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!!

This summer I’ve been working a lot behind the scenes, preparing for upcoming teaching events and it’s my favorite thing that I do! Registration for Road to California just opened and already 2 of my 4 workshops sold out right away. It’s so exciting when that happens because I know folks are hungry for machine quilting education!

The good news is that there are still spaces in 2 of my workshops (as of this writing). I know they’ll fill up fast so if you are even thinking of attending, be sure to sign up asap. Read below for more info on both:

Machine Quilting Spirals & Swirls #5005C
Friday 1/24/25 8:30-4:30

Learn how to quilt modern, geometric spirals and swirls using both walking foot and free-motion techniques. Students will learn how to quilt stunning designs such as large continuous spirals, geometric spirals, and several swirl variations. Spirals can be quilted in different areas of your quilts, or used as an allover design. Combine motifs for even more possibilities! Students should be comfortable with basic machine quilting techniques. Bring plain fabrics to practice with, or leftover orphan blocks.

Free Motion Mashup #6006C
Saturday 1/25/25 8:30-3:30

Mix and match multiple motifs to create a modern free-motion mash-up! This technique can be applied to any quilt, whether you want your quilting to be the star of the show, or you simply want to add a bit of background texture to your quilt. This jam-packed class will teach how to combine and design two or more filler motifs into something entirely new. Students will practice drawing the designs on paper, then apply what they’ve learned to sample swatches or orphan blocks. Note: Students should be comfortable with basic free-motion quilting.

I hope you’ll be able to join me for one or more of these workshops. And if you aren’t able to attend this show, be sure to check out my current travel and teaching schedule. I update it on a regular basis. If you want to take a workshop from me, but I’m not coming to your area, be sure to pass along my name to your local quilting group and they can invite me to come. Did I mention it’s my favorite thing that I do???

My recent teaching trip to Alaska was amazing! If you’ve never experienced full daylight in the middle of the night, I can tell you it sort of messes with your mind, LOL! I flew into Anchorage and landed at about 10:30 PM local time. My body was tired after a long day of travel that started at about 6 AM, but my mind kept saying, “you can’t be tired – it’s still bright outside!”

It was about an hour drive to Palmer, which is where I was staying for my visit with the Valley Quilter’s Guild. It’s surrounded by mountains, with incredible views of Pioneer Peak. To give a better perspective, the 2 pictures below were taken on the same day at 9 AM and 9 PM. Can you tell which is which??

There are absolutely no filters applied to the images above. Isn’t it breathtaking??

In addition to the scenery, the quilters I taught were fabulous, too! I started off the first evening with my signature lecture, “How Do I Quilt It?” based on my book of the same name. It was a full house, and they really made me feel welcome!

I always bring lots of quilts with my to illustrate my techniques and it’s fun to show how the same quilting motifs can be applied to different quilt designs. I include lots of photos of closeup details in my presentations and allow students to get up close and personal with my quilts throughout the weekend.

My lecture/trunk show was followed by 2 full days of domestic machine quilting. I teach students how to ease into machine quilting with quick and easy walking foot designs that anyone can do. Then the next day I teach them my favorite free-motion techniques and it’s fabulous to see how much progress they can make in such a short amount of time!

Take a look below at this short video showing some of their work. I think they did an amazing job – don’t you?? (Click the image below to start playing.)

I also got to sample some of the local cuisine. Everyone recommended that I try the reindeer sausage and it did not disappoint!!

On the way back to the airport we spotted a couple of live moose by the side of the road. It was the first time I’ve seen these majestic creatures in the wild, but it happened so quickly I didn’t even think to snap a pic. Fortunately, the airport had a stuffed version on display to greet visitors, LOL!!

All in all it was a great way to kick start my quilty summer, and I’d definitely go back there again!
If you’d like to learn more about what & where I teach, check out the links below for my books, patterns and teaching schedule.

• Click here to grab PDF versions of my books & patterns.
• Click here to see where I’m headed next!

Update: the giveaway is now over. Congrats to Cheryl C. from New York who won and picked the Duchess Blue chair. I’m sure it will look great in her sewing space!!

I’ve been thrilled that so many of you love my Christa Cabinet from Arrow Sewing. Once I started using the cabinet, I needed a chair to go along with it! So I picked out their hydraulic sewing chair in grey. I’m telling you, this is hands down the most comfortable chair for sewing I’ve ever tried!

Actual view of my sewing table with hydraulic chair. Off to my left is the Tasmanian table which is height adjustable and perfect for cutting!

