Winning Quilts from International Quilt Festival 2022
International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX for 2022 is in the books. Festival, as it is affectionately known, is the big show each year in Houston. It is held at the end of October / beginning of November. Quilters from all over the globe come together to celebrate the art of quilting. They enjoy classes, […]
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Quilter’s Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is the holiday we celebrate here in the USA on the forth Thursday in November each year. It originated with our ancestors as a harvest celebration. It has morphed in modern times into a day that we are mindful of and grateful for all of the things that make us comfortable, bring us joy […]
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Tension is Key
I spent several days in Houston at the International Quilt Festival. I had a wonderful time chatting with old friends, new friends, Handi Quilter owners, and those thinking about joining the Handi Quilter family of owners. During my flight home I thought about all the wonderful conversations I had during the week and something stood […]
Read MoreQuilting Intricate Quilts
Last week I shared a bunch of photos of intricate quilts seen at the AQS Quiltweek in Des Moines, IA. If you missed it, you can see it here. As an educator, the question I get the most is: How do you decide how to quilt something? Checking out the fabulous quilting on these intricate […]
Read MoreIntricate Quilts
I was at the American Quilter’s Society show in Des Moines, IA recently. As I made my way through the quilt displays I noticed so many very intricately pieced quilts. These intricate quilts must have taken months or maybe even years to complete. Of course I took lots of pictures to share with you. Check […]
Read MoreTension Headache
I’ve got a cure for your tension headache. Tension is the first thing you need to learn when starting out with longarm quilting. It’s not hard to learn. Many quilters have a bit of a mental block about it. We have been told repeatedly to not touch the tension on our domestic machine’s bobbin. Fear […]
Read MorePAQA-S 2022 Exhibit Part 2
The PAQA-S 2022 Exhibit was at the Sertoma Arts Center in Raleigh, NC last month. PAQA-S is the Professional Art Quilters Alliance-South that promotes innovative art quilts, art cloth, and art garments. Last week I shared some of the quilts I saw there. You can read that post here. This week is Part 2, sharing […]
Read MorePAQA-S 2022 Exhibit
I had the distinct pleasure of seeing the PAQA-S 2022 Exhibit at the Sertoma Arts Center in Raleigh, NC this month. PAQA-S is the Professional Art Quilters Alliance-South that promotes innovative art quilts, art cloth, and art garments. The 2022 exhibit is titled ArtQuilts Emerge. Their theme is described on the website as follows: In […]
Read MorePerfection
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 MoreWhat is Timing Anyway?
If you have had a longarm machine for any amount of time you have probably heard the word “timing”. And you probably didn’t hear it in a good way. The timing on any sewing machine has to be just right in order to create good stitches. When your timing goes out, you usually cannot sew […]
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