Celebrate National Sewing Month and Align Your Free Motion Quilting Stars

Greeting fellow quilters
I'm thrilled you've stopped by!
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Let's Celebrate National Sewing Month!
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As part of the celebration, I'm excited to share a new recipe with you
on Moda Bake Shop

 - also -
we've got a great Giveaway &
some special Free Motion Quilting deals
at the end of this post.
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First... on Moda Bake Shop
you'll find my very own
Bake Shop Basics for
Free Motion Quilting
on a home machine.
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The Recipe is full of tips, tricks, and

troubleshooting ideas to help

YOU

Align Your Free Motion Quilting Stars!

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If you've attended any of my

Workshops or Trunk Shows 

some of the ideas may sound familiar.

I hope you find them helpful.

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Sharing is a great way to celebrate

National Sewing Month!!

Do hop on over and check it out...

I would love your feedback.

Later this month we'll meet again at Moda Bake Shop to quilt something together.  

Won't that be fun?

In the meantime, here are a few tidbits of information about one of the cute projects shown on the MBS post.
Let's call it "Pretty in Pink - Grunge"

Pretty in Pink - Grunge

I use this petite whole cloth quilt as a sample for teaching
free motion Feathers and
free motion Rulers and Templates
on domestic machines.
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It's really rewarding to play and create fun new samples!
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The Details...

Moda Grunge Fabric

(my favorite - isn't it beautiful!)

Aurifl 40Wt cotton thread on top

Aurifil 50Wt in the bobbin

Brand New 80/12 top stitch needle

Quilters Dream Wool (2 layers) 

The QP Curve Templates

The QP Edge Templates

(by Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple)

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Did someone mention a Giveaway?

The Process - An Overview

Showing The QP Curve Template & Janome Ruler Foot

Pretty in Pink - Grunge was created using acrylic templates to guide a special free motion quilting foot on my domestic machine.  

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If you've not tried quilting with templates or rulers, you're missing out on a great creative avenue.  

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Consider learning the basics of ruler work by taking a class at your local shop, viewing online *free* YouTube clips and/or jumping on-board with a Crafsty class or two (see suggestions below).  

In this piece I used Aurifil 40Wt thread to add a bit of jazz to the quilting stitches.

The curved crosshatching and diamond shape were quilted using

The QP Curve Templates

by Linda Hrcka of

The Quilted Pineapple.

Sew Fun!!

The outside swag was quilted using two sizes of QP Curve Templates

Oh! and I love the beadboard border.

It was stitched free motion using The QP Edge Templates -- there are 3 sizes of straight rulers.

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I adore the look of beadboard

(on a wall or a quilt).

The inside of the quilt is finished off with Fast Feathers... 

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I so enjoy stitching these lightly spaced feathers and tendrils inspired by Bethanne Nemesh -- a variation of "Nemeshing".

See Bethanne's amazing creations by clicking here.

Fast feathers are quick background fill that look really classy...   

and don't take all day to quilt out.   

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Do let me know if a quick tutorial on this would be helpful.

Now for some fun...

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My com padre and friend Linda Hrcka 

Karen & Linda at AQS Syracuse July 2016

graciously provided a full set of QP Edge Templates 

The QP Edge Set -- Oh you will LOVE THEM!

to give away to one lucky reader.

(A $75 dollar value).

To enter the giveaway, leave me a comment telling me which project you like best on the Moda Bake Shop Basics post.

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I shared several projects that were quilted on my home machine.

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For an extra entry, share my blog post on any social media platform.  

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After, be sure to return and leave a 2nd comment for a 2nd chance to win

The QP Edge Templates.

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I'll announce a winner on or around Sept 25th.

Also -- for National Sewing Month,

 I've handpicked 4 Craftsy Classes 

and acquired a 50% discount code

good through Sept 24th.

Quilting with Rulers - Great class for beginners. 

You can read my review here.

Creative Quilting with Rulers...

More ruler work -- OK!!

I'm taking this one now -- woohoo!

 Machine Quilting Negative Space

Oh I loved this class too!!  

Angela makes beautiful background fill.

 Wild Quilting

The creative energy that Christina shares will knock your socks off!!

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Be sure to use my affiliate link to get the 50% discount now through Sept 25th.

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Jump over, read the reviews, check out the trailers and get on-board with one of these great classes.

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Of course, if you have the opportunity to take a class in your local shop or at a show -- I ALWAYS recommend doing that first or in-addition-to an online course.   

