Join Me for Dancing Stars Quilt Along This Fall!

July 21, 2026July 18, 2026Leave a comment

It’s quilt along season and I’m excited to share one of my newest patterns with you! This fall beginning in September we’re going to make my Dancing Stars quilt. This is a fat quarter friendly design that’s easy to customize and make it your own!

In additional to including three size options and colorways in the pattern above, I’ve already made two versions of this eye catching quilt. The first one was made from black, white and grey Confetti Cotton Solids shown below.

Then just for fun, I whipped up a patriotic version made from batik scraps, shown below.

Then by request, I digitally recolored another version using Lori Holt Family Reunion from Riley Blake Designs. Isn’t it cute??

To join, you just need to purchase a copy of the Dancing Stars Quilt pattern in print or PDF and you’ll be all set. I’ll include weekly updates here on the blog, including a bonus machine quilting video showing how I quilted both versions shown above.

So what say you – are you in??

Celebrating America 250 With Patriotic Quilts!

July 4, 2026Leave a comment

I recently finished two patriotic quilts that I’m excited to share as I say, “Happy Birthday, America!”

This first one is called Positive Vibes and is a remake of a pattern I first had published in a magazine nearly 10 years ago. That was before I became a fabric designer and I always knew I wanted to remake using red, white and blue scraps of my own fabrics.

I quilted it with Red, Aqua, Navy and Gold Metallic threads. In each of the aqua, red and navy rows of plus blocks, I quilted straight lines to represent stars. In the alternating rows I added the gold stars with pebbles for added texture.

The second one I literally just finished today in time to share for the 4th of July is called Dancing Stars. I made this from Riley Blake Batik scraps to test them out. It’s been years since I’ve sewn with batiks and I wanted to make sure I love working with them before I dive in and design my own line of batiks in the future…

The fabrics were wonderful to work with during piecing, basting, quilting AND binding. So they definitely get my stamp of approval! Here’s me proudly showing off my patriotic Buc-ee’s shirt that we picked up on a cross country drive earlier this summer.

And here are so closeup details of the quilting. I stitched an edge to edge free motion mix of echoed stars and swirls.

My #1 free-motion quilting tip is to practice one motif across an entire quilt. When you’re done with the quilt, you’ll be an expert at that design!

Both of these quilt patterns are available as PDF downloads in my Etsy shop. Click the links below to grab them:

Happy 4th of July, and Happy Quilting, Friends!!

Have You Subscribed to My Free Machine Quilting Video Tutorials on Youtube?

March 26, 2026March 25, 2026Leave a comment

In case you missed it, here’s a super short recap of all of the free domestic machine quilting tutorials I shared over the past year. Click play below for a quick peek of all 99 designs. Credit to my son Ryan for composing the original music to go along with it!

If you’d like to catch up on any of them that you’ve missed, I’ve created a playlist of all 99 Machine Quilting Designs. These come straight from my best-selling book of the same name. The playlist spans a total of 56 videos plus an in-depth introduction to the series which shows how to set yourself up for machine quilting success.

While you are visiting my YouTube channel, be sure to like and subscribe to stay in the loop of what’s next!

The number one question I get when showing these tutorials is how to quilt these designs on a real quilt. In each of the video tutorials I share a few quick tips and show examples of real quilts.

However, due to popular request, I’ve created another, on-going playlist that walks you through from start to finish how to quilt a real, full sized quilt. I will be adding more to this series on a regular basis, each time a make a new quilt, so stay tuned for more!

Click here to view my other video playlist called, “How I Quilted It.”

This playlist is also based on my newest book of the sae name which is available in both print and PDF:

Now, more quilty adventures await!

Sneak Peak of Quilt in Color Fabric Line from Riley Blake

March 17, 2026March 9, 2026Leave a comment

I’m so excited about my debut fabric line with Riley Blake called Quilt in Color. Now you may be wondering why I switched fabric companies? Simply put, it was time for me to stretch my wings and grow. In all of my previous 10 fabric collections, I had help with the technical aspects of design. But this one is ALL me and I couldn’t be more proud! Take a look at the color cards below:

What do you think? I poured my heart and soul into this collection. It includes 21 colorful prints + 3 machine quilting practice panels. Each of the 1 yard panels includes 4 different fat-quarter sized pieces that are perfect for free motion AND walking foot quilting.

Now I have a favor to ask – please ask your favorite quilt shops to pre-order this collection. It won’t be out until November, but sales reps are showing it to shops now so they can gauge how much they’ll need to print. This can really boost a collection and ensure that there will be more to come in the future.

So what do you think – would you want to add this to YOUR stash? I’ll be sharing more projects made from these over the next few months, so stay tuned!

