It’s been awhile since I’ve hosted a quilt along, but I’m home for the rest of the summer before travel picks up again in the fall. So August is the perfect time for me to guide you through the process of making an entire quilt from start to finish. However, there’s only 1 problem – I need to know which quilt you’d like to make! Here are two choices up for consideration:

Click here to get my Beaded Lanterns free PDF pattern download

Choice #1 – Beaded Lanterns QAL

Beaded Lanterns is one of my free patterns, and it’s designed using my latest fabric collection, Dazzle Dots 2. I designed it with several background options, and kits are available for all 3 versions. However, I will make my version with the icy blue background because that one really speaks to me.

Click here to get the optional Beaded Lanterns Quilt Kit in 3 Color Options

Choice #2 – Bling QAL

I’ve made this quilt several times over the years with different fabric collections I’ve designed. However, my latest iteration combines both my Dazzle Dots 1 and 2 fabrics for a colorful scrappy look! You can get the Bling quilt pattern as a stand alone option; or if you get the optional Bling kit, it comes with the pattern included.

• Click here to get the Bling Quilt Pattern – PDF Download
• Click here to get the Bling Quilt Pattern – Printed Hardcopy
• Click here to get the Optional Dazzle Dots Bling Quilt Kit

Please do me a favor and leave me a comment letting me know which quilt you would rather make: Beaded Lanterns or Bling. The quilt with the most votes wins, and I’ll announce the results along with the quilt along schedule at the beginning of July.

Then we will kick things off during the last week of July/beginning of August. So – who’s in??

Want to see how I actually apply my quilting designs to a “real” quilt? Check out this week’s bonus video, tutorial, where I show you how I quilt two different designs on two different versions on the same quilt:

Get the Surplus Strips Quilt Kit!

Interested in making these quilts yourself? You can grab quilt kits with either the light or dark background. This quilt is made from my Dazzle Dots 2 fabric, which is also available in my online shop in both precuts and yardage.

Click Here for My Surplus Strips Quilt Kit

Already have fabric? Click here to purchase the pattern for Surplus Strips! A PDF version is also available!

And just in case you’d like to make something completely different from Dazzle Dots 2, here’s a little eye candy for you. The soft pastels are perfect for a spring-time quilt!

How are you enjoying my year of machine quilting videos so far? Are you finding time to practice? I have another fun set of Walking Foot quilting designs for you to try – Shattered Lines and Wavy Shattered Lines. Take a look below:

Bonus Video – Quilting Shattered Lines on Bling

If you’d like to see how I quilted shattered lines on a “real” quilt, take a look at my bonus video below. I’m demonstrating on one of the versions of my Bling quilt pattern.

Get the Bling Quilt Pattern

• Click here to get the Bling PDF quilt pattern.
• Click here to get the Bling printed quilt pattern.

I love including quilting suggestions in all of my individual quilt patterns. You’ll never see the words “quilt as desired” from me, LOL!! Bling was such a fun quilt that I made it twice. Isn’t it fun to see how different fabrics, layout and quilting can affect the look of a quilt? Grab the pattern and get started making this quilt today!

Wavy lines are literally one of the easiest designs you can quilt on your domestic machine. In fact, it’s my go-to motif when I’m in a hurry. For this week’s machine quilting tutorial, I’m sharing 2 fun variations to try. Grab a practice sample, and try this one out below:

That short and sweet video will get you started. Once you’ve finished your practice sample, I have 3 – Yes 3!! more videos you can watch, all showing how to quilt wavy lines on different full sized quilts. If you’d like to make a similar quilt, be sure to grab the patterns and supplies from my shop, or change things up and truly make it your own!

