Happy New Year!

I’m so excited to be diving into a new year of making.

Since 2020 saw me away from the studio for almost half the year – whaaa? It was challenging to actually create new quilts – womp womp!

BUT - not having my sewing machine meant I had more time to write and share some super handy quilting tips with you!

Before diving into new quilty goodness, it’s always fun to look back and see what your top favourites of 2020 were.

Read on to see if your favourite made the list!

*This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission. 

WHAT’S IN YOUR SEWING BAG CLOTH & CRESCENT? 

The What’s in Your Sewing Bag Series has been such a hit with you! I’ve had this idea for awhile and then back in 2019 made the decision that 2020 was the year I would kick it off. What I didn’t expect was what a fun project it would be to work on. Not only has the response from you been AH-mazing (yay!), but it’s reconfirmed just how awesomesauce fellow makers are. We truly are lucky to have such talented makers who are also super kind!

Lorna is the biggest sweetheart and continually inspires me with her eye for design and exploration. Read what Lorna keeps in her sewing bag here.

Also – I’m super excited to announce that What’s in Your Sewing Bag? will be back for another season in 2021 😉

FAVOURITE THREAD WEIGHT | APRIL AURIFIL ARTISAN CHALLENGE 

Did you know I had zero knowledge about thread when I started sewing? Over the years, I’ve come to learn the importance of quilting with quality thread. But even more important is the FUN you can have experimenting with different thread weights. Check it out to see which thread weight is my new fave! 

Pictured above is the Modern Aztec Quilt (5 colour version) - pattern available in the shop.

WHAT’S IN YOUR SEWING BAG A LITTLE PATCHWORK? 

Hands down the BEST thing that I get from Instagram is the connections with you. Being self taught and not connected to a maker’s community, it was so refreshing and encouraging when I found our community on Instagram. While I’ve only actually met 1 person in real life, I count many as dear friends. Ange is one of those dear friends and it brings me joy knowing you’ve had a chance to get to know her too! 

DOUBLE WINDMILL QUILT FEATURED IN CURATED QUILTS MAGAZINE 

This was such an unexpected surprise to have my Double Windmill quilt featured in Curated Quilts Magazine. It was made even more joyful that it was the quilt I made for my dad that they had selected 😊 You can read more about how this pattern came to be in this post. 

Pictured above is the Double Windmill quilt pattern - available in the shop.

 

TOP 10 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR QUILTING ON A DOMESTIC SEWING MACHINE 

One of the top questions I get asked is whether I quilt all my quilts.

I do.

All of them!

Mostly on my home sewing machine using a walking foot. Otherwise, I’m hand quilting (or combining the two!)!

Which is why I knew I had to share these tips with you! 

Pictured above is the Reverberance quilt featuring the Marble Collection paired with Cotton Couture solids - pattern available in the shop.

IMPROV QUILTED SCRAP SORTING STORAGE BOXES 

These improv storage boxes are the BOMB! Not only are they super fun to make, but they’re an excellent way to use up your scraps and then store future ones! This design isn’t my genius, but that of Amanda Jean and you can find the pattern in *Sunday Morning Quilts (co-written with Cheryl Arkison).

 

CLOUD SURFING QUILT 

You have no idea how excited I was to see Cloud Surfing in the top 10! And then I also found out the lap size got juried into QuiltCon 2021! Pinch me!

I’ve got more quilty curvy goodness planned in 2021, but first up is the new February Cloud Surfing workshop. There’s still a few spots left if you want to come and sew curves with me virtually 😊 

Pictured above is the Cloud Surfing quilt (lap size) - pattern available in the shop.

7 HANDMADE MOTHER’S DAY GIFT IDEAS 

I’m not sure whether moms are tough to buy for or you were just so excited to get some new handmade Mother’s Day gift ideas. Whatever the reason, it’s proof of how generous and thoughtful our community is.

Pictured above is the Double Chevron lumbar pillow pattern - available in the shop.

5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT QUILT BATTING ROLLS  

This one really resonated with you! I was so happy to see tips being shared too 😊 Just one of the many things I love about our community.

If you make a few quilts a year, you definitely want to check this post out. 

Pictured above is the Modern Aztec Table Runner Pattern - available in the shop. 

7-DAY SCRAP SORTING CHALLENGE – TAME YOUR SCRAPS 

And the #1 blog post of 2020 was the 7-day Scrap Sorting Challenge – Tame Your Scraps! This totally happened by chance. I happened to be organizing my fabric back in early March and noticed my scraps were out of control. While filming an IG story, I threw out whether you wanted to get organized with me and…you did!

So, I pulled together the free 7-day Scrap Sorting Challenge so we could organize together. 

And it was the BEST.

And then I had to leave the studio due to COVID.

I had intended to share the progress of the scrappy Plus Infinity quilt I made with my newly organized scraps, but she came together over several months with sporadic sewing sessions on a couple of short, unexpected returns to the city.

Then I finally got her machine quilted right before heading off for the holidays. I’ll share more about this one in a separate post soon, but this one was all about exploring, having fun and trying new quilty things! Oh, and using up those fabric scraps!

Pictured above is the Plus Infinity quilt pattern - available in the shop.

I can feel the need to get organized bubbling up again! If you need help taming your scraps, I encourage you to sign up for the free 7-Day Scrap Sorting Challenge. 

Thank YOU so much for being here. Quilting just wouldn’t be the same without getting to connect and share the journey with you 😊

I’d love to know what you’d like to see from me next. Share it in the comments below!

Happy quilting!

xo

Shannon

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