Things I made with Saguaro fabric

Coming back to the blog after the Year Everything Changed, I see I forgot to post about some things I made. I am so proud of these quilts with my lovely new fabric, how did I miss this?? I remember writing about them, but now I remember that was in my newsletter. (Sign up using the link at the bottom of my website if you want to get on it!) 

Well, my new fabric line Saguaro came out - I think I mentioned that in one of my posts! This is the flagship pattern, also called Saguaro. These cactus only grow in a narrow slice of the Southwest, where I happened to grow up. If you see a Saguaro with arms, it's at least 80 (!) years old! I love this tribute to the land I know so well. The quilt is out touring quilt shops and I can't wait until it's home!

I worked harder perfecting this pattern than any I've ever done. The Saguaro quilt pattern is available as a digital download, or as a printed pattern carried by quilt shops.  I've really loved seeing the finished Saguaro quilts people have made. In prints or solids, it's striking and lovely!

Next up, this simple beauty called Cactus Flower. It's a sweet table runner that is english paper pieced. The digital pattern includes a link to a printable file to cut out your own pieces, or you can buy them from PaperPieces.com. I've been considering making kits for this one. It's satisfying to sew, and I'd like to make a single flower as a pillow for our couch!

Now for those who like a little challenge, here is a diamond-block based quilt called Painted Desert. The template is included with the pattern. This quilt is touring too!! Come home baby I miss you!!

The digital Painted Desert pattern is here. I really like how I quilted this one. It was not complicated or time consuming but it packs a nice punch of texture and variety. 

Finally, here is a quick quilt with a twist, using a layer cake (10" squares). It's called Thunderclap. I really had a great time quilting this one too. I love the energy it has. The digital pattern for Thunderclap is in my shop as well! 

OK now I feel better that I gave these quilts their moments! Have you made any of these quilts? 

More Quilting Joy (even when it's late)

Well that title says it all. It's what I want to put out there in the world. More quilting joy!

I realize didn't even share my new book that released in October! I don't know what to say about how I missed this one, I'm filing it under "Last Year Was Bonkers". 

Free-Motion Combinations is all about how you can get more free-motion designs into the same piece. 

It's got so many of the lessons I've learned about HOW you make it all work together. I wish I had had this book to learn from 10 years ago! I think I would have tried new things sooner and my quilting would have gotten better a lot faster. 

I teach you how to make these specific designs, but more importantly, I share the concepts behind them so you can use my approaches in your own way!

If you prefer learning from videos, I put some of those same "aha!" lessons in my new online class, Finding your Flow. 

I recorded this class for Quiltcon Together and it got great reviews. I love the work my students have sent me after taking this class. Your feedback makes my day!

On the horizon I am working on a class about how I look at a quilt top to decide how to quilt it. If you have questions I can answer in this class I would love to hear them because I'll start recording next week!

Happy stitching all!

Scrappy Quarter Cabins rides again

You know who still knows how to blog? This girl! But here's something you might not know about blogging: a week after I hit publish all these spam comments begin to show up on my posts. Comments  with links about joining the illuminati, or dish washer repair in Dubai, or how to wear a wig, or how to get your husband back. Sometimes the same comment 10 times. Yikes. I don't want that garbage all over my blog, so I set my comments to be "moderated" starting 3 days after publishing. And then those spammy spammers don't get to advertise on the blog, but also my readers' nice normal thoughtful comments also don't show unless I go to the blogger site to read and approve them. Which I forgot to do. For almost whole year. And there were so many incredibly sweet comments in there, that I just found today and if you're one of the people who left them, I'm not actually a jerk, I just forgot to check my comments! I'll be responding now that I know they're there!

Anyway, just popping in with a little news about a class I recorded called Scrappy Quarter Cabins. Here's the story: A while ago I wrote a tutorial on this blog about how to make scrappy quarter log cabin blocks. The tutorial was just on making the blocks, which was enough for some of you to make lovely quilts. I then taught the class in person once, just before the pandemic, which was wonderful, and then after I figured out how to teach online, I started teaching it live for quilt guilds on Zoom. I gave the participants a printable pattern for how to finish up a throw size quilt and it worked great! It was so fun to see their finished quilts in my email afterward!

As I continued to teach, I decided there were some things I could record to make online teaching to guilds easier/more efficient/more effective. And then I decided it could be a class available to individuals to watch too! 

And that's where I stared to make things complicated. While no one would expect to see me finish an entire quilt in a 3 hour class, it is possible to see that in a recorded class. So I really should show the entire finished quilt, I figured. Which means I need to make one as I record. And I should really show how to quilt it too, right, since I teach domestic machine quilting? Of course! And that's how I started recording in February and didn't finish until April the day before we moved. 

So then my life became about all the happy transitions happening, and the videos waited patiently for me to find more time. Which I will never find, because I keep getting too many good ideas and wow are there a lot of kids in this house. 

