Over the millennia and different cultures, people have created labyrinth designs on walls and floors. This ancient tradition endures in new buildings, parks, computer games and from today also in quilting! đŸ˜‰ The design Labyrinth is an edge to edge design that can be quilted any size you want. My lines are spaced roughly 1/4 … Continue reading
Have you ever made your own free motion bunting? A basic bunting design is pretty easy ‘to put up’. Before you start, add some guidelines on your fabric so you know the curve of the bunting. Use chalk or a fabric marking pen. Begin by stitching out the arches of the bunting, freehand or with … Continue reading
My grand parents had a smallish cherry tree in the corner of their garden and every Spring it would ‘dress itself in a pink fluffy ballgown’ and it would sprinkle pink leaves with every little breeze. I loved that tree and I told myself that I wanted one of those in my garden when I … Continue reading
In the Netherlands we have saying about the month of April being fickle: ‘April doet wat hij wil’. Strong winds yesterday, pouring rain today and forecasts indicate that we will get a taste of Summer this weekend. To celebrate sunny weather on the horizon, let’s fill our fabrics with flowers! This weeks design ‘Finnish Flowers’ … Continue reading
Last Friday was World Water Day and this next Friday is Mermaid Day, so this week’s free motion design just fits in! The Mermaid’s Tail design is based on the clamshell grid. This design can be quilted pretty densely, but stitch it out as big as you want. You could even use a ruler to … Continue reading
Nothing yet! I started sowing flower seeds a few weeks ago but so far nothing is coming up! I have all the right set up but it just hasn’t been sunny much. I do hope to see some seedlings soon! Most of the flowers I am sowing are brightly colored and they always turn out … Continue reading
The garden is slowly showing the first Spring flowers. The sun is showing her face more each day, but the mornings are still frosty. The hellebores have been in bloom for over a month, the hyacinths are popping up and the daffodils are almost ready to show their crowns. This time of year has always … Continue reading
Lemon, lime, oranges or mandarin oranges. I adore the scent of citrus! Cleaning products, candles, bath products, you name it! I love a wedge of lemon in my coke and add in all the ice cubes! Do you have a scent or flavor that you adore? The design Lemon Slices is based on an orange … Continue reading
This Orange Peel Stars design has several stitch paths to choose from. The first one is based on one of my tutorials from 2017. Stitch path 1: Stitch out an orange peel design first to stabilise your fabric. Best results are achieved by using a ruler, but I am known to free hand them if … Continue reading
The weather has been different from hour to hour! Rain, grey clouds, sunshine, strong winds. Nothing dramatic, just a typical Dutch February. I have been able to do some cleaning up in the garden, that felt so good! I even managed to sow some Sweet Pea seeds. This week’s free motion design is harder than … Continue reading
Behind the scenes I have been working on something epic! I have created an online free motion quilting course about the designs Ribbon Candy and Wishbone. The course is called Basic to Epic because it explains the classic sashing designs and then lifts them up to something even more decorative and complex. Even though these … Continue reading
Most of the grid-based designs I have shared with you are stitched out horizontally. I have a vertical one for you today, which makes it more suitable for domestic machine quilters compared to longarm quilters. If you want to use this on a large project on a longarm, you would have to advance the quilt … Continue reading
What is the weather like where you live? We are having a windy week with a few drops of rain forcasted. Spring is slowly bringing forth flowers; the purple crocuses where the first to show up, with the white hellebores being a close second. It is still wise to bring an umbrella when going outside. … Continue reading
How many hearts would you like on your quilt? Double up on your hearts-quota with this weeks design which would work really well on any Valentine’s Day quilt. If your border or sashing in your quilt is a bit higher, you have enough space to add an extra heart inside of your Ribbon Candy Hearts. … Continue reading
The last email to the students of the Ribbon Candy workshop has just been sent out. The workshop has now closed. The online class was a huge success with more than 500 students participating. We had 4 days of short lessons on the free motion design Ribbon Candy. Lots of people left comments and shared … Continue reading
