Christmas In July Secret Sewing, etc.

I've been busy sewing my Christmas in July project for the event at Tiny Stitches later this month. Call the shop to sign up for this fun event. I will have a new pattern and quilt designed just for the event and you'll be the first to see it at the shop!

The workshop I taught recently will also be available as a pattern on my website very soon. We had lots of fun playing with strips and making tons of triangles from strips. It's such a great technique that I use it every time I  make triangles. I even dedicated a whole chapter to this technique in my latest book.

And the longarm quilting special is still running through the end of July! I've only got 3 quilts currently so the wait time is less than a week at this point. Remember, I quilt first come, first serve, so the sooner the get your tops to me, the sooner I get finished quilts to you!

Also...

Thanks so much for your amazing support, and don't forget to check out the give away in the last post for more fun!

Enjoy every stitch,
Diane

Hello Again!

I think it might be time to introduce myself again. I have noticed quite a few new followers almost daily. While lots of you have been around forever (and I love you for it!) I'm also excited to welcome so many quilters who are 'new to me' perhaps?

A little bit about me... 

I've been quilting for almost 25 years! I learned how to quilt before my first baby was born, so I could make her a quilt, and I never stopped stitching! That baby is almost 22 now and her brothers are 20!

I started my pattern company Butterfly Threads Quilting in 2013 to share some original designs that friends had requested.

I thought it might be fun to have a quilt in a magazine, so I submitted quilts to QUILT, American Patchwork and Quilting, Fons and Porters Love of Quilting, Easy Quilts and Primitive Quilts and have been thrilled to see my projects in all of these magazines.

You might recognize my name from Craftsy (which is now Bluprint) because I was a content writer for them for over 5 years. I shared lots of tutorials and designed a block of the month for them. When Bluprint took over, I got canned along with everyone else. Or at least I guess I did, because I haven't heard back from them in several years. They are still repackaging and reposting much of my content, but at least they still slap my name on it.

I've published 2 books with C&T Publishing. SCRAP QUILT SECRETS was published in 2016 and STRIP QUILT SECRETS was published in 2018. And NO, I'm not currently working on another book, although I have several ideas I want to pursue.

Many of my patterns are currently distributed by Checkers, and I offer them wholesale and retail from my website.

I spend most of my time traveling around the country meeting awesome quilters and sharing all of my 'secrets' with them. I love teaching workshops and sharing my quilts with guilds and groups. You can see where I'll be by checking out my calendar here.

I became the proud owner of a Handi Quilter Amara longarm with PSP (Pro Stitcher Premium Computer for digital quilting). I am having so much fun learning all about what it can do. While I bought it with the idea of finishing more of my own quilts, I discovered that I love quilting for other people as well. Go HERE for information about having me quilt for you!

I work at a local quilt shop, Tiny Stitches on Wednesdays (when I'm in town) and I love seeing so many quilting friends there!

I'm a member of two local guilds. I will be designing another BOM (Block of the Month Program) again this year, starting in September. If you would like to see my recent block of the month programs and get FREE DOWNLOADS of the patterns, you can find them here. If you would like to share the program with your guild, please let me know and I'll send you more information. It's been so much fun for me to see guilds across the country (and Canada) sharing my current program. There's never any charge for these.

While I try to share lots of information, tutorials, and fun stuff here on the blog, I post most frequently to my Instagram and Facebook accounts. So follow me on social media for almost daily peeks into what I'm working on at the moment and to see what Boomer (a very spoiled Golden Retriever) Bailey (a sweet old black lab) and Buddy (a grumpy Lhasa Apso) are up to. But who's kidding, it's mostly about Boomer!

Blogging is a lot of work and takes more time than I wish it did, but it's worth it when I get to read your comments!

If you are a new follower, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment telling me how you found me, and I'll draw a winner for a free download pattern of your choice. You don't have to be new to enter to win, but I would love to hear how you found me!

I will announce the winner on the 21st!

And no matter how you ended up here, WELCOME!

