Being an independent, walk-to-the-beat-of-my-own-drum kind of person who shies away from anything that resembles a group, a scrolling adventure on Facebook lead me to signing up and joining a sewing club. You don’t need to do a very exhaustive search to discover the many clubs, guilds, and sew-alongs available on any given day however, if …
Quilting Outside the Lines When I began seriously quilting, about seven or eight years ago, my focus was primarily on piecing a large top then quilting it, to create just that, a quilt. As my skill set and confidence grew so did my knowledge of the versatility of this technique. Little did I realize that …
The short answer is yes however, it is not a simple yes. Unlocking It’s Potential I’ve had my Janome 9450QCP for almost 5 years and the more I use it the more I learn about what it can do. The road many of us take when we first get a machine like this is to …
Time management. Anyone who calls themselves a “maker” – painter, sculptor, knitter, paper crafter knows there is value in managing our time. Given the amount of time required to make a quilt (pattern selection, fabric selection, fabric cutting, piecing, making the quilt sandwich to reaching the final step, the actual “quilting” of the quilt), time …
Thinking It Through For me, when I think of Christmas, the first thoughts that enter my mind are “What do I make? How much time do I have? Who needs something made by me? Should I quilt, sew, bake?”. I do realize many people do not like, and in fact, can be offended, when gifted …
As I mentioned in my previous post, Part 1, making a quilt IS a process. So much so , that I felt it best to divide all this information into 2 parts. Anything that appears to be too large to digest at once can usually be successfully managed when broken in half, or into smaller …
Part 1 of 2 “I wish I knew how to make a quilt…can you teach me?” “If I start to make a quilt, what supplies do I need?” “Is quilting expensive?” “How long does it take to make a quilt?” Anytime I’m involved in a conversation and topic turns to quilting, the above are just …
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, quilts are a creative and effective medium for telling a story. They are more, much more than a covering to keep you warm at night. Anyone can buy a mass-produced blanket/comforter/duvet, etc. but a handmade quilt carries a level of significance and authenticity not found in mass production. A mass-produced item …
Do you ever struggle to find the motivation to start a new quilt? I have a wonderful project on my To-Do list (my granddaughter’s Sweet 16 quilt), fabulous fabric (Moodscapes batiks by Robert Kaufman) and a fun pattern to go with it (Secret Garden by Craft Passion) but I find myself allowing every distraction or …
What Problems? Who has a problem with the easiest part of making a quilt? Have you ever wrestled with your quilt back and want to avoid the same mistakes I made? Read on to learn my solution. I can’t say I’ve never encountered a problem when it comes to backing a quilt but I’ve never …
