Quilting with Rulers: A Paradox

In July of 2014 I shared a design based on a Zentangle design called Paradox. What I stitched was based on a drawing someone had shared done in triangles instead of a square. I later used the square version in my Craftsy class, Quilting with Rulers on a Home Machine (That's a 50% off link BTW!). It was just shown as an example of straight line designs, but not actually taught in the class.

Design shared on the blog
One of my students has been wanting to stitch out the design but was having trouble figuring out the stitch path and asked me (The beauty of a Craftsy class: you can ask the teacher questions and get answers!) for some help.

A similar version, but not the one shown in the class.

These designs are so easy to stitch out with a ruler once you figure out the stitch path and the illusion of curved lines. There are NO curves in this design!

Here the design is being stitched out using tiny triangles that are 1/4 inch wide at the base.

I drew up a diagram to give a little more clarity and thought I'd share it with you as well. Below, I've expanded the drawing to make it easier to see the stitch path. It removes some of the impact of the design and takes away a bit of the effect, but when you stitch it, you can add more lines for greater impact and the illusion of a spiral curve.


This is stitched with one continuous line, but I have changed ink colors with each rotation for better clarity. Starting at a corner, indicated by the blue arrow, place the ruler 1/4 inch away so the stitching starts right in the corner. place the other end of the straight ruler at whatever interval you would like to use depending on the space to fill and the density you want. For the square I used 3/4 inch spacing which means I used the 1/2 inch mark on my ruler at the corner. For the triangle I used a smaller spacing.

Working around the block, stitch a series of triangles, using the ruler against the foot at one end for the point, and offsetting the ruler at the other end to make the wider end. There's no back tracking either. The black dashes indicate where the spiral curve illusion appears when this design is drawn or stitched at a tighter spacing. It's actually a series or straight line segments.

I always get a little lost right in the center once it gets too small to neatly form the narrow triangle. Just keep going around the block until you've reached the center.

It's an interesting block with great texture. The density needed to make the illusion of curves work the best makes it a little stiff for a cuddly quilt, but great for a wall quilt or table topper.

Post Christmas

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas time! It was very restful and low-key here without either a trip to my parents or a visit from them. Next year we'll have to plan some new activities so their absence isn't so glaring. I'm still kind of hoping they relocate within reasonable driving distance.

Many cookies were made, carols sung, and there was pie. My oldest boy was commenting on my youngest's creative use of M&M's on the gingerbread men and I told him, "I don't know about that, but he does have more chocolate on his!"


I mentioned in my last post that my hubby isn't the greatest at buying presents. Christmas Eve day had him running out to the closest Walmart to get the candles I told him I liked. Good thing I bought myself some quilting goodies!


If you follow my "Quilting Designs with Rulers" Pinterest board, you'll see that I've pinned a bunch of quilts by the sisters of Sew Kind of Wonderful. I finally bought their Quick Curve rulers and a mini pattern.


I also bought this really cute pattern from the Straight Stitch Society. I've been wanting to make something small and cute for a while and have been eyeing this pattern. When I saw Linda at Flourishing Palms had made it, I resolved to get it for myself.

Now, as is my habit at this time of year, it's all about focusing and planning for the upcoming year!


Merry Almost Christmas!

Abbie says, "Yay! Auntie Amy made me a quilt!"


 Baby Abigail is so happy to get her quilt! Isn't she a little doll?


This is my last post until after Christmas. I hope that each of you spends time with people and activities that you enjoy and find meaningful to you this holiday season. Thank you for being such a wonderful encouraging group of quilty people.

Just in the Nick of Time

I finished my Big Block Baby Quilt for my niece just in the nick of time and sent it off. The USPS tells me it will get there Christmas Eve Day. I really enjoyed this project. It worked up quickly (despite the little available time I had to work on it) and was fun to quilt with an all over design and I did just a bit of quilting with rulers.


I did a bit of ruler work in the solid blue triangles, since that's the only place where it had a chance to show. A triangle, star, Celtic knot, and the letter A (for Abbie!) into a triangle. I used bark blue thread for the quilting in these spaces and while it shows up a bunch on the back now, I'm confident that one wash and the minky will cover up the stitching.

