My favorite needle (right now) is the milliners needle by John James. I use the size #10. They are very fine and smooth. They just seem to have the right amount of springiness to them. I have found them at my local quilt store, Quilter’s Haven, but you’d have to check at your own local store. You can purchase them online at SpinBlessing.com, as well as other sites.

"Easy Breezy Appliqué" and "Dramatic Darks" from maryappliques.com

The other needle I love is from Jeana Kimball’s Foxglove Cottage. I use her straw needles size #10, if they’re available, but the #9 isn’t too bad, either. (In needles, the smaller the number, the thicker the needle.) These straw needles are great, but they will eventually bend because they are so fine. My friend, Janice, actually prefers them bent and has one that she can’t bear to lose, because it is bent to the perfect amount right now!

A side note on Jeana Kimball: Jeana is the appliqué guru. The queen. (I am not worthy!)  She lives in Utah, and has been designing for many years. She has many patterns and books you can look at on her site. She also carries quilting and other needles, as well as appliqué pins.

I was lucky enough to take a class from her many years ago, and she basically taught me how to appliqué. I had taught myself a little bit, but after taking her class, things looked much better! Her work is very intricate; small pieces and a lot of detail, and it is beautiful. Take a look!

"Just Berries" and "Autumn Fair"by Jeana Kimball

My former co-worker, Diane Johnston, was making this quilt, and I thought it was spectacular. She told me I needed to make the quilt, but I wasn’t quite confident enough in my appliqué technique to do it. She kept coaxing me, though, and one day the blue ticking fabric was on the sale wall for 50% off, and she told me that it would make the perfect background for this quilt! She finally talked me into it, and I purchased the fabric and started working on it.

I carried blocks around with me to Natalie’s soccer games, doctor’s appointments, and anywhere else I had to sit around for awhile. It took me at least a couple of years to do the appliqué, then I had to put it together and appliqué the borders. That probably took a couple more years!

I wanted to try my hand at “show quilting”, which consists of really tight, close stitching. I also had to “outline” all the appliqué, which takes quite a bit of time.  I did alright on it, though it wasn’t too spectacular! I was quite pleased with the completed quilt, though. It has been in the HMQS show, and has been displayed at various quilt shops.

Here’s the completed quilt, and the book cover:

My version of "A Celebration of American Life" by Barb Adams and Alma Allen/Kansas City Star Quilts

Book Cover

What to Expect from your Long-arm Quilter:

Know what you want from the quilter:

Do you want the quilter to decide how to quilt it, or do you have a motif in mind? Do you want an all-over design, or something more custom? Make sure you tell the quilter if there are motifs you don’t like. (Hearts, stars, etc.) Do you want the thread changed in different areas? (This will increase the price.)

If you’re trying a new quilter, you might consider having her do a quilt that isn’t that important to you. Don’t gamble with the quilt that took you 5 years to complete!

Where to find a quilter:

Your best resource is your quilting friends! Ask whom they like, and then check out their quilts. Look for stitch length, correct tension, overall look of the quilting and no puckers (see notes below).

Ask your quilt shops who they recommend. Some have lists, or business cards of quilters they use. Some shops provide quilting as a service, also.

Its okay to ask a quilter to show you samples of their work. This can even help you decide what kind of quilting you want. It is also okay to ask for references, if you want another opinion.

Examples of machine quilting

Questions to ask:

What kind of work can you do? (All-over, custom, etc.)

When will the quilt be done? How long is your waiting list?

Do you provide batting, or can I bring my own batting?

What do you charge? (Price is usually figured by the square inches of the quilt, and the difficulty of the quilting.)

Do you smoke, or have a cat or dog? (This could be a factor if you have allergies, although quilters wouldn’t usually let a pet near your quilt.)

Do you do binding? How much do you charge? (If you’re interested in this service.)

Do you do rush jobs? Do you charge more for this?

What size quilt will your machine accommodate? (If you have an exceptionally large quilt.)

What your Long-arm Quilter Expects from You:

It is important that your quilt back is at least 2” larger than the top on each side, top and bottom. This means it will be 4” total larger.

It is essential that all the edges of your back are square and trimmed. If the top isn’t square it is difficult for the quilter to avoid puckers and tucks. This is hard for the quilter to spot before loading it onto the machine.

When making your quilt top, be as accurate as possible. Make sure you don’t have holes in the top where seams don’t quite meet. Its easy to catch the machine foot in a hole.

