Long Arm Quilting Workbook by Teresa Silva

Achievable and Encouraging – Long Arm Quilting Workbook by Teresa Silva
Photos courtesy of F+W Media

My job as the Inspiration Manager for FreeSpirit is to take our beautiful fabric collections and create quilts to inspire shop owners and quilters to fall in love with our fabrics.  Teresa has quilted for me, always with stunning machine quilting which I, as a quilter, aspire to and admire.  So when asked to review her new Long Arm Quilting Workbook, I jumped at the chance.

I have long considered purchasing a long arm machine but always ask, “Can I do this?” “Would I be able to learn how to create the beautiful stitches that make a quilt a work of art – stitches that turns quilt tops into quilts?”

For anyone who shares my thoughts when considering a long arm machine, this book is for you! It is chalk full of everything you need to consider from batting to marking pens and needles to rulers. She delves into thread and endorses polyester and poly-wrapped thread which many have considered taboo. Most importantly, from my perspective, she confirms that your quilts deserve premium, high quality fabrics.

The book is full of techniques including practical considerations in selecting the right machine, whether a mid-arm or a long arm.  Teresa encourages you to shop for a reliable local independent retailer who will teach you how to use your machine and be there to assist with questions and repairs.

Best part, the variety of techniques presented in such detail allows a complete novice to open the book and start playing.  Teresa tells you to practice the techniques on your home sewing machine before you even consider buying a long arm. From whole cloth to pieced quilts, she openly shares what she has learned along the way, encouraging your confidence and making the techniques achievable. 

She sprinkles wonderful tips throughout the book such as doodling in a journal thus teaching yourself to draw and hanging your quilts with hand sewing needles so as not to disrupt the beauty of your work of art.  Her gallery of quilts speaks to her outstanding work and expertise, making this truly a coffee table worthy book. 

FreeSpirit is stop one on this blog tour.  Follow along and hear what others have to say as well.  I am certain they will find this book equally as inspirational. In the meantime, comment on our blog and tell us your long arm aspirations.  We will select one commentator to win a copy of Teresa Silva’s Long Arm Quilting Workbook . . . your long arm quilt dreams will come true with this book!

-Sharon Thornton

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

50 sq ft Studios

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Moda Fabrics

Friday, October 6, 2017

Quilter’s Dream Batting

Monday, October 9, 2017

Stashquilts 

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

3 Dog Design

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Helen Ernst Longarm Quilting

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Jaybird Quilts

Friday, October 13, 2017

Redbird Quilt Co.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Colourwerx

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Quilting is My Bliss

A few quils from Teresa's Longarm Quilting Workbook

 

Blog Tour-Grand Prize 1

Blog Tour-Grand Prize 2

Visit us at the International Spring Quilt Market in Salt Lake City, UT!

Spring Quilt Market is in Salt Lake City, Utah this year and FreeSpirit is excited to present our designer's newest collections that will begin shipping in the coming months. As always, we will be showcasing beautiful quilts, apparel, accessories and more featuring designs from your favorite fabric designers!

Our newest designer Juliana Horner, daughter of Anna Maria Horner, will be at the show presenting her first FreeSpirit collection, Fast Friends. And many of our designers are participating in the schoolhouse sessions - be sure to come to room 255E to hear them share all the details behind their newest collections. Featured speakers are Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Joel Dewberry, Kathy Daughty, Tula Pink, and Juliana Horner.

We are honored to be a part of Tula Pink's 20th Collection celebration featuring 'Slow & Steady' shipping to stores in September of this year. The collection features Tula's favorite animal features, this time including the story of the 'Tortoise and the Hare'.  Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for more around this wonderful celebration and if you are lucky enough to be visiting us at Quilt Market be sure to swing by the our booth for a chance to win special bundles of Tula fabric!

Amy Butler and David Butler will be in their own booth, #2717, located near the FreeSpirit booth. Amy is hosting a book signing on Friday May 20th at 2:00pm for her newest book 'Piece Keeping' as well as Blossom.

Be sure to visit our booth (2701 & 2709) for more details on everything you've read about here. And, if you can't make it Market, don't worry, we will be sharing pictures on social media so you can feel like you're a part of all the fun!

Electric Quilt Company 25th Anniversary Giveaway!

Congratulations to our winner Sonia Brathwaite!
Don't forget to check Electric Quilts BLOG to see if you won their prize as well! Thanks to everyone for participating!

