I’ve been machine quilting much more than usual during this extended time at home. I’m learning a lot. I am so happy to have finished My Wild Garden recently.
It’s an improvisational quilt, which is a fancy way of saying I made it up as I went along. You’ve never had so much fun as improv quilting allows.
I’m not going to talk about the pandemic. We’re all frustrated. So…
I’ve been finishing up some things the past few weeks. I have a lot of UFOs squirreled away in closets and cupboards and it would feel great to be done with them. And, BONUS, some of them can go into trunk shows! I have extra time because my engagements with guilds have been cancelled for April, May and June.
Two quilts I finished this week gave me pause. One was My Christmas Album, above. It’s a great design by Tina Curran with fusible applique and a border of Christmas sweaters. But when I took the final stitch, I didn’t feel anything good. I felt all manner of royally ticked off.
I’m doing a lot more machine quilting these days and boy, am I learning a lot.
I’m using the HQ Capri stationary longarm with its Insight table, which provides stitch regulation and support for the quilt.
In my search for ideas of what to quilt on Wild Garden, an improv throw-size UFO, I pulled out my books on machine quilting.
Thank you to everyone who has viewed the mini trunk show from the Quilt Candy event. I really appreciate your time. I wanted to follow up with a few things and put all of the links in one place.
Nine Patch Jambalaya is a quilt that gets a lot of attention during the Make Extraordinary Scrap Quilts trunk show.
We’re on to more of the Quilt Candy Virtual Trunk Show. These are the links for today, Sunday April 5, and tomorrow, Monday April 6. You can watch them live on Facebook at the times listed or you may watch them anytime after the live broadcast that is convenient for you.
My own trunk show will be today at 4 pm CST, 5 pm EST. I hope you’ll take a peek! I’m going to share tips for making scrap quilts, some free quilt patterns and a few quilts that are part of my various trunk shows. Nothing to buy! 😊 Just watch, learn and enjoy.
Today, Sunday April 5 (note that these are Eastern times):
April 5 12pm EST Ebony Love https://www.facebook.com/LoveBugStudios/
April 5 1pm EST Bill Locke https://www.facebook.com/bill.locke.96
April 5 2pm EST Marlene Oddie https://www.facebook.com/kissedquilts/
April 5 3pm EST Sandy Fitzpatrick https://www.facebook.com/HissyfitzDesigns
April 5 4pm EST Reed Johnson https://www.facebook.com/BlueBearQuilts/
April 5 5pm EST Diane Harris https://www.facebook.com/stashbandit/
April 5 7pm EST Kathryn LeBlanc/Dragonfly’s Quilting Design Studio https://www.facebook.com/dragonflysquiltingdesignstudio
Tomorrow, Monday April 6 (note that these are Eastern times):
My business focus is two-fold.
The Quilt Candy Virtual Trunk Shows continue today beginning at 11 CST on Facebook Live. You can watch live or any time afterward when it’s convenient for you. There’s a lot of great talent being displayed.
My own trunk shows will be Sunday at 4 pm CST and Tuesday at 6 pm CST on my Facebook business page. It’s kind of fun to watch them live but I have caught many afterward as well. Either way you get to see it all!
There are more designers hosting short Facebook Live events in the Quilt Candy Trunk Show! I hope you’ll take a peek. Remember that you don’t have to watch it live, you can watch them any time after they go live, too.
Today’s designers:
Tomorrow’s designers:
April 3 12pm EST Darcy Hunter www.facebook.com/darcydoodlequilts
April 3 1pm EST Teresa Weaver www.facebook.com/yoursewingfriend
April 3 2pm EST Annette Ornelas https://www.facebook.com/southwind.designs/
April 3 3pm EST Jo Westfoot – The Crafty Nomad www.facebook.com/thecraftynomad
April 3 4pm EST Lynn Kane https://facebook.com/puppygirllynn
April 3 5pm EST Geeky Bobbin https://facebook.com/geekybobbin
April 3 7pm EST Laura Strickland https://m.facebook.com/orangeblossomquilt/
April 3 8pm EST Jen Frost https://www.facebook.com/FaithAndFabric/
If you like what you see, go ahead and “like” that person’s Facebook page because she will likely share other good stuff and you’ll want to be part of it. I’m up on Sunday, I’ll see you then!
A group of quilt designers have teamed up to offer a fun and free event online during this time. Each designer will spend about 15 minutes showing some of her favorite quilts. You can watch live on Facebook at the top of each hour from 12 noon to 8 pm Eastern time every day from April 1 to April 10.
If you don’t catch it live, you can still watch each video when you have time. Today’s designers:
Most of the time when I have a design published, it’s because I pitched it to a magazine and they accepted it. But last year, a magazine in the UK came to me, which was very exciting. I have often purchased Love Patchwork & Quilting because quilters in other parts of the world sometimes have a different aesthetic, or at least a different viewpoint, and it’s a good way to expose yourself to their ideas.
Love Patchwork & Quilting Issue 85. Get a digital issue today! My quilt is inside. 😊
They had seen my Instagram and wondered if I would design a scrap quilt for an upcoming issue. They didn’t have to ask twice.
I just finished a quilt top and now that it’s done I can say that I like it. But along the way, I hated this thing. Too much stitch-and-flip, too many ugly intersections and not nearly enough forgiveness for my style of sewing. None of this was the fault of the designer, Erika Bea, or the publisher of the pattern, American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. The blame lands squarely on me, and we’ll get to that in a minute.
It’s called Color Catcher, and it will look all right from the back of a galloping horse—which is a very old quilter’s mantra of unknown origin. I took a few lessons away from this project.