The theme for May Quilt Block Mania is “Desert”. Not to be confused with sweet treats, that means things like heat, sand and camels. Cactus Rose is a traditional quilt block that fits this theme, and “Blooming in the Desert” is a variation of the Cactus Rose. “Blooming in the Desert” is made with four small cactus rose quilt blocks with sashing between them. It is embellished with simple running stitch embroidery. This block is made with easy construction. There are no tricky templates, just squares and rectangles. To get the free block pattern, enter your name and email in the form below and ..read more

Small hand embroidery pieces are great projects to learn embroidery skills and try out new stitching techniques. Here are five ways to finish these embroidery projects so that you can display and enjoy them. Most of these methods include hanging loops. Feel free to make the loops different sizes for hanging on a wall or use as a Christmas tree decoration. Or you can leave the loops off altogether and display on an easel or stand. pin for later ⤵️ Links to tutorials for each of these methods are included. Frame in a hoop Hoops make nice frames for your stitching. They come in a variety of sha ..read more

Make a Cactus Rose Quilt Block quickly and easily with this tutorial. There are no tricky templates, this method uses only squares and rectangles to make the beautiful quilt block. This tutorial is for a Cactus Rose block that finishes at 5-1/2″, which is an unusual size. To see directions for a 6″ or 12″ block, scroll to the end. The assembly is the same, but the pieces are different sizes. This tutorial uses the stitch and flip technique. This is a great technique anytime you want to have a triangle on the end or corner of a larger piece. Watch the video and scroll down for a written tutori ..read more

The theme for April Quilt Block Mania is “Beach”. There are a few different traditional blocks that could match this theme, but I decided to go with the Birds in Air block. Birds are a common sight at the beach, and when they are around, you’d better keep your eyes on your fries (or anything else you’re eating). “Eyes on your Fries” is made with small birds in air units and embellished with running stitch embroidery. This block uses foundation paper piecing and embroidery. It can be used in a quilting project by itself, or with my other embroidered quilt blocks. To get the free block pattern ..read more

The birds in air quilt block is a traditional quilt block  made with half-square triangles, but not with the traditional half-square triangle unit. This 12” block is made with four birds in air units. For the feature fabrics, you can use two different colours or two shades of the same colour. The unit in the block is a large half-square triangle and the other half is made up of smaller half-square triangles. That can make it tricky to piece if you use traditional methods. For this tutorial, I use the technique of paper piecing. But don’t panic! This type of block is a great pattern for b ..read more

Enjoy this video from Epida Studio. Find the entire transcript below. Video Subscribe to Epida Studio on YouTube Transcript Do you press seams to the dark side or do you press seams open?  This can be a really divisive question to ask among quilters. For me personally, most times I press seams to the dark side. The reason I do that is because then when I’m joining pieces, it makes it easier for me to line up the seams when I’m piecing. However, there are times when I want to press seams open and there are times when I want to press seams to the light side. You can see more details abou ..read more

Enjoy this video from Epida Studio. Find the entire transcript below. Video Subscribe to Epida Studio on YouTube Transcript When you’re adding embellishment like embroidery, either hand embroidery or machine embroidery, to a quilt project, do you do the embroidery first or do you do the piecing first? For me, that depends on the design. For example, in the Sewing Friends quilt block that I have, this embroidery was done after I assembled the block, but before I assembled the whole quilt. I want to have enough fabric that I can do the embroidery, but not so much fabric that it’s going to be ..read more

The theme for March Quilt Block Mania is “Drinks”. When it comes to traditional quilt blocks, the drunkard’s path is the most obvious block to match this theme. The name of this block comes from the curved lines which reminded the original quilters of someone staggering around while under the influence. Traditionally, it was made with piecing quarter-circles and backgrounds to make the square units, but this easy version uses fusible applique for a more simple construction technique. There are different layout options with the pieces. “Bit too Much” is an easy drunkard’s path block with added ..read more

Get started stitching hardanger embroidery today with this on-demand video course and e-book. Hardanger embroidery is an elegant counted thread stitching technique that is worked from a chart. These resources will take you through all the steps from choosing your materials, reading the chart and stitching to finishing your project. They are available individually or as a bundle for extra savings. e-Book This ebook is available for instant download. It contains instructions for hardanger embroidery with colour pictures and illustrations and links to video tutorials. Three beginner projects ar ..read more

Is white the only option in hardanger? Find out in this video from Epida Studio. Scroll down to read the transcript. Video Subscribe to Epida Studio on YouTube Transcript Traditional hardanger embroidery is done with white thread on white fabric and this is a beautiful classic option. It looks really nice and because the thread and fabric are the same colour, any tufts of fabric that peek out on the cut areas blend in and aren’t as noticeable. But when you’re doing your own stitching, you can be creative and use whatever colour combinations you want. That is the beauty of making your own th ..read more