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Are you looking for a soft and wavy design that creates a lot of texture? Try this one out! This Sea Moss design can be quilted densely but also much wider apart. It would fill your quilt pretty quickly.

Sea moss is a type of sea weed that grows in tide pools and inlets. It is harvested and components of the moss are used as a gelling agent in various foods. It is alleged to have many health benefits. (source)

This design is based on wavy lines and gentle s-curves of the tendrils of this plant. The sequence of movements ...

Do you see many butterflies were you live? Many of us make a conscious decision to have an insect-friendly garden, but do we all welcome caterpillars who munch on the plants? Last year I discovered these stunning caterpillars in my front garden on the verbascum plants. These caterpillars are way more colorful than the adults sadly. They turn onto a chunky and hairy brown Mullein moth.

In this free motion Caterpillar edge to edge design, small caterpillars are placed in all directions. The design is based on a short sequence of movements that are echoed to move to a new ...

Did you see the Northern Lights two weeks ago?

I have to report there was nothing to see where I live, because dawn came too early for us. There was just too much light in the sky to be able to see the pretty colors. I live in a pretty densely populated area anyway, so even looking at the regular night’s sky to see the stars is a bit of a challenge. I can see some constellations with very bright stars, but that is about it.

I am making up for missing out on all the celestial events of ...

The sound of flags flying in the wind, the fabric moving in all directions. The flashes of color and bright sunlight in your eyes… Let’s go to the beach!

The design Coast is inspired by flags, bunting and bows and would look lovely on a quilt for the beach, a quilt for a national holiday or any other celebration. The design is dynamic, curvy but not too curvy.

The triangles ‘curve with the Summer breeze’ so you can fill empty spaces pretty easily. Add sets of 2 flags and curve around one of the sides and then add a ...

Did you know you can free motion quilt with a 12W thread? You would have to go really slow, yes. But it can be done! For this week’s design I used a spool of Sulky Cotton Petite 12w thread. People have been using this for hand quilting and embroidery, but you can freemotion with it too!

The edge to edge design Trio is not based on an existing shape like a leaf or a flower. With a bit of imagination it looks like a cartoon drawing of an animal / dinosaur seen from the side. Or does it look like ...

Some of the flowers that I sowed last month have already turning into plants that I can plant out in the garden this week. Some have not come up at all. I will have to redo them to see if it is a problem with the seeds, or if it was too wet and cold the last two months.I love to fill my garden with bright colors. my garden has the perfect size for me right now, but I do wish there was a bit of room for bigger plants, like a magnolia tree.

Magnolias flowers are something special ...

My OMG for April was finishing the April challenge quilt, which had no name in March. The quilt was based on a pattern called Ruffles by Sew Be It. I ended up naming it Freeze Frame.

I painted the background fabric because I didn’t have anything in my stash that I liked with the reds I picked for the flower petals. The fabric in the flower center was painted years ago and textured with salt. I added a second layer of batting under the center that I thought made it too puffy. I added beads to the center to ...

Looking for a garden-inspired quilting design? There are plenty of quilting ideas out there for flowers and leaves, but how about adding a garden path to your pattern library?

This garden path design is based on the flow of the filler design called pebbles / pebbling. Instead of repeating tiny circles though, we use irregular shapes. Shapes you would find in a flagstone garden path. Pieced to fit together like a complex puzzle, each shape different from the other.

Having each shape being different gives you a lot freedom to fill any area, and it will allow you to vary the ...

Over the millennia and different cultures, people have created labyrinth designs on walls and floors. This ancient tradition endures in new buildings, parks, computer games and from today also in quilting! read more

Have you ever made your own free motion bunting?

A basic bunting design is pretty easy ‘to put up’. Before you start, add some guidelines on your fabric so you know the curve of the bunting. Use chalk or a fabric marking pen.

Begin by stitching out the arches of the bunting, freehand or with a ruler. Then go back in and add the zigzag line for the little flags. It doesn’t matter if you start the zig zag from the right or the left.

No fabric in this week and a half yard out from the declutter challenge. I’m still working through my scrap containers. I finished green and yellow/brown/orange and started on red/pink.

I’m also working on quilting the challenge piece. I haven’t come up with a name yet, but I will finish the quilting soon.

