I am so tickled with my newly-completed magnetic swatch system for my Kona Cotton Solids fabric swatches! Read on for instructions and a downloadable pattern for making your own set, as well as a few other options in case sewing all those fabric envelopes isn’t your thing. I have been admiring, and envying, the photos…
Tag: how to
Feather & Fern
I’m working my way across my Bright Sisters quilt top using a different quilting design in each color block area. For the yellow & green square-in-a-square areas, I chose this half-feather, half-fern design. Before attempting this design on the quilt, I drew variations of it on my iPad and practiced on scrap blocks. I tried…
Creating a Queen-Sized Quilt on a Sit-Down Machine
The idea of quilting a queen-sized quilt without a mid- or long-arm machine and quilting frame seems daunting, but I did it… and you can, too! I own a quilting frame and I love it. It’s the older wooden Gracie frame from The Grace Company (no longer available from them, but sometimes you can find…
Repairing Opened Seams at the Edge of a Quilt Top
I completed this quilt top over a year ago, but haven’t had a chance to quilt it until recently. I love the pattern, which was designed by Carl Hentsch. He calls it Color Block Solids, but I call my version Bright Sisters. It includes a lot of seams that are pressed open to keep everything…
Troubleshooting Free-Motion Quilting: Breaking thread
I was quilting a small wall hanging on my sit-down machine last week and got really frustrated when my top thread kept breaking. I was almost done with the project and was quilting the border with a ferny vine pattern, and every few inches of stitching, I had to stop and tie off the broken…
My BIG design board
Last time, I showed you how I made mini (10″ square) design boards for individual blocks. Today, I want to show you my beautiful new giant design board, measuring 8′ (about 2.4 meters) square. It’s one of my favorite things about my new quilting studio space and it was really easy to create and install….
Mini design boards: keep patches organized while you sew quilt blocks
The 2018 Tula Pink City Sampler Sew-Along just finished, and I’m pleased to say my quilt top is completely done! It was challenging to keep up with the one-block-per-day schedule but I’m glad I did it. What with the move and all, I had to be extra-organized and do a lot of advance sewing and…