This month I hosted a roundtable discussion with a few Longarm League members to discuss the process of moving with your longarm. Our guests had a wealth of advice, both on physically moving your machine, as well as guidance on working through shutting down your business in one location and reopening in a new location.

While the full recording is available to our members, we asked our roundtable guests to share a little more about themselves and some moving advice with our blog readers.

Without further ado, let's meet our guests!

Chris Batten, Looped Quilting Studio

Located: West Richland, WA
Machine and software: Innova

Where to find Chris
Website: https://www.loopedquilting.com/
Instagram: loopedquilting

Chris is currently moving and getting settled in West Richland, WA, where she'll continue offering digital E2E quilting services.

Stef Kingery, Jack & Theo's Quilting Co.

Located: Montana
Machine and software: HandiQuilter Amara w/ProStitcher

Where to find Stef
Websit...

Refract is a simple, geometric design that was designed with modern quilts in mind. And boy oh boy, is this a modern quilt!



The combination of smooth curves and lines gives a unique look. I also love the diamond shapes that form between rows. ✨



This abstract design could look like gems, paving stones, ribbons, or waves that cascade across a quilt top. But primarily, I like how simple, repeated geometric shapes provide texture as a backdrop to the patchwork.

The Quilt

If you've been reading this blog or (knowing me as a person) for any length of time, you might recognize that this style is out of my norm, but it was a fun departure!

I made this quilt top during a workshop I took with friend and brilliant quiltmaker Riane Menardi Morrison back in 2016. In the workshop, we made large traditional blocks and deconstructed them. As you might guess, my starting point was a log cabin block with that lovely gold on one half of the block, white on the other, and the black and white s...

This month in the Longarm League, I sat down with life coach Vanessa Christenson. You may recognize her as the longtime fabric and pattern designer of V and Co. After hearing from League member Kaitlyn Howell (Knot and Thread Design) about her experience working with Vanessa, and chatting with Vanessa in person at a recent show, I thought it would be great to have a deeper discussion with her and share more about her life coaching offerings with our members.

While League members have full access to the recording of the call, we asked Vanessa to share a little more about herself and her business with our blog readers.

Without further ado, let's meet Vanessa...

Vanessa Christenson, V and Co

Located: Hiawatha, Iowa
In business: 15 years designer, 4 years lifecoaching

Where to find Vanessa
Website: https://www.vanessachristenson.com
Instagram: @vchristenson or @vchristensoncoach
What's the best way for someone to contact you if they're interested in working with you? Through my website...

This month in the Longarm League, we published a business spotlight call featuring Melissa Kelley of Sew Shabby Quilting. I sat down with her to talk about building a successful business by staying true to herself - leaning into her creative strengths and charting a course based on prioritizing time with her family.

While League members have full access to the recording of the call, we asked Melissa to share a little more about herself and her business with our blog readers.

Without further ado, let's meet Melissa...

Melissa Kelley, Sew Shabby Quilting

Located: American Fork, UT
In business: 13 years
Machine and software: Gammill Statler Stitcher and APQS with IQ 
In the Longarm League: Almost 2 years!

Where to find Melissa
Website: https://www.sewshabbyquilting.com
Instagram: @sewshabbyquilting
Facebook: @sewshabbyquilting
TikTok: @sewshabbyquilting
Best way for someone to request quilting? Check out the Quilting Services page on my website.

Q&A

Tell us a little about your busi...

What good is the Internet if you can't use it to jump on a trend? The first time I saw something relating to "very demure" was an Instagram Reel of a real estate agent in Des Moines, describing the city as "very demure". I thought that was an odd way to describe it, but I continued with my day. In a short amount of time, I saw "very demure, very mindful" pop up in so many other places that I had to google it. Apparently, it originated with TikTok influencer Jools Lebron as a way to describe her look and way of being. It has caught fire from there! Now "very demure, very mindful" is a phrase that is popping up everywhere, and just when I needed a name for my new design. It fits, doesn't it? 



Demure's design starts with the outer petals and ends with the medaillion-like framing around a center circle. The repeating shape is elongated. 



