With this series of posts about free-motion quilting for beginners, I have been emphasizing the importance of practice. I encourage all my students to quilt every day. I think of practice not as attempting to achieve perfection, but of attempting to improve. It is a way of generating new ideas and trying new techniques. Sometimes […]
Read MoreLast week we used a diagonal path for filling a grid. Let’s take off on a tangent and try a few new things with using diagonal quilting combined with grids. I like to try to find a way to quilt a design that makes it easy to stitch AND gives me great looking results. Win-win! […]
Read MoreWe filled half-square triangles with loops to create some fun texture. Now let’s get a a little crazy and create some more fun with loops. Work on the diagonal It’s time to branch out and try a little something different. Rather than travel horizontally or even vertically, we can choose a diagonal stitch path. We’ll […]
Read MoreLast week we filled grids with straight lines, curves and S-shapes. That leaves two more of the 5 basic shapes to create even more filled grid variations, swirl and loop. Swirl The swirl is a fun one to quilt because it flows so easily. If you are not proficient at quilting swirls, remember to practice […]
Read MoreWe are back this week to our discussion of grid-work. Next up are filled grids. When you want maximum texture on your quilts, filled grids are the way to go. Whenever parts of the grid framework are stitched and other parts are left un-stitched the result is texture. Why? Stitching tamps down the batting and […]
Read MoreIf you have been following along with our Free Motion Quilting for Beginners series, you already know the importance of practice for gaining FMQ skills. I like to think of practice time as play time. It’s stress-free quilting time. Time to bond with your machine. No worries about making mistakes. No worries about getting out […]
Read MoreFacebook (Meta) has started to change its algorithm that decides what you see in your newsfeed every day. If you want to stay in the know about all things Handi Quilter you’ll want to be sure you are following our Facebook page and haven’t simply “liked” it. If you’re not sure how to do that […]
Read MoreWe have used all the shapes to make continuous grid designs except for the swirl (or hook). So today we will dive deep into the swirly grid design. The Swirl Remember the swirl or hook for the 5 basic shapes? Like the S shape from last week, we need to make some modifications to the […]
Read MoreLast time, we took our grid work to a new level by using more of the basic shapes. We followed the same path using the grid. It’s time for more grid designs! Using the S shape and the (mostly) same path. I saved this shape and the hook for last because they are a bit […]
Read MoreUNCOVERED: The Ken Burns Collection Prolific film-maker and documentarian Ken Burns loves antique American quilts. “Uncovered: The Ken Burns Collection” showcases 26 colorful historic American quilts, dating from the 1850s to the 1940s. The exhibit is on loan from the private collection of the legendary documentarian. UNCOVERED, The Ken Burns Collection is at the Riverfront […]
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