Before sharing my 5 secrets to machine quilting with 12 wt. thread – travel with me back in time to a few weeks ago (cue dreamy music)…
It was a rainy day in May and I was teaching a Sew Mojo Mini workshop (watch the video class here and get the patterns here) in Grand Rapids, Michigan (heeeeyo to my GR ladies!)
I've been talking a lot about my latest quilt pattern, Bohemian Garden, and even though I've mentioned some of my influences, I wanted to dive deeper into one of them – the paper cut-outs of Henri Mattise.
You're probably familiar with him, and even more familiar with the dramatic and captivating shapes he created through simple paper, but did you know that the work he created and was most proud to call his, was done at the very end of his life?
This light-hearted and whimsical design has been itching at my brain for over a year, and only now am I finally scratching that itch. My high school art teacher always emphasized the importance of an artist's "layering of experiences."
A wise woman once said to me, “Suzy, the very first thing you should do when you get home from a fabric shop is throw all of your fabric into the washing machine. One must prewash fabric before quilting. It's essential.”
Here’s the deal: although I have a machine quilting tutorial here on the blog, and also a post dedicated just to straight line machine quilting, I know that I only skim the surface on what magic you can wield on your home sewing machine.
We are fabric artists are we not? On our good days, at least, we make beautiful quilts, garments, purses, hats, whatever out of fabric. But how often do we stop to ask ourselves… how is fabric made?
I had a moment like this recently.
The Campfire Quilt Pattern is available for digital download. Click here to purchase! This quilt comes in king, queen/full, throw and baby quilt sizes.
Since learning to quilt a million (20) years ago, I have been fascinated with the history and heritage of quilting.
A few months ago I put a call out via Instagram stories that I was opening up time in my schedule every Tuesday morning to chat with you. Quilting, business, hair styling, dogs – anything you wanted to talk about, I was going to set it up.
Before jumping into the book, Southwest Modern: From Marfa to New Mexico (which is AMAZING), and before passing out a few paper piecing tips (less revolutionary, but hopefully helpful), I have a preface: Quilty friends, I may be adventurous when it comes to food, spelling errors and nicknames for my loved ones, but when it's time to learn a new sewing technique, I'm a major scaredy cat.