Quilting with rulers

I finished the binding by machine. I stitched the binding onto the back first (with regular thread) and then stitched it down on the front with a tiny blanket stitch with very fine invisible thread. I made sure to tie off all ends very securely.


 I used the built-in walking foot attachment on my Janome 8200 for the binding and I also wore my Machingers gloves on my left hand to help me guide the quilt as I stitched. This dry winter air makes things slippery and the grip of the gloves really helps. By the way, did you know you can get these in size extra small at my shop? My hands aren't tiny, but my fingers are somewhat short. The extra small leaves no extra space at the tips of my fingers. Very (ahem...) handy.


I mailed off the last of my Christmas presents today and I'm all done with the kids' presents. Hubby is in charge of wrapping them. Shopping isn't much of a deal here as we keep Christmas pretty simple but the kids are so excited! Since they're out of school, we're planning on doing more baking and some crafting too.

Is it done? I'm sure she wonders....
Craftsy is having their last sale of the year and all classes are up to 50% off including my own. If you're done with your shopping for others, it might be time for you to buy a little something for yourself OR to "Gift a Class" to someone else as a last minute gift that doesn't require wrapping or shipping. Use my Instructor's link to get the best prices and to put a tiny bit of jingle in my pocket at no cost to you: http://www.craftsy.com/ext/AmyJohnson_holiday



This video reminds me I better make sure my hubby hasn't lost his list of my gift suggestions. I usually tell him I don't need anything and he takes that as "Don't get me anything" and then he doesn't. Silly man. You'd think that after 22 Christmases he'd learn that I do like a little something to unwrap even if it's not much. (Then again after 22 years, you'd think I'd be used to him taking me at my word about not needing a present.) I hate for him to spend money on something I won't like though, so this year I gave him a little list to choose from.

How about you? Are you done with Christmas shopping? Does your significant other need some help when it comes to shopping? Do you give a list too?

Free Motion Quilting: Christmas Cards!

I knocked out some cute and simple Christmas cards today. Some scraps of Christmas fabric with WonderUnder on the back cut into rough tree shapes and ironed onto natural colored cardstock. This is the same paper I use for my thank you notes when shipping out orders. Love this stuff.


Then some quick free motion quilting around and under the trees and a few curvy things to make the trees more interesting. I have to remember to make my stitches longer and not stitch too many times around the trees as I'm not trying to make tree shaped cut outs.


My Janome 8200 handled the card stock with no problems. I had to lower the free motion quilting foot set down quite a bit. The sound it makes though is exactly like a helicopter! Thup thup thup thup. A handwritten note inside and I'm done!


One thing is for certain; I'll need a new needle after this! I really enjoyed this quick project and I think I'll have to do more of it in the future. Maybe fancy thank you notes for customers are in order?

Quilting Holly and Swirls

Here's a blast from the Christmas past. A custom quilt for a local quilter from 2 years ago.


Here's a video of stitching holly leaves and swirls in the pieced portion of the embroidered blocks.


I wasn't sure if it would be visible via the video, since usually I stick to contrasting thread and fabric for videos. I'm so glad to be able to kill two birds with one stone, so to say!


A still pic of the quilting above and remember this guy, below? He and his friends have been all stitched up.


The puckers around the embroidery disappeared easily as I quilted around these cool cats. I used monopoly to stitch around the embroidery so I could stitch right over the whiskers and little claws.

free motion quilting

I'm stitching a little floor for each kitty, using a few different designs. I do hope this first time customer likes what I've done!


 Are you in need of a little gag gift for your quilt guild's Christmas meeting? I saw this up at my local Janome dealer's shop! Embroidered toilet paper! I wonder if I could quilt some toilet paper with the same method? It involves several layers of TP plus some good tear-away stabilizer.


The count down to Christmas has begun! I hope I can get everything done that really needs to be done on my list without becoming too busy to enjoy the meaning behind Christmas.

Christmas Prize-ents!

Today is the day for giving away a lot of goodies! If you're not sure what that second word in the blog post title is, just pretend you're in the south (of the USA) and give it a good drawl...presents!


