We will get straight to the good stuff. I had so much fun putting together a MetroRing quilt as a gift. Of course that quilt is still unquilted but I had some left over blocks and made this little sample for a class I will be teaching in March at the BERNINA creative center! It is a 2 day class… called Full on Feathers and Fill Folly. Can’t wait as this will be the first time I travel to teach again.
Now what you may or may not know… I have taken up the hobby of cooking. Is that even a hobby? I mean it is a necessity so I hesitate to call it a hobby. But any whooo… I have been enjoying it immensely. Last weekend, I tried my hand at cooking Red wine braised short ribs with mashed potatoes.. omg… they were delicious.
My other new thing… homemade pasta! This is so much fun and tastes amazing. Here are some pics from that adventure.
Once you load your quilt, you may think that’s all that is needed to keep your quilt top square, however that may not be the case. When you quilt and depending on how heavy you quilt…. the top can pull in on the sides… this is why we have those side clamps!
My fabulous student, Janis, gave me and the other members of Quilter’s Groove® Tribe her secret and I thought I would pass it along to you.
This is a piece of bungee cord that I got on Amazon. My frame is 12′ so I bought the 25 yards. The little pink things, these are cord locks. I line these up with the seams in the quilt as well as the outer edges so that every time I advance the quilt, I can make adjustments if my quilt has shifted.
At first I tried to just tie the cord to the end of my machine but when I advanced the quilt it would drag. So off to Lowes to try and figure out what to do. I have a BERNINA Q20 on a frame and this is how I attached it.
Bought two of these, they were around $2 a piece.
I pulled back the black piece on the end of my machine and slipped the nut through while it was attached to the bolt. I then tightened it all up. Once I found what I needed, it was a very simple process.
Let me know in the comments how you keep your quilts square!!
I missed my FB live last week as I was on a much needed vacation to South Carolina! For the most part, I completely unplugged from work is a first in a while. It felt great to sit in the sun, play some golf and get to know my significant others family! Took a beautiful walk along the inter-coastal waterway.
Back at work this week…. who doesn’t love feathers??? I know, it isn’t me but there are some who don’t. I have had many requests for another video on how to do the Jelly Feather Fill, I did not want to disappoint! So here ya go!! Enjoy!
I’ve been in this business for a long time… I started piecing in 1997 and started longarming in 2004 as a business. It quickly became a love… I couldn’t wait to get my piece on the longarm so I never really stretched my piecing skills. Now my longarming skills… that’s a different story. It didn’t take me long to start teaching…. 2006 and I love every minute that I spend with my students. With that being said… I do suffer from Imposter Syndrome at times. More so when I first started teaching but there are still times when I’m waiting for people to realize that I am not as good as they think I am.
When we first start on this journey most of us have no idea what we are doing and you know what??? That’s normal! If you think I knew what I was doing, you be crazy! I had no clue and learned by trial and error. What I learned is that if you aren’t failing …. you aren’t growing, see we learn more from our failures than our successes. There are still days where I am waiting for people to say… hmmmm, she isn’t as good as I thought she was. The difference between now and then… I’m ok with that. I know I love what I do and I love sharing it with as many people as I can.
Fast forward to today…. as I sit here and type out this blog. My business sure has changed a lot since I started it back in 2004 and when the pandemic hit… boom… my business model was sunk. Since I traveled to teach… it came to a screeching halt. (now the timing couldn’t have been worse since I had just gotten a divorce and needed to support myself) Over the past year and a half there have been many ups and downs in my business, when the downs hit.. I wonder maybe this is “someone” telling me I should be doing something else. But then I would hit a high… and think… I’ve got this.
Imposter syndrome hit and it hit hard. I needed to figure out how to survive with trying to teach online. I am not a techie person so the amount that I learned this year while putting together Quilter’s Groove® Heirloom Academy and Quilter’s Groove® Tribe was astounding. Hard, yes but oh so worth it but I had to keep telling myself.. you can do this, you got this. Not always the easiest thing to keep that mantra in your head.
