My Favorite Classes

 Today's prompt in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge is "Most Impactful Class."

I can't narrow it down to just one; sorry! 

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to take classes with Jacquie Gering and Gwen Marston, and my experiences with both of these talented quilters only served to guide me further down the path to improv and modern quilting. From them, I learned to embrace no-rules quilting, to follow my instincts, and to most importantly, have fun!

Here's a look at what I worked on during those classes:

Super wonky corners in the Stitch & Flip Improvisation class!

Me and Jacquie

I think it's time to quilt this one...I'll add it to the list!

Improv plus sign blocks that I made in the Slice & Improvisation class:

I added the blues ones in this summer. I need to get back to this project!

Small Studies with Gwen Marston - all my "parts"

Me and Gwen. See that little belly bulge under my shirt? He's now 6 years old!

My finished small study

Liberated medallion in the works!

And complete:

I'm so grateful to have taken classes from both of these ladies, and I like to think that their work influences the quilting I do today. 

What quilters inspire you? 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar.

Strippy Improv Blocks Pattern + Video Tutorial!

 Ok, so it took a couple days, but my Strippy Improv Holiday pattern is now available in my Etsy shop! 

Purchase the pattern here.

When I first started making blocks using this technique, I had no idea how many people would be interested in it. But you were, and so I wanted to share! Here's the ornament I made in the video tutorial (more info below!)--red and green stripe!

The pattern includes step-by-step instructions and diagrams to make a strippy improv ornament block, and then finishing directions to transform four blocks into a small quilt or table runner. It also has templates and additional steps for making four other holiday shapes: a snowman, a star, a Christmas tree, and a candy cane, plus some layout ideas for various ways to use the blocks. 

Just for fun, here are the two snowmen I finished. One I embellished, the other I left as a minimalist snowman. :)

Because improv can be intimidating if it's not something you do regularly, I also created a YouTube tutorial that you can watch here to walk you through the steps of making a block. 

The reverse applique is my favorite part because it transforms the pieced section into something recognizable so quickly! 

Purchase the pattern in my Etsy shop here. (10% off through Saturday using code HOLIDAY10)

Watch the video here.

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar.

Hope Quilts Blog Hop

 When Sarah Myers of The Quilted Diary asked for volunteers to join the Hope Quilts Blog Hop to help kick off her Hope for Tomorrow Quilt Along in January 2021, I jumped on board. 

So many of us have been spending a lot more time at home without seeing friends and family, and if you have kids (like me!) a lot more time dealing with virtual schooling and keeping them off of tablets. So we need hope for tomorrow. And the next day, and the next...

Sarah asked us to share a quilt that symbolizes hope. And to me, it's my Opposite Directions quilt. I've made three versions of this quilt, and two I've given to family members going through chemo. Our family's love and prayers went with both these quilts. So to me, this quilt pattern definitely means hope. 

Here's my original Opposite Directions quilt:

I designed this for a magazine, but when a family member started chemo treatments, I knew it would be the perfect gift for her. 

Fast forward 4 or so years to summer 2019, and this quilt design was stuck in my head. So I pieced this rainbow version. 

And it sat as a pieced top for a year--I wasn't sure how to quilt it, and I didn't know who to give it to. Another cancer diagnosis in the family and I had my answer. Diane Oakes machine quilted it for me, and off it went to be napped under after treatments. 

In honor of the Hope Quilts Blog Hop, take 10% off the patterns in my Etsy shop through December 31st using the code HOPE10.

To learn more about Sarah's Hope for Tomorrow Quilt Along, visit her website.

If you're looking for more stories of hope, visit everyone on the Hope Quilt Blog Hop:

December 1- Sarah Marcina (The Quilted Diary)

December 2 - Charisma Horton (Charisma's Corner)

December 3 - Jen Frost (Faith & Fabric)

December 4 - Terri Vanden Bosch (Lizard Creek Quilting)

December 5 - Tammy Silvers (Tamarinis)

December 7 - Carolyn Burgess (Applique Quilts and More)

December 8 - Jo Westfoot (The Crafty Nomad)

December 9 - Lisa Ruble (Love to Color My World)

December 11- Laura Strickland (Orange Blossom Quilt)

December 15- Kris Driessen (Phoebe Moon Designs)

December 17- Teresa Weaver (Sewing Friend News)

December 18- Kate Colleran (Dreaming in Color)

December 21- Alyce Blyth (Blossom Heart Quilts)

December 22- Jen Frost (Faith & Fabric)

December 24- Sarah Marcina (The Quilted Diary)

December 26- Becca Fenstermaker (Pretty Piney Quilts)

December 30- Kathryn LeBlanc (Dragonfly's Quilting Design Studio)

December 31- Sarah Marcina (The Quilted Diary)

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar.

Machine Quilting: Knowing My Limits

 Today's prompt for the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge is Skills I Wish I had. Since time travel and the ability to clone myself seem a little far fetched, I'm going to go with machine quilting. 

The smaller the quilt and the simpler the design, the better I do. I have aspirations of fancy swirls and point-perfect echo quilting, and sometimes even perfectly straight lines, but for the moment I tailor my quilting plans to designs I think I can successfully achieve. 

Hello, stipple, straight lines, and curvy lines. :) 

                                          

It is fun to branch out and practice, particularly on smaller quilts that are easier to maneuver. 

Here are a few of my quilting highlights:

Lots of logs on Echo:

And on ZuZu Squares:

And Rainbow Star Crossing:

Do you see a theme? Confined spaces, mostly strips. I need boundaries!