The Last Video! Design #99 – Free Motion Improv

March 10, 2026March 9, 20261 Comment

It’s bittersweet as we come to the end of my 99 Machine Quilting Designs video series. The last design is basically the grand finale. What happens when you take ALLLL the designs and mash them together? That’s what I’ve done with a fun technique I’ve called free-motion improv. Take a look below and give it a try!

Featured Quilts from this Video

I shared two quilts where I used Improv Quilting as a dense filler in the background. The first one is called Spools from my book Piece and Quilt with Precuts:

The second one was from my Swirling Butterflies wholecloth that I created for my book with Angela Walters, called The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting.

Although my first 4 books I wrote are now out of print, you can still get them as a PDF download in my Etsy shop.

Click here for digital downloads of my books.

I sure hope you’ve enjoyed this series. All of the videos will stay up indefinitely so you can refer to them anytime you wish. Be sure to check out the 99 Machine Quilting Designs playlist over on my YouTube channel to watch them all.

And even though this series is ending, I will still continue to make quilting videos whenever I make a new quilt. That way you can see how I continue to apply these designs to real, full sized quilts!

99 Designs Video #55 – Swirls & Pearls

March 3, 2026February 27, 2026Leave a comment

One of my favorite free-motion quilting techniques to do is combining two different designs for a unique stitch combination. That’s what I did in this week’s video. Combine spirals and pebbles to make Swirls & Pearls! Watch the video on my YouTube channel by clicking the image below:

Make My Block Chain Quilt

This week’s featured quilt is called Block Chain. I’ve made it twice over the years and it’s the perfect pattern to showcase a set of charm packs. Pair them up with light and dark accent fabrics for a quick make! You can grab the quilt pattern to make this quilt either in print (while supplies last) or as a PDF digital download.

Can you believe this is the penultimate episode in this series? Stay tuned for next week for the final chapter in this series. Just remember, these free machine quilting videos will stay up indefinitely so you can watch them as many times as you wish!

Free-Motion Quilting Modern Feathers & Echoing!

February 24, 2026February 23, 20261 Comment

Check out my latest video from my 99 Machine Quilting Designs Series – Episode 54 – for 6 fun variations. Watch and learn below:

This week’s featured quilt is one of my free patterns called Beaded Lanterns. It’s another one I’ve made several times because it’s just so darn fun to stitch!

Click here download any of my free quilt patterns.

While supplies last you can check out my kits to make Beaded Lanterns as well as many other fun designs made from my fabrics!

Click here to view all in-stock quilt kits.

Just Getting Started Free-Motion Quilting?

Check out the introductory video for this series. Then watch all of the previous videos. There’s a total of 56 for hours and hours of machine quilting fun!

99 Designs Video #53 – Decorative Stitched Geometrics

February 17, 2026February 13, 2026Leave a comment

Level up your walking foot quilting with another fun decorative stitched design: Geometric Spirals. Watch and learn below:

Make This Quilt

This week’s featured quilt is called Blooming Wallflowers and I’ve made it more than once! See two different versions below:

I hope you are enjoying these video tutorials and inspiring quilts to make. I’m excited to be your cheerleader for domestic machine quilting!

99 Designs Episode 52 – Free-Motion Quilting Heartbeat & Clamshells

February 10, 2026February 6, 20261 Comment

Ready to practice your modern machine quilting? Try these 2 fabulous free-motion fills and see how you can tweak them to make them your own. Click the video below to watch:

Featured Quilt – Surplus Strips

I turned the bumps from clamshells into a floral swirl design by combining them with a basic swirl technique. Then I quilted it edge to edge on the white version below Grab the Surplus Strips quilt pattern to make one for yourself!

Bonus Video – Quilting Surplus Strips 2 Ways

See how I quilted both of the quilts below using 2 different free-motion motifs. You can apply any design I’m sharing with you as an edge-to edge design on any quilt in your UFO pile!

More Ideas for Quilting Clamshells

The pink quilt below shows clamshells as a background design, repeating the motif in the center. The dramatic black/teal whole cloth utilizes clamshells as a filler motif to highlight the focal point of this design.

Both of these patterns and their quilting plans can be found in my book, The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting.

What do you think? Would you quilt either of these designs on a quilt??

99 Machine Quilting Designs Episode 51 – Decorative Stitch Square Spirals

February 4, 2026January 30, 2026Leave a comment

Learn to quilt two innovative designs with your walking foot: decorative-stitch wonky squares and decorative-stitch spiral maze. Watch & learn below:

This week’s featured quilt comes from my book, The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting that I co-authored with Angela Walters. You can grab the PDF download to see how I quilted Fractured Squares using only walking foot motifs.