What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 Hello Everyone,

I spent Monday in the classroom with the quilters from the Independence Hall quilt guild.  I taught them how to applique little pumpkins.

By the end of the class there were pumpkins 'growing' on everyone's workspace.

Sue tackled making the little flower for her adorable pumpkin.

Look closely at Lori's fussy cut faces in her pumpkin ...

 Hello Everyone,

My sister Gail and I spent a day in the classroom with the Independence Hall quilters teaching Finessing the Figures a.k.a. Patchwork Math.  Here is Sue's beautiful block showing the different components she made during class from my Patchwork Math book.

My art quilt group, Art2Quilt, started a new challenge. Everyone made a quilt to pass to another member. We will each create our own quilt using some aspect of the quilt received as inspiration.

I didn’t finish my quilt to pass and had to use something previously made. There was a mix of new quilts and previously completed quilts. Even though the quilts are smallish, we decided one month felt rushed and two months to complete our quilts would work better.

I forgot to ask the maker if I could post her quilt, so I will only show the ...

Stitching Lane SocietyI am pleased to announce Stitching Lane Society, a new online machine quilting...

Are you feeling Overwhelmed, Not Confidence, and Uncertain in some of your quilting projects?

Do you have Studio 180 Design tools still sitting in the package and do not know how to use them?

Do you want to learn the Studio 180 Design tools and techniques but do not have a local quilt shop or Studio 180 Design Certified instructor to teach the tools?

New to quilting and what to learn more to expand your quilting knowledge.

Well, I have a solution to your problems that I’m So Super Excited about, and I can't wait to share it ...

I finished stitching a project this week that was designated my do-a-little-every-day project. The concept is simple. Every day I did something to move that project forward.

This is not a new idea, or my idea, but something I’ve heard a lot about lately. Pat Sloan talks about it all the time on her daily videos and uses it to finish UFOs. Karen Brown of Just Get It Done Quilts also talks about this method. Karen uses it to focus on her more complicated projects, using a timer to work on those 30 minutes at a time.

I’m ...

After some epic procrastination, I finished task 11, the iris and hyacinth cluster.

I’m embarrassed to admit it wasn’t that hard and didn’t take a lot of time. I just couldn’t face another task of silk ribbon embroidery. A couple weeks off helped put it in perspective. I like stitching with silk ribbon, but it can be fussy beyond the limits of my patience.

Only one more task to go. I believe the last task involves a lot of beading.

I finished the bunny runner last month, which was my OMG. It felt good to finally get one done. I also finished the star blocks (January OMG).

I have a couple more projects close to done and one small start. I’d be thrilled to get all three of those finished in April.

The Short List categories are UFO, garment, original design, hand work, finishing, classes and other. I’ve used this system for 6+ years to keep me focused. The categories change as my goals and interests change. Categories with nothing in process will not be listed, only active ...

I’ve made some progress on both of my slow stitching projects.

I finished task #10 on the Crazy Quilting Course.

I have two more tasks to go to finish the course.

The Christmas Eve cross stitch is in the home stretch.

The tree branches will extend further over the houses. The backstitching is complete from the right side to the middle. There isn’t a lot of backstitch in this chart. The design has a softer look.

Once a project gets this close to done I tend to sit down and power through it, just to move on to ...

The struggle is real.

Progress continues slowly. I finished task #8, and everyone was right. The needle makes a huge difference when stitching bullion knots.

I had a delay on task #9 because I didn’t have silk ribbon. I had to order it and wait for it to arrive, which happened a lot faster than I expected. Task #9 went quickly.

Now that I see task #10, I’m a little worried I didn’t order enough silk ribbon. In hindsight, I should have bought 5 yards of white so I could paint the colors I needed beyond the ...

Another task done.

This one stitched up quicker because I didn’t have to search for my supplies, there was less stitching and I was familiar with the stitches. The purple curve is done with a boatload of very tiny chain stitches. The pink curve is stem stitch.

Task #8 includes my nemesis, bullion stitch flowers. I may have to practice before I add them to the class piece. This project uses cotton rather than rayon floss, which I hope decreases the difficulty.

I’m keeping an open mind.