How to Quilt Wavy Lines on Churn Dash Slide

This is the quilt on the wall behind me in the video above. Click the links and image below and you can easily make this quilt from start to finish:

• Grab the Churn Dash Slide PDF Pattern Here
• Or Grab the Churn Dash Slide Printed Pattern Here
• Check out the Stitchy Fabrics I used to make this quilt

How to Quilt Wavy Lines on Streamers

This is my newest free pattern, and you may already have it in your stash. If not, click the links below to snag it along with an optional kit in your choice of colors:

• Grab my free Streamers PDF pattern here
• Click here to grab the Streamers Kit in Pink, Aqua, Navy, Light Grey or Dark Grey
• View Dazzle Dots to pick a coordinating backing fabric

Watch the free companion video by clicking play below:

But Wait… There’s More!

If you aren’t quite yet tired of quilting wavy lines, try it on this fun jelly roll quilt called Puzzle Box. You know the drill, click below for bonus goodies to go along with the video tutorial:

Get the Free Puzzle Box quilt pattern here
Grab the Optional Puzzle Box Quilt Kit here
Click here to View all Good Vibes fabric used in this quilt

By the way, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with finding a machine quilting design you love and quilting it on All.The.Quilts!!

In fact, when I first learned to Stipple, that’s all I did for a few years. Speaking of which, Stipple will be next week’s machine quilting video tutorial, so stay tuned!! Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss a thing!

I’ve said many times that teaching machine quilting is my favorite thing that I do! Nothing beats the look of satisfaction on a student’s face when they realize that can indeed quilt their own quilts. That’s one of the reasons I’ve written so many quilting books. I use them as my textbooks in class, and they are great for “independent study” for those who can’t take a workshop from me in person.

Click here to get PDF downloads of my books and patterns.

My first book was published in 2015 and my latest volume came out nearly 2 years ago – can you believe it? I’ve worked with 2 publishers and purchased the rights to my first 4 books once the original publisher went out of business. Although 4 of my 5 books are now out of print, they are all still available as PDF downloads. Last year I put together a fun little video showcasing all of the projects from all of the books.

In case you missed it, click the image below to watch the video on my YouTube channel.

Now I know asking which book is my fave is asking me to pick a favorite child!! But I want to know which one (or more) of these has changed *your* quilting life?

Be sure to stock up on any of these you don’t have, and complete your machine quilting library!!
Click here to get PDF downloads of my books and patterns.

Just for funsies, here’s a throwback pick of my now 20 year old daughter reading my first book when it came out. Although she’s not a quilter, she *is* an artist currently working on her BFA 🙂

My family and I recently took a fun trip to Washington DC. I’ve actually been a couple times before, but it was the first time all 3 of my kids have visited as adults. It was amazing and so educational! We visited as many museums as we could, took time to view all the monuments, and enjoyed riding bikes around the national mall – easy rentals were everywhere!

The best views of Washington DC are by bike!!

Because 2 of my kids are currently studying art in college, we spent a LOT of time at the art museums. I found that I really love abstract art, but I was blown away at how old some of the paintings on display are. We visited the National Gallery of Art and I made a fun game of finding all of the quilty designs in many of the paintings.

This ancient painting below really blew me away. It dates back to the 13th century and looks to me like 2 angels holding up a quilt behind the madonna and child.

Take a look at the tiled floor details in this painting below. Doesn’t that look like a square in a square block? Who knew that was such an old design??

While we were there, we got to view a special exhibit on display, called “Woven Histories – Textiles and Modern Abstraction.” This was right up my alley! I put together a super quick little 2 minute video showing some of my faves below. I think so many of these designs are just begging to be made into quilts!! (Click the image below to watch.)

To balance things out, especially for my oldest son and hubby who are the computer science & technology guys in the family, we also visited both of the national air and space museums. Not only did we get to see the real airplanes flown by the Wright brothers, we were able to view the actual space shuttle Discovery on display. It was absolutely mind-blowing!

One of our favorite spots in the Udvar-Hazy museum was the restoration hangar where we could watch them working on antique airplanes in real time. Of course I got a kick out of the fact that they had a “fabric shop” used for recreating or restoring textiles. Too bad it wasn’t open to the public, LOL!!

Overall it was an amazing time and the older my kids get, the more I appreciate spending time with them as adults!!