Category: Tutorials
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Silhouettes instructions available in a free eBook
Last year I wrote a short article for Quilting Arts magazine called “Quick and Easy Silhouette Quilts.” Today, it will be republished in a new free eBook from Interweave on Quilting for Beginners. You can get your free download from Quilting Daily. I started making silhouettes because I wanted a very easy method that even…
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Tutorial: improvisational design wall
I’ve always wanted a design wall, but we live in a fairly small house. I’m extremely blessed and thankful that I have a dedicated space for my stuido area, and I like that it is a part of the family room so I’m not isolated. But, I have too many things that I have to…
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Tutorial: jelly roll Kitchenaid mixer cover
I caught my family’s enthusiasm for making Christmas gifts this year. We were at a friend’s house (she’s the one who picks me up every month and drives me to our quilt guild meetings), and we were admiring her beautiful new RED kitchen cabinets. She mentioned that she wished her Kitchenaid mixer was red, too,…
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Tutorial: Photographing quilts
I am not a professional photographer, but I am convinced that just about anyone can take decent pictures of their own quilts; certainly good enough for documenting your quilts. In most cases, you can take pictures good enough to enter quilt competitions. Personally, I’ve actually only hired a local professional photographer once, and I was…
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Tutorial: Appliqued circles
Ah…time for a break. I had a great day because I was able to spend a good four to five hours working on the middle ring of the “glorious” yellow quilt I’m making for my guild’s 2011 quilt challenge. I left this ring for last because I needed to use the gold tissue lamé. Taming…
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Tutorial: Improvisational piecing: skinny strips
I’m trying something new! (Well, new for me.) Lately, I’ve had an inexplicable desire to do some piecing. Weird, huh? I was joking with a fellow guild member recently about how long it’s been since I actually pieced anything. It might have been Wedding Dreams in 2001! Although, I guess I did throw together a…
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Tutorial: Do you clean your machine?
How often do you clean your machine? I know I’m supposed to do it fairly frequently, but I usually forget. After I had a couple threads break this morning, I decided it was time to see what was going on in the bobbin area. Yuk! Look at what was down there. My sewing machine has…
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Tutorial: fused color wheel
I love color wheels. Maybe it’s because I love the bright, clear colors organized so they flow so nicely around and around. While I have numerous commercial color wheels (too many to admit to in polite company), I think you really start learning about color when you try to select the exact shades of fabric…
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Tutorial: easy apron
A couple weeks back, DD#2 came to me with a project idea. She wanted to make an apron as a gift for her sister-in-law. Now, my girls grew up watching me sew, but I never actually taught them how to sew. I’m fond of saying that everything they know about sewing, they learned through osmosis.…
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Quiltmaker’s Documentation form revised
After valuable insights from some generous quilters (thanks Karen, Sandra, and Margaret!), I made some revisions to the Quiltmaker’s Documentation form. If you downloaded one yesterday, you might consider downloading the new form today. The file has the same name, so it should overwrite the previous one if you save them both in the same…