January 2020 Crazy Quilt Block

January 2020 Crazy Quilt Block

by | Jan 28, 2020 | Quilting Tips

January Crazy Quilt Block I have always wanted make a crazy quilt. In fact, I have been collecting fabric remnants, ribbon, beads, lace, and other bits and bobs for years. Many of these came from the clearance rack or estate sales. What I had been missing was...
Inside Machine Maintenance

Inside Machine Maintenance

by | Jan 27, 2020 | Quilting Tips

Recently, I had to take a short break from my longarm quilting. Just like your car, it was only for a few hours, while my local Handiquilter technician, Joe, performed routine maintenance. Instead of every 3 months or 5,000 miles, my longarm needs maintenance every...

Royal Star

by | Jan 24, 2020 | Quilting Tips

For generations, quilting has been a group activity. Today, we may sit our sewing rooms and stitch by ourselves, but we still seek the comradery that comes with quilting. To achieve that, we join guilds that meet routinely, we take classes, and we join FaceBook...

Reading Color

by | Jan 23, 2020 | Quilting Tips

Read words, faces, expressions, palms – sure! But reading color? What exactly is that? Over the holidays, I took advantage of some of the clearance sales and increased my stash – my husband may argue that it was completely unnecessary… Regardless, I...

Cutting Corners – Dahlia Sampler

by | Jan 22, 2020 | Quilting Tips

Cutting Corners Quilt by Jordan Fabrics. Dahlia sampler quilting by Laureen Smith. I am excited that I finished my quilt sampler on the Cutting Corners quilt from Jordan Fabrics. Some people think of samplers having different patchwork. They can also have different...
Time Saving Tools

Time Saving Tools

by | Jan 20, 2020 | Quilting Tips

Most quilters have an element of quilting they don’t enjoy as much as others. For me, it is binding a quilt. It is a necessary evil in my mind. I have tried various methods to minimize the torture of this last step. That being said, if it has to be done by hand...
Red Star Runner

Red Star Runner

by | Jan 13, 2020 | Quilting Tips

Red Star Runner – Copyright 2020 – Tourmaline & Thyme Quilts I have always been drawn to Scandanavian Redwork. I have used it in cross stitch for beautiful Christmas ornaments. It appears in sweaters and blankets. So why not in quilts? Star blocks can...
Time for Pinwheels

Time for Pinwheels

by | Jan 11, 2020 | Quilting Tips

Pinwheel block Each month EQ8 challenges designers to use a particular block in a quilt. These are then posted for others to see. This month’s challenge was the Pinwheel Block based on a 5 patch. Hourglass block Since the pinwheel block had corner stone patches,...
Not Cutting Corners

Not Cutting Corners

by | Jan 8, 2020 | Quilting Tips

Time Cutting Corners – teal & violet Now that the holidays are over, I have time to play and improve my skills. Since I liked the the Cutting Corners pattern, I decided to do it again – this time in teal and violet. It went together very quickly, so I...
What’s in a Name?

What’s in a Name?

by | Jan 7, 2020 | Quilting Tips

Pinwheel Lanyard Does your quilt guild or other organization have name tags? Are they boring plastic, paper or write-on stickers? Or have you created your own wearable work of art to serve as a name tag? Our guild encourages people to make their own name tags. So for...