We are excited to partner with the Electric Quilt Company for one of their giveaways to celebrate 25 years! We want to give you a chance to win an EQ7 (valued at $189.95)! Submit your email below for a TWO chances to win and to add ONE more chance you can also follow us on Pinterest by clicking that link below as well!  If you want to win even more, check out their blog post for a chance to win FIVE FreeSpirit bundles of our True Colors fabrics by Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Joel Dewberry, Tula Pink, and Heather Bailey! Hurry the contest ends May 25th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FreeSpirit and Coats are excited to be Platinum Sponsors of QuiltCon 2016 in Pasadena, California. Presented by the Modern Quilt Guild, QuiltCon is the largest modern quilting show of its kind featuring hundreds of modern quilts, dozens of lectures and workshops by leading modern quilters, shopping and more!

FreeSpirit brings together a global portfolio of leading fabric designers from Amy Butler and Anna Maria Horner to Denyse Schmidt, Tula Pink and Joel Dewberry (just to name a few!). Our fabrics are as diverse and expressive as the artists themselves – perfect for your next modern sewing project.

Visit us in booth #622 for giveaways (FREE FABRIC!) and fun make and take projects!

While you’re at the show you can purchase FreeSpirit fabrics in the following booths:

Island Quilter #311 
Needle in a Fabric Stash #228 
Momen + #528 
Bungalow Quilting & Yarn #114 
Cotton & Chocolate Quilt Co. #130 
Elkhorn Quilt Co. #531 
CraftSouth #516 (Be sure to stop in and say “Hi” to Anna Maria Horner and Juliana Horner!) 
New Moon Textiles # 426 
The Quilt Loft #306 
The Sew N Sew 
Sew Modern #215

Designer Spotlight - Tula Pink on Inspiration

We spent the day with Tula Pink to find out more about her inspiration process and how she creates her story. She gives us a brief telling of her start in fabric design and how she went to another FreeSpirit designer for advice!

Enjoy!

Deisgner Spotlight - Tula Pink

We spoke with Tula about her love of sewing, her first quilt, and her love of interacting through teaching and workshops! Enjoy!

Desinger Spotlight - FreeSpirit presents Eden by Tula Pink PLUS a Giveaway!

Want to know more abut Tula Pink? We sat down with Tula to discuss her newest FreeSpirit collection, Eden. Enjoy!

CONGRATS to Jenny from Fort Wayne, IN for winning! Tell us what you think would be a fun "Tula" collection - do you have a theme or animal you would like to see in her fabric? Comment below and you could win a Fat Quarter bundle and 3 yards of Crouching Tiger fabric from her newest collection, Eden! 

International Quilt Market 2015

Despite the wet weather in Houston last week we had a great time at the fall International Quilt Market! Even Hurricane Patricia couldn't keep everyone away from their love of quilting and fabric! The FreeSpirit booth was on full display with our designers' upcoming collections, showcasing their wildly different and creative personalities!

Schoolhouses were the start to a successful show with presentations from Denyse Schmidt, Anna Maria Horner, Jane Sassaman, Tula Pink, Kaffe Fassett and our newest designer, Kathy Doughty! They each spoke about their newest collections and showed what they've been busy making with the fabric. The crowds were obviously excited to see all the new lines!

The floor opened on Saturday and continued into Monday where we sat and spoke with quilt shops, magazine editors and bloggers to discuss what they will offer from FreeSpirit. Tula Pink, Anna Maria Horner, Tim Holtz and Kaffe Fassett all entertained visitors in their booths which were situated next to FreeSpirit's. We hope those of you who attended had a fun and successful market! We look forward to Spring's market in Salt Lake City! See you all there!

Using Contemporary Fabrics in Modern Quilting

When you enter a fabric or quilt store you may notice that fabrics today look much different than those of the past. Today a new category exists in terms of color and design. These new prints are much more rich and vibrant. And while smaller prints are still an important part of quilting, what’s being created today does not compare to the ditsy prints of the past. Quilting today is not always about repeating the past but taking the past and making it your own.

At FreeSpirit we believe Amy Butler was a catalyst in creating contemporary fabrics. She began looking outside of the industry for inspiration and expressing what she found in a whole new genre that was very different from the batiks, calico, and civil war prints most were accustomed to. Her new designs struck a chord with quilters and sewers, and awakened many who may never have sewed or quilted to give it a try.   

This revived spirit found in the modern printed fabrics play another important role in that they often catch the eye of people who may not quilt or sew, and who are then inspired to learn a new craft because they want to make something with the beautiful fabrics they’ve seen. We’re finding that contemporary fabric designs are breathing life into the industry and helping to carry on the traditions of sewing and quilting to those who may have a more modern aesthetic. 