Once again my progress was limited to the Basic Crazy Quilting Course. I finished task #6, embroidering over seams with pearl cotton.

The threads are vintage, picked up at an auction many years ago. I bought a bin of threads, magazines and various bedroom linens with embroidery patterns ranging from not started to almost finished. Thank goodness I had it because it was the only #8 pearl cotton in my stash.

All that fussing around to get straight, even stitches took time. I believe the embroidery continues in lesson #7.

Net Fabric Used: 0

How did you do this week ...

January turned into one of those months when a whole lot of nothing got done. Best to put it behind me and move on.

Last month I talked about limiting active sewing projects to two, avoiding overwhelm. That didn’t happen either. Projects are everywhere. Again. I have a variety of projects to enjoy, depending on my mood.

The Short List categories are UFO, garment, original design, hand work, finishing, classes and other. I’ve used this system for 6+ years to keep me focused. The categories change as my goals and interests change. Categories with nothing in process will ...

No fabric in or out this week. This is my most boring stash year ever.

Thanks to everyone for all the good wishes last week. I’m finally feeling better and working on my projects again. It feels good to be sewing and stitching.

I finished the task #5 in my Crazy Quilting class.

I haven’t received the next task yet. Today I will work on the star blocks that I intended to finish this month. That definitely won’t happen.

Net Fabric Used: 0

How did you do this week?

1 Chrisknits

2 Julie in GA

3 maggie ...

Little involving fabric happened here this week.

I managed to get a freak infection that both blurred my vision and made sitting anywhere near a light extremely uncomfortable, all while feeling fine. Things are returning to normal, but there were many hours of sitting in the dark doing nothing.

Yesterday I finished task #4 in the Crazy Quilting class. My base block is sewn together on a foundation and framed for stitching.

I’m many tasks behind most of the class, hanging out with the stragglers at the rear. Maybe this week I can catch up a bit.

Net Fabric ...

Nothing new to report.

I had two meeting nights and two doctor visits this week which kept me busy. I finished the next task in my Crazy Quilting class, a mock up of the class block, but nothing else.

Tomorrow I hope to sew it together, among other things.

Welcome to everyone that joined us last week. I love seeing your projects and watching you use that stash. The more, the merrier.

I’m way behind on comments, but I do read them and respond. That will be another goal over the next few days.

Net Fabric Used: 0

How ...

No fabric movement this week. My first finish this year will be a long time coming.

I pulled fabrics for my crazy quilt class.

This class runs differently than any other I have taken. Participants must post each assignment to the class blog. The teacher comments on your post and emails you the next assignment. If you don’t finish the assignment and post pictures, you don’t get the rest of the class. Talk about motivation to do the assignments!

The next assignment is a fabric mock up using the project template.

Net Fabric Used: 0

How did you ...

Just a quick post to share that registration is open for Kathy Shaw’s Basic Crazy Quilting Course. You complete the class at your own pace. Kathy teaches a lot of different crazy quilting and embroidery classes, but you have to take this course before you can enroll in any of the others. All her classes are free, and there is no requirement to buy books, templates or any other supplies.

Enrollment is open through January 7^th. I don’t know when she will offer the class next. Last year she offered it at this time and again in ...

I’m really excited to be teaching three classes for Pacific International Quilt Festival Online, coming up Oct. 14 to 17. Registration is open and I’d love to have you join me!

Here are brief descriptions. You’ll find more complete information at the links below.

1. Free Motion Improv, Thursday evening 10/15, 4–7 PST

Liberate yourself from traditional quilting symmetry by mashing up your favorite motifs in a seemingly random way. Combine basic shapes with transitional designs and free-motion fillers to add amazing texture to the negative spaces in your ...

Quilted Joy’s next sessions of the APQS Beginning Longarm Class and the Advanced Beginner Longarm Class are on July 24 and July 25 respectively. Normally these classes would be taught in the Louisville, KY showroom, but due to COVID we’ll be offering this class online. The classes will be live and taught via a private Zoom video conference room.

Students will be able to enjoy class from the comfort of their own home. One of our fabulous quilt fairies will be monitoring a chat room to answer all your questions. And Angela will pause throughout class to answer ...