Quilting Fun
International Quilt Festival, Houston
Last week we were at International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX. It is the big show that we look forward to every year. (Except last year (2020)). But nothing could keep us back this year! We love connecting with old friends, making new friends, and introducing new products to help quilters finish more quilts. This […]
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Free Motion Quilting for Beginners – S shape
Continuing the series on free motion quilting for beginners, this week we will explore the S shape. You remember the shape of the letter S from kindergarten, right? The perfect S with the nice, perfect, counter-clockwise curve at the top that transitions smoothly into the nice, perfect, clockwise curve at the bottom. That perfect shape […]
Read MoreFree Motion Quilting For Beginners – Backtrack Spiral
Last week we got started with the spiral, hook or swirl shape. This week we will talk about another kind of spiral. I call it the backtrack spiral. Instead of spiraling in, and then splitting the path you created to spiral out, you will backtrack spiral back out. Or in other words, you will stitch […]
Read MoreFree motion quilting for beginners – Start from the beginning
We have come a long way from the beginning of this series about free motion quilting. I sure hope you have learned a thing or two along the way. Are you keeping up with your everyday quilting play? I hope that it becomes a life-long habit. Previous Posts I’ve heard from several folks who have […]
Read MoreQuilt Show Inspiration
Quilt shows are an awesome place to get inspiration for all sorts of quilty topics. Color combinations, piecing, applique, borders, new techniques, and my favorite: quilting designs. Quilt show inspiration for you I was working in the Handi Quilter booth at the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo in Raleigh, NC at the beginning of August. […]
Read MoreFree Motion Quilting for Beginners – Curvy Designs
Now that you are very comfortable stitching curves, you’re ready to learn some curvy designs. We will put those curves to good use quilting designs you’ll use over and over. Block Designs Let’s start with some simple block designs. Here’s the block we will quilt: Continuous Curve And here’s the design: Notice that it is […]
Read MoreFree Motion Quilting for Beginners – the Secret to Curves
There’s a secret to curves. Well, the secret really applies to all quilting shapes, but it works especially well on curves. Curves make up 97.35% of the best quilting designs. Take a look at any collection of quilts and pay close attention to the quilting. You will see curves on almost every quilt. Curves C-shapes, […]
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Free Motion Quilting for Beginners – Muscle
I hope you had some fun trying out those straight line designs from last week. They will become some of your favorite go-to’s when you’re deciding how to quilt lots of tops. As you practice you are developing muscle. No, not that kind of muscle! Muscle memory. Is muscle memory a thing? You bet it […]
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Art or Math?
There is a whole bunch of math that goes into creating a quilt. Geometry too. Those are scary words to a lot of quilters. Some think MATH is a four-letter word. Others will go screaming from the room at the mention of the “M” word. So the question is: Is a quilt Art or Math? […]
Read MoreExtra Tips – Binding
Last week’s post explained how to stitch binding to the front of the quilt while the quilt is still loaded on the frame. You can read it here. This week, I’d like to add a few extra tips when it comes to binding on the longarm frame. Finish the last few inches at your domestic […]
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