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Being face-to-face with a skilled educator is a great way to learn ;) 

Time to run... But before I go

1. Checkout the Moda Bake Shop post

2.  Enter for the QP Edge Giveaway by leaving a comment below

3. Review my hand picked online classes to improve your FMQ Skills

I leave you with Pretty in Pink - Grunge on the dock of Keuka Lake.

We love living in the Finger Lakes Region of NY -- If you're ever in the area, do give me a shout.

Thanks so much for stopping by...

Keep on Stitching! 

Karen

Follow me on social media:

Redbird Quilt Co. on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube

Facebook my FMQ Frenzy Community Group

My other Moda Bake Shop Recipes

Learn FMQ Basics via text and video on my free 2016 Free Motion Quilt Along

Chevron Shuffle on the Moda Bake Shop - A Modern Mini

Greeting fellow quilters -- thank you for stopping by!

I've been busy lately preparing a new recipe for the Moda Bake Shop and I'm excited to share it with you today.

Meet Chevron Shuffle!

Chevron Shuffle is a modern mini quilt prepared with the colorful and bright
Basic Mixologie by Studio M for Moda.
It finishes just about 24" square.

The design is based on my
February 2015 Moda Bake Shop Recipe
Chevron with a Twist and was created to celebrate the Bake Shop's December Month of Mini's.    

The recipe uses 84 print/white Half Square Triangles and 16 white/white Half Square Triangles.
The quilt top uses well less than 2 Charm packs and can be prepared in a weekend.

 For some fun I decided to use the "Focus" layout shared in the March 2015 post For the Love of Half Square Triangles.
The Focus layout uses the same number of HST's as Chevron with a Twist but they're arranged differently. 

On Chevron Shuffle I strayed from traditional applique and created a modern layered flower that complements the half square triangle design.

Also on Chevron Shuffle I tried some
new-to-me batting,
Dream Orient, by Quilter's Dream.
It's really unique batting -- dense but soft, all natural fibers, and oh-so-dreamy!  

I layered the Dream Orient with Dream Wool (100% Wool batting).

These two layers of batting provided for generous quilting texture, don't you think?

Other fun parts of preparing Chevron Shuffle included quilting with my favorite Aurifil threads in 3 different weights.  50 Wt for piecing, 40Wt for quilting and 12Wt for machine applique and top stitching.
Do checkout the Moda Bake Shop post to see all the details.
You know I love Aurifil thread!

And one last fun component of this quilt was using the QP Curve Templates to create some beautiful curved quilting texture around the modern flower.

I used a water/air soluble pen to mark my reference points 1/4" (A) and 1/2" (B) in from the seam points.  The #8 QP Curve Template worked beautifully!

If you've not tried out Linda Hrcka's
{The Quilted Pineapple}
curved acrylic templates you should.
I use them on my domestic machine to make beautiful designs.  They certainly open up a whole new world of quilting options -- even on your home machine.
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You can read more about the QP Curve Templates on this post.
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To view a few videos of my using the templates on my home machine,
 click on over to my YouTube Channel
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If you have an interest in learning to Free Motion Quilt on your home machine, be sure to join 4000+ other quilters on my Facebook Community Group
 Free Motion Quilting Frenzy.

Also, I'll soon be starting a short but informative Free Motion Quilt Along -- stay tuned to my blog and/or my Facebook Page for more information on that.
Supplies and schedule to be announced soon.

Many thanks for stopping by -- I do hope you like the new Chevron Shuffle Mini Quilt.

Jump on over to the Moda Bake Shop to view all of the details.

Social Media ....

Have you made a quilt inspired by my patterns or tutorials 

-OR-

Would you, your shop, or your guild be interested in my Workshop or Program offerings ? 

You can write me anytime:  

karen@redbirdquiltco.com or 

redbirdquiltco@gmail.com

*** Follow Me ***

Did you know you can visit me on

 Facebook ~ Redbird Quilt Co

and/or

Follow Redbird Quilt Co on Instagram

I post all sorts of fun things there!!
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If you love to Free Motion Quilt consider joining my 

Facebook Community Group

 Free Motion Quilting Frenzy

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Plus

I share quilting related

videos on my YouTube Channel
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I'll soon be sharing live feed TV on my Periscope

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I'm also on Pinterest and Twitter 

and I share other tutorials and patterns on
My Tutorials on my blog

Thanks again for stopping by...

Have a blessed holiday.

Karen

AQS Quilt Week - Paducah Bound!

Well.... not me -- but I am excited and honored that you'll find two of my quilts in the Moda/United Notions Booth #4508 at Paducah 2015!!  Woohoo!

Downtown Paducah - Image Courtesy AQS

How cool is that ??   Thank you Moda Bake Shop!!