Many thanks to all of those who read and entered my giveaway! Many of you were so excited, you entered twice...thrice....or even four times. I guess I should have paid a little more attention to setting up my form to not accept duplicate entries and been clearer that this was a one entry per person contest. I did see a couple that looked like they had entered wrong and were just updating their entry. I deleted any that were clearly duplicates, to keep things fair.

Before I get to the random number generator, let me announce my winners from Craftsy! Yes, winners. They had 2 giveaways going on through this time one through the Craftsy Instructors' Blog Hop and another through their 12 Days of Christmas promotion. Craftsy winners are listed by their Craftsy user name so if you don't recognize yourself, don't worry, I've got your email and will be in touch soon.

Jan ("jfirstmat248351") won the blog hop giveaway and she's won a free class of her choice!

"Jane5" is a generous soul who won a free class by using one of my links to "Gift-any-Class" during the promotional period.

Now for the ruler goodness!

The first prize pack is for a Westalee ruler foot starter set in the winner's choice of shank height from my store! Renata is the winner.


The second price pack is 3 rulers (also by Westalee) from my shop! Debbie will get these rulers before Christmas!
In case you are wondering, the rulers in the giveaway are the Westalee 12 inch curves rulers #1 and #2 (I normally only carry #3) and the Westalee 8 inch arc, a very handy ruler. All are cut at 4.5mm but are easily used on low shank machines.

I'll be in touch soon via email for all of these winners.

This was my first time using Google Docs to accept entries and it was much more streamlined than checking a list of commentors (plus some readers have trouble leaving comments due to some Blogger issues). Despite having to remove 67 duplicate entries to bring the number down to 452 entries, I liked it. I'll know better next time.

Speaking of presents, how are your holiday preparations going? Whether it's Christmas, Hanukkah, celebrating the arrival of Santa Claus, or something else, most people are celebrating this time of year and I send you my best wishes for a fun, peaceful, meaningful time. As we prepare for Christmas, I might not blog quite as often in this next two weeks, though I've got quite a few things I want to share!

Eat a cookie for me!




A Little Quilting with Ruler Fun and it's Done!

All the quilting on my big block baby quilt is all done! Yay! I had to throw in a little ruler work and get a bit more detailed than I planned, But I love how it turned out!


Can't wait to trim it up (grab that Dust Buster for the minky fuzz!), bind it and send it off to sweet baby Abbie!


TopAnchor Celtic Knot templates will be available in the shop next week!


I also wanted to remind you that today is the last day of the 12 Days of Christmas promotion at Craftsy. Use this link to get some great deals on classes, supplies, and more.


Also, I'm giving away two great ruler work prize packs on Monday! Get yourself signed up here so you don't miss out!

Quilting with Rulers on the Big Block Baby Quilt

Baby Abigail is smiling because her auntie is nearly done with her quilt. At least that's what I think she's saying.


I just had to do some ruler work and more detailed filler work on the solid triangle points. You can see in the picture below that I mark my corners when doing this work. Ninety degree corners are easier to estimate, but in triangle corners, I need a little help to know where to turn.


 I had originally decided to just do this triangle in the center of the four solid blue triangles, but I decided to have a little fun.

quilting with rulers with Westalee ruler foot

I used the 6 inch star from TopAnchor for the next one. I shot a video of some of this and will post in in the next couple of days.


I love how it turned out! The next one is getting a big letter 'A' in the center. I used a Bohin white mechanical pencil for marking on this dark blue.

Don't forget we're still in the middle of a blog hop featuring several Craftsy instructors. If you haven't entered my giveaway yet, click here and fill out the form to enter! A Westalee Ruler Foot Starter Kit is one prize and 3 rulers are in the second price pack.

Here are the blog hop stops:

Monday, December 7 
Jackie Kunkel  - Canton Village Quilt Works 
Kate Colleran - Seams Like a Dream   
Tuesday, December 8 
Wendy Gardiner - I sew  
Wednesday, December 9 
Maureen Cracknell - Maureen Cracknell Handmade 
Thursday, December 10 
Jan Newton - Newton Custom Interiors  
Friday, December 11 
Laura Nownes - See How We Sew  
Saturday, December 12 
Kelly Ashton - Kelly Quilter  
Sunday, December 13 
Lindsey Stephens - Poetry In Yarn 


I'm loving this big block baby quilt! So fast and easy to work up, though I did find I could use a bigger cutting ruler for some of these pieces. Have you done a big block quilt yet? Let me know in the comments. Feel free to share this post or the giveaway post itself!

