Longarm Quilting

Sometimes it is difficult to see through a very thick fabric such as felted wool or a quilt that has already been sandwiched with the battin...

The December FMQ Challenge , where Patsy Thompson showed us how to create spectacular borders using FMQ. Before I announce...

I’ve had my long arm sewing machine since mid-2012. That means for 4+ years I’ve been saying to myself, pretty much daily, “Hmm, it’d be nice to have a cover* for this to k…

The Free Motion Quilting Project: Quilting Basics 4: How to Mark Your Quilt Three Ways

Kathy Schwartz has owned her own longarm quilting business, Tamarack Shack Longarm Quilting, for more than nine years. She lives in Ontario, Canada and has a loyal following on the internet who enjoy seeing her signature style of quilting. We recently asked her a few questions...

I'm teaching a Free Motion Quilting class starting in April at my LQS, Heartstrings and Heirlooms. I finished up the class sample over the weekend. In the class the students will do larger samples, but I needed a small book of designs to advertise the class. As you can see in the above end view, I used three different types of batting for my sample book - Quilter's Dream 100% Cotton, Hobbs 80/20 (80% cotton and 20% polyester), and a 100% wool. I used a tutorial from a recent Quilting Arts…

Almost every month I travel and teach free-motion quilting to quilters at guilds and quilt shops. I truly love it, and I hope that everyone who takes a class from me enjoys it as well! But, inevitably, there comes a time in every class where I have to break the bad news . . . to get better at machine quilting, you have to practice. I know, I know. It’s not exactly what you (or anyone for that matter) wants to hear. I so wish that I had that one tip, trick, or even funny joke that would…

As it turns out I am not very motivated to clean my studio. I headed out there this weekend with all good intentions of getting my space clean and I honestly cleaned (or more accurately, contemplated cleaning) for a total of five minutes before I found myself distracted by a drawing I had started at Quiltcon in my Compositional Quilting/DRAWING class. I have to admit that after returning home from Quiltcon I have felt a little panicked. Panicked that I taught everything I had and that I was…

I sure hope you have learned a thing or two along the way with this series. If you just joined us, start from the beginning.

Christina Cameli’s newest book, Step-by-Step Texture Quilting, takes you on an adventure in texture as she shows you how to create a wide variety of free-motion and walking-foot designs.She notes: “Quilted textures have a way of drawing you in and making you want to touch the quilt. They bring out the best in the piecing. The play of shadow and light delights even nonquilters, grabbing their attention and inspiring appreciation for the skill involved.”Not sure which design to try first?…