Welcome to my blog. I was inspired by the book, "Blogging for Bliss" by Tara Frey.

Welcome to my blog. I was inspired by the book, "Blogging for Bliss" by Tara Frey. My goal is to share a little about my life, and a lot about my longarm quilting business, Lone Tree Designs.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Rulers, Rulers Everywhere! Where Do We Begin?

  I finally quilted my little Hunters Star table topper.  The eight pointed stars were made easy peasy by using Deb Tucker's Hunters Star ruler.
   Back in the day when difficult blocks like this had to be set in or made with "Y" seams, you wouldn't have found me within a mile of the pattern.  Now, though, people like Deb Tucker have made the lives of us quilters so much easier!  It seems like every other week, someone else comes up with a new tool or ruler to make quilting easier.  Lets face it, without rotary cutters and rulers, most of us wouldn't have the time to make quilts.  For longarmers like me, the easier quilts become to make, the more people make, and the more business we have:)  It's all good!
  There are so many rulers and tools available, sometimes it can be overwhelming as to where to start (and stop) buying!  Every quilter needs the basics:  a mat, a rotary cutter, a 6 X 24 ruler, a 6 X 12 ruler, a 6 X 6 ruler, and a 12 X 12 ruler.  Beyond that, I would recommend Eleanor Burns' Triangle Trimmer Ruler, Fons and Porters little 1/2 square triangle rulers that are 1/2 inch wide and either 6 or 12 inches long, and Lazy Girl Designs Flying Geese X 4 ruler.  Other rulers that I would recommend, or have enjoyed success using include:   Twisters, X -Blocks, Lazy Angle Ruler, Strip Tube Ruler, Eleanor Burns' Day and Night ruler, and any ruler by Deb Tucker!  You can check out Deb's rulers at:  https://www.studio180design.net
  Anyway, no matter what rulers are your favorites, there are always new ones coming out.  The next one I want to purchase is for making perfect pineapple blocks.  I've always wanted to make a pineapple quilt--looks like I waited long enough for a ruler to make my job easier!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Keeping up with new Projects

  Well, it is the start of a new year, and in my facebook group, someone came up with a great way to keep everyone motivated to work on our projects.  We each posted a list of 12 projects for the year, including everything from quilting and binding finished tops to making progress on projects that are partially done to starting on quilts that we want to make.  At the beginning of each month, the person in charge draws a number and that is the project that we work on for that month.  There is no pressure to "finish" the project, only encouragement to focus on and find some time to make progress on that particular project.  It is great!  I have worked on a kit that I purchased in 2011 at Quilt Nebraska in Kearney.  This Saturday, I have a quilt retreat with my guild from Grand Island, and I do believe I may actually finish the top.  It has been just a matter of focusing any small bit of time that I have for sewing on that one project.  Below: I am posting close ups of two of my finished projects from 2013.  One is a Twister made from a bright layer cake from Timeless Treasures, and the other is Amish Buggy Wheels from Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting magazine.  I took the class with Jean Nolte, editor of Fons and Porter magazines, and finally quilted and bound it in December.