Of Westalee Rulers, Ruler Thickness, and a Giveaway



Yesterday was my day for the Craftsy Instructors' Blog Hop and I announced my own giveaway of two prizes. One entrant will win a Westalee Ruler Foot Starter Kit and another will win 3 rulers, also from Westalee. Both prizes are courtesy of my shop, Amy's Quilting Adventures. You can enter this giveaway and the Craftsy giveaway here and the winners will be chosen December 14th. (Giveaway is closed.)

Take a few minutes and visit the other stops on our blog hop:

Monday, December 7 
Jackie Kunkel  - Canton Village Quilt Works 
Kate Colleran - Seams Like a Dream   
Tuesday, December 8 
Wendy Gardiner - I sew  
Wednesday, December 9 
Maureen Cracknell - Maureen Cracknell Handmade 
Thursday, December 10 
Jan Newton - Newton Custom Interiors  
Friday, December 11 
Laura Nownes - See How We Sew  
Saturday, December 12 
Kelly Ashton - Kelly Quilter  
Sunday, December 13 
Lindsey Stephens - Poetry In Yarn  

This ruler giveaway is a great time to talk about rulers and ruler thicknesses. It's a lot more complicated to choose rulers now than it was when I first adapted this technique for use on sewing machines. It's not a bad thing, having greater choice and new designs is fabulous.

The first rulers available were 1/4 inch thick rulers for use on long arm machines (more or less, the QPC rulers I carry are slightly thinner). They're still great rulers and fairly good to use to the front and sides of the foot on a domestic machine. Many high shank machines can use them behind the foot as well. They're easy to grip in the hand and are nearly indestructible.

Enter Aussie company Westalee into the mix. They had been making long arm rulers and tools for some time when they saw the potential of the domestic machine market. They were willing to not only design a ruler foot that would work on a vast range of machines, but also to cut rulers from thinner stock.

 Now, if a quilter were to only get their rulers from Westalee or a Westalee-only retailer, ruler thickness choice could be very straightforward. You buy the rulers they sell for the foot you've bought from them. Low and medium shanks use the 3mm rulers while the high and high shank special shanks use 4.5mm.

But at the same time there was this American quilter who was playing around with a Janome ruler foot and sharing how it could be used to quilt with rulers on sewing machines. She didn't want anyone to damage their machine so she stuck with the conventional long arm wisdom of not using rotary cutting rulers to quilt with. This was because long arms have feet that hop and because even a non-hopping Janome ruler foot could be set too high off the quilt top and possibly allow the ruler to slide underneath the foot. Cutting rulers are 3mm, as are the thinnest Westalee rulers.

That American is me and I've taught a lot of people to how to use rulers to guide their free motion quilting on a variety of stationary machines. I admit it, I have a bias against the 3mm rulers. Maybe it's unjustified, but as I teach those who use the Janome ruler foot as well as the Westalee foot, I think my guidelines are sound. Read on to see why I prefer the 4.5mm rulers and also where you might still want the 3mm if you have a low shank machine.

Westalee ruler foot (left) and Janome ruler foot combination seen from bottom.

The Janome ruler foot (one half of the Janome Frame Quilting Foot Set, mounted on the Convertible Free Motion Foot Set) has a smooth, curved, cup at the bottom of the foot, as well as a spring adjustment for height. This makes it very easy to adjust the height and also allows it some give when hitting a thick bulky seam. It also means that there's a potential for the 3mm rulers to wedge underneath the foot.

I love the option of the 4.5mm thick rulers! They're easier to grip in the hand and feel sturdier than the 3mm rulers. They fit under the presser foot bar of nearly all low shank machines, yet are a substantial thickness against the edge of the ruler foot so they won't slip under the foot.