Yep -- be on the lookout for Chevron with a Twist

Showing off a sweet little Redbird and Faux Ruched Flowers

And quilted using my Janome Horizon and The QP Curve Templates...

I do hope you have a chance to see it in person.

And while you're there -- be sure to look for the Original Hearts Content Decorative Pillow

The 2nd Heart's Content Decorative Pillow

It will also be located in the Moda/United Notions booth...

The pillow shown above is the 2nd Heart's Content Decorative pillow - made from Jelly roll strips leftover from the original Jelly Roll -- I love that you can make two pillows with one Jelly Roll.

Both "quilts" are sporting shiny new labels -- attached just prior to being packaged for shipping...

Both quilts were

• designed and shared as tutorials (aka recipes) on the Moda Bake Shop!
• made with the lovely Heart's Content fabric by Edyta Sitar/Laundry Basket Quilts for Moda 
• made using Aurifil thread and Quilters Dream Wool batting
• quilted on my home sewing machine (Janome Horizon 7700)

I'm just so honored to have them there - and very thankful to Moda/United Notions and the Moda Bake Shop for providing many the opportunity to design with their awesome fabric...  It's so much fun!!

You can find the original Chevron with a Twist recipe here: Moda Bake Shop Chevron w/ a Twist
You can find the original Heart's Content Decorative Pillow recipe here: Moda Bake Shop HC Pillow
You can find tutorials for quilting Chevron with a Twist here: Karen's Blog Chevron w/ a Twist

If you happen to see either quilt - I would LOVE to see pictures -- just email to redbirdquiltco at gmail dot com...  post on my Facebook page (RedbirdQuiltCo) or on Instagram tagging @redbirdquiltco -- Thank you so much!!

Have a fantastic time at Paducah!   Tell the crew at the Moda booth "Hello" and "Thank You" from me....

Maybe next year I'll meet you there...
Hugs,
Karen

The Quilted Pineapple Curve Templates - We Have a Winner!

Hi everyone!  I'm so excited to announce the winner of the full set of Linda Hrcka's "The QP Curve Templates" in this post.  Woohoo!! 

First let me thank all of you for your kind, supportive and generous words on both my blog and Linda's Blog in the last two weeks.  We were overwhelmed with your comments and many compliments.  There is nothing more rewarding than hearing how a short tutorial here or a part number there can help someone through a Free Motion Quilting challenge.

Personally, I'm all about FMQ on a domestic machine -- I was thrilled with how many of you are actually doing your own FMQ on a domestic!  Good for you!

And for all you quilters on a mid or long arm -- YOU are so lucky {wink, wink}.  Keep up the good work.

For anyone experienced or interested in FMQ, please do consider joining the small  Facebook Group we have active "Free Motion Quilting Frenzy".  There are about 1000 members that share their work, questions, tips, tutorials, giveways and lots of inspirational images.  Click here to request membership to that group.  Free FMQ Inspiration - how can you say NO ??  

Of course, if you're like me, you're totally in awe of Linda Hrcka's Free Motion Quilting with or without TheQPCurveTemplates (her feathers ROCK!!).  If you haven't already, I highly recommend you sign up to follow Linda in one of her many Social Media outlets.  Here's a link to Linda's great blog, a Facebook page and an Instagram account.  I promise you'll always walk away inspired by her shares!! 

It's been another wild week here at Redbird land.  Late last week I participated in the "Meet the Stitchers" blog hop sponsored by SewWeStitch.  As a part of that hop, there's an active Aurifil giveaway on my blog that you won't want to miss!  (open until end of day March 31st).  If you haven't jumped to this blog post and gotten in on the fun you really should.  Aurifil is sponsoring this giveaway by providing and shipping a bright and cheerful Splendor 1920 Designer Collection of large spools of Aurifil 12 Wt thread by BariJ.  Many thanks to the Aurifil team for that!   You can get all the detail AND enter for your chance to win by clicking here.

Finally, I'm really happy to say that I recorded the "Feather Star-burst" or "Feather Firecracker" tutorial/video tonight (well I didn't record it - but my husband did ;). 

It will take me a couple of days to get it published on YouTube - but please stay tuned.  If you haven't subscribed to my YouTube Channel yet you can see it by clicking here.

Whew - that's a lot of gibberish when ya'll are just waiting for the winner to be announced.  Let's get on with that!

There were a total of 371 comments on the Giveaway post.   I used Mr. Random.Org to choose the winner :

Thank goodness the blog comments are numbered!!   Number 212 is:

LC's Cottage - Congratulations is in order for Laura Conowitch who blogs over at LC's Cottage!

