Exciting news.  I've just finished my first You Tube video.  It is on a technique I frequently use in pressing my quilt blocks.  I call it either a split seam or twisted seam concept.

I used this technique in my latest pattern - Tad Ted and Theodore Bowties.

There are three different size blocks (2", 4" or 6").  The finished projects have exactly the same layout -- but the size of the block determines the finished size.  The 2" Tad bowties produces a miniature quilt (22" x 29").  The 4" Ted bowties produces a 44" x 58" quilt -- perfect for a baby quilt.  The 6" Theodore bowties result in a 67" x 87" quilt which would be a great lap quilt.

My version was the miniature.  I did some basic quilting on this one -- stitch in the ditch around the bowties and arcs in the sashing.   Even though it is a small quilt -- I still quilted this on my APQS Millennium with Intelliquilter. 
 

Happy quilting.

Kari

You may have noticed that I now have a sign-up form on my website.  This will allow you to receive e-mails from me which includes updates for my latest blog posts.

I would love to get as many of you signed up as possible.  To provide an added incentive for you to sign-up I would like to offer you a copy of a new pattern I just released entitled Maple Leaf Fun.

I designed this quilt to hang on my Mom's door to celebrate fall.  It measures 16" x 22" and would also work well as a small table runner.

Fall is my favorite time of the year.  So I had to make two versions of this quilt.  One in batiks and one in Civil War reproduction prints.

This project was actually a variation of a quilt we did for our Pastor and his wife to celebrate their retirement.  For that quilt we added a 9" maple leaf block.  We asked each person participating in the project to bring fat quarters of fabric.  We had lots of new quilters participate in making the quilt and they did a fabulous job.  We even had a number of younger kids that served as "runners" to keep the blocks moving between the teams. 

I hope you enjoy the free project.

Happy quilting.

Kari

Last Saturday I was able to make it to Des Moines to see the AQS Show along with the show for the Des Moines quilt guild.  I really like how they combine the two events together.

The ACQ show allowed me to see what is cutting edge in our industry.  It is what the masters are doing and probably the things we will be working on in the next few years.  I definitely enjoyed the quilting on many of these quilts.  It was interesting to see that crystals appear to be waning in popularity.

The Des Moines quilt guild show provides a better perspective on the types of quilts most of us are working on including the favorite types of patterns that are out there and what is making it on our beds.

One of my favorite features from the Des Moines Guild show was an exhibit on Family Legacy Quilts.  It appears the quilting gene can be passed from generation to generation.  The following quilt was from that exhibit.  If I read my notes correctly the artist is Ellen Kelly Smith.  The diagonal lines is a very typical quilting style from the late 1800s.
 

This quilt appears to be made from an exchange.  There were 11 participents from the Loose Threads Quilt Group.  You can see how the artist combined the nine simple blocks into a larger block.  I just loved the color in this one.

What a great way to put simple blocks together.

In addition to the scrappy nature of this quilt, I loved that the number of different blocks in this quilt -- all with just squares and rectangles.  No half square triangles.  :)

This is actually a miniature quilt.  I just like barn quilts and love how she did the wood in this quilt.

A wonderful rendition of a traditional quilt pattern.  I love her use of color along with the feather quilting in the background.

There were a couple of exhibits that I found particularly fascinating on the AQS side of the show. 

The first was a group of miniature quilts.  Photos weren't allowed during this visit; however there was an ASQ book that I was able to purchase that not only had the photos but some additional information on the quilts and their artists.  One of my favorite parts of looking at miniature quilts is thinking through how I would make the quilt myself.

The second exhibit I loved was that of modern quilts.  Many of these were very simple in terms of piecing.  In these quilts you can see how the machine quilting really appears to move the quilt to award quality.

Iceterine Strata

Doris Lovadina-Lee
Toronto, Ontanrio, Canada

This reminded me of playing Free Fall on my Iphone.

Moon Shadow
Diana Roberts
Windsor CA

Moons Over Bars
Susan Garrity
Wilson, WY

I thought the quilting on this one was phenomenal.  Straight lines super-imposed with pebbled circles. 

I can't read the label on this quilt.  My apologies to the artist.

I loved the use of plaid in these circles along with the pops of color.

I hope you enjoyed a few of my favorite quilts from these shows.

Happy quilting.

I just came back from AQS Des Moines.  In addition to looking at a lot of amazing quilts, one of the goals from my trip was investigating a new sewing machine.

I'm on numerous Yahoo lists and fairly frequently I see posts that essentially say "I'm looking for a new machine.  Which brand do you recommend?"  This usually is followed by responses that often follow along the lines of "I love my Bernina." or "I love my Pfaff." etc.   What I have learned from this is that most of the time we really do like our machines -- or at least we learn to like our machines regardless of brand.

What I have found more useful (at least for myself) is putting together a list of "must have features" for the machine that I will purchase.  These are a combination of things that (1) I love about my current machine and couldn't live without, (2) I would fix about my current machine if I could meet with the powers that be that make sewing machines, and (3) I hated about my last machine that caused me to replace it.

A few years ago, I had decided I was ready for a new machine and was very enamored with some of the new "features" detailed in the brochure of a leading sewing machine company.  I spent almost two years trying to "love" my new machine.  While it had many nifty new features, I found thread cutter would frequently cause the machine to unthread from the needle, the automatic threader only worked after a number of tries, and the most frustrating was the quality of the stitches and the fabric that would get caught under the presser plate at the beginning of sewing lines.  My personal conclusion was that the last was partially do to feed dogs that were far apart to accommodate the fancy stitches on the machine did not allow for matching the bottom of the quarter inch foot with the feed dogs.  I eventually decided to sell the machine and had somewhat resigned myself to purchasing older used machines without all the fancy features after learning that all new machines had the wider feed dog system.

So you are probably asking "what did I end up purchasing"?

I spent a fair amount of time in the booth testing the machine and matching it against my requirements.  The blind hem stitch didn't do exactly what I wanted, but learned that there was a variable blanket stitch that will actually work better than what I requested.  All the other must have requirements appear to have been met.  The biggest "risk" from my perspective was giving up my oscillating bobbin and moving from metal bobbins to plastic.  The booth personnel were very helpful during the whole evaluation. 

I'm now looking forward to trying out my machine at home.

I am curious.  What different "must haves" are on your list for a sewing machine?  Post a reply if you would like to share this with others.

Happy quilting.