Greetings and salutations for anyone joining us from the While She Naps podcast! We are the first online quilt talk show, started in 2015. We like to 1) sew and 2) have fun, not necessarily in that order. Take a look around, and check out our YouTube channel for lots of videos and fun. We like to say our show is the perfect soundtrack for your sewing room.
You can also chat with us in our Facebook group What’s Up Stitches?.
In this episode, Pam and Lynn chat about different ways to finish quilted pillows (or pillows made with quilt blocks) and some tips for mixing print fabrics in your quilts.
This episode is brought to you by The Stitch TV Show shop!
The quilt hanging behind us is our newest pattern A Star is Born. Get the pattern to make this layer cake-friendly quilt at our digital pattern shop.
Helpful links and tips from this episode:
Let’s start with a rather bold side note: that daily blogging thing isn’t really working out, is it? Ah, well. I’m blogging more, but in my defense I have finished four quilt tops in the last two days, and three of them are basted. None of them are Christmas gifts; 3 will likely be donated to children’s services through my guild and 1 is a sample for an upcoming pattern. I also have another pattern sample top done and ready to baste, plus two others already in the pile and whoo boy I now have a pile-up of quilts to be quilted: SEVEN.
Fortunately step 5 of Bonnie’s mystery didn’t take long so that got done pretty quick. I also took advantage of that piecing to leader-and-ender my way through the blocks for one of those pattern samples, so it’s all good.
Don’t forget to check out the other quilters’ progress in Bonnie’s link-up, and Merry Christmas!
Lynn is out tonight visiting with family, so Pam is calling in a little help from a friend to join her tonight! Brian White will be joining Pam at 7pm US Eastern tonight for a holiday catch-up and reflection on our past year, and lots of quilting chat with friends.
When I got the instructions for Step 6 of the Good Fortune Mystery Quilt, I thought, “SWEET! I don’t like string piecing so I’ll just cut out some strips and be done with it.” But then Bonnie told me I had to WAIT and not cut the strips out and, ya’ll, waiting is HARD. So here’s a picture of me distracting myself with the fabric I’m not cutting (YET) and a Facebook filter while I wait for the next clue.
And I hope the clue comes soon because the couple that this quilt is going to be a wedding gift for just got married yesterday! Don’t forget to check out the other quilters’ progress on Bonnie’s link up; most of them were all good quilters and did the string piecing as instructed.
PS – Yes, my Stitch TV Show hoodie is still super comfy! I may have bought one for Lynn and our producer Rae for Christmas as well.
In this episode, Pam and Lynn chat about t-shirt quilts and some tips for thread storage.
This episode is brought to you by The Stitch TV Show shop!
The quilt hanging behind us is one of the layouts from our new Filmore Quilt video class. Learn more or sign up for the class at learn.TheStitchTVShow.com.
Helpful links and tips from this episode (some links via Amazon Affiliate links):
In this episode, Pam and Lynn chat about time management and favorite quilting tools.
This episode is brought to you by QT Fabrics, EnMart, and Quilters Touch! 
The quilt hanging behind us is Pam’s quilt, The Thief of Joy!
Helpful links and tips from this episode (some links via Amazon Affiliate links):
Our similar wedding rings! 
I managed to finish my top for Bonnie Hunter’s Good Fortune mystery quilt a few weeks ago, but have been remiss in posting pictures! Because I wanted to size it up to a queen from the “couch” size her directions finished at, I needed to add some additional borders. It worked out well, then, that I mis-counted step 1 and made many, many, extra four patches that I could work into a border.
My finished top is so big I had to fold it to get a picture of it! I have to wait a few weeks to get it quilted since I’m borrowing time on Lynn’s longarm as I don’t have anywhere big enough to baste it at my house, much less have a desire to lug around anything this huge on my sit-down machine. For now it’s folded nicely with some matching thread waiting for it’s time on the longarm.
Join us live for a quilting book club discussion on two-color quilts Friday night, US Eastern! We’ll be on air from 7-8pm, and you can chat with us over on the YouTube video, or just watch here for the company.
Books we’re reviewing include:
I’m awkward at hugging, I admit it. Throw together emotional scarring from middle school bullying with some really awkward workplace encounters, and it’s a wonder I ever engage in human contact outside of my house. I have found, however, that the best way to get over my weird hang-ups is to drag them out into the light, point at it, and proclaim loudly, “Look at this weird thing I do.”
It may not be as charming in reality as it is in my head, but it certainly helps diffuse the weirdness.
It’s no wonder, then, that I got Some Looks when I took a quilt into my office to photograph just to celebrate the awkwardness of workplace hugs. Behold, I give you our newest quilt pattern, the Awkward Hug quilt:
This quilt is a 2 1/2″ strip-friendly quilt pattern (aka – it’s good for jelly rolls!) that’s a play on the X’s and O’s used to sign letters. When doing research I discovered there is much contention about whether the X is the kiss, or the O is the kiss. Who knew?
I made the cover quilt with some yardage of four different fabrics for the rings, but have grand designs for a jelly roll friendly version. It was previously released in Modern Quilts Unlimited as a couch size, but I’ve added a second size option for a lap size that’s slightly smaller (80″ square vs 60″ square).
You’ll see Awkward Hug hanging in an upcoming talk show episode, but what we don’t talk about is a Very Special Playlist for the quilt pattern. In most of our patterns, we provide suggestions for movies and music to accompany the sewing and quilting process (in addition to our shows, of course!), but this playlist has a list of Greatest Awkward Hugs in Movies and Television. Here’s a sneak peek at one of my favorites:
In this episode, Pam and Lynn chat about crumb quilts and our most used sewing machine feet for quilting!
