Learning From Gammill Quilt Artist, Sharon Blackmore

I recently had the opportunity to interview Gammill Quilt Artist and long arm quilter extraordinaire, Sharon Blackmore of Love Shack Quilts, Sharon is a local long arm quilter, specializing in custom quilting, and is the host of the Prairie Quilt Militia and How do I Quilt This? Facebook group.

Sharon has been free motion quilting for about 20 years and long arm quilting (always on a Gammill) for about 12 of those years. Her secret to her amazing quilting is that she quilts every day. Yes, practice definitely makes progress towards perfection!

Sharon loves to challenge herself and this is also how she has improved her skills over the years. She believes that it’s important to challenge yourself and try projects outside your comfort zone to improve your quilting skills. Recently she has been quilting on leather and cork and the results are incredible!

As a Gammill Quilt Artist, Sharon has been teaching in Canada and the US on the Quilting with Confidence tour. Sharon loves teaching and appreciates the opportunity to learn from the other Gammill insructors on the tour.

The Rebel, designed and quilted by Sharon Blackmore

Click on the image below to learn more about Sharon and her quilting journey.

After we filmed this interview, Sharon and I recorded several more videos where Sharon shared quilting tips and advice on free motion quilting and went in-depth on how she quilted several of her quilts. These videos are available exclusively for members of The Quilter’s Way. Not yet a member, check it out here.

Click here to learn more about the Prairie Quilt Militia and the How do I Quilt This? groups.

Creatively,

P.S. Are you serious about improving your quilting? Do you want to connect with other committed quilters in a supportive, safe environment?  If you answered “yes” to these questions, you need to join The Quilter’s Way. The Quilter’s Way is the only quilting membership site that includes both training and an active, supportive online community. Don’t wait another day! Join now.

P.P.S. Did you know that you can sign up to receive emails full of FREE quilting goodness? Click here to receive FREE content directly in your email inbox every few weeks from Chatterbox Quilts. I know you'll be glad you did!

P.S. I am an Amazon affiliate and, if you purchase items by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a small amount of commission. This doesn’t cost you any more $$$, but helps me to continue creating free content for you. Thanks!

Precision Fusing Mat Review

Raw edge appliqué, or as I call it, fusible web appliqué, is my favourite quilting technique. I’ve been creating projects using this technique for years and am always on the lookout for tools that will make this already easy appliqué method even easier, and I’ve found one: the Precision Fusing Mat from Precision Quilting Tools. This combination of fusing mat and overlay covers all the bases when it comes to creating a fusible web appliqué project. Let’s take a closer look at this amazing product.

When doing fusible web appliqué, you need to trace the appliqué pieces onto the paper side of the fusible web using a lightbox or a window. One of the challenges in doing this is that the fusible web sheet can slide around and make it difficult to get accurate tracing. Enter the Precision Fusing Mat!

One part of this product, the green-edged vinyl mat – I’ll call it “the mat” – goes over your pattern and is non-slip so your paper pattern stays firmly in place underneath it. You then place the fusible web, paper side up, on top of the mat and again, due to the non-slip nature of it, the fusible web doesn’t slide around. This makes for perfectly accurate tracing!

The other use for this is as a teflon overlay - I’ll call it “the sheet” - allows you to layer your appliqué design on top of the sheet. Place your appliqué placement pattern underneath the sheet and you’ll be able to perfectly place and fuse your appliqué pieces on top of the sheet. You can then peel off the fused appliqué shape and fuse it to the background fabric. If I’m working with a multi-piece appliqué design, I like to fuse the pieces together into one unit before placing it on the background. The Precision Fusing Mat allows me to do this easily.

I love the multi-function of the Precision Fusing Mat and know that it’s going to be one of my favourite tools in my quilt studio.

For more information on the Precision Fusing Mat, click on the image below. To get your own Precision Fusing Mat, click here.

Have you tried fusible web appliqué? Do you have any products that work well for you when doing this technique? Share them in the Comments below.

 Creatively,

Download the free Get Out of the Ditch! guide to learn how to start free motion quilting by clicking here.

P.S. Are you serious about improving your quilting? Do you want to connect with other committed quilters in a supportive, safe environment?  If you answered “yes” to these questions, you need to join The Quilter’s Way. The Quilter’s Way is the only quilting membership site that includes both training and an active, supportive online community. Don’t wait another day! Join now.

