Category: blog

Arctic Vortex Quilt Along Week 3

I hope you’ve got an itch to STITCH! This week we’re starting to sew our Vortex blocks! If you’re making the mini, watch the YouTube video in Step 1 below. Eager beavers can work ahead, but really Team Mini is on pause until Week 5.

Step 1: Attach the first strip to your diamond.

Follow the pattern for details of which strip. If you’re new to sewing with with 60-degree and 120-degree angles, you’ll want to watch this tutorial first. I’ll show you how NOT to line up your pieces, and 2 ways to get them to match up just right.

Step 2: Attach the second strip with a partial seam

Don’t Panic!

You’ve probably sewn a partial seam before and you didn’t even know it. Partial seams are really No Big Deal. Here’s the scoop:

Autumn Quilt Inspiration: Pumpkin Spice and Peacock Plume

There’s a chill in the air and the days are getting shorter. That means 3 things:

Everything is about to get VERY pumpkin spice oriented on social media
Squirrels are trying to live in my roof rent-free*
Quilt palettes are about to turn warm and cozy, like roasted root veg and decorative gourds << sweary comedy article! Don’t click if you’re offended by swears!! So pull up an overstuffed armchair, grab a steaming mug of pumpkin spice oat milk chai tea latte and a gluten free, nut free, dairy free, vegan, free range pumpkin spice scone, and prepare to be inspired by some beautiful, seasonal colour palettes!

Arctic Vortex Quilt Along Week 2

Plan your quilt!

The first question is which size Arctic Vortex Quilt are you making? The medium size makes a good throw quilt or tree skirt, but if you want a bigger tree skirt, the large size is a few inches larger thanks to the added sashing, which also adds a little extra visual interest. Either one can be made using fat quarters or yardage. You can even go scrappy if you have long strips hanging around in your scrap basket.

Either way, you’ll want to pair up fabrics, since each block is made with 2 colours of strips. You can choose high contrast pairs or low contrast pairs.

And of course the star of the show is the focal fabric for the diamonds! We’ll talk more about fussy cutting next week, but you can print out the diamond template from the pattern to check if your motifs are the right scale for fussy cutting. Feel free to go scrappy with these as well!

Arctic Vortex Quilt Along Week 1

Plan your quilt!

The first question is which size Arctic Vortex Quilt are you making? The medium size makes a good throw quilt or tree skirt, but if you want a bigger tree skirt, the large size is a few inches larger thanks to the added sashing, which also adds a little extra visual interest. Either one can be made using fat quarters or yardage. You can even go scrappy if you have long strips hanging around in your scrap basket.

Either way, you’ll want to pair up fabrics, since each block is made with 2 colours of strips. You can choose high contrast pairs or low contrast pairs.

And of course the star of the show is the focal fabric for the diamonds! We’ll talk more about fussy cutting next week, but you can print out the diamond template from the pattern to check if your motifs are the right scale for fussy cutting. Feel free to go scrappy with these as well!

Arctic Vortex Quilt Along FAQs, Early Bird Prize, and Recommended Tools

We’re one week away from the beginning of Arctic Vortex Quilt Along and I’m sew excited for all the fun!

Arctic Vortex Quilt Along
Dates: September 14 through November 23, 2021
Duration: 10 weeks
Quilt Sizes: Tree skirt or hexagonal quilt:

Large: 53” x 61”
Medium: 47” x 56”
Mini: 23” x 28”

3 Secret Formulas to Picking Fabric Colors that Work Together for Your Quilt

It’s no secret that I love making colorful quilts. Bright fabrics are fun!

When I show my quilts in a trunk show, one of the comments that I hear the most is “I love the color palette you used for this quilt!”

Here are my 3 simple secret formulas for picking the perfect palette of prints for a quilt, without using a color wheel or color theory.

Orbital Quilt Pattern Tester Parade

I’m so excited to share all the beautiful Orbital quilts that my pattern testers made! This modern curvy quilt pattern is so versatile, as you can see with the variety of looks here.
I’d love to know which Orbital quilt is your favourite! The Orbital quilt pattern also has a Mini size, Twin size, and King size option. I can’t wait to see what you’ll make with it!

Quarter-Inch Game Changers!

When I was a beginner quilter, I struggled with sewing an accurate quarter-inch seam allowance. How did I finally get perfect, consistent, quarter-inch seam allowances for accurate piecing, perfect points, and beautiful quilt blocks? Game Changer #1: The Flanged Quarter-Inch Presser Foot
Behold, my secret weapon in the Quest for the Consistent Seam Allowance!

A Plastic-Free Quilt-In-Progress Storage System

My quilting studio has finally gotten so messy, that my brain totally goes offline when I’m in there.
Thankfully, I had committed to do some quilt studio spring cleaning as part of the Spring Clean your Studio blog hop! As I said in last year’s Spring Cleaning post, nothing gets my butt in gear like a deadline. After a year of pandemic, my sewing room was soooo much worse.
How bad was it, you ask?
I shared these Before pics on Instagram with a double-bagged warning, and still, some viewers were shocked. Use the little arrow thingy on the side to scroll AT YOUR OWN RISK!