Mako

I promise I'm not six years old and obsessed with sharks... even though both of these designs happen to named after sharks. I don't see it becoming a trend.

I came up with this design about a year ago. I originally named it Shark Smile because

1. the repeat looks like a shark's tooth
2. there's a song called "Shark Smile" from a band I love called Big Thief. Click here to listen to the song.
   
   

For fear that this blog post could start to remind you of those recipes you find online with an ENTIRE personal story attached {when you just want the recipe}, I do have a brief anecdote.

We saw Big Thief perform "Shark Smile" in Des Moines several years ago. The venue was so small and intimate. At one point of the song, the lyrics are "...as we went howling through the edge of south Des Moines". After the song ended, the lead singer talked about being nervous to sing that line in front of us—I don't know if she...

Quilty friends, this design is called Sprawl. 

I love, love, love using echoed lines and shapes to make a textural impact. You can see that I used that technique with this design while also incorporating a small curve. 

 
Here are my specifics using a baby-sized sample in the photos (45" x 50" quilt size):
Row height: 3"
Gap: -1.478"*
Pattern height: 4.478"
Offset: 50%
Backtracking: minimal

*Gap refers to the space I'm allowing between rows. I use an Intelliquilter for my computerized quilting, and because that measurement is quantifiable, I provide it here.

The row height PLUS the noted gap amount totals the "pattern height". If you don't use an Intelliquilter, you'll likely want to start sizing with the pattern height number and adjust the spacing between rows to your liking. You may not have a measurement available that tells you the measurement between rows, and that's okay. 

We've begun adding a PDF to our zipped file so...

This digital pantograph design is called Bookmarks. Can you see why? Josh and I thought that it looked like those markers that you can slide over a page to keep your pace in a book.

This design is as geometric as it gets! It includes straight lines, angles, and circles. If you have a quilt with column-like or vertical elements, this design would certainly accentuate it. I see this as being a good fit for a modern quilt top.

Here are my specifics using a baby-sized sample in the photos (45" x 50" quilt size):
Row height: 4"
Gap: -2.25"
Pattern height: 6.25"
Offset: none
Backtracking: minimal

I use an Intellquilter as my computer system (on my 20+ year old APQS Millennium), so your terms might differ as far as row height and pattern height. Basically, the pattern height is the total measurement from the top to the bottom of the design.

The only bit of backtracking is a quarter of the bigger circle as it travels from the outside of the shape...

Meet Fleur Drive. It's got a sweet sophistication that'll add a touch of class to your next quilt top.

The scalloped bottom edge of the motif has a beautiful way of integrating into the row below. One man's ceiling is another man's floor, as Paul Simon would say.

The stitching is simple and straight-forward. It does require every other row to be offset or staggered.

Here are my specifics using a baby-sized sample in the photos (45" x 50" quilt size):
Row height: 3"
Gap: -1.225"
Pattern height: 4.225" (distance from the top to bottom of the repeat)
Offset: 50%

I use an Intellquilter as my computer system, so your terms might differ. I can tell you I started with a pattern height at nearly 5" and it was too large of a scale for my taste... so I ripped out the first row and started again. Part of that might have been due to the scale in relation to this smallish quilt.

There's no backtracking with this design. It does require a 50% offset, or staggering...

This is Exes. 

What I love about the design is the combination of straight and curved lines. Not only that, but the curved lines are echoed to make an even bigger impact. The straight lines give an overall argyle effect, making triangle and diamond shapes emerge.

The result of the straight and curvy lines is a unique texture that employs a bit more "negative" space built into the design than a lot of my other designs.

Technically speaking, the stitch-out is easy. You will have to offset or "stagger" every other row by 50%.

Here are my specifics using a baby-sized sample in the photos (45" x 50" quilt size):
Row height: 4"
Gap: 0"
Pattern height: 4"

I use an Intellquilter as my computer system, so your terms might differ. You do not have to adjust the space between rows as using the offset of every other row will prevent any overlapping.

