I’ve been sewing, and sewing, and sewing but I’m not finished yet. This is my friendship star quilt that I’m making using the blocks I made with my easy Friendship Star Block Tutorial. The fabrics are from the Grace collection by Anna Griffin. Aren’t they gorgeous?
And I have a silly confession. I used a lot of starch on this quilt top in my final pressing. Magic Premium Starch brand to be exact and it’s got a really strong floral perfume scent. I’m not recommending (or not-recommending it) it, I just have to say that every time I sit down to work on this quilt I see flowers and smell flowers and it’s quite an experience!
As you can see, I chose to do straight line quilting. I really love the way straight line quilting looks and I enjoy doing it so it’s a double-win for me. When I look at my quilt, it reminds me of a song. Like the quilting is this rhythmic beat and the piecing is the melody. I know, it sounds crazy.
I use the seam lines in my piecing as guides and sometimes measure my distance from the nearest seam to make sure I’m not getting too far off track. Here are my tips for doing straight line quilting 4 different ways!
Sew an organizer covered with pockets that you can hang in your closet! This easy sewing project is great for organizing sewing and craft supplies, fashion accessories, bathroom necessities, gift wrappings, and more. There are pockets on both sides plus a big interior pocket so every bit of space is used. I’ll show you easy step by step instructions for sewing this organizer and putting it to use in your home. Get sew organized today.
Are you sewing a Closet Organizer with me? I hope so! This is Part 2 of our free sewing tutorial for an amazing organizer with a coat hanger inside so you can hang it anywhere.
If you are getting started, make sure you start at Part 1 of the free pattern.
Be a basketmaker! Sure, you can sew, but did you know that you can make amazing baskets too using your sewing machine, some fabric and the same materials that you use for your other projects?
Have you fallen in love with Quilt as You Go yet? It’s a fun technique for quilts, of course, but I’m having lots of fun using it for pouches and tote bags too.
I’m so excited to share with you the pattern for our first mini quilt of 2018… Flora! This beautiful little quilt was designed by the very talented Lauren of Molly & Mama…
At my daughter Chloe’s high school (can you believe my baby started high school???), the lunch lines are so long that she has been skipping lunch! She’s always starving by the time she gets home because she doesn’t want to carry a big lunch bag as well as her heavy backpack – poor girl!
Looking for free table runner patterns? I gathered up all my favorites in one place – here are free quilt patterns for table runners for fall, winter, spring and summer!
I am so in love with the beautiful look of simple patchwork quilts with lots of squares. This is the perfect way to use up fabric scraps like I did, or you can make a beautifully coordinated quilt with pre-cut 2 1/2’’ square fabric pieces that come in mini-charm packs.
I’m also in love with the process. If you feel like quilt making is your escape from the world and sitting down to sew for a few hours makes your troubles fade away… this is the quilt for you!
Sew an easy beautiful apron with this free sewing pattern that only uses one yard of fabric! Whether you are sewing for yourself or for a friend, an apron always comes in handy and makes a great gift. This blog post includes a link to a free template that I digitized for you.
Disclosure: some of my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of those links I may receive a small commission, so thank you for supporting SewCanShe when you shop! All of the opinions are my own and I only suggest products that I actually use. 🙂
By the time you read this I will be at Quilt Market!!! I feel giddy just writing that. As you have probably guessed, this blogger wrote the Show Off Saturday early this week so she could enjoy the biggest fabric and quilt show of the year.
I’m so excited that my easy little ‘Climbing Squares’ block was chosen for Quiltmakers 100 Blocks magazine. It’s even on the front cover, can you guess which one?
Easter is almost here! Last week after I stitched up my Wonderland Apron (using Melissa’s beautiful new Wonderland fabric from Riley Blake) I knew immediately what to do with the leftover scraps… make Bunny treat bags!
Learn how to sew a DIY lanyard! The lanyard in this free sewing tutorial is double sided so you can use two coordinating fabrics to make it twice as nice. My free Wrist Strap Keychain Tutorial has been so popular,…
Learn how to sew applique using my adorable free camera applique design. This blog post contains instructions for sewing the camera design onto a quilt block – but of course you can put it on a tee shirt, jacket, pillow, or flag too!
This week I finally got around to making myself something new for #memademay!
This linen top is a new pattern in the 02/2015 issue of Ottobre Design. It’s the first thing I’ve sewn from this issue and I absolutely love it. I’ve never had a linen top before and I had no idea how cool and comfortable the fabric would be.
Love the floral quilt, yes I too will not use the floral spray. But I love the straight line quilting, can you add a quilt bar to your lever? That is what I use for my spacing……
Good for you choosing to the straight line quilting. It is very time intensive, but gives such beautiful results. Of course, if the floral smell is that intoxicating, who wouldn’t want to spend as much time as possible working on it?!!
I started straight line recently and found it harder than I expected. Rolling, folding etc. to get in my machine. I seemed to recall reading somewhere that you were supposed to alternate the direction of the lines – so I am curious to see how doing one half in each direction would work out for me. I did not find the walking foot that successful. I must be doing a lot wrong. LOL I had a guide also, which did help. Yours looks great! Encourages me to try again.
Hi Caroline – I took your advice and tried a little more. Just want to finish it at this point. I took off the walking foot. Seems okay so far. Will have a little rip and repeat for sure, but worth it for practice I guess. It seemed to be the tension on the back that was giving me trouble. It’s a couch size, not bed size, thank heavens. I just love the quilt itself and may even keep it for myself – a first! Thanks for the extra push I needed.
I love straight line quilting! Looking good! 🙂
Thanks Kelli!
Love the floral quilt, yes I too will not use the floral spray. But I love the straight line quilting, can you add a quilt bar to your lever? That is what I use for my spacing……
Hi Lori! My machine didn’t come with a quilt bar… but I’m going to experiment with an older one I have. Thanks!
This is beautiful! I will be doing the same quilting on a little footstool cover for my mom today.
Yay! Isn’t it fun?
Good for you choosing to the straight line quilting. It is very time intensive, but gives such beautiful results. Of course, if the floral smell is that intoxicating, who wouldn’t want to spend as much time as possible working on it?!!
Thank you Lorna. You’re right…and I’m kind of sad to see this one finished.
Your straight line quilting is awe inspiring! I haven’t tried it yet…but really like how it looks!
Thank you. Give it a try soon… like anything, the more you do it the better you’ll become! 🙂
I started straight line recently and found it harder than I expected. Rolling, folding etc. to get in my machine. I seemed to recall reading somewhere that you were supposed to alternate the direction of the lines – so I am curious to see how doing one half in each direction would work out for me. I did not find the walking foot that successful. I must be doing a lot wrong. LOL I had a guide also, which did help. Yours looks great! Encourages me to try again.
Yes, try again! This is my second quilt to try it on and my first one had a lot of trial and error, lol.
Hi Caroline – I took your advice and tried a little more. Just want to finish it at this point. I took off the walking foot. Seems okay so far. Will have a little rip and repeat for sure, but worth it for practice I guess. It seemed to be the tension on the back that was giving me trouble. It’s a couch size, not bed size, thank heavens. I just love the quilt itself and may even keep it for myself – a first! Thanks for the extra push I needed.
I’m so glad you’re keeping on with it. It will get easier as you figure out what your machine and this particular quilt requires. Have fun!