Have you tried paper piecing? Better yet, have you tried freezer paper piecing? Both are a great way to get precise results for projects that are: super detailed have wonky shapes and angles lots of little bits all of the above Paper piecing is when a pattern is printed onto a paper foundation. The foundations have numbered sections […]
Thread Dread: Removing Trapped Thread From Your Quilt Top
I am participating in the Back to School Blog Hop hosted by Sam Hunter of Hunter’s Design Studio. The lineup of quilters (32 of them!) is really fantastic, and the topics cover a huge range of material. Enjoy! We’ve all had this happen. The top is prepped, it’s sandwiched, the quilting has been started… and […]
Trimming Your Quilt with Tools from the Hardware Store
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 […]
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 […]
Sewing Clutch Tutorial for Clutch Sewing
If you’re like me, you may be one of those people that wind up having a couple of last minute gifts you’re trying to finish (or find!): a gift for someone on a quilt Guild committee, a bridesmaid shower gift, birthdays… I think we’ve all found ourselves in that boat. This project, though, is one that I […]
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 […]
A story about quilting wobbles, or, why I learned to pay attention to piecing rules
One of my favorite things about quilting for others, and that I’m most proud of, is helping people finish their quilts in the way they want, so that they look their best. My goal with my quilting is to take the top my customer has worked so hard on and add my quilting as […]
Back to School: Guaranteed accurate 1/4″ seams between machines!
I’ve had quite a few opportunities to sew on a variety of machines this summer, whether teaching or traveling, and I got to thinking about quilting accuracy. The usual rule of thumb* is that once you start sewing a project on one machine–especially a project you really *really* care about–then you need to stick with that […]
Yay for School Days, and Not just for the Kids!
I am going to own the fact that I go shopping for school supplies early and often: early, because who wants to be hustling the night before the first day, scrambling for presharpened #2 pencils and boxes of crayons that don’t smell funny or have glitter sparkles in them? (yeah yeah, my little girl would […]
How to quilt a Hunter Star quilt, tutorial
This is a quilt I finished almost two months ago! it was pretty big, and she hoped for a custom look without paying full custom prices, as well as one large feather over the borders. Once I found a path for a single start and stop, I was able to work back and forth, making […]
