From Leftovers to Lovely!

Way back in 2020, there was a bright spot in a year to forget:  I made a darling Jack Skellington Bull's Eye Quilt for my daughter.  I recently pulled out the scraps and came up with a fun quilt.  

I just added the over-my-shoulder machine quilting video for this quilt to my As the Bobbin Turns Subscriber-Only Videos.  You can join monthly or annually to see what's going on in my quilting studio.

I show how I used my ABC Botanical Stencil to quilt in the white fabric.  Echoing the continuous curve in the black and white checkerboards, I used a 1 1/2" Grid Stencil to help me stitch continuous curve in the border.

I keep a bag of finished quilts in the back of my car.  When my sister saw this quilt, it disappeared from the back of my car.  It's so odd how that keeps happening!  (My sister is awesome and deserves every good thing in life.)

Do you challenge yourself to make new quilts with the leftovers from other quilts?

Handi Quilter at Blue Hen Quilt Shop, Newark Delaware

Last weekend I had the pleasure of teaching at a new-to-me quilt shop in Newark Delaware -- The Blue Hen!

I met so many new friends there and am excited to see where their quilting journeys will take them.

We learned all about Handi Quilter Longarm Quilting Machines.

We played with Free-Motion Quilting:

We learned all about how to quilt Backgrounds, Borders, and Blocks.

We learned all about computerized quilting with the Pro-Stitcher.

Folks near The Blue Hen have such a great quilt shop and machine quilting learning center in their area!

21 Days from Quilt Top to Quilted -- Day 18

WooHoo!  I just finished writing Lesson 18 in 21 Days from Quilt Top to Quilted and it shows how I quilted my Blanket Fort Quilt using my walking foot on my home sewing machine.  You can join this class for FREE while I am creating the class and you'll get to keep it forever; once the class is completed, it will cost $21 -- but not for you because you are smart and joined while it is free.

                  

I've supplied 15 minutes of in-depth close-up video showing how I used my walking foot and NO MARKING to machine quilt my quilt.  

This technique is great to get a quilt finished simply and quickly.

Get my Blanket Fort Quilt Pattern, join my 21 Days from Quilt Top to Quilted class, and become more confident in finishing your own quilts on your home sewing machine.

Teaching Color Blocks at my Local Quilt Guild

Last weekend I had the joy of teaching a special Color Blocks Quilt at my Local Quilt Guild.  I only teach this quilt at quilt guilds through 2027.

I designed "Henri the Flamingo" when visiting a friend in Florida last year.

April added a light border to offset her dark background.

Our guild hosts a Super Saturday when guild members teach other guild members.  Henri was one option, but members could also make a star tablerunner.

We also had some quilters working on Disappearing 25-Patch blocks for our Community Quilt efforts.

It was a wonderful day of learning and fun.

Are you a member of a guild?  Do you love your guild?  Would you like me to teach Henri at your local quilt guild?  I will hold this pattern as a guild exclusive through 2027.

Teaching at Calico Gals in Syracuse NY

 I recently had the joy of teaching at Calico Gals in Syracuse NY.  I live only four hours away so we felt safe scheduling a Handi Quilter Longarm Quilting Event.  In Syracuse, NY.  In the winter.  Happily ,the weather cooperated and I had a super-easy drive there and back.  What happened in between the drives, though, was nothing but FUN!

We spent a whole day learning about the Pro-Stitcher, the computerized quilting system for the Handi Quilter machines.  

We spent another day learning all about longarm quilting basics and quilting with rulers.

Did you know that you can quilt using rulers on the Handi Quilter stationary longarms?

Quilting with rulers on the longarm machines on frames can cause some interesting hand positions!  We had fun experimenting with the best ways to hold straight rulers and curved rulers

I'm a "fiddler."  If I'm talking (and I'm always talking), I usually have something in my hands that I'm fiddling with.  Somehow, I ended up fiddling with this most impressive pair of scissors and had to be super careful about talking with my hands!  I'm happy to report that no one was injured as I gestured and that I quickly found something safer to fiddle with!

Calico Gals is a destination quilt shop.  Plan your road trip to visit this beautiful shop and their staff.  Stop in and pick up some fabric, BUT NOT THE SCISSORS!