And, as the fabrics we use have evolved so too has modern quilting. The ideals are about quilting in the now and giving ourselves permission to make our own rules. Modern quilting is all about the following:

-         - Being functional rather than decorative

-         - Asymmetry in quilt design

-         - Relying less on repetition and on the interaction of the block motifs

-         - Containing reinterpreted traditional blocks

-         - Embracing simplicity and minimalism

-         - Utilizing Alternative block structures or a lack of visible block structure

-         - Increased use of negative space

-         - Drawing inspiration from modern art and architecture

-         - Adding a print

When it comes to mixing prints and solids it’s all about balance. Much like your life needs balance between work and play, today’s quilting is all about the solids and prints balancing each other. Contemporary prints mixed together with solids help reflect traditional design but in colors and with drama that reflect today.

In this quilt by Janet Middlekauff of the blog Simply Pieced you first see the solid, then the print. The print and the colors of the print lend balance to the rich solids.

Adding a print to the fabrics in your quilt can add significant depth and dimension – sometimes lending an almost 3-D effect to your quilt. By mixing patterns and solids you allow the eye a place to rest (and simultaneously create a second pattern). Many find that cutting up prints offers surprises in the end result and spreads the color palette throughout the quilt. 

(Left) This modified Dresden, titled Gelassenheit, by Heather Jones certainly plays upon reinterpreting a traditional pattern, but the print floats on top of the solids. It pops and creates its own design.

(Right) A Twisted Path, by Simply Pieced, really shows how prints and solids can work together by creating depth and interest.

In these quilts the solid creates its own pattern and grounds the design.

Adding a print among solids adds design value to your quilt. The quilt below by Ashley Newcomb uses FreeSpirit GreenField Hills by Denyse Schmidt to create a line which becomes the central element of design on this quilt. It also has a great use of negative space allowing the prints to dance across the quilt.  

Mixing solids and prints can add an appearance of framing for both fabrics as the solids create a visual interruption in the print. Try putting the fabric first to make a simple quilt that lets the print speak. 

Adding a print to accompany your modern solids also adds texture to your quilt. Texture not just with the print but also the fabric or substrate. The print in this simplistic, and still very interesting, quilt is a linen/cotton blend from FreeSpirit presents Hapi by Amy Butler. The texture in this case is achieved within the fabric and the geometric print.

Adding a print can turn an already beautiful quilt design into a piece of art. The example below uses FreeSpirit Acacia by Tula Pink to create the butterfly in the center of the quilt. 

In quilting, and especially in modern quilting, there is room for all types of fabric. All types of substrates. All types of patterns and all types of solids. Solids may appear to have one personality but then all of the sudden when they’re mixed with a print that personality changes. Solids and prints need each other. Solids make prints special.

FreeSpirit challenges you to take your fabrics and swatches and put them on the floor or wall and move them around. Step back. See what moves you and then go for it. The bottom line is that it’s as much about the attitude of what is being done versus the fabric being used – so get out there and do what feels good to you! (And, please, share it with us on Facebook and Instagram by tagging us at @freespiritfabrics and #iamafreespirit!)

While not mixed with a solid per say, this patterned quilt reads as a mix of solids and prints because of how the fabrics are used together and mixed with more vibrant and saturated prints. What affect do these prints have on the background? How does the print read visually to you?

Designer Spotlight - FreeSpirit presents Elizabeth by Tula Pink

Tula Pink's newest fabric collection is a fantasy adaptation about a dynamic queen based on the life of Elizabeth I of England. Elizabeth's 16th Century England collides with the present in an explosion of color and pattern to create a thoroughly updated narrative. Tula used the original propaganda and symbology of Elizabeth's reign to weave together snippets of a story so enduring that we are still fascinated with her over 500 years later. From pelicans to pearls, there is a treasure trove of things to find and decode amongst the eccentrically decadent foliage, flowers, swirls and loops. It's both quirky and elegant in a way that only Tula Pink can achieve!

View the entire Elizabeth Collection on MakeitCoats.com

Click below to download our FREE projects highlighting Elizabeth

Elizabeth Queen Tote

Elizabeth Floral Tote

Round About and This Way Up Pillow

Misdirection Quilt

Freckles Quilt

Royal Placemats

Designer Spotlight - Did You Know? 10 Facts About Tula Pink!

We are bringing back one of our favorite blogs... Did You Know?  

10 Facts About Tula Pink!

Share with us what you have in common with Tula and be entered in to win 10 yards of her new fabric collection!!

Congratulations to Sandy who also says it is hard for her to tell someone's age!

