I got a really nice comment on Instagram earlier this week saying “I love how you show real life ordinary quilting that doesn’t require a super fancy machine.” That made me happy because my goal in writing and teaching is to empower you to be able to quilt your own quilts, no matter what type of machine you use!

Without further ado, here’s quilt #3 from Piece and Quilt with Precuts. It’s called “Frequency” because it reminds me of those pulsing lines you see on your electronic device while your music is playing. Yes, I’m easily amused…

Frequency Photography courtesy of Martingale/That Patchwork Place and Brent Kane.

Piece It

Frequency is made from 2 1/2″ strips of lights and darks. You could either use one bundle if it’s split up evenly, or a smaller 20-strip bundle of each. Or use up leftover strips from other projects!  This design is a good one to get your feet wet with improvisational piecing because your strips don’t have to look exactly like mine. There’s a lot of variety in how you can trim the length and join the strips. Part of the fun of making this quilt is arranging the strips, which you can do randomly or with intent.

For a completely different look, rotate the blocks so that the strips are stacked horizontally. Now it kind of looks like stacked books, don’t you think??

Quilt It

I used my “divide and conquer” method to easily quilt Frequency with a walking foot (or dual feed). The pattern includes step by step instructions and diagrams, but here’s the simple version: Step 1: Stitch in the ditch between each of the rows to stabilize the quilt. Step 2. Quilt a fun zig-zag design in each of the strips.

I personally prefer to quilt my lines randomly, rather than trying to be too “matchy-matchy.” It’s a LOT easier to do and I think makes for a much more interesting design! Although I quilted them using walking foot techniques in the book, you could totally free-motion quilt them instead!

Thread tip: When quilting with one thread color over a variety of contrasting fabrics, a lighter thread color looks better on darker fabrics, rather than darker thread on lighter fabrics.

More Frequency inspiration

Check out some amazing work in progress using different fabrics and quilting designs. Click on each blogger’s site for their their in-progress photos, awesome giveaways, and more!

Nancy Scott – MasterPiece Quilting

Isn’t it amazing how different a quilt can look by just changing the fabrics? Nancy from Masterpiece Quilting created a warm, earthy version of Frequency using cheerful red and green Christmas prints. I just love how those pops of gold really add some sparkle to her quilt!

Visit her blog to read more about her process in making this quilt. Nancy was able to easily quilt the same design I did, but she did it on her long arm machine instead of a domestic and it looks just as great!

Martingale/That Patchwork Place

Karen Johnson is heading of marketing over at my fabulous publisher, Martingale/That Patchwork Place and she decided to take on the challenge of recreating a mini-Frequency along with a matching pincushion that you just have to see! I love how she chose some of the other quilting designs presented later in the book and applied them to her project. It just goes to show how versatile the quilting motifs are!

 Check out this fun blog post all about Karen’s process, with tons of step-by-step photos, plus sneak peeks of some of the quilts coming up later on the hop. Plus, you won’t believe the fabulous giveaway s they are hosting!!

A priceless copy of my book, signed the awesome team at Martingale that helped produce it.

I have to tell you, after writing three books with Martingale, they’ve really become like family to me. I’m sure you can imagine how much work it takes to write a book, and I couldn’t have done it without a fantastic team of people! And what’s even better is that most of them are quilters who love making projects from the books they help produce. No wonder their books are so well loved!! 🙂

Lorinda Davis – Laurel Poppy and Pine

Just look at all that yummy texture quilted by Lorinda of Laurel Poppy and Pine!! I love seeing closeup shots where you can really see the quilting. Lorinda chose a modern fall palette for her quilt and it always amazes me how different a quilt can look just by changing up the fabrics. Just remember, you can either use a precut bundle to make this quilt, or you can create your own custom bundle just like Lorinda did!

Head over to her blog to see the entire quilt, and read more about her process. My hope is that by seeing all of these fabulous finishes, you’ll feel inspired that you, too can achieve amazing results with my simple techniques!

Today’s Gift – Win All of My Books

Yes, you read that right, ALL of my books!! Today’s giveaway is being generously sponsored by my friends over at Martingale/That Patchwork Place and they are going to send them to 3 lucky winners!!

Now, here’s the fine print – not only are they giving away a copy of all three books authored by me, they are also throwing in a copy of every book I’ve ever collaborated on with them. If I counted correctly, it’s a total of 7 so far, enough to keep you stocked with plenty of projects on your “have-to-make” list!

And here’s a hint, I’ll be in at least two more books they are curating coming up next year. So be sure to keep an eye on all the fun inspiration Martingale has to offer! Head over to their blog now for your chance to win.

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