This design is a bit of a challenge! The Wishbone variation Hearts Dance adds a bounce after each second teardrop / loop. This creates a row of dancing hearts. This design is more challenging because you have to ‘count and bounce’ and also because you have to keep the design upright. This patterns is stitched … Continue reading
Mix lower angles and smaller teardrops and you have a totally different look for your wishbone. For me, the wider I space the teardrops apart, the more difficult it is to maintain an equal spacing. I prefer steeper angles and bigger teardrops. The design in this sample is pretty dense for that reason. A Wishbone … Continue reading
Before we delve into the Clamshell Heart design, I wanted to let you know that the doors of the Ribbon Candy Workshop are closing soon. The first lesson will be released on this next Monday 22 January and the last lesson will be on Thursday 25 January 2024. This course is free to attend, it … Continue reading
When does a fascination become a specialization? Two years ago I started adding to my collection of Ribbon Candy variations. Coming up with new versions of the traditional design quickly became my favorite ‘puzzle’ to do. The fascination expanded to the other sashing classic, the Wishbone design. I have shared a few of the variations on … Continue reading
Let’s add some hearts to our classic quilting designs! I have selected several classic free motion quilting designs and I each week I will share a variation of that design where hearts are ‘onboarded’. So when Valentine’s day approaches you will have a set of patterns to choose from. Put that quilt together for your … Continue reading
Are you looking for an elegant free motion edge to edge design for your quilt project? Try Feather Flower! The gorgeous Feather flower design moves in every direction and starts with a shape that you may have tried before: the feather with a pearl. I used this shape a couple of weeks ago in ‘Bubble … Continue reading
A new tutorial, ohhh what a great way to start off 2024! The Swirl Point design is a variation on the classic Ribbon Candy design. Let’s look at the basic Ribbon Candy first. The pattern moves up and down with slightly angled lines that curve at the top and bottom. This creates teardrop shapes. The … Continue reading
There are a lot of different ways to add feathers to a heart. I like to add lots of feathers on the inside and outside. Scrumptious, over the top and preferably in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Adding feathers to a curved shape can be a bit challenging even for the best of us. … Continue reading
Oh I love this design! Instant Christmas feeling! Are you looking for a new free motion quilting idea for a Christmas quilt? Apply this Holly design to a border or use it as an all-over. These holly leaves are based on a square grid that is easily marked. Perhaps your quilt already has a grid … Continue reading
The sound of crashing waves, the salty air, the gentle wind blowing the ruffles of our beach umbrella… It is one of my fondest memories of spending time with my loved ones at the beach. The movement of the waves has a real calming effect on me. I don’t even have to be at the … Continue reading
This is how you create fabulous texture! I don’t even know how many times I have used this Swirl Hook pattern, I have lost count. Baby quilts, charity quilts, bag components, pillows. It looks good on all of these projects. I think I saw this pattern first in a tutorial by Angela Walters and I … Continue reading
Did you play with marbles as a child? I love collecting them but also really enjoyed beating my classmates in a game. We made a little hole in the ground and took turns getting our marble into that hole in the least amount of turns. Some negotiation took place before the games started to make … Continue reading
The last three FMQ design that I shared were inspired by nature and the today’s one is as well. Pick any three different types of leaves and stitch them out along a pre-marked line. Alternate left and right and keep stitching them in the same order. Select three different types of leaves: thin, curvy, smooth … Continue reading
Fall is in full swing here. The trees are turning colors, the wind and rain have picked up and the temperature is calling for sweaters. I adore all the colors, but all of the rest not so much. Is Fall your favorite season? Looking out the window from my sewing studio (attic) I can only … Continue reading
Spiral-shaped spider webs are on many Halloween quilts, and they for sure are on mine! I really like quilting these little wonders of nature. I made a little fun animation where I ‘quilted’ and ‘unquilted’ a quilt block in my wall hanging that I talked about in my previous blog post. You can view the … Continue reading
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