There is a decent amount of backtracking involved in this design. I didn't find it troublesome as I was...

Mister Marbles is a fun-time pantograph when your top needs some extra texture, movement, and pizzazz! 

When I look at the design, I think of a marble maze or marble run game. More on the name later, it gets much more nerdy, I promise.

I think this design would look great on quilt tops that are modern, for kids, or have fun and festive fabrics.

The movement is subtle, but it's still there.

This one has some wiggle room when you're stitching out the rows, so that's nice! It makes it a bit more user friendly than some of my other trickier designs.

There is minimal backtracking involved with this design, see the video of the stitch path at the top of this post, it's very doable.

Here are my specifics using a baby-sized sample in the photos (45" x 50" quilt size):
Row height: 3.5"
Gap: -1.167"
Pattern height: 4.667" (this is the total span of the design from the top to the bottom of the repeat)

I use an Intellquilter as my computer system, so...

I'm going to be honest and let you know that this is likely the only whole garden you'll ever see me cultivate. The two "plants" I have in my house are plastic. I tell myself it's because of the naughty cats.

I know, I know! So many quilters also love to garden, so I feel like these are fighting words. But, I gotta be me!

I was captivated by the idea of making fanciful floral shapes that looked "illustrated"—if you will—with no particular directionality.

I think this design would look great on quilt tops for kids, or for modern tops, or even quilt tops with a Scandinavian theme, if you'll allow me to get super-specific about it and my influences.

I'll also state the obvious and say this digital pantograph design could also be great with floral-themed quilts! Or with quilts using a lot of solid fabrics or negative space. You know... to add some extra interest and texture.

As a digital pantograph designer, I like to disguise "hard...

The first question I'm going to ask is: Are you making it easy for quilters to hire you for longarm quilting services? What might be holding them back? How can we overcome objections to hiring you?

I recently asked my Instagram audience from my @threadedquilting account: If you're a quilter who has never hired a longarm quilter, why not?

I left the question open-ended and collected responses for the 24 hours the Instagram Story was live. I got some interesting responses!

The top reason given was that the quilter wanted to do it all themselves from start to finish. I was actually surprised that this reason ended up being the top response! But I also understand this thinking. Personally, I fall within the same category. I've never hired a longarm quilter because I have always really liked the quilting process myself and wouldn't want to "outsource" my favorite part!

The remaining reasons for not hiring a longarm quilter were varied but fell into another nine categories.

...

I love a classic Orange Peel moment! This design is a simple variation on a classic that adds a touch of sass... as long as sassy and elegance can coexist.

Let's face it, one of the reasons why Orange Peel quilting works so well is because it's simple and extremely versatile.

You could easily use this design on modern tops or traditional tops and it'll look great on both. In fact, I think the classic design is made a touch more modern by having the echoed "peel" within each shape. And when used on a traditional quilt top, I think that's when it could read a bit fancier.

I could also see this design lending itself well with floral-themed quilts.

Another major benefit of this design is that it's multi-directional. It's going to look the same whether you load your top sideways or not. If you are trying to save time and capitalize on efficiency, loading the long side of the quilt to the leaders will mean advancing and re-aligning fewer...

Instead of a soulless () solid sample quilt, I'm so happy to share the special quilt I made for my new niece, Kate! 

It had been such a long time since I'd done any sewing. I really love the entire quiltmaking process, so it was fun to get out the rotary cutter and domestic sewing machine again and work on something new.

And what better reason than a new baby in the family?

I "kept it simple" by deciding on a classic sawtooth star quilt. I picked fabrics from my stash and used the same fabric for my background throughout the quilt. I didn't need instructions because I've made this star so many times in the past. I did make myself a general "map" as I was cutting fabrics and making my stars. Feel free to use my decidedly unfancy pattern:

 If you need a little more to go on than this, google sawtooth star, you'll likely find hundreds of patterns/tutorials.

Can we talk about the quilting already?! Ha - as a longarm quilter, it's my...