: Hand quilting isn’t as durable asContinue reading
I don’t think my Kona fabric swatch guide lasted more than a week in my house before I started chopping it up. Of course, then the issue of storing it cropped up. Where would I put all these little fabric chips to keep from losing them? I decided to add magnets to the back of my fabric swatches and house them on a dry erase board in my craft room. Not only does it provideContinue reading
4-at-a-time flying geese are a great tool to have in your quilting arsenal. They’re versatile, no waste, and are the perfect way to make flying geese with a directional print. So, let’s make some geese! If you’re working off a pattern, the pattern will stipulate the cuts of fabric you need. If you’re making up your own, here’s the formula you need to know. Please note that FINISHED width and height refers to the sizeContinue reading
If you’re anything like me, you find using fabric swatches helpful for pulling together different fabrics and colors. The first thing I did when I got a Kona color card was bust out the scissors and cut it up! I just can’t visualize what colors will look like together unless I put them next to each other physically. However, this proves a bit more difficult for all the other fabric swatch guides on the market,Continue reading
In this article, when hand-quilting is mentioned, I’m talking specifically about big-stitch hand-quilting with size 8 or 12 weight thread. When I first started hand-quilting I just used whatever needle I could find. Then, I decided I should probably find one that I really like using, and turned to my good friend Google. There’s lots of information out on the web about which hand quilting needles are best. I’m not one to take someone else’sContinue reading
Sometimes, you want to add a little pizazz to your binding. Or, if you’re like me, the usual case is that you run out of binding about 2″ away from the end. It is an opportunity that can go one of two ways. You can curse, scream, and throw the quilt in a corner out of frustration, OR, get creative by adding a fussy cut binding motif! As for me, I usually choose the latterContinue reading
We’re in the final week of the Harvest Star quilt along so I shared with the participants a quick and easy way to determine your next quilt layout. I thought it was worth sharing it on here too! This only works if your quilt has 9 or less blocks – I have yet to find a photo collage app that allows for more than 9 photos, so if you know of one, please let meContinue reading
When I started creating patterns that used flying geese, I’d often hear from people that they struggled with accurately trimming them. While it is true that trimming flying geese is different than trimming, say, half square triangles, once you know how, you’ll see that it really isn’t a big deal! To show you how to accurately trim flying geese, I put together a short video tutorial for you. My hope is that you’ll learn toContinue reading
What’s the best and easiest way to trim Half Square Triangles (HSTs)? I’m coming to you today with TWO ways! The first is using my favorite ruler ever, the Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmers. This ruler made me finally like making HSTs! If you want to use a ruler you already have, and you have a square ruler, then the second way is for you! Using the Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmers The benefit of this rulerContinue reading
I was so excited when Accuquilt invited me to be part of their ambassador program. I make a ton of quilts every year as pattern samples, and I’m always looking for ways to streamline the process. Accuquilt machines are die cut machines that can cut up to 6 layers of fabric at once, which speeds up the cutting process and does it with accuracy! I was especially excited about Accuquilt’s possibility to cut half squareContinue reading
