The Background Story

Fossilized is an edge-to-edge design that's been in the works for a long time. In early 2014, I made the small quilt shown below for myself using my own quilt pattern called Star Sighting. It was my first public pattern release under the name Threaded Quilting Studio. Anyway, the quilt used one of my favorite fabric lines ever (Color Me Happy by Vanessa Christianson) and I really wanted to push myself to do something special for the quilting in the negative space. 

The quilt above is only 50" x 50" or so, but I remember having to muster the stamina needed to hand-guide all of those dimensional feathered wreaths. :) I thought it took FOREVER, but I was so proud of this quilting motif and thought it worked well in the quilt.

Over the last few years that I've been digitizing designs to be used with a computerized longarm, I've fiddled around with the same motif, struggling with how to make it look dimensional as an edge-to-edge...

The most important thing to know about our new Driftwood design is that it's an extended width design. This means that instead of a snippet of design that's repeated side by side across the quilt, the design is actually over 100" wide. New to this type of design? You can read more about extended width designs here and see a video of me setting up an extended width design with my Intelliquilter software.

For me, the best part about Driftwood is the organic "pods" of negative space make the texture really stand out.

Driftwood would be a great quilting design to use on a busy quilt because it'll have a unifying effect. I recently pieced together a scrap quilt for which I think Driftwood will be a perfect complement. In fact, I'm planning to load that quilt on its side so that I can get an elongating effect of the lines running vertically on the large throw quilt.

Driftwood would also be great on a nature themed quilt as the organic wavy...

Each month in the Longarm League, we hold a call with one of our members to talk about their business. While we typically share those full calls only with League members, we have a treat for you this month, as we're sharing the full replay of our discussion here on the blog!

This month I sat down with Terri Neil of Quilting Rubies, to talk about her recent change from offering hand guided quilting to adding computerized quilting services. We talked about her pros and cons list while she was evaluating whether to make the change, what the learning process has been like, and how the change has positively impacted her and her business.

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

Terri Neil, Quilting Rubies

Located: Farmington, Maine
In business: 3.5 years
Machine and software: Handi Quilter Avante with Pro-Stitcher
In the Longarm League: 2.5 years

Where to find Terri
Website: https://www.quiltingrubies.com
Instagram: @quiltingrubies
Facebook: QuiltingRubies
...

Wishbone History

Do you know how long I've been meaning to write a blog post about Wishbone? Well, I started this draft in August of 2020. The design was a few years old by that point.

Wishbone is the first design I ever released to the public in September 2019, mere weeks after the Longarm League membership started for the first time. I designed it the prior year due to the frustration of not being able to find a design simply referred to as 'Loops' by some Statler Stitcher owners I followed on Instagram.



I spent hours combing the Internet with the intent to buy the looped design, but resorted to making a version of my own when I couldn't locate it. This gave me a chance to use my Intelliquilter's editing tools to create the must-have elements that I wanted: 60º angled lines and meaty "teardrop" shapes that would nest with the rows above and below.

The resulting design lived on my tablet for a long while until I bought Art and Stitch...

This month I interviewed Chris Batten of Looped Quilting Studio and Erin Case of Birch Tree Creative to talk about the process and benefits of working with a Virtual Assistant as a small business owner. Beginning as quilty friends in real life, Chris and Erin also started to work together professionally when Chris hired Erin as a virtual assistant to help with some of the administrative side of her business so that she could focus more on what she loves - quilting!

We talked about the types of virtual assistants, the ins and outs of hiring and working with one, the costs involved, and the benefits Chris has seen in her business. I loved learning about the virtual assistant world and discussing all the ways a virtual assistant can help and support a business owner, and while the full discussion replay is available for League members, I'm excited to share a few takeaways here on the blog and help you get to know our guests a little better.

One...

Always is a new digital pantograph design that is a breeze to stitch out. The curvy contours of this shape work so well in providing a pleasant contrast with the straight lines and angles of most patchwork.



There's a retro feel to this design, too, but will fit the "mood" of many contemporary or modern quilts.

The Name

You might know from reading my previous blog posts that I often use a working title for designs before they get released and need a "real" name. Well, the working title for this one was Lightdays because of the shape resembling a pad. And well, growing up I could count on that particular brand being tucked away in the bathroom cupboards, so that's what my mind went to. My sister thought this was hysterical when I texted her the design with the name, and that's all that really matters.

But obviously I couldn't actually use Lightdays as a name. I didn't want it to be THAT obvious or cause anyone to avoid using the...

Each month in the Longarm League, we hold a coaching call with one of our members to talk about their business. This month I sat down with Francine Blake of Buffalo Flatts Quilt Company. We talked about her amazing time management and organizational skills, getting a consistent workload of quilts while teaching full time, and making plans for Quiltcon!

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

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

Francine Blake, Buffalo Flatts Quilt Company

Located: Roselle, IL (Chicago)
In business: 1.5 years
Machine and software: Handi Quilter Amara with Prostitcher
In the Longarm League: 2 years!

Where to find Francine
Website: https://www.buffaloflattsquiltco.com
Instagram: @buffaloflattsquiltco
Pinterest: Buffalo Flats Quilt Company
Best way for someone to contact you for quilting?...

Project Origins

When I was designing quilting patterns for my Threaded Quilting Studio site, I had a major infatuation with feathered star blocks and quilts. I wrote a foundation paper piecing pattern for the No Y Seam Feathered Star block.

I also wrote the Fierce Feathered Star block which uses the principles of the No Y Seam Feathered Star but uses ordinary sewing methods with no paper piecing.

I loved the idea of making a two-tone version of the Fierce Feathered Star block and quilt and so I designed and made this lap quilt you see pictured throughout this blog post. Back in 2018, I wrote a tutorial for adding setting triangles and borders to the single large (36" square block) Fierce Feathered Star block here. 

At the time, I had been offering my edge-to-edge computerized quilting service for just over a year. I decided to use the pantograph Woven Wind from Apricot Moon Designs for the quilting. I don't know if I'd ever used the digital...

Shelly Moore of Ma Tante Quilting

If you're a member of the Longarm League or have been following us on Instagram or our through our mailing list, you've no doubt seen several mentions of our pal Shelly Moore of Ma Tante Quilting. Shelly has been a member of the League since day one (literally) and was the very first coaching call that we published in our membership content. Since then, it has been incredible to see her growth as a longarm quilter and business owner in her own right.

We've recorded several conversations in the last few years in order to share Shelly's insights as she's grown her business. If you are a member, these links will take you to the following lessons:

• Easy quilt photography tips
• Building a successful email list
• Collaborating with Industry Designers

She's also been featured in our previous blog post that you might want to check out if you've been thinking about using Sew Tites Magnums for loading...

This is Sketch! Up until very recently, I'd planned to name it Cottonwood but when I discovered that's already another designer's pantograph name (with a related hashtag). I decided to go off-script and name it something unique.



The only trouble with having a really abstract design that could look like one hundred things and also nothing? Naming was hard. Why does it seem that I either have great name right away or I'm stress-listing stream of consciousness options and calling on friends and family for help? There's no in-between!

What I like about this design is that it's much more abstract and off-kilter than designs I normally create. There's a fun energy to this design—a bit folksy and quirky. I'm ordinarily not one to use negative space when it comes to pantograph designs, but I have to say that I like the organic-looking spacing of the motifs between the rows with this design. It looks more free-flowin', like a sketch!

I...