Laura I've sent you a message through your blog - I look forward to hearing from you - sew exciting!  

From what I saw on Laura's blog, she too is a domestic machine quilter and shares tips and tricks for anyone that is interesting in hopping over to visit her. 

For those that didn't win - thank you so much for playing along!  You might want to consider purchasing your own set of The QP Curve Templates.  The quilting and designing options are endless.   Click to see ==>  The Quilted Pineapple Big Cartel


Its been a fun couple of weeks - and with upcoming video's and more giveaways we'll continue to have fun - so stay tuned.

Many, many thanks again to the very talented AND generous Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple.  Linda's generosity is what made this giveaway happen.  Thank you again dear friend.

Have a fantastic day all -- we'll be in touch soon!

Hugs,
Karen

FMQ - Chevron with a Twist - Part I - QP Curved Template Crosshatch (Giveaway too!)

Hi everyone -- I hope you're surviving this crazy March weather.  Here in the Northeastern USA we've had a few days of nearly 50 degree temps and sun - but many more days with sub freezing temps, nasty wind and snow.  Although the sewing days have been fun, we're all ready to break into spring.  Here's hoping it comes soon - these are the evenings I'm dreaming of...

Keuka Lake - Summer 2013 - Family Fishin'

In case you missed it, my latest free quilt design, "Chevron with a Twist" was published on the Moda Bake Shop on February 23rd.  You can read my introductory blog post here or go directly to the Moda Bake Shop recipe by clicking here.

In the recipe, I outline all the cutting, piecing and applique details for making the quilt, but only a few images and details about the free motion quilting.  What's fun was that the free motion quilting was stitched using Aurifil 50Wt Mako Cotton (love that thread!!) on my Janome Horizon domestic sewing machine -- YOU can do it too!!

In today's post I would like to share more about free motion quilting
Chevron with a Twist
and let you in on a great giveaway!

Woohoo...

Let's start with detailing the Curved Crosshatch quilting.

Some background:

Chevron with a Twist was my first attempt at using EQ7 software for designing a quilt.
Although the learning curve was big, it was well worth the investment (time and $$).

EQ7 Chevron with a Twist Design Print

Just prior to finishing Chevron with a Twist, Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple announced her brand new QP Curve Templates for Free Motion Quilting (long arm, mid-arm, and domestic machines).

Linda is one of the amazingly talented quilters that I follow on social media.  She has a great blog, a Facebook page and an Instagram account that I stalk.  I'm always inspired by what she creates on her long arm machine -- really -- over the top beautiful every time!  

Follow her - I promise you won't be disappointed.  Even if you don't FMQ your own quilts, Linda's quilting designs will give you tons of ideas to share with your long arm quilter.

Here is a sample of Linda's beautiful quilting.
"Portland Rose" was created by the amazing Lisa Bongean (Primitive Gatherings Quilt Shop) and quilted by Linda Hrcka.  The Linda and Lisa quilt won a BLUE RIBBON at AQS Paducah in 2014!  What an honor and certainly much deserved by these two talented ladies.
You can read/see more "Portland Rose" on Linda's blog here.

Image courtesy The Quilted Pineapple

SO, here is this very talented professional long arm quilter with a awesome set of curved acrylic templates that SHE DESIGNED... The QP Curve Templates.
I had to have them! 

I ordered the entire set and started on a mission to find a way to use them.

Back to EQ7 -- What's neat about EQ7 is that you can print a black and white image of your design (layout only) and use it to sketch potential FMQ motif.

I was pretty sure I wanted to stitch feathers in the Chevrons, and because I was itching to use the QP Curve Templates, I came up with this new to me "Feather Fireworks" aka "Feather Star-Burst" design for the non-Chevron blocks

I kinda liked the sketch so I started quilting.  Chevrons first... after considering two different designs for the Chevrons I settled on feathers.  What a great way to hone your feather skill - that's a lot of feathers!

I will share the chevron feather process in a separate post.

Next quilting step:  Feather Star-Burst aka Feather Fireworks!  Here's the design and I'll share how to stitch this one too -- in a separate post.

**NOTE: I posted more information about Feather Starburst here -- check it out **

The full-size on-point blocks were all filled with Feather Star-Burst.
I'm really having fun with this quilt and learning The QP Curve Templates!

 At this point I realize I need something a little different in the half blocks or the setting blocks....

A new sketch...

 Hummmh... this might work...Curved Crosshatching!  

Note: I'd been itching to stitch a curved crosshatch on my domestic machine since I purchased Karen McTavish's "Custom Curves" book.  Karen and Rhonda Beyer make beautiful designs with curved templates in that book (a must have book for anyone that FMQ's).