When you sew on borders and then trim to size they have a tendency to “grow”, and the problem only gets worse with every additional border you sew on. While a long-arm quilter can ease in some extra fabric, it makes it much more difficult, and you will tend to get more tucks and puckers in the borders. When applying borders, measure your quilt top through the center, width and length, and then cut the borders to this length. Mark the center, the ¼ and ¾ points of the pieced top with pins, and mark the same 3 points on the border strip. Sew to the top, matching pins. (See the post “Border Patrol” for step-by-step instructions and diagrams.)

Make sure your quilt top and back are well pressed. This will especially help the quilter when doing custom quilting.

It is difficult to quilt on a thick batting. Its not impossible, but it does limit the kind of pattern you can have on the quilt.

Cut as many loose threads on the quilt top as possible. Having to trim them slows the quilter down and makes it difficult to keep a good rhythm.

Some seams are expected in a quilt back, but the fewer seams you have, the better the result. Be aware that it is almost impossible to center a quilt back in both directions. The quilter can come close to centering it, but it will most likely be off a little bit. If you want the back centered, one direction or two, please let the quilter know beforehand.

Have your quilt to the quilter on time! Trying to rush a job that came in late makes it difficult to pay attention to the small details, and you might not be as pleased with the results.

If you intend to display your quilt in a show, or if it is for use in a publication, the quilter would generally get credit for the quilting.

I hope this helps for you to have a fabulous experience with your long-arm quilters! There are some really talented people out there, and with a little help on your part, you can enjoy your work of art for many years to come!

Examples of machine quilting

Emily’s designs are really fun and whimsical, and she also has a lot of traditional piecing among her repertoire! She has different colorways that can please anyone. You can see all her designs on her web site, and purchase her patterns there as well. She also writes a blog, which is fun and creative.

I’ve known Emily for quite a while, as she used to come into the quilt store where I worked. So, I’ve seen her work from the beginning of her design career. We also have sons that are the same age, and they have taken scout classes through the city together! And last, but not least, Emily now lives in my former home! There was one owner in between, but then the Bailey’s bought it. She has remodeled the whole house, though, so I guess I need an invite to take a look! (Hint, hint!)

Here are some of my favorite designs from Aunt Em’s Quilts:

"Scrap Basket Retreat" and "Breathe" (her newest pattern) from Aunt Em's Quilts

"Go Fish" and "Harvest Sky" from Aunt Em's Quilts

Today I’m going to tell you about some of the sites out there for downloading block patterns. These are all free, and many of them come with instructions on how to make each block.

The first is Quilt Blocks Galore. This site has 59 pages of different quilt blocks, and you can browse by name, by size or by page. The blocks come with complete instructions. There are also some simple applique shapes and also some links to different shops.

The next site is McCall’s Quilting Block Reference. This site also has complete instructions on each block. It doesn’t have the huge number of blocks that Galore has, but it has a lot of good basics. This site is part of McCall’s Quilting magazine site, so it has all of the features of the magazine. (Plus some extras!)

The next one is QuiltBus. This is an online store that has a “links” page to free blocks. A lot of the blocks link back to some of the other sites, and so they have complete instructions. You can also purchase quilting supplies, tools, patterns, etc. on this site.

Next is a site that is part of Quilt.com. This list is in alphabetical order, so it is easy to use if you know the name of the block. Unfortunately there is no picture of the block on the main page. The plus of this site, though, is that many of the blocks have instructions for several different sizes. There is a picture of each block when you click on it, and it provides a great, visual cutting guide for each block size.

The last site is equiltblocks.com. This site has a great search engine, if you know the name of the block you’re looking for, and it also gives you options for searching based on construction method. For instance, 4-patch, 9-patch, etc. The nice thing about this site is that when you click on a block it shows different color options you could use, and how it makes the completed quilt look quite different. It has complete instructions and templates you can print out. They also feature a new block each week.

I hope you found this useful! There are endless other sites that you can access, too. If you’re looking for a particular block, or just want some ideas, get on the “interwebs” and you’ll find all kinds of inspiration! (By the way, my son is 19 years old, not a little guy!)

Samples of blocks

This tool is used for making half-square triangles, or flying geese, or any block that usually requires you to mark a diagonal line on the back of your squares. Now you don’t need to draw or press the diagonal lines! The picture below shows how it looks in use.

The Angler 2 by Pam Bono Designs

This is a great tool for chain piecing, and makes your blocks very accurately. It is made of thin plastic, and is very easy to set up. Then you just sew! It is especially great if you’re making a whole bunch of half-squares, etc., because you eliminate the marking step.

The Angler 2 is designed by Pam Bono Designs, and is available at her web site, or any quilt store for around $8.00. A bargain for all the time you’ll save!