In fact, I love this chair “sew” much that I got a 2nd one in blue for my computer desk which is along an opposite wall. These chairs are so comfy and give lumbar support right where you need it. They are adjustable and even have a storage compartment hidden in the seat!

I chose the plain colored chairs to match my sewing room, but they come in lots of colorful prints, too!

Here’s How You Can Win One!

Just leave a comment on this post telling me where you sew! Whether it’s a dream studio, or a tiny corner in your home, you can make your space more comfy with one of these chairs.

Now the fine print: due to shipping restrictions this giveaway is open to US residents only. The giveaway will be open through the end of the day on Monday, May 27, 2024. I’ll choose a winner randomly from all the comments received and will contact them directly. The chair will ship directly from Arrow Sewing.

Good luck and happy sewing!!

I’m just got back from teaching in Paducah, Kentucky and had an amazing time. One thing that the pandemic made me realize is how much I love teaching live and in person. When I wasn’t able to do that, it truly felt like something was missing. If you missed seeing me last week, your next opportunity to do so will be at Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, California, July 24-27, 2024.

I’m excited to be teaching a full slate of workshops, including two of my signature full-day classes: Walking Foot Bootcamp & Free Motion Bootcamp. Taken together, these two will basically teach you everything you need to know to have a successful experience quilting on a domestic machine.

Whether you are a newbie to machine quilting or have been around the block a few times, it’s fun to share my best tips and tricks while guiding you through a series of exercises based on my latest 2 books: 99 Machine Quilting Designs & How Do I Quilt It?

• Click here to get my books and patterns as digital PDF downloads.
• Click here to get physical copies of my books & patterns.

Along with the bootcamp workshops, I’m offering a super fun class called Machine Quilting Fun with Spirals and Swirls. This is another all-day class that will go in depth with tons of cool ideas you can do with a walking foot OR free-motion. I enjoy teaching both techniques in the same class and especially love that “a-ha!” moment that students experience when everything clicks!

Domestic Machine Quilting is My Favorite Thing to Teach

Finally I will be teaching a 1/2 day class called Free-Motion Mashup. This is where you get to take a whole bunch of your favorite motifs and learn how to mix them up in a fun way. I often refer to this technique as “free-motion improv” or “improvisational machine quilting” because that’s exactly what it is. The cool thing about this technique is that it’s a completely unique design, each time you stitch it!

Just one of the infinite possibilities you can create with Free-Motion Mashup

PIQF Registration Info

I sure hope you can make it to this amazing show. Click here for my PIQF class listings.
Or you can register for any of them by clicking on each individual workshop below:

• Click here for Walking Foot Bootcamp, Wednesday 7/24/24
• Click here for Free-Motion Bootcamp, Thursday 7/25/24
• Click here for Fun with Spirals and Swirls, Friday 7/26/24
• Click here for Free-Motion Mashup, Saturday 7/27/24

I really enjoying teaching at lots of different venues, so if you are unable to travel to me, I’m always happy to come to you! Feel free to pass along my name to the program coordinator of your local quilting group or guild. I pretty much say yes to wherever I’m invited to go. I’m always up for the next quilty adventure!

While I’m away teaching at the AQS show Paducah, KY this week, I thought it would be fun to reminisce about one of my early “modern” quilts I made several years ago. It’s called Facets, and it’s extra special because it got a 2nd place ribbon at the show back in 2016.

This was shortly after they first introduced the modern category to the show, AND this was the first quilt I designed and made for the first book I ever wrote called Machine Quilting with Style. (The Facets pattern begins on page 90).

Although this book is now out of print, I still have a few dozen physical copies left, and there’s a PDF download version available, too!

Click here to get a signed copy of Machine Quilting with Style, while supplies last.
Click here to get the PDF/digital download version of Machine Quilting with Style.

Just for funsies, below is the whole group of 12 quilts that’s included in the book. They all have a bit of modern flair, and each one includes a complete step-by-step machine quilting plan.

It’s fun to remember that I actually shared many of the quilts in the books at different shows and even picked up a couple ribbons at other shows too. Of course, that’s not why I quilt, but it is a feather in my cap when I can snag the occasional ribbon at a show.

Making Facets, along with the other quilts was such a labor of love! Although I had been teaching locally for many years before I wrote that first book, it kicked off my national teaching career, and for that I am truly grateful!

Domestic machine quilting is all about “scrunching” and “smooshing” a quilt under the machine!