I also spend plenty of time admiring other people's quilting skills and if I want a quilt to look really fabulous, I send it to Diane, my machine quilter. :) 

She quilted by first Wonk Around the Block quilt: 

I love the swirls she put in the background of my wonky star center.

And all the different details here:

And ZuZu Squares:

And the rainbow version of Opposite Directions. Simple straight lines, but stunning! (and way straighter than mine would have been!)

I'm getting ready to quilt a new version of Wonk Around the Block. Any suggestions on how I should quilt it? Let me know in the comments.

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar.

Strippy Improv Blocks, aka My New Obsession

It started with this postcard. Our guild (Great Lakes Modern Quilt Guild) is having a virtual holiday party, and everyone was asked to make a fabric postcard and mail to it, Secret Santa style. I procrastinated as usual and then started playing around with this idea. 

Once I had the postcard finished, the idea kept growing. Decorations on the tree using those fancy machine stitches! 

Ornaments!

And the kids got involved. 

Sidenote here...can I brag on these two a bit? The 6-year-old (above) is very independent. I helped him sew the tree, but he insisted on doing the machine quilting himself. Including the pedal. Pretty impressive, right? And I like the gradation of his tree--I'll be copying that for my next one! 

And below--this kid is 9. Look at his tree (which he gave to me as an early Christmas present!). It was his idea to upsize, his idea to add a star and ornaments, and he did ALL the sewing himself (except joining the ends of the binding strips--that's hard! 

Ok, back on track: And then I made a little video (with the 11-year-old's help) for IG (find it in my feed) and it blew up - or at least as much as IG blows up for me. Which was pretty fun!

And my imagination kept going... 

Snowmen!

Stars!

Candy canes!

Decorated trees!

For those who have asked, I'm currently working (as fast as I can!) on two things--a video tutorial on the basic technique, and then a more involved pattern that will include all of the shapes you see here as well as a wall hanging/table runner assembly. When both are ready, I'll post about it here, on IG, FB, and in my newsletter, so make sure you're connected (links below)! 

These go together so fast, and they're so fun! Plenty of time to make some before Christmas.

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar.

Oh UFO, Where Are You?

How many UFOs do you have? I have a fair number, but I think I have more UFOs that are quilt tops waiting to be quilted than semi-pieced projects. That's definitely where I get clogged up in the project pipeline. 

Today's prompt in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge is "Oldest UFO." My oldest UFO is a textbook example of why you should start a BOM when you purchase it and not put it off. It's a New York Beauty BOM from 2006. I think I'm about 12 blocks in ? With 18 and a heck of a pieced border still to go. 

And...drumroll...I can't even find the blocks I have finished. I spent more time than I'd care to admit looking for them today. And.I.still.can't.find.them. When I do, my plan is to use the blocks I have done in some type of Gwen Marston-inspired improv medallion quilt because I'm kind of over the full NYB quilt. :) 

So that BOM you signed up for last month? Start it now so it's not staring at you 14 years later.

But until I find my blocks, here are two other old-ish UFOs on my to-do list.

First, some years ago for my birthday, a good friend bought me a beautiful blue batik jelly roll. I started making log cabin blocks based on a quilt I saw in American Patchwork & Quilting. I need to get back to these! 

Second, my Opposite Directions quilt is made using quick corners. Which means plenty of paired triangles (aka future HSTs) left over to play with. 

Like these:

For a while I sewed these HSTs as leaders and enders, but as you can see above, I still have plenty to sew. Look at all the potential with these HSTs! So many ways to lay these out...

So I'm thinking after the holidays, I'll move these two up the to-do list. Right? I hope so. I'm sure there won't be any new quilts distracting me by then. :) 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar.

My First Quilt (or Three)

Every so often, it's fun to look back at where your quilting journey began. I'm doing that today--with a trifecta for today's 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge prompt! 

My 1st Quilt

Technically this was my first quilt. I made it when I was a kid--maybe 10 or so?  It's about 8" square. And no, it wasn't a doll quilt--I used it to cover up the glowing red numbers on my digital alarm clock! 

What I like about this quilt (besides that it's an early nod toward my future hobby and career) is that most of the fabrics in it hold memories. The lavender rosebud and peach floral were also used for doll clothes my mom made for my doll; my mom used the tan check for cones in appliqued bibs she used to sew for craft fairs; the white with rose geometric and blue mottled in the bottom row were from my mom's first quilt, made for my rose and country blue childhood bedroom.

My 2nd Quilt

I made my first quilt the year after I graduated from college. I didn't know enough to realize that on-point quilt patterns were maybe not the best choice for a first quilt. :) I also didn't know that I should be aiming for the half-square triangles to have points that weren't cut off--and considering that, I did pretty well! 

I remember picking out the two border fabrics first and then choosing coordinates for the blocks. I also remember--and this was in 2000--wanting to use a lot more white on white in this quilt and being talked out of it in the quilt shop--this was before modern quilting hit its heyday! 

This quilt is our family picnic quilt--it has gone to countless baseball games, fireworks, snack dinners in the yard, playgrounds, and more. Considering it's 22 years old, it's holding up pretty well! 
 

My 1st Modern Quilt

And last, here's my first modern quilt, made in 2012. It uses lots of white, because that's what modern quilts do, right? :) It's a wonky log cabin quilt, which over the years has become one of my favorite styles of quilts. I talk about this quilt in my Road to Improv lecture and how it got me started on my improv journey.

What does your first quilt look like? When did you make it? 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Sign up for my newsletter in the right-hand sidebar.