Why am I telling you all of this? Well, there have been many new quilters that have reached out with doubts… they have had their machines for a while and they use it as a coat hanger or some such thing. I want you all to know that whether you are new at this or experienced… we almost all go through the same emotions of “what am I doing”. I can’t do this… I don’t know what I was thinking. I am here to tell you… you can do this! If I can do this… you can too. Remember we all start in the same spot and the key here is to not compare yourself to anyone!
Your journey is unique to you. Embrace the ups and downs, figure out what you can learn when something didn’t turn out the way you thought it would! Most of all….. ENJOY yourself, be kind to yourself… the things we say to ourselves in our head matter!
So as Mel Robbins says…. look in that mirror and give yourself a high five today! YOU GOT THIS!
I would love to hear from all of you…. have you ever felt like an imposter? What do you do to motivate yourself when this happens? Leave it in the comments so I don’t feel like the only imposter out here. 💕
The Merriam-Webster dictionary meaning of “overthink” ~ to think too much about (something) : to put too much time into thinking about or analyzing (something) in a way that is more harmful than helpful.
I am definitely an overthinker. It is rarely a good thing because I can almost become a bit obsessed over what I am “overthinking”. Do any of you have this trait? Please tell me I am not the only one.
My latest (I’ll call it an overthinking project) is a small wallhanging. I had some leftover pieces from my MetroRing quilt and since I didn’t know what else to do… I thought.. a wall hanging. My problem was I really didn’t have enough pieces for the size i wanted. So I had an idea that the outside rings I would make out of just one fabric. I think I like it.. and am really overthinking it.
This will eventually be a sample for a new class called.. Full On Feathers and Fill! So I can’t overthink for too long or it will never get done. LOL
So my question to you… do you overthink things? And what type of things do you overthink? Leave your answers in the comments!
I got a number of emails that the video either didn’t work or it was so small you couldn’t see it. I’m so sorry. Please give this link a try! https://app.searchie.io/watch/04NyBvXVqa
I will be doing another FB Live today at 5PM EST on the Quilter’s Groove FB page. Gonna go over some designs for one of my quilts. Hopefully you can join me!
Hi all… first off, thank you so much for following my blog. I am determined to get better at showing up not just in the blog but on social media as well. I just closed the Quilter’s Groove® Heirloom Academy for the 3rd time. Last week I did 3 webinars and Wow… I had so much fun that on Thursday… I decided to do a FB live!
Why do I not do them more often? It brings me joy to connect with other quilters and share our stories… the only thing I can think of is life gets in the way. Busy being a mom, an entrepreneur and we can’t forget avid golfer really is a time suck. So I am hoping that you all can help…. I will be showing up here in my blog, my newsletter and on FB live…. at least one of these a week… what I need from you, let me know what things you need advice on in your quilting journey. Whether you are starting a business and want advice or quilting help.. this will give me a jumping off point to help you!
So I thought I would give you the FB live I did last week. (You can forward past the countdown timer) It is me designing for a top that I have coming up. Let me know what you think in the comments!!
It is that time again… twice a year I launch Quilter’s Groove® Heirloom Academy! This 12 week signature course is perfect if you struggle with what to quilt on your tops or your customers tops. I walk you through a proven step by step method of designing the perfect quilting for any and all quilt tops!
Are you on the waitlist? If not… you want to be! I will open enrollment up for the waitlist early and with a special price. You can check out all the information here!
Here are just some of the quilts past students have designed! Aren’t they amazing!!! Don’t wait.. get your name on the waitlist!!
Who doesn’t love a super simple treatment that is also very forgiving? I normally use a ruler for my continuous curve … mainly due to my type A personality. But there are times when you just want to move through a quilt and not want to use a ruler for everything. The center of the above block is just that… Twist continuous curve. Here is a short little video that shows how I stitch it.
What is your favorite go to for keeping something simple? Leave it in the comments.
My friend Barbara Persing created the most adorable pattern called Babyhood! It includes not just one pattern but 4 different baby quilt patterns. I made 2 of the bunnies and had so much fun! Now you know how much I love custom work so that’s what i decided to do. Here is the first one I made..
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