 In both of these pics, the foot is adjusted too high on the machine in order to show the presser foot bar peeking out from the bottom. Above is the 4.5mm ruler in quilting position, below is the 3mm ruler in position.


The measurement from the bottom of the Westalee Low Shank Ruler foot to the bottom of the shank portion that attaches to the presser foot bar of a machine is 1/4 inch (6mm) so it appears there is plenty of room for a 4.5mm thick ruler to run all the way around the foot. And this is the case for many low shank machines. With my low shank Janome 3160 used in these pictures, I can even use the Quilted Pineapple Curves rulers which are 5mm.

In talking to the folks at Sew Steady, the distributor for Westalee here in the states, as long as even one low shank machine can't fit a 4.5mm ruler all the way around the ruler foot, they're going to recommend the 3mm rulers for all low shank machines. It makes it easy for them to just make that recommendation.

So when might a 4.5mm ruler not work with a low shank ruler foot?

  • When the presser foot bar sticks out from under the bottom of the shank portion of the Westalee low shank foot. This might only happen on some machines when using a thick batting and the foot has been raised higher. It could be the case for some machines all the time. Remember, this issue only affects use of rulers under the presser foot bar, behind the foot where we don't place a basic ruler most of the time. It is an issue when using interior shaped rulers or specialty rotating rulers on machines with this set up.
Here you can see the foot is set very high on the shank and the presser foot bar is poking out from below. It's actually too high to quilt in this position, but done as an example.
  • When the hand screw for the shank attachment is excessively large. So far this issue actually has happened to at least 2 of my students and from details given to me by one of them, they had room for the 4.5mm rulers under the screw, but had 1/4 inch rulers they wanted to use. This might not always be the case, the 4.5mm might not fit on these machines with a thick batting.


I actually find the second scenario more troubling than the first, as to the left of the foot is a prime position for working with rulers. In the latest case, it was a Singer S18 machine. This is a clone of the Janome 6500. (I've got a few possible solutions and adjustments for this issue that I'll save for the end of this post for those who are interested)

It is important to note that since I began selling the Westalee products in September, I haven't had a customer tell me they couldn't use their 4.5mm ruler with their low shank machine. Whether that means they couldn't fit one behind their foot completely, I don't know. I think the number of machines who can't is pretty small.


In the examples in this post, I'm using a Hobb's 80/20 batt which is a fairly thick batting. Immediately above and below, I've doubled the sample for explanation purposes while the foot remains set on the presser foot bar in the highest position possible. (On this Janome 3160, I could have reduced the presser foot pressure and drop the foot down for a bit more room.) You can see below that this set up leaves very little room for the 4.5mm ruler behind the foot. That's some seriously thick batting! Even thicker than using one layer of 80/20 and a layer of wool.


The same guideline that makes it easy for Westalee to recommend the different thickness of rulers, makes it hard for me to carry a good selection of rulers in both sizes (I'd have to nearly double my inventory), plus the thicker rulers from other manufacturers. My preference to sell the 4.5mm rulers has made it a little harder for Westalee. I've talked to the folks there and they do get some "Amy said..." questions, but they don't hold it against me too much. They know I'm selling to a variety of customers using a variety of feet and give them a lot of free press. I'm not an affiliate, nor do they pay me to promote their stuff, so I'm free to give my full opinion.

Here's the Westalee Ruler foot in the proper position for quilting on this sample with Hobb's 80/20 using the 4.5mm ruler. Plenty of room.

I like to carry rulers that I've actually used frequently and I keep it to a fairly basic but very useful assortment. So far there have only been a few rulers with an interior shape that low shank machine users might prefer to have in the 3mm thickness. I am now adding that option. I will also be adding some other Westalee rulers that will wrap around the foot and I will stock these in both thicknesses.

I do my best to give detailed descriptions of the products I sell so that you can make informed decisions. If you have concerns about the suitability of a template or ruler for your machine (or the ruler foot) just send me an email at amy@amysquiltingadventures.com

Additionally, if there's a Westalee product that you're dying to have and it's not listed in my store, I can place special orders!

