Here are some pics from last week, we had such a good week . We spent alot of time offline playing with the HQ16. Here are a few pics of some of the practice runs we made. Bradie was so happy when I came home with a bolt of ikea Muslin to practice on. At $3.99/M you can't go wrong.





Here is a pattern we followed with the laser stylus. It was really easy to use and if this is how good it looks first run, wait till we get good at it. I tried some micro stippling of sorts as well.










Before long patterns just sort of flow on to your textile canvas. This one turned out a little aztec or egyptian.







Here's a shot of what the kids see as Marching Elephants. I see it a bit but am going to mess around with the number of legs and size of ears. This would be a really fun pattern to try on a kids jungle quilt.





Bradie's playing with the idea of blistery breeze.






Second Oldest daughters first attempt at Graffiti slye writing. She wants to practice with different colour threads. I think it will look great in orange red and yellow







I couldn't believe when Bradie whipped this off. She's such a natural at quilting, I 'm happy to have some one to learn from and with. What a great flower. Again, can't wait to see it in color. or on a quilt.







Some of Bradie's first McCtavishing on the longarm.








We had originally picked out a bunch of different templates for the machine, but weren't happy with the way they looked on fabric. We traded them in for these great templates. They are ideal for blocks up to 12.5 inches. We got both squares and circles. As you can see my stylus wasn't quite low enough and some of the lines are little wavy.

tags: Pattern, free motion quilting, beginner

Quick and Easy Quilted Placemats

Last week I had a request from a friend on Twitter who was looking for a super easy quilting project. She wanted to use up some Barbie fat quarters she bought for her young daughter. She suggested placemats would be a good idea. I was so excited to get started, I went straight to my stash a dug out these beautiful modas that I had. These fabrics have been patiently waiting for the perfect project and here it is!

I wanted this project to really show the fabrics - a girl needs to see those Barbies on the fabric! - and to use most of the fat quarters. I also wanted it to be fast and easy.

In the tutorial I show how to speed cut by layering the fabrics and all the cuts are the same, so there is no confusing different strip sizes. Each little pile of fabric cut becomes a strip set, so it is totally designed for success. You will notice that I made the finishing instructions into a seperate tutorial. This will help quilters who need advice on a technique, but do not want the entire pattern.

In this example the placemats are finished with a Pillow Case Turn rather than binding. As always, my partner in crime and webmaster Husband (thank you Baby!) has included the copy and paste instructions for easy printing.

Now you may notice from the photos that I have not finished mine yet! I would like to challenge someone to finish their placemats before I finish mine.... and I will be done this weekend - I hope!

I also plan to make a photo tutorial on machine quilting, I think you will love it... I chose a pretty fan design to quilt in each block. So leave me a comment with your thoughts on the pattern and instructions, I need some feedback quilters!

And if you do finish those placemats before I do.... send me some pictures, I'll put you up on the website and send you a fabulous prize - A brand new Clover Slash Cutter! This is a great tool for doing those chenille quilts that you always wanted to do.... Sew get sewing Ladies!

tags: Placemats, beginner, twitter

On the weekend while I was at the Show, I found a booth decorated with some intriguing quilts. Pat Leske of Create-A-Legacy in Westlock, Alberta took a moment of her day to answer my quilting questions on the weekend. I asked Pat what her #1 tip for beginner quilters would be. She recommended that quilters should be very accurate and precise. Pat also mentioned that she suggests a rag time quilt or a small table runner for beginners.

I asked Pat what she is enjoying working on right now. Luckily for me she satisfied my curiosity by pointing at the intriguing quilts. Annette Ornelas of Southwind Designs has come up with an amazing way to create curves without curved piecing. I know! Sounds fantastic right? Pat says she really enjoys these quilts but she also would like to spend some time on more traditional kinds of quilts. Can't you totally sympathize with Pat? Too many quilts, too little time! Thanks so much to Pat for her time on Saturday; also thanks to her beginner quilter friend, who's name I forgot to ask! I know! I know! duh!

A short time later, I spied one of my guild sisters, named Charlene Wong. I noticed her name tag so I asked her where she was working these days. Recently a new quilt shop - Sew Divine, has opened here in Edmonton, and Charlene not only works there... but she will be teaching the beginner class! Now I must tell you that Charlene is a very talented hand quilter and she has a lot to offer those newbie quilters. I'm so excited for Charlene and I just want to say Congratulations!

Another thing I discovered is a beautiful Canadian magazine that was given to me for FREE at the show. I love free stuff so I really must mention it. It is called A Needle Pulling Thread, and it features many different types of needle work. Now to my sheer delight the quilt pattern inside is for.... a Bargello! Which I totally love by the way, in case I wasn't obvious there. Anyways... Thank you to Pat, and Charlene, and also thanks for the magazine I love it!

tags: beginner, Southwind Designs, A Needle Pulling Thread

While wandering through the aisles at the Creative Stitches Craft Show I came across one vendor booth which really stood out. The Quilt Patch of Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, had travelled to Edmonton to show off their stuff. Co owner Shelley took a few minutes to chat with me about her shop and answer a few of my questions.

Shelley shared her tip for a beginner quilter, which was Take A Class! Sounds like great advice to me. I also asked Shelley what pattern she recommends for beginner quilters to start with. She showed me a pattern called Around the Block, which was designed in the shop. This is a class taught at her shop and kits are also available. Shelley also mentioned that it is very affordable, only 12 Fat Quarters, which is just what beginner quilters love to hear!

Next I asked Shelley what she is excited about right now. Is there anything special going on in her shop? Ummm Yes! First of all, Shelley told me that The Quilt Patch is expanding into wholesale pattern distribution this coming June. That means you will soon be finding The Quilt Patch patterns locally, and no more waiting for the mail! I had a look at the website and these ladies have some really beautiful patterns. I will be telling my local quilt shop about their exciting news.

The second bit of news that Shelley shared with me is about a Quilt Show happening July 25, 26, & 27, 2008. It is called The Crescent Park Quilt Festival and will feature Mark Lipinski. Who is Mark Lipinski you say? He is the editor at Quilter's Home Magazine and according to Shelley he is one funny guy. So the Quilt Festival will feature classes with Mark on Friday and Saturday, plus he will do a dinner and trunk show on Saturday evening. Sunday there will be an outdoor Quilt Show with a merchant mall. Personally, I hope to be there, I would love to take part in a class!

Lastly I would like to thank Shelley for her time on Saturday. She gave me a great story to write and now I have a summer weekend away to plan!

tags: beginner, The Quilt Patch, Mark Lipinski