Designer Spotlight - Tula Pink on YouTube!

Hear from Tula about her newest collection Elizabeth and what is means to be a FreeSpirit!

       

Designer Spotlight - Tula Pink

In March we will be celebrating Tula Pink as part of our Designer Spotlight program.  Stay tuned for some great blogs and don't forget to check our Facebook page and YouTube channel for more great stuff about Tula!

Tula Pink graduated from Otis College of Art and Design, with degrees in both Graphic Design and Illustration. After working briefly as a senior exhibit designer for two major Los Angeles Museums, Tula realized her life had become a bit too quiet and set out in search of something louder. She found the noise she was looking for in the booming L.A. music industry.

After 6 years of Metal, Hip Hop, skulls and chains her ears began to bleed so she left California in search of a new home. The plan was to move as far east as she could, without renting a boat and work her way back west until she found a place. Today, Tula lives and works in a converted early 19th century brick carriage house. What was once home to a plethora of animals now serves as a studio in which they are reimagined and reinterpreted into colorful animal based fabrics. Tula's passion in life is fabric design. Through all the moving and mind changing, one thing remained certain: her love for fabric and sewing. She designed her first fabric collection in her living room, dedicating time after work and on weekends. A few years and several wonderful collections later, Tula now works with FreeSpirit Fabrics designing not just for quilting but for a whole lifestyle of DIY-ers. Seeing her name on that selvage was the only thing that had been missing from her professional life. So here she sits, an exiled rock princess on a throne of bolts and bobbins just waiting for someone to come along so she can show them what she's made of.

A can't miss... Moon Shine from Tula Pink!

Moon Shine is a fantasy camping trip full of mystery and wonder. Find the deer hiding in the daisies and the bear who ran off with all of the food, a paper boat floats down the stream and a mouse holes up in a woodland tree house. In typical Tula Pink fashion this narrative is set against a backdrop of vibrant color with a touch of elegance and whimsy. Moon Shine is a day dream where anything is possible and reality is replaced by imagination, here, anything is possible.

Visit the Discover section of www.makeitcoats.com to find projects and information 

about Tula Pink and Moon Shine

Inspiration behind Tula Pink's Fox Field Collection

Fox Field is Tula Pink’s newest imaginary adventure. This time she takes us on a horseback ride through tall grass fields overflowing with flowers and nature.  Combining vintage elements and a bright, modern palette, Fox Field is both fun and elegant. Along the way you will run into horses, bunnies, birds and even a fox or two. This newest collection is, as always, playful with an added touch of frivolity and the wonderful excitement that comes with finding out what’s just over the next hill.

Fast Holiday Gift Idea!

Over the past weeks, we have shared with you some Fabulous and Fun gift ideas you can make. As time ticks by and the days before Christmas become fewer, so does the time you may have to sit in front of your machine and create.  Here’s one quick idea to help you with those last minute creative gifts. Scarves are hot and very simple to make. This Infinity Scarf, featuring FreeSpirit Prince Charming Voile by Tula Pink, will take you less than an hour. 

So rev up your machine and get sewing one, three or a dozen . . . perfect for the tween or teen or any lady in your life! Click here to get started!

Next Project- Acacia Floor Cushion!



 

Happy Friday- I hope everyone has their sewing projects lined up for the weekend! Here's another to add to you list: the Pieced Floor Cushion Cover by blogger Amanda Hall (check out her blog at http://thecraftjunky.blogspot.com/). This pillow using Tula Pink's Acacia will give any room some extra spunk!

Click HERE for the instructions!

What is your New Year's Sewig Resolution? Tell Sew4Home.com and win!

Over the past four weeks we did a series with Sew4Home featuring Ten Collctions and Ten Designers.  Now, there will be TEN WINNERS!  At stake, for those who choose to participate, is 10 yards of fabric for each winner.  We, along with Sew4Home, are offering 100 yards of fabric for the taking.  The fabric represents the twelve projects featured during the series.  Some of the collections are shown here.

Sew4Home.com will randomly select 10 winners posted on the Giveaway story, click here, as well as the other articles within this 4-week series. The first two drawn names will be the "first place" and "second place" winners; these two lucky ducks will get a mystery grab bag of 10 yards of fabric plus an 18-spool thread gift box courtesy of Coats & Clark. The remaining eight winners will each get just (Ha!!! JUST!!!!) the ten yards of fabric.

Click here to read the details on how to enter to win.  TEN people will be randomly selected from everyone who posts a qualifying comment on one or more of the twelve 10 Designers & 10 Collections project articles as of midnight PT February 28, 2013. No purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited.