My new favorite way to finish seams

  I’ve been sewing more garments since I had Angela and finishing seams is always a challenge. I don’t have a serger to bind off the edges and keep the fabric from fraying. But to be honest, even though serging is the fastest way to finish a seam, I don’t really like the look of […]

Gain confidence with ‘The Quilter’s Palette’

When I teach quilting classes the biggest problem my students encounter is figuring out which fabrics will look best with their pattern. The difficulties range from picking a palette of busy prints with no neutral fabric, having trouble putting prints together when they don’t come in a neatly packaged fabric line, to just not being confident […]

35th anniversary of the rotary cutter

Olfa is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the rotary cutter by making a Anniversary Commemorative Quilt that will be displayed at the International Quilt Market in Houston this October. I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute a block for the quilt. The only requirements were that the block measure 6 1/2 inches square and included yellow […]

Quilt book giveaway!

It’s an art quilt book giveaway! Schiffer Publishing has provided three of its latest releases for a giveaway. To enter, comment below on which book you’d like to win and why by midnight on Thursday. I’ll draw three random winners on Friday. Good luck! Dare to Dance: An Art Quilt Challenge Mary Kerr Dance is a […]

August Block of the Month

This month we’re making quarter square triangles, also known as hour glass units, from squares. It’s a new block for this quilt, but the technique is very similar to making the double pinwheels from squares, which we did in May and July. If you can handle those blocks, then this month will be a piece […]

How to spray baste a king-sized quilt

I may have registered my maple leaf log cabin quilt for my guild’s quilt show in September. Which means I actually have to finish it. The top has been done for a year, but I haven’t quilted it because it is too large for the frame on the longarm I rent time on. There is […]

Casting on

I’m in love with quick baby knits. Often the sewing projects I work on are so involved and time consuming, that whipping up a cute baby sweater for Angela seems like a welcome break. So earlier this month I stopped by by local yarn shop, Knit & Knot, to find yarn for a new project, Little […]

Don’t get it wet or feed it after midnight

I have a few quilting rules, most of them regulate what I can and cannot attempt to sew after 10 p.m. Paper piecing is at the top of the do not attempt list. The results are similar to getting a Mogwai wet or feeding it after midnight. My sewing abilities turn into the quilting equivalent of […]