Evaluating Relative Values
I’m getting ready to teach my Color Gets the Credit but Value does the Work class at the AQS show in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I thought it might be helpful to post a quick overview of the methods I recommend for evaluating the relative value of the fabrics in your quilt or other project. […]
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My Top 5 Specialty Presser Feet for Quilters
Do you ever wonder if there is an easier way to keep a consistent quarter inch seam allowance, appliqué by machine, or machine quilt without worrying about ripples or tucks in your finished quilt? Do you ever find yourself wandering in and out of the ditch when stitching in the ditch? If you answered “yes” […]
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A Few of My Most-Used Tools & Notions for “Invisible” Machine Appliqué
(Updated April 2024) With new sessions of the Modern Rose, The Magic of Invisible Machine Appliqué, Create Your Own Quilted Landscape, and the Celtic Blessings True Lovers Knot Invisible Machine Appliqué classes coming up in my online shop, I thought it might be a good time to share a few of my most-used (and most […]
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Revisiting Continuous Curve Machine Quilting
Back in June, I shared a step-by-step tutorial for Continuous Curve Machine Quilting with a Walking Foot. This quilting pattern has been a favorite of mine since I first learned it almost 30 years ago. The version I shared was (and is) a fantastic beginner-friendly starting point, but I thought you might be ready for […]
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Continuous Curve Machine Quilting with a Walking Foot
Continuous Curve (also known as Orange Peel) quilting has been around a long, long time, but its gentle curves are still one of my favorite ways to add a lovely soft texture to a quilt. It can be done by hand, with a walking foot, or with a free-motion foot; but the stitching path may […]
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Finishing Spree & My Top 4 Favorite Patterns of Summer 2021
Since I like to work on multiple projects at a time, I occasionally experience a bottleneck of quilts that are all at the same stage. Such has been the case this month, when I ended up sewing bindings on 8 different quilts in a little over a week. Wow! My arms are ready for a […]
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Finishing Spree! Fireworks, Curvy Quilting & “Disappearing” Binding
I haven’t been posting much this summer, but I’ve certainly been sewing up a storm! I’m finding it good therapy. 🙂 Due to the pandemic, we weren’t able to enjoy our usual fireworks display downtown this year, but I was inspired by the July Java batiks box from Cotton Cuts to create some fireworks of […]
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Making a Bargello Quilt – Cascade
This is the first in a series of sew/quilt-along posts about making a bargello quilt. For a little more background information, you can check out my previous post, Colorwash Bargello. For this series, I’ll be referring to the Cascade pattern from my book Colorwash Bargello Quilts. If you don’t have the book or would rather […]
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Colorwash Bargello
What makes a quilt a bargello quilt? And what does colorwash mean? In the introduction to my second book, Colorwash Bargello Quilts, I credited 3 main influences: Centuries-old bargello needlepoint, also known as Hungarian point, flame stitch, or Florentine work. Modern strip-piecing methods pioneered in the 1970s by quilt artists such as Barbara Johannah Colorwash/watercolor quilting designers in […]
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Making a Celtic Quilt – Adding Additional Texture with Machine Quilting
This is the tenth in a series of posts that will take you step-by-step through the process of creating a Celtic Quilt. The lines that form my Celtic and Celtic-style knotwork designs are formed by cutting bias strips of fabric and sewing them into tubes, which are then fused onto background fabric. For this project, I added […]
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