Now, about that large screw of the S18 and Janome 6500. There are 3 options plus a tweak:

  • replace the screw with something with a smaller head. You may be able to get one from a sewing machine repair center or even a good hardware center.
  • Buy thinner rulers.
  • Alter the screw- A recent customer had her husband file the thumbscrew portion down! She was serious about wanting to use that Double S ruler and I admire her willingness to think outside the box.
  • The tweak: make sure the presser foot pressure is reduced as much as possible and lower the ruler foot to a lower position. This is a useful tweak for all low shank machines if they've got this feature.

That's all I have on ruler thickness, but I'm open to questions! Hit me up in the comments. I'd also like to hear from anyone that has a low shank machine that can't use the 4.5 rulers well with their low shank machine. Let me know what brand and model you have as I'd like to create a list.

Oh, Hoppy Day! A Craftsy Blog Hop

I'm cooperating with a lovely group of Craftsy instructors to spread the news about some great classes on the super convenient Craftsy platform and to also share a few thoughts on creativity.

In fear of making my loyal readers sick of hearing about my class, many of whom have already taken Quilting With Rulers on a Home Machine, I'm going to come at this post from a different angle than what might be expected.


 More than quilting, maybe even more than free motion quilting, I am passionate about encouraging a person's creativity. At some point in childhood most of us are told we aren't good enough to be an artist. But most of us go on to have a creative hole inside us that wants to be filled with creative activity of some sort. Depending on the paths we take as young adults, some find their creative side faster than others. But that childhood fear of "not good enough" can be hard to shake.

Here's the basic technique- a ruler foot, a ruler, and quilting!
The Craftsy platform is such a fabulous place for creative people of all styles and those in search of their creative side. When trying something new it can be intimidating to do it in the midst of a group of people, some or all who may be strangers. Craftsy allows us to take classes in the privacy of our own homes, maybe even in our PJs!

Rulers come in many sizes, shapes, thicknesses and types! I talk about them all.
I like to learn about creativity. In How to be Creative: 6 Secrets Backed by Research, the number 1 key to increasing creativity is to try new stuff. Nothing earth-shattering, but if you live in a small town at some distance from a large metropolitan area, trying something new can be a challenge.

Some are pretty fancy and make fabulous designs!

Two other 'secrets' of creativity are to think like an outsider and to just keep trying. The former lines up nicely with try new stuff and the latter is easy to do with Craftsy's life time purchase of these classes. These two factors were instrumental to the development of my class's technique as I longed to create the smooth curves and straight lines that long arm quilters were able to stitch with the aid of rulers. I thought outside the box like an outsider and kept trying as I adapted their technique for use on a stationary sewing machine.

In my class I show how a special foot and thick acrylic rulers in conjunction with free motion quilting will help you create those smooth curves and straight lines on your sewing machine or sit-down long arm system. Sounds like an advanced technique doesn't it? The great thing is you don't have to be an expert at free motion quilting to do this!

If you've had enough experience with moving the quilt sandwich under the needle in free motion, you are ready to try quilting with rulers. In fact, my very first class review gave me 5 stars and said: "Great class. Made free motion attainable for the first time." 

If you are an experienced, even very talented free motion quilter, you'll love that this class will show you how to enlarge your tool box of skills and bring an element of structure to your quilts that allows your free motion quilting to really shine.

Additionally, if you are a traditional style quilter, rulers will help you mimic the traditional lines of hand quilted quilts with your machine accurately and without the turn and stuff of using a walking foot on a large quilt.

The exciting part about this class is that it's a great way to bring out the artist and engineer in all of us! You know, that left-brain, right-brain thing? I always forget which side of the brain is responsible for each aspect, so I'm going with the artist and engineer version. Both can be just as creative as the other, but in different ways.


All the quilting in this picture was done with ruler work.

I am an artist. Not in the hoity-toity art gallery sense of the word, but in the no rules, wing it kind of way. It makes me a great free motion quilter and a pretty brave project designer. It also means that I'm not such a great piecer. That's the domain of the engineer. Straight lines, measuring, and *shudder* math. Odd that I'd be promoting the use of rulers then, right? Ruler work helps me develop those engineer-like bones to my projects that allow me to show case my free motion quilting, but within a structure that helps balance the design of my projects.