Luckily, I am happy to say I figured out that I can't do it all (without even having a crisis first!) and brought in help in the form of a former nurse an all around super hero in my quilt guild named Erin. She took the videos, made them look and sound spiffy, and now we can all breathe a sigh of relief that THAT project got finished!

If you'd like to check out the free tutorial, click here. If you'd like the killer videos and pattern and quilting suggestions, click here! Happy stitching everyone. And oh my gosh leave your comments before the weekend is over or I might not see them until 2023!!! 

Sonoran Star (free pattern) and a summer wedding...

 Happy summer everyone!

I am back with the sweetest of news: I have a free quilt pattern and *love* is in the air!

First things first: my husband and I tied the knot earlier this month and we are officially a blended family with four kids! It absolutely could not have gone better and living together after four years of dating, I feel like the luckiest lady every day.

I feel like I want you to celebrate with us so here's our dance playlist on Spotify for when you need a musical energy boost! And our DJ also made a short video of the big day, which was so nice of him.

OK but this IS a quilting blog so let's get to the quilting...

Saguaro fabric is getting out in the world, hooray! I did a fun Facebook Live with local quilt shop Montavilla Sewing Center about the background of this collection. (They are a great place to call and order yardage from if you need some Saguaro in your life!). 

And there's a free pattern to share! Maywood Studio and I have collaborated on this baby size quilt pattern that uses a charm pack.  I named it Sonoran Star and you can download the free pattern here: Sonoran Star Free Quilt Pattern

Also Missouri Star Quilt Company recently used this pattern and fabric for a tutorial video! You can check that out here: Sonoran Star Tutorial

There are still some precuts in the shop if you didn't get in on my preorder. Every fabric order will be sent with one of my little Saguaro fabric stickers!

And speaking of precuts, Missouri Star is on a roll - a strip roll! They use a roll of Saguaro in their Lakeview Terrace Quilt, see the video tutorial here. 

So that's all the links I can send you to for now! I'll try to get back later this week with a full roundup of the Saguaro patterns I've published too, as all the patterns are now available digitally in my shop!

 

Free Project: Green Thumb Tea Towels

Hello everyone! I have a great little project to share today. A sweet raw edge, free-motion stitched tea towel featuring some of my favorite things: houseplants!! Using by the yard toweling, this is a quick project to freshen your home!

I am so thrilled to hang these in my new kitchen. The little scraps just make me smile (of course, because I love scraps)

Download the pattern here (I did this video at the request of National Sewing Circle, they will ask for your email address to download the pattern.)

You can see a recording of my demo of how to make the towels here: Watch on Facebook

I'd love to see if you make one! Happy stitching!

Firework: National Quilt Museum free block pattern

 Hello again!

I'm happy to share a pretty little block I designed for the National Quilt Museum's Block of the Month Program. The free pattern is available starting today at: https://quiltmuseum.org/blockofthemonth/. 

The pattern includes a printable wedge template and is complicated but not too complicated. And you know me: I designed it to work with smaller scraps of fabric!

This year the NQM BOM is being done with each block quilted individually, and they will be pieced together at the end. So I also posted a little video of how I quilted mine: https://youtu.be/iub58_roahQ

We recently had a snowstorm in Portland, which only happens once a year or so, and I couldn't resist trying to get a "quilt in the snow" photo. But it was so icy I couldn't make it farther than my front yard! I'm including this questionable photo anyway. 

I have enjoyed seeing how creative the NQM group on Facebook have been with each month's block and I can't wait to see how they approach this one. 

Baby Vista Quilt, Reflected Variation

I recently finished a baby quilt for a special baby!

This quilt was made with half a strip roll of Moongate Fabric following the baby-size version of my pattern Vista. I used the pattern a different way than originally written, though. Below is the original baby quilt layout in the pattern, a mountain-inspired design. 

I switched up which rows I used in this variation, and how I used them. 

I kind of like that you can mix and match the rows in this pattern to get something totally unique. If you'd like to make this version, I've written notes below so you can do it too!

Vista Baby Quilt Reflected Variation

Start the pattern as written, through the "Make Strip Pairs" step. 

Then, rotate each of the top 5 strip pairs, so that the strip that was on the top of each pair is now on the bottom of the pair.

Then, use the instructions in the "Make Rows" section to turn your strip pairs into rows. 

Follow the list below to learn which instructions to follow for each strip pair. (Also shown in illustration below)

Strip set 1 (top): Row A

Strip set 2: Row B

Strip set 3: Row C

Strip set 4: Row B

Strip set 5: Row D

Strip set 6: Row D

Strip set 7: Row B

Strip set 8: Row C

Strip set 9: Row B

Strip set 10 (bottom): Row A

After the Rows are complete, rotate each of the top 5 rows again, so that the original top strip is back on top again and the triangles for these rows are pointing down. Join the rows as in the original pattern. 

I quilted my version with this fluid textural design that I really love right now. It's a variation of the design I teach in my new Pathway Pillow class. I really had fun quilting this and it's already in the hands of the new parents!! I'd love to see your version if you make a Vista Quilt!