Friday, December 6, 2013

what do you do with ugly fabric?

So this one started out as an ugly fabric design.  Notice the very dated brown calico was my ugly fabric.  It  was transformed by the addition of just a few colors.  The deep red is what makes the most difference in my opinion. It pulls all of the others together.


What do you think?  Have any ugly fabric in your stash? Send it to me and I will see what I can do with it.



Friday, November 15, 2013

New top finished

I just returned from my annual quilting retreat and I am very happy to show you what I accomplished..........


I intend to add some borders to it, so technically it is just the center of a very large quilt. Right now it measures 96 x 144.......



Monday, October 7, 2013

Triple Irish Chain - A new finish!!!

I have finished quilting my triple Irish Chain (at least that is what I am calling it)......I think if the shading/colors aren't consistent, it technically isn't an Irish Chain..........WHATEVER - I like it!!!!

 Yes, there are still some blue marks on it - I couldn't wait long enough to wash it, before showing it off.


It was all quilted free motion on my APQS Milleninum. I am very excited for you to see this one!



I hope you are having as much fun as I am!






Thursday, October 3, 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

So the spiders look a little more like ticks (sorry, gross I know), but it is a cute pattern, this one is on the Moda website.

Thursday, September 26, 2013





Halloween, what a great time to try out paper piecing. Enjoy these free patterns given by Artisania.

Click here to get them all.



















Monday, September 23, 2013

Mr. October



This one makes me smile every time I see him. You really could go in all kinds of directions for a laugh with it!

It is a free Halloween quilt pattern provided by Fun Threads Designs....be sure to tell them thank you!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Candy Corn - free mug rug pattern

I was so excited with how this Halloween Mug Rug turned out, that I wanted to share it with you again.


Here is another Halloween Mug Rug pattern where I digitized the applique pattern for my embroidery machine! But you can do traditional applique, if you don't have an embroidery machine.







Here is a closeup of the candy corn, since colors faded a bit on my full shots taken outside.....

As always, I am providing the mug rug pattern and even the candy corn machine embroidery design free to you, so keep reading.......

Hoop the black fabric and stabilizer (I used cut away) into a 5 x 7 (or larger) hoop. Load the black fabric/stabilizer only into the machine and stitch your layout outline (1st thread color.)

Now get ready to tack down the top color (I used white) of your candy corn. For each of the three colors in the candy corn, I used a single charm square. It is the perfect size for this pattern. One charm square covers the whole area and each segment of that color is tacked down in one step.




 After stitching the tack down stitches for a color, trim away.
Those stitches you see on the black background are the layout stitches that sewed out in the first step. They show you where to lay your fabric for tacking down.


 Be sure to trim all of your jump stitches between each step. Also, trim your applique as close to the seam line as possible. Applique or curved clipping scissors are a must for this project!

Repeat the process with the middle (second) color.

Note that I did not glue or baste my charm squares, I simply laid them down on top of the design and had no problems with them bunching up or flipping around. I was pleased with the ease of stitching out this pattern.
I used yellow in the middle, but I think that the orange was supposed to go in the middle and yellow on bottom. Oh well, no one can say this isn't original!

Once you have clipped the middle color pieces and all of the jump stitches, reload the hoop on your machine.

It's time for the tack down of the third and final color (orange in my case) on the bottom.

After you have trimmed the final color pieces and jump stitches, reload the hoop into the machine and get ready for the applique stitching around the edges.









Again, be sure to trim as close to the tack down stitches as possible, so that you don't end up with any frayed edges as you see in this photo.I have made adjustments to my design to help, but you still have to trim well.
 Sandwich and quilt your applique design.


Bind as desired and there you have it! I am going let my daughter take this one to her teacher, along with a jar of candy corn.

 I am uploading the candy corn outline here, for those of you who want to do traditional applique or don't want to use the machine embroidery design.

If you would like the free machine embroidery design, I ask that you be a follower and leave me a comment telling me which design format you need for your machine. I will e-mail you the design file. If you don't know what type of file you need, tell me what brand machine you have.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Boo! - free Halloween Mug Rug Pattern

This is a reprint from a couple of years ago, but I don't want all of this hard work to go to waste! It is a free mug rug pattern, or free embroidery design, or free mini quilt pattern for you.....what you call it is up to you - I just think it was a lot of fun to make! Digitized by moi!

 This one is a combination of applique and machine embroidery, but I am also including the outline drawing, so that if you want to do traditional applique or even hand embroidery, you have those options as well.
 I am quite please with how this stitched out.....now I just have to get it sandwiched and quilted for Will's teacher! I am always a day late it seems.


 If you don't want to miss out on future free quilt related patterns, please sign up to follow me. I would love to hear your comments and certainly would like to see photos if you stitch out the design. To get the files:

Boo! - jpeg for traditional applique
Boo! - .xxx embroidery file
Boo! - .pes embroidery file
Boo! - .exp embroidery fil

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Going Batty.........

For some reason, I am really getting into Halloween this year....probably because my children (ages 10 and 11) are getting into it a lot more.........so for your enjoyment - what a cute a simple Halloween pattern by Debby Kratovil. Be sure to tell her thank you!

Monday, September 9, 2013

Blossoms - Little Miss Shabby's gift to you




Here is another cute free pattern from Little Miss Shabby that I think would be a great use of fat quarter packs - anybody have any of those lying around? Click here to get the pattern.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Modern or traditional - you decide





I like this pattern because it can go either modern or traditional, just by your fabric choices! I can see this one using Christmas prints, with red stripes. Off to visit my stash........

Click here to download the free pattern from Free Spirit Fabric.

Monday, August 26, 2013

31 Days of Quilting with a Walking Foot

Petit Design Co has done a 31 day series on quilting with a walking foot.........think it is just straight lines? NOPE - she includes curves. There are some great ideas applicable to quilting on a longarm as well. Click here to visit the landing page with links to the 31 days......

Monday, August 19, 2013





I like this one - modern quilt, but you can use any kind of fabric....I can even see using some Christmas fabrics on this one, with red stripes.......hmmm - off to visit my stash.

Click here to get the free pattern from Free Spirit Fabric.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Attractive wall hanging

I am not sure why I am so attracted to this pattern, but I am. It reminds me of a storm at sea quilt block. I like patterns that look curved, but aren't - let's face it, curves aren't the easiest thing to sew.

What attracts you to this pattern?

Click here to get the free quilt pattern from Benartex.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Is it possible to have too many handbags?



If so, I suppose you could make it for a friend. It even includes a coin purse. I can see this as a great use fat quarters.

Click here to get the free purse pattern.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Delectable Mountains Variations - WARNING Quilter's eye candy overdose...........

One of the first quilt classes I ever took was from Billie Lauder. She taught one of those classes where you leave with a world of information on shortcuts and techniques, that you can use for the rest of your quilting life. One of the things she showed us was quick piecing methods for delectable mountains. I am gearing up to make one soon, so I have been on a web search of images for different variations. This block is just about as versatile as a log cabin!

I had to make myself stop with the images, as I could have gone on all day.......see for yourself - just google: delectable mountains quilt image




I don't know about you, but I am inspired - off I go to create another quilt!

Beautiful Classic Floral Spray - Machine Embroidery Design

Click here for machine embroidery file Watch this design come to life on your fabric canvas. This gorgeous design has been thoughtfu...