This post does not contain affiliate links. Despite our best efforts–or perhaps because of them if we’re improv piecing!–our quilts are not always square. This happened to me recently as I was working on a quilt from scratch. I was not paying attention and miscalculated a few blocks, so there were some dangling bits and […]
New Pattern in the Shop! And a Sneaky Marking Technique
I am delighted to present Midwinter Mandala available as a PDF download in my shop.I have had this idea for a snowflake design running around in my head for a while now, so when Betz White asked me to participate in “A Banner Year”, a seasonal sew-along project for our School of Wool Facebook group, […]
Quilting with Aurifil Lana Wool Thread, a Tutorial
When Bari J. sent me this quilt top to do up for Fall Market, she said I could do whatever I wanted, and since it was so simple, maybe do something fun. “OK, but, can I use wool thread,” I asked? “Whatever you want,” she replied. Delightful words! As I was looking at the top, It […]
A tip on keeping bobbins tidy
I have a post over on the BERNINA blog, We All Sew where I talk about how I keep my bobbins neat and the thread from unwinding all over the place! Head on over and check it out, and while you’re there, be sure to check on the posts for their Countdown to Christmas. While I […]
Quilting Technique of the Week: When fabric bleeds
As my mom would say: “Oh honey, it was so sad.” I was on my way to teach a quilting class at my LQS last week, and had a big plastic bin of things to share with me. It’s been a long, gross winter, and that day it was raining and foggy. All the parking […]
Sewing tips and tricks the hard way
Here are a few amazing sewing tips and tricks I’ve learned over the last few years, followed by a scream then a good laugh: Glue basting is AMAZING, as long as you sew the edge you basted (did this today). Don’t put your spray starch and spray glue side by side. Never square up your […]
Great video on how to spin seams with Cristy Fincher
Technique and knowing how to do things properly when piecing is important to me. I’m always reading and practicing new techniques to see which ones work for me, and which make the best finished quilt. I know it sometimes seems like a Catch 22, that I’m a modern quilter who loves improv but also loves […]
Crayola Washable Markers and Quilt Marking, Technique of the Week
It’s been a hot topic on the professional longarm forums lately: what do we use to mark quilts? Blue pens that are water soluble? Purple pens that disappear in air? Washable pencils? On a whim, I decided to try the new “ultra clean” Crayola Washable markers, and to run a little experiment. My hypothesis: Crayola […]
This technique has to do with frogging quilting. Just sayin’.
Some weeks you’re sewing like a rockstar goddess and everything is perfect, and true and right with the world. You are the mistress of all that you see! And then, the sewing gods step in and show you that, dude, you need a reality check. We al know frogging (extensive ripping out of seams or […]
Practice sheet for background fill
Look at me, learning how to use the arc tool in Illustrator! Ahem. Celebrate the little things. Anyway, here is a PDF version of the swoopy grid I used in the tutorial below. Print out as many as you’d like. The first one has dark black lines: OnionBackgroundFill And this one has lighter grey lines: OnionBackgroundFillGrey
