A Useful Trick! By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador I've been practicing a new type of binding recently and this morning I added it to a new Christmas quilt. The method is surprisingly simple. It takes a little longer to prepare this binding over a traditional one but I think the results are worth [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador You may have heard about improvisational quilting, or improv for short. This kind of freeform construction is fun and easy, and it keeps piecing interesting because every block is a new adventure. You don't know exactly how it will look until it's sewn together. Improvisational star I think [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador We've gone through all the steps to make a Dresden Plate. Let's talk about a few ways to troubleshoot common problems. Troubleshoot Dresden Plate Problems The most common problem my students face is fullness at the center of the Dresden. When they make the plate and go to [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador We're well on our way to making a Dresden Plate. Today we'll join the blades we made in Part 3. If you missed them, see Part 1 and Part 2. Use a stitch length of 2mm or about 13 stitches per inch. This is a normal stitch length [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador So far we've covered some Dresden Plate math and we've seen how to cut blades from strips. The fun starts here—making the blades into plates! Let me say up front that if this seems detailed or fussy, it's because these little things make it work. I've learned these [...]
I really love rickrack. I add it to quilts whenever I can. Just about any excuse to add rickrack works for me! I've had a hard time managing its application, though. Pinning never works. It just doesn't stay in place. Positioning it as you sew doesn't work because then it's hard to get it placed [...]
If you start playing with the decorative stitches on your machine, the ideas for how to use them will begin to pile up. I’ve been meaning to make a new nametag for quilt events and the ease of the HQ Stitch 710 prompted me to get going. My instructions for how to make a quilter’s [...]
It can be tricky to use large prints for patchwork. It's so easy to buy those luscious fabrics, but sometimes not so easy to use them effectively. Scrap quilts are what I make most, and I'm pretty determined to use the stash I've accumulated over 33 years of quilting. So I've devised a couple of [...]
When you begin to discover how the special stitches on a machine can be used, life takes a turn for the better. I've been playing with the HQ Stitch 710 and making quilt labels with the alphabets. It takes a little practice but it's worth the effort. Let's get started. Decide on what your label [...]
Here's an easy method to make a quilt label. It's simple and effective. Maybe you'll like it too. I create the text part of the label on the computer or by drawing it with permanent fabric markers. Either way, follow the manufacturer's instructions to make the text permanent. My experience has been that everything [...]