Have A Heart first came to life when we got Moda’s breast cancer awareness fabric in at the store where I worked. It was all pinky and cute and I wanted it so badly. There were fat packs of all the fabrics, and I just didn’t quite have the money to spend. Well, I got a birthday gift certificate from the owners of the store, and another gift certificate from my friend, Mary, and so I bought the pack!

What better design can you do with so much pink fabric than hearts? So, I created an applique heart. I didn’t want the whole thing to be appliqued, though, so I came up with some paper-pieced hearts in three sizes to go along with them. (I really love paper-piecing!) Finally, 3 tiny borders, each getting darker, an outer border and Voila! Have A Heart was finished!

"Have A Heart" from "Fresh and Fabulous Quilts" copyright 2008 Cheryl Brown/That Patchwork Place : Photo by Brent Kane

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading a little history on the quilts from my book. I will highlight some of my other designs in the future, and other quilts I have done that others have designed!

To learn more about my book click here, and to buy my book click here.

While on my various road trips I was able to visit 2 great quilt shops. The first is Stitch ‘N Time in beautiful Jackson, Wyoming. This is a fun little quilt shop, that has quite a bit of western fabric, but they also have a large selection of novelty fabric and a great batik section. (My favorite!) They offer classes and are part of an area shop hop that takes place in May. They also have needlework patterns for the National Parks, if you like that kind of thing.

Jackson Hole is just a few minutes from the Grand Teton National Park. The scenery is spectacular, and there are many fun places to hike, from a leisurely stroll to serious backpacking trips. We had a wonderful time there.

The other shop is Suppose in Preston, Idaho. This shop is fairly new, and is run by a mother/daughter team, Kathy and Jo. They have all the latest fabrics, and, again, a large, wonderful selection of batiks. They had really great ones I hadn’t seen anything like before! They also offer classes, and also an online store, where you can choose your own background! (It doesn’t take much to excite me.)

"Poppies" free embroidery pattern from Suppose

Preston, Idaho is a small mostly farming community just North of the Utah/Idaho border. This is the area my son rode through while cycling 100 miles for the MS Society. This is a great event every summer where they raise thousands of dollars to help people with MS. He rides for his Uncle Craig, who was diagnosed about 2 years ago.

Me, jumping off the edge of the world! (Bonus pic if you made it this far!)

True Up is dedicated to all things fabric. Quilting, crafting, and home decorating. It isn’t about sewing, but just the fabric. Kim recently got back from Spring Quilt Market in Minneapolis, and has some wonderful write-ups about the fun fabric she saw there.

The site also has a bookshop with suggestions for fabric lovers. She has a section titled “The Best of True Up” that has some intriguing titles: How to Make a Repeating Pattern, 20 Ideas for Digital Fabric Printing, and Best Fabric Ever, to name a few. So spend some time looking through Kim’s site, True Up!

Here are some of my favorite fabrics she showed from Spring Quilt Market:

Christmas version of 2-D Zoo from Alexander Henry and a retro 80's piece from Alexander Henry

2 pieces from the "Matisse" collection from Alexander Henry

"Bliss" collection from Moda - booth at 2010 Quilt Market

Her first book is not really a book! It is titled The Little Box of Baby Quilts, published by Martingale & Co., and is just what it sounds like: a box of quilt patterns. Each pattern is on a single card that you can remove from the box, making it easy to use.

I first got acquainted with Jenny when she was looking for a long-arm quilter to do the quilting for this project. It was wonderful! She is so creative, and I would get one or two quilts each week to quilt. They were all fun and many had 3-dimensional aspects that are great.

Her new publication is a book titled ReSew: Turn Thrift-Store Finds into Fabulous Designs also from Martingale & Co., using thrift store finds in creative ways. I can’t wait to see it! She finished the project a couple of months ago, but is hand-drawing all the illustrations, so it will still be awhile before we see it on our store shelves.

Jenny works for Martingale & Co. as a copy writer, so she has a great writing style that is so fun to read. She has a blog WildCard Quilts, which is full of fun stories of quilting, creating, and taking care of her 2 young sons. (Oh, and husband.) Check it out!

Here are some pictures of Jenny’s quilts from her Little Box:

"Buttermint Swirl" and "Inch by Inch" from "The Little Box of Baby Quilts" copyright 2006 Jenny Wilding Cardon/That Patchwork Place

"Ten Little Piggies" and "Flying Frogs" from "The Little Box of Baby Quilts" copyright 2006 Jenny Wilding Cardon/That Patchwork Place

"Long Tailed Lions" from "The Little Box of Baby Quilts" copyright 2006 Jenny Wilding Cardon/That Patchwork Place

To learn more about Jenny’s Little Box, click here. To purchase her Little Box, click here.