Ok - lets see if I can actually create a acceptable curved crosshatch on my domestic machine using The QP Curve Templates...
I used the #20 QP Curve Template for the Curved Crosshatch

Remember, I'm new to using rulers of any type on my domestic machine... 

Here's the trial run with a narrow Crosshatch...

Trial run for the large Crosshatch

Trial run for "Just the right size" Crosshatch

It was fun to learn how to use The QP Curve templates on practice pieces ...  Once they were created and I placed them near the quilt -- it was obvious that I should go with the "not too wide, not too narrow" design... ha ha ha!! (I won't mention that it had a lot to do with how much time I wanted to spend quilting...).  The "just the right size" crosshatch had 11 lines each side of the crosshatch.

Because I'm new to using acrylic rulers/templates  I chose to mark each line on each block - it gave me piece of mind to get the quilting done with minimal ripping (picking).

I used a run of the mill water soluble marking pen to mark each line.

(Details in the video below)

 What's in a Foot?

To work with acrylic templates on a domestic machine you need a foot that won't slip under or on-top-of the template.  Many thanks to Amy at Amy's Free Motion Quilting Adventures for sharing her knowledge on the subject last year.  I ordered the Janome "Free Motion Frame Quilting Feet Set" for the 1600P - Part# 767-434-005 which included a 1/4" Ruler Foot and an Open Toe Quilting Foot.  Also showing (below) is the closed toe foot (not included in the kit) I use when stitching around wool applique.

The 1/4" Ruler Foot is similar to a hopping foot for a long-arm machine.  It is perfect to ride against an acrylic template that is 1/4 thick.

On the Janome, if the template was much thicker than a 1/4", I may have run into trouble with it hitting against the built in walking foot mechanism.  I'm just sneaking under it with The QP Curve Templates (thankfully).

So I marked and quilted 13 outside 1/2 blocks, 6 inside 1/2 blocks, and 2 corner 1/4 blocks with the curved crosshatch.  

By the time I finished them I was feeling pretty confident -- maybe the next time I'll only have to mark my starting lines.

Now I'll share with you my Not So Professional YouTube videos outlining the marking and quilting process using The QP Curve Templates.

The first video shows you how I marked this particular quilt using
The #20 QP Curve Template.
(Click the image below to watch the video)

 The second video shows you how I quilted the blocks using The #20 QP Curve Template and my Janome Ruler foot.
(Click the image below to watch the video)

Please note -- these are first takes of videos AND the first time I've prepared anything like them.
I stumble over a few words - but I hope they will still be helpful to you.  

Prepare yourself to see and hear me at my quilting finest ;)

Do you want to see more of my quilting videos ? 
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for upcoming videos.
See more about Feather Starburst in this post !!

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Wow... that was a bunch of information...
Now we're at the fun part of the post!

The wonderfully talented and always gracious Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple is providing a 

COMPLETE SET of 

The QP Curve Templates 

to one lucky reader!  

Yes, that's right, an entire set of QP Curve Templates - that is 6 different templates including the smallest template that Linda has coined the "BFF Template" (Best Friend Forever).

Image Courtesy The Quilted Pineapple

The giveaway is open to domestic AND international friends alike!!

The giveaway will close at midnight on Saturday, March 28th. 

*** This Giveaway has Ended  - Congratulations Laura ***

To enter the giveaway, leave One comment below letting me know what YOU would like to use The QP Curved Templates for, what kind of machine you're stitching on and how long you've been free motion quilting (if you are).

For a 2nd chance to win, hop over to one of The Quilted Pineapple social outlets (Blog, Facebook or Instagram and let Linda know how much you appreciate her sharing TheQPCurveTemplates with us.  Be sure to come back and leave me a second comment letting me know how you reached out to Linda. 

Please Note:

If you are NOT A BLOGGER and/or you're not sure if blogger shares your email address on a comment, please, please leave your email address in the comment(s).  For the last giveaway the random winner was tossed out twice because I had no way to contact them (So Sad).  Blogger does not always share your email address with me - so please, if you're not sure, leave an email address in your comment(s).   Thank You!!

Also, many thanks for the support and encouragement you've shown me lately -- It's been a little nuts and I haven't been able to reply to each comment.  Know that I read and cherish each and every one and I so appreciate you leaving them.

Stay tuned - I'll share more FMQ details for Chevron with a Twist in near term posts.

Hugs, 

Karen

PS - Linking up to other blogging friends like Hope Studios Tutorial Tuesday,  Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday, and FreeMotion by the River...