Are you afraid to machine quilt your quilt tops? I know many quilters enjoy sewing quilt tops so much but then they are afraid to machine quilt them themselves. If you are a beginner or even an advanced quilter that finds machine quilting difficult, I am glad to share with you a technique that makes it easy, helping you at the same time to quilt BIG quilts with ease. This technique was a … [Read more...]
10 Quilting Mistakes I made as a beginner and how to avoid them
As long as we quilt, we make mistakes but fortunately, we learn best from mistakes. But some mistakes can be avoided, that's why I thought to share with you some of mine! Some of them are from my first months of quilting, so if you are a beginning quilter, I hope you will find something helpful. 1. Not pre-washing, starching and pressing fabric before starting a project. It looks like an … [Read more...]
How to sew successful bags for gifts
If you love to sew bags, you love to gift some of your bags, as well. You put your heart into your sewing projects; the bags require so much work and time and money! How to make sure that you sew successful bags for gifts? I sew bags for friends, my sisters and their friends. When they need a special gift, they always come to me for a bag. Here are some of my thoughts on this subject. I … [Read more...]
The best interfacing for bags
Are you still looking for the best interfacing for bags? Maybe you already know that I love to sew quilted bags? There are a few reasons for this: Sometimes you don't have the proper interfacing at hand. If you are a quilter, you probably have batting scraps. With batting and a backing (or no backing), you can make any fabric work for bags. If you are a bag maker, you know how to press a … [Read more...]
How to add borders to octagons
Yesterday a reader asked me what she could do with a 20'' octagon panel, how could she turn it into a bigger quilt? My answer was: add borders! I detailed the response to her and then I thought that maybe there are other quilters that have the same problem so here is a short tutorial on how to add borders to octagon blocks/panels. I needed an octagon so I made quickly this block. I used my … [Read more...]
How to finish quilts without binding
Once again I love the versatility of rainbow fabric. From one piece of fabric, I was able to make a block that required 8 colors! This was the starting point: 1'' octagon, small triangles and the technique from my Loving Hugs pattern series. The second row of triangles added. And the third row. A fast growth in scale of the block... The final block … [Read more...]
Big Dresden block made with small ruler
One of the rulers I use more often than others is the Fan ruler - this wedge ruler used to sew Dresden fan/plate blocks. In this tutorial I will show you how to use this 9'' ruler (15 degree) and sew BIG Dresden blocks, made with strips of fabric wider than the ruler. I used a 17'' wide strip of fabric (cut along the selvages, from 2 yards of fabric - Effervescence by Robert Kaufman). If you … [Read more...]