Hello dear reader, How is the new decade treating you?!? Well, I hope. I am so thankful to have made it through 2019. As you may have noticed, I haven’t blogged in quite a while. Well, I have a very good reason for that: Life! It all began near the end of 2018 when I resigned from my job. I spent the latter part of 2018 sending out job applications. That carried me in to early 2019, which I spent traveling for job interviews. To make a long story very short, I got a job offer in Michigan that was too good to turn down. Last summer, I packed up my family and moved us to the Great Lakes State. I ..read more

Hello dear reader, Today is my turn on The Quilter’s Negative Space Handbook blog hop! If you’re new here, feel free to pull up a chair and have a look around. Courtesy of C&T Publishing I’m so tickled that Sylvia Schaefer of Flying Parrots Quilts asked me to review her new book. She has done an amazing job of providing step-by-step instructions on how to design quilts using negative space. The book walks you through nine design techniques. The techniques range from removing parts of quilt blocks to supersizing quilt blocks. With these techniques, Sylvia makes it easy to use a tradi ..read more

Hello dear reader, Would you believe it’s taken me almost 2 weeks to recover from QuiltCon?!? It was a blast! While I was there, I had the pleasure of taking a class with Denyse Schmidt. Here we are holding a couple of my blocks to make her Proverbial Quilt pattern. At some point, I will make a quilt that says, “For we live by faith, not by sight.” In addition to taking a class with Denyse, I had the honor of teaching at QuiltCon for the very first time! I taught my Big and Bold workshops on large-scale freezer paper piecing. I had two wonderful groups of participants. Related: Big and ..read more

I’ve had quite a few folks ask about the freezer paper technique I use to make large-scale quilt designs. It’s a quick and easy technique that has endless design potential for quilt making. Related: New Year, New Project If you’re curious about the technique, check out this video for a tutorial I did for Fresh Quilting TV and the Modern Quilt Guild. Let me know if you have any questions about the technique. And if you ever want me to come out and teach this technique to your quilt guild or group, just drop me a line and let me know. I love to teach!  ..read more

I recently had the pleasure of teaching my Big and Bold Quilt Making class on large-scale freezer paper piecing to members of my quilt guild, the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild. Related: Want to Learn Big and Bold Quilt Making? Many of the participants came with a sketched design they wanted to translate into a quilt. For those without a design, I shared a sketch of one of my quilts that they could use to learn the technique. These talented women picked up the technique of using the freezer paper quickly. Many of them left the workshop with a finished quilt top. One of the women is planning t ..read more

Dear Reader, I hope the new year is off to a good start for you. I jumped right into the new year with a new project! I started working on samples for my upcoming class at this year’s QuiltCon: Big and Bold Freezer Paper Quilt Making. In this class, I will teach on how to use freezer paper to create quilts with large, irregular shapes. The thing I love about this technique is how quickly and easily the quilt top comes together. After cutting out the templates, it was a breeze to put the top together. The top came together so quickly that I made another one. This time I reversed the orientat ..read more

Happy December to you! I’m still in a bit of denial and shock that the last month of the year has arrived, but doesn’t it always?!? And with it has come my predictable desire to work on a Christmas quilt! But for now, I’m denying myself the pleasure. I have a couple of quilting deadlines that will have me stitching up a storm over the next few weeks. Then there’s also the ambitious Christmas sewing to make presents…but first, there’s this quilt that has been languishing in my W.i.P. bin. I’ve been working on lots of stitching straight lines. Each of the lines are about 1/4″ apart. I mark ..read more

Hello dear reader, How are you? Things have been mighty hectic, but I’m coming up for air and getting back into the quilty swing of things. I can’t wait to share what I’ve been stitching, but in the meantime… Have you checked out Fresh Quilting TV?  If you haven’t, go on and check it out. I’ll wait for you here. I had the pleasure of filming a couple of episodes of Fresh Quilting TV last year. One episode is on minimalism in quilt making. That episode airs Friday, November 9 and runs for 7 days. The other episode is on large scale, freezer paper piecing. Check out this page for more info ..read more

Hello Dear Reader! August is like a blur to me, yet it reminded me about three valuable life lessons. Lesson #1: Quilty folks are the best.  I started August packing up my quilts and taking them on the road to give a lecture/trunk show at the Gate City Quilt Guild. It is always such a treat for me to meet other quilters and talk quilty talk. And the Gate City quilters did not disappoint. They welcomed me and allowed me to share my love of modern quilting. Lesson #2: Be open to discoveries.  After visiting Gate City, I checked out of town for a couple of weeks and traveled to Califor ..read more

Hello dear friends, How are you keeping? I hope that you are managing through the unprecedented times in which we live. I won’t even mention the “C” word here, but I’m sure you are being affected by it in some way, shape or form. In times, like these, I want to retreat to sewing. I find it offers me  a moment of comfort and stability in a world of instability and change. If you are looking for a new project to distract you in these times, consider the 2020 Summer Sampler.   I am thrilled to be a designer in this year’s quilt along. As you can see from the photo below, I’m in very goo ..read more