Diane

What I learned at Handi Quilter Academy 2019

While I was in Utah at the Handi Quilter Academy recently, I learned (or was reminded of) some things about quilting that make me so happy to be a quilter. As a quilter, designer, and author, I'm thrilled to now be a longarm quilter as well.

I love teaching and traveling, but I also LOVE being a student. It was an amazing week in which my brain was packed full of new information. It was also a great week for getting over jetlag (I was only a few days home from Australia) and a wonderful time to hang out with some amazing folks.

Here are a few of the highlights of what I remember...

1. That quilters are awesome people.
2. That I can stitch out the area of my design in PSP.
3. How to use micro fillers in a zentangle design.
4. That I liked the hands on and simulator classes better than the lecture/demo classes.
5. How to use my skew option for almost any shape.
6. That the snack room was awesome but the meals were mostly just 'upscale cafeteria'.
7. How to make lots of variations of  'ribbon candy' filler designs.
8. That the teachers are so kind and helpful and willing to answer lots of questions.
9. How to use the multi-point area.
10. That I now know a lot more about the things I still don't know.
11. How to quilt much better feathers.
12. That I need to take a LOT more PSP simulator classes.
13. How to connect designs into groups.
14. That going on a shop hop on a bus of 40 quilters is really fun!

So now that I'm full of all of this amazing information, I super inspired to quilt! Did you see my last post about the longarm quilting sale I'm offering now through the end of July? Click on the longarm tab to the left for quilting form, and send me an email if you would like more information. I would love to quilt for you!

Enjoy every stitch,

Diane

Summer Quilting Sale

15% discount for 2 or more quilts

(Edge to edge designs only)

Offer good thru August 1st!

See sidebar link for all the details.

Currently there is no wait list, and about a 2 week turn around. Quilts will be quilted in the order they are received. Custom quilting is not included but will happily be quoted per quilt.

Let me quilt for you!

Diane

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July friends! 

Be safe and have fun y'all! We will be celebrating here as usual, with lots of fireworks and some good friends! If you are in the area you are welcome to join us.

If you would like to make the quilt above, I will be teaching it as a class at Tiny Stitches on Sunday  July 14th, at 1 pm. Call the shop to sign up. Patterns will be available for sale in my shop after that date. If the quilt looks a little familiar, you may have seen it several years ago in the Fons and Porter magazine, and more recently in the Fons and Ports "Favorites" magazine. It's fun and easy and made entirely from strips of course!

Diane

Sydney Quilt Show

Those of you that follow me on Instagram know that I've been sharing lots of photos from the Sydney Quilt Show from two weeks ago. I am sorry that it's taken me so long to share more here, but I had a quick trip to Utah last week for Handi Quilter Academy and my mind was completely blown by all that information!

My body still has no idea what time zone I'm in (either that or I've suddenly become a brilliant night owl!) And while my brain has always been known to have sudden glitches and minor malfunctions, it's even more unreliable than usual. So my sincere apologies to those of you were anxiously awaiting the quilt eye candy! 

Let me just say that every single quilt in the show deserved a ribbon. I've always heard of the amazing talents of those Australian quilters, and I was not disappointed. The skill, precision, design and details were beyond incredible. I couldn't possibly take photos of all of the quilts, so I am just sharing a few of my favorites followed by detail shots and information cards.

As brutal as the travel has been, I sure hope I get back to Australia again. The people are amazing, the food is delicious, and the natural beauty is unlike any other place I've ever visited. I will treasure these memories forever!

Diane

Handi Quilter Academy

I'm so fortunate to attend my first Handi Quilter Academy Even better, I'll be sharing this fun event with some awesome friends and fellow quilters. I plan to share all of the fun things I learn and hope to have lots of new skills to try on my Amara when I get home.

Follow me on Instagram for daily photo updates. I am even going to get a real life hug from one of my favorite quilters who lives in Utah hopefully!

I'll be back to regular blogging soon,
Diane