P.P.S. Did you know that you can sign up to receive emails full of FREE quilting goodness? Click here to receive FREE content directly in your email inbox every few weeks from Chatterbox Quilts. I know you'll be glad you did!

P.S. I am an Amazon affiliate and, if you purchase items by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a small amount of commission. This doesn’t cost you any more $$$, but helps me to continue creating free content for you. Thanks!

Book Review: Stitched So Sweet

I was excited to take a look at Stitched So Sweet by Tracy Souza as I’m a big fan of hand embroidery. I love sweet, whimsical designs and Stitched So Sweet is full of these types of designs.

Photo courtesy of Martingale Publishing

The projects in Stitched So Sweet are small, which makes them perfect for wall hangings or to put into frames to display in your quilt studio. As they aren’t large projects, they won’t take long to stitch up and their sizes make them perfect for those wanted to dip their toes (finger) into hand embroidery.

Photo courtesy of Martingale Publishing

The projects in Stitched So Sweet are seasonal and there are designs for spring, summer, fall and winter in each of the patterns in the book. Stitch one or all of them so you can rotate them throughout the year.

Photo courtesy of Martingale Publishing

It can sometimes be tricky to quilt hand embroidery projects, so Tracy provides you with instructions on how to put the finished project into a picture frame so you can avoid the whole “how do I quilt this?” dilemma.

Photo courtesy of Martingale Publishing

For a more detailed look at Stitched So Sweet, click on the image below. 

Are you a fan of hand embroidery? Let me know in the Comments below.

Creatively,

P.S. Are you serious about improving your quilting? Do you want to connect with other committed quilters in a supportive, safe environment?  If you answered “yes” to these questions, you need to join The Quilter’s Way. The Quilter’s Way is the only quilting membership site that includes both training and an active, supportive online community. Don’t wait another day! Join now.

P.P.S. Did you know that you can sign up to receive emails full of FREE quilting goodness? Click here to receive FREE content directly in your email inbox every few weeks from Chatterbox Quilts. I know you'll be glad you did!

P.S. I am an Amazon affiliate and, if you purchase items by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a small amount of commission. This doesn’t cost you any more $$$, but helps me to continue creating free content for you. Thanks!

Pillowcase Method to Finishing a Quilt

Do you use the pillowcase method to finish your quilt projects? Do you know about the pillowcase method? If you don’t, I’m going to tell you all about it and you are going to love this easy way to finish smaller projects.

The pillowcase method is a way to finish your quilts without binding them. Yes, you know I hate binding, so this is one of my go-to techniques for avoiding it! You’ll need:

1. Your quilt top

2. Batting cut to the size of your quilt top

3. Backing cut to the size of your quilt top

4. No binding strips!

You are going to layer the 3 parts of your quilt as follows, from the bottom up: 

• Batting

• Quilt top, right side up

• Backing, wrong side up

Pin these 3 layers together around the raw edges, leaving a gap so you can turn it right side out later on. The size of the gap depends on the size of your project: a 3” to 4” is okay for most small to medium size projects. Leave a larger unsewn area is you are working on a bigger project.

After pinning the 3 layers together, sew around the outside of the sandwich with a ¼” seam, remembering to leave that unsewn gap for turning. I like to use a walking foot to do this. Clip off the corners and turn the project right side out, pushing out the corners (I like to use That Purple Thang to do this). Hand sew the opening closed and your project is now ready for quilting.

For detailed instructions, click on the image below.

Have you ever used the pillowcase method before? If so, let me know your results in the Comments below.

Creatively,

Download the free Get Out of the Ditch! guide to learn how to start free motion quilting by clicking here.

P.S. Are you serious about improving your quilting? Do you want to connect with other committed quilters in a supportive, safe environment?  If you answered “yes” to these questions, you need to join The Quilter’s Way. The Quilter’s Way is the only quilting membership site that includes both training and an active, supportive online community. Don’t wait another day! Join now.

P.P.S. Did you know that you can sign up to receive emails full of FREE quilting goodness? Click here to receive FREE content directly in your email inbox every few weeks from Chatterbox Quilts. I know you'll be glad you did!

P.S. I am an Amazon affiliate and, if you purchase items by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a small amount of commission. This doesn’t cost you any more $$$, but helps me to continue creating free content for you. Thanks!