Hello my friends!  Today is my day on the Art Gallery Fabrics Rayon Blog Hop.  I’m so excited to share my project with you all.  I never thought I’d make a quilt using rayon!  But guess what?  I did.  I actually had several ideas in mind for this one but in the end I decided to use the rayon for appliqué.  I was a little nervous because this rayon is so delicate and silky.  I wasn’t sure how it would react to steam a seam or even being quilted.  But….it worked wonderfully. All of the circles are cut from the rayon.  I was a total rebel and did ..read more

Today I get to share some exciting news!  I have a star quilt featured in the newest Martingale Book, Block-Buster Quilts: I Love Star Blocks.  The “Block-Buster” series of books are always packed with great ideas that use one specific block.  As you might guess, this particular book is all about star blocks.  Some pretty awesome designers contributed to this book including, Lynne Hagmeier, Kimberly Jolly, Janet Nesbitt, Amy Ellis, and more.  You can hop over to the Martingale blog to see pics of all the other quilts that are in this fantastic book. When I designe ..read more

Hey guys! Welcome to my corner of the world.  If this is your first time visiting, welcome!  I’m a full time professional longarm quilter and wanna be pattern designer. You should follow along with all my craziness over on Instagram (@OrchidOwlQuilts) and Facebook (Orchid Owl Quilts).   I spend most of my days with my INNOVA longarm machines quilting for other people.  Longarm quilting is truly my passion. Today I have the pleasure of sharing my Argyle Gone Wild quilt that I made using RJR Fabrics Cotton Supreme Solids. I was so excited when Rachael contacted me about ..read more

Welcome to my stop on the Cloud 9 New Block Blog Hop featuring my Improv Star Block.  If this is your first time stopping, Hello!  I hope you’ll have a look around my blog and come back often.  I used to be a very good blogger but now…not so much.  You can also find me on Instagram  (@OrchidOwlQuilts) where I’m very active. I wanted to do something outside my comfort zone for this block so I decided to play around with a little improv piecing {thank you Curley for the idea}.   My friends who know me best know this is way outside my comfort zone.  No ..read more

Today I get to share some fun news.  I had the pleasure of contributing to an awesome book, 180 Doodle Quilting Designs, published by Martingale.   I never thought I would get a chance to contribute to a book with fellow quilters Christa Watson, Angela Walters, Maddie Kertay, Melissa Corry, and many more!  I must be dreaming. This is the perfect book if you’re looking for ideas on how to quilt quilts.  The book shows how to use each design in squares, triangles, and borders.  This is very handy for those of us who have trouble visualizing how to change a des ..read more

Hello fellow quilters!  Today is my stop on the Riley Blake Quilt It Modern Blog Tour.  This blog hop is all about the solids…confetti cottons and crayola colors by Riley Blake Designs.  These solids are so scrumptious and I had loads of fun working with them.  Joining this hop was a no-brainer for me because I’m obsessed with solids.  I’m pretty sure I’d like to only use solids forever and ever. I wanted to play around with a little improv piecing {I stink at it} mixed with some reverse appliqué because, why not?  I made a little quilt using yellow and lots of sh ..read more

I was so honored when Amanda Herring from The Quilted Fish invited me to participate in her Desert Bloom Blog Tour.  I was very excited to get my hands on this awesome new fabric line that she designed for Riley Blake. If you know me at all, you know I love all things aqua.  It was a no-brainer for me on which fabrics I would select…all the aqua!!  I also love making mini quilts because they are quick and instant gratification.  Who doesn’t love instant gratification?? I used the white and grey newspaper prints paired with grey hexies.  The aqua hexie print is my ..read more

Hey there!  Today is my stop  stop on the 2016 New Block Blog Hop sponsored by Paintbrush Studio. This hop features the awesome Painter’s Palette solids by Paintbrush Studio.   They provided me with 6 fat quarters to use any way I’d like as long as I made a 12″ block.  I came up with a super simple block that I’m calling Chain Mail {thanks to my awesome friend Melissa}. On it’s own, my block isn’t the most exciting block ever.  But…the beauty lies in the secondary patterns that are created with multiple blocks.  Plus, it’s a fast block.  And I don’t know abou ..read more

I recently had the pleasure of quilting a Kismet Quilt for Quiltique, my local quilt shop in Henderson Nevada.  The pattern is by Eye Candy quilts, fabric by Alison Glass.  The top was pieced by a friend and employee of Quiltique. I decided to fill the background space with swirls and added a little petal like detail in the prints.  The swirls are so fun to quilt but they do take quite a bit of time.  I used white thread on the whole quilt.  It blends nicely on the printed fabric. I think I love the back of this Kismet Quilt just as much, if not more, than the fron ..read more

I recently quilted an Octagon Shimmer quilt for a local client.  This pattern is designed by Jennifer Sampou.  I emphasized the octagon shapes by randomly quilting designs in a radiating octagon. I used a Mark B Gone pen to draw boundary lines and then quilted in between with varying designs.  I would suggest using a size 19 needle when quilting heavily metallic fabrics.  It helped stop my thread breakage. I used Quilter’s Dream cotton batting and Superior Threads Omni on top and So Fine in the bobbin. The quilting stands out beautifully on the back of the qu ..read more