This episode is brought to you by QT Fabrics and EnMart!
The quilt hanging behind us is our newest pattern, Awkward Hug!
Helpful links and tips from this episode (some links via Amazon Affiliate links):
I posted a video the other weeks about how to spin your seams in quilting, and it got quite the pick up over on YouTube. It’s one of those things that gets talked about frequently, and pictures are shown, but seeing it in action really brings it to life.
One of the things I call out in the video is that spinning seams is alright, but spinning the seams in all your quilt blocks the same directions lets them all nest together nicely; if you spin in two different directions (clockwise and counterclockwise) you’ll end up with bulky intersections, so if you’re going to spin, spin them all the same direction!
Bonus: I accidentally messed up my pinwheel block so you get to see how I use a seam ripper efficiently!
We hope you join us for our February Virtual Stitch-In; we’ll be stitching and chatting from our sewing rooms, and you can join the chat live at 7pm US Eastern over on the YouTube page for the livestream. It’s like your own virtual quilting bee!
It’s safe to say that I’m drawn to bright colors. Way back, when I was taking a class with a Famous Quilter, who is also Very Nice, said that my color choices were “cheerful”. Having seen the types of fabrics I gravitate to when I do add to my stash, that is still an accurate statement.
It’s no wonder, then, that I really love Christa Watson‘s fabric lines; her most recent one, Abstract Garden, debuted at Quilt Market last fall (when our show did, too!), and we got to pitch in at her schoolhouse session and generally hobnob with her. Christa is really good about creating a focal print with lots of other basics that coordinate across all her lines with Benartex. And she doesn’t forget the value of value, which makes it easy to make a quilt entirely from her fabric line and still get contrast like in our 10″ square precut pattern A Star is Born, which also debuted at Market in her fabric line.
We were excited to be offered a chance at the Bernatex Sew in Love with Fabric blog hop for her line, and are happy to offer a giveaway for a FQ bundle of 8-10 of the fabrics, too! The giveaway is limited to the United States only, so we appreciate your understanding on that.
Enter the giveaway on our site below by Saturday evening, Feb 16, and visit the other bloggers in the blog hop for more chances to win!
In this episode, Pam and Lynn chat about advice for new quilters and seam rippers.
This episode is brought to you by QT Fabrics and EnMart!
The quilt hanging behind us is our pattern No Regerts; you can get the digital pattern and the laser cut applique kit on our online shop.
Helpful links and tips from this episode (some links via Amazon Affiliate links):
We’re heading up to Nashville for QuiltCon to see the quilts and hang out with our modern quilting peeps. We’ll be around the show Friday afternoon and Saturday; if you don’t see us around either of those times, we’re doing a meet-up Saturday at 1pm in front of the 100 Days Project Exhibit. That should catch the lunch break for those with classes on Saturday.
Sadly we don’t have any quilts hanging in the show, but I bet we’ll get inspired while we’re there!
We’re moving our quilting book club livestream up by a day to accommodate our travel to QuiltCon! You can chat live with us on the YouTubes, or catch the replay. Some of the books we’ll be discussing include (links courtesy of Amazon Affiliate program):
When we designed the “Sew in Love” applique kit, we knew it needed an awesome quilt pattern to accompany it. I’ll be honest, it took a bit to come up with. Lynn had designed a quilted wallhanging right off the bat, but we sat on it for a while and waited until inspiration struck for the larger size. We’re both really happy with the results, and this is the first quilt pattern that actually is credited to both of us as designers!
The pattern, like many of ours, is very precut friendly. The 32 x 32″ charm quilt is a wallhanging that uses 5″ squares, or a charm pack, plus a couple fat quarters for accents, applique background, and borders. 
The layer cake quilt version is lap size at 54” x 74”, and uses 10″ squares plus fabrics for the applique background and border. Both patterns use the same applique letters, and you can either use your own fabrics (templates are provided in the pattern) or you can buy our prefused laser cut kit in teal and purple.
We do give some fabric selection guidance on how to choose colors and prints if you don’t want to use a precut assortment and want to choose your own fabrics. In our case, Lynn’s charm quilt wallhanging uses a precut assortment, and the lap quilt was pulled from various fabrics from my stash without a precut assortment, but cut into 10″ squares for the layer cake quilt.
You’ll see both versions of the Sew in Love quilt in upcoming episodes of our quilting talk show! We hope you’re “sew in love” with this pattern.
In this episode, Pam and Lynn chat about using wool applique in quilts and seasonal quilts (and what that even means).
This episode is brought to you by QT Fabrics and EnMart!
The quilt hanging behind us is our pattern Sew in Love; you can get the digital pattern and the laser cut applique kit on our online shop.
Helpful links and tips from this episode (some links via Amazon Affiliate links):
We’re so pleased to announced our first (hopefully annual) National Quilting Day live color lecture! We’ll be broadcasting an hour long lesson on fabric color, value, texture, and placement in some real live quilt examples on March 16, 2019. The live broadcast will start at 3pm US Eastern over on our learning platform site, but don’t worry if you can’t join live! The replay will be available for you to watch at your leisure.
This is a little different from our normal livestreams; as this is a video course, the cost is $5.00. After March 16, the cost will go up to $10, so if you’re interested, go ahead and purchase now, even if you have to watch it after March 16.
The lecture will be broken down into several segments to discuss and showcase :
We’ve fielded questions from fans about how to show some financial support for our show, and this is a great opportunity at a low price point, and you get something in return! We hope even if you’re not interested, you’ll share this with your friends and fellow quilters to help spread the word.
Sign up now for the course! And remember the price goes up after March 16.