Once I finish this quilt, it’s back to quilting Remember Me.

Fabric In: .33 yards

Fabric out: 11.875 yards

Net Fabric Used: 11.545 yards

How did you do this week?

My grand parents had a smallish cherry tree in the corner of their garden and every Spring it would ‘dress itself in a pink fluffy ballgown’ and it would sprinkle pink leaves with every little breeze. I loved that tree and I told myself that I wanted one of those in my garden when I grew up. I haven’t made that come true yet, but there are plenty of other brightly colored flowers, bushes and trees in my garden. I can’t resist a bright bloom!

In the Netherlands we have saying about the month of April being fickle: ‘April doet wat hij wil’. Strong winds yesterday, pouring rain today and forecasts indicate that we will get a taste of Summer this weekend.

To celebrate sunny weather on the horizon, let’s fill our fabrics with flowers! This weeks design ‘Finnish Flowers’ is inspired by fabric designs by the Finnish company Marimekko. Their bright and bold designs always brings a smile to my face. I have two pieces of Marimekko fabric in my collection that I have found while thrifting.

The Finnish Flower free motion design ...

Last Friday was World Water Day and this next Friday is Mermaid Day, so this week’s free motion design just fits in!

The Mermaid’s Tail design is based on the clamshell grid. This design can be quilted pretty densely, but stitch it out as big as you want. You could even use a ruler to help you create the semicircular arcs. The clamshell gird is used upside down, making it look like scales. Scales on a mermaid’s tail!

Fill the clamshells with teardrops that fan out from the centre. Use as many teardrops as you like.

There ...

Nothing yet!

I started sowing flower seeds a few weeks ago but so far nothing is coming up! I have all the right set up but it just hasn’t been sunny much. I do hope to see some seedlings soon! Most of the flowers I am sowing are brightly colored and they always turn out way bigger that the package says. For instance the cosmos that should be about 2 to 3 feet high, turns into an 6 feet giant.

What is your favorite flower or greatest sowing succes?

The garden is slowly showing the first Spring flowers. The sun is showing her face more each day, but the mornings are still frosty. The hellebores have been in bloom for over a month, the hyacinths are popping up and the daffodils are almost ready to show their crowns. This time of year has always brought me joy, but this last week I had trouble to find the spark. My cat Toby went missing on Tuesday. He didn’t come home for his dinner, which is highly unusual. When it started to rain and he didn’t come running home ...

Lemon, lime, oranges or mandarin oranges.

I adore the scent of citrus! Cleaning products, candles, bath products, you name it! I love a wedge of lemon in my coke and add in all the ice cubes!

Do you have a scent or flavor that you adore?

The design Lemon Slices is based on an orange peel grid, and it creates a lovely texture which keeps your quilt nice and cuddly. The design can be stitched out with a quilting ruler if you want to. It depends on how smooth your curves turn out and what size grid you are using ...

This Orange Peel Stars design has several stitch paths to choose from. The first one is based on one of my tutorials from 2017.

Stitch path 1:

Stitch out an orange peel design first to stabilise your fabric. Best results are achieved by using a ruler, but I am known to free hand them if the shapes are small (blue lines in drawing below).

Once you have filled your block with Orange Peels, enter the space inside of the Orange Peel, starting from the left. Echo around that space in an inward spiral (green lines in the drawing below). Once ...

The weather has been different from hour to hour! Rain, grey clouds, sunshine, strong winds. Nothing dramatic, just a typical Dutch February. I have been able to do some cleaning up in the garden, that felt so good! I even managed to sow some Sweet Pea seeds.

This week’s free motion design is harder than it looks! Grab some paper and try it out.

The edge to edge design Splash creates Paint splashes or splatters by adding blobs in different sizes. When each set of blobs is completed, you travel to a new spot to add a new sequence ...

Behind the scenes I have been working on something epic! I have created an online free motion quilting course about the designs Ribbon Candy and Wishbone. The course is called Basic to Epic because it explains the classic sashing designs and then lifts them up to something even more decorative and complex.

Even though these two design may be considered basic, they are anything but. Learning the core structure of these designs will help you identify the cause of your wonky lines. You will learn how to tweak the structures to create any other variation.

Even experienced quilters see their ...