Then I can go crazy with my free motion fills!
Many quilters are fabulous piecers. They have more of that engineer thing going on in their brains. Fabulous quilts with precise points and corners. But tell them to just quilt a random design in free motion and they feel a little lost. "Where do I go next?" they often ask. With rulers, the direction is clear; follow the edge of the ruler.

For more information about my class, head over to my class page where you can watch the free video trailer. In the class I give you the important basics of the necessary ruler foot, the wide diversity in rulers, the basic technique, and then we dive into some great designs with rulers.



Visit the participating Craftsy blog-hoppers and see what fabulously creative information and classes they have for you. The schedule is below:


Monday, December 7 
Jackie Kunkel  - Canton Village Quilt Works 
Kate Colleran - Seams Like a Dream   
Tuesday, December 8 
Wendy Gardiner - I sew  
Wednesday, December 9 
Maureen Cracknell - Maureen Cracknell Handmade 
Thursday, December 10 
Jan Newton - Newton Custom Interiors  
Friday, December 11 
Laura Nownes - See How We Sew  
Saturday, December 12 
Kelly Ashton - Kelly Quilter  
Sunday, December 13 
Lindsey Stephens - Poetry In Yarn  

Edited to add: My apologies if anyone tried some of these links earlier and they didn't work. They work now.

What good would a blog hop be without a giveaway or two? In my case, how about three?

First, Click here to purchase any of the classes from any of the instructors on the blog hop and you will be automatically entered to win any other class of your choosing for FREE at the conclusion of the blog hop.  Winners will be chosen on December 14, 2015 and there will be one winner per instructor. That's the official Craftsy giveaway. Craftsy's got great prices on all the classes right now during their 12 Days of Christmas Promotion!



Now, I've also got two prizes to give away! The first prize is a Westalee Ruler Foot Starter Kit for those who don't have a ruler foot to try this class and technique yet. (I'll email the winner to find out the correct shank type.) The second prize is three rulers! I'll get a photo up of these rulers tomorrow (Wednesday) but there's an 8" arc, a 12" curve #1 and 12" curve #2, all by Westalee. 

Just fill out this form with your name, email, let me know if you've already got a ruler foot for your machine and also if you've watched my class already. 



A winner will be chosen for all three giveaways on December 14th and contacted via email. Winners are announced on this post.

Thanks for coming along on this blog hop and please take a little time to click over and visit the other stops! Leave me a comment and let me know if this class is brand new to you, if you've taken it already, or if you've been following along with my ruler work and quilting adventures for quite some time already.


Threads and a Hop

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and hopefully got some stitching in. As soon as I started stitching, I saw I would be doing some ripping. Bummer. The navy thread is just too dark on this blue. I just have to finish up these blue triangle in my big block baby quilt with a little ruler work and fills. Then it will be ready to bind and mail off to my sister.



Here's a pic as I audition threads. Clearly I need more darker blue thread. Really, you can never have enough thread of any color!



I also wanted to announce our Craftsy Instructors' Blog Hop that starts today, first stop with Jackie Kunkel of Canton Village Quilt Works. She's a talented instructor of paper piecing and she'll tell you about her class Paper Piecing the Quiltworx Dresden Plate.

There's a giveaway associated with this blog hop through Craftsy, and I will be running my own giveaway with my post on Tuesday! Craftsy will be pulling 10 names from those who use this link: Blog Hop Giveaway to buy any of the classes in the blog hop and the winners will get a free class!

Monday, December 7 
Jackie Kunkel  - Canton Village Quilt Works 
Kate Colleran - Seams Like a Dream   
Tuesday, December 8 
Wendy Gardiner - I sew  
Wednesday, December 9 
Maureen Cracknell - Maureen Cracknell Handmade 
Thursday, December 10 
Jan Newton - Newton Custom Interiors  
Friday, December 11 
Laura Nownes - See How We Sew  
Saturday, December 12 
Kelly Ashton - Kelly Quilter  
Sunday, December 13 

Lindsey Stephens - Poetry In Yarn  

I'll be finishing this quilt up and sharing with you, plus I've got some nifty rulers to add to the shop and play with.