Every other row is staggered at 50% with this design. When arranged, the row-to-row nesting is minor and is not challenging to align when stitch...

Written by: Cheryl Koranda

Quilt retreats can be an amazing way to build or grow your own quilty community! Next month we'll be hosting our first Longarm League retreat with our members, and as Jess and I reflected on the impact quilt retreats have had on our own personal and professional lives, we thought this would be a great time to share some insights and tips for hosting or attending a retreat.

So this month we sat down with our good friend Kristen Olson of Heartfully Handmade to talk all things quilt retreat. Kristen has been coordinating twice-a-year quilt retreats for the past 8 years - in fact that's where Jess and I met! Kristen always does such an amazing job for our group, and we had a great time talking to her about the ins and outs of planning and hosting retreats.

While our full discussion is available to League members, we wanted to share a few tips here on the blog as well.

Before we dive into talking about retreats, I wanted to make sure to mention that Kristen cu...

Just so you know, the only thing I was thinking about when I was designing this new edge-to-edge pantograph was hot dog buns! I was going for that rounded shape. In the end, I thought the name Plus sounded more mature than Hot Dog, which was the temporary file name until that final save.



I think this quilt top paired so well with the design! Usually, I have a small stack of quilt tops waiting for a new design to test out, but in this case, I was reminded of the Peanut Butter pattern as I was looking through Instagram posts I'd saved, and I made the quilt top just to use for this Hot Dog—I mean Plus!—design.



The design has just a bit more complexity than I'd like, but I couldn't find a way around it. When the stitch path is almost completed, it pivots direction to backtrack across the top horizontal line of the plus shape on its way to start another repeat. I tried bisecting the design with a straight line through the middle, but I just didn't like the way it looked compared t...

Lateral is a new extended-width design that is somewhat small in scale (more on that later) and great for providing lots of background texture that won't get in the way of a quilt's patchwork.



If you are new to extended-width pantograph designs, I'd encourage you to visit this blog post that provides more information and help with set-up. These designs are different than traditional edge-to-edge designs and may require different configurations or settings with your software. This design, in particular, includes six whole rows of quilting with the stagger (or offset) between rows built into the design.

I started fiddling with this design by manipulating one long and narrow teardrop shape. After lots and lots of futzing, and once I had it arranged as shown throughout this post, I realized how much it looks like a Wishbone variation! That was not the plan, but it totally "works" for me and here's why:

• Lateral is named that way because it emphasizes side-to-side movement,
...

This month in the Longarm League, we published a coaching call featuring Linda DeMaris of 414 Quilts n More. I sat down with her to talk about connecting with local clients through teaching and guild meetings, her longarming and memory quilt services as well as her unique memory bears that she offers.

While League members have full access to the recording of the call, we asked Linda to share a little more about herself and her business with our blog readers.

Without further ado, let's meet Linda...

Linda DeMaris, 414 Quilts n More

Located: Norcross, GA
In business: 2-3 years, give or take... ;)
Machine and software: HandiQuilter Amara 20 with Prostitcher
In the Longarm League: Since March 2024

Where to find Linda
Website: https://414quiltsnmore.wixsite.com/website-2
Instagram: @414quiltsnmore
Best way for someone to contact you for quilting? Through my website, or email me with any questions.

Q&A

Tell us a little about your business and the services you provide at 414 Quilts n ...

This new design is called Hours. I was inspired by the hourglass shape, but I didn't want to name it that because there are some other Hourglass pantographs on the market already. So Hours it is!



Just like last month's new design release of Echoed Curves, I was intimidated to quilt this quilt because of all the solid fabrics that show the quilting oh-so-well! I mean, I do this to myself for better or worse. I love it when the quilting shows, but it's added pressure to make sure it's a good pantograph design that fits the quilt! 



When I look at the array of several rows laid out (with every other row offset at 50%), it appears to be "balanced" in the direction of the curves. But in reality, five of the lines curve to the left and only one line curves to the right. I spent a lot of time attempting to simplify the design and was surprised by this fact! I think that the offset helps give the design movement and flow.

The negative space within the pantograph design is also intere...