Current Machine Quilting Magazine

This is the cover of the current edition of Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine.  It is the only magazine dedicated to techniques for machine quilters.  It always features wonderful how-to articles on topics ranging from quilting techniques to machine maintenance.  The quality of the photos and product are truly unmatched in the industry.  And, I happen to be a technical contributor to the magazine this year as well as next year!  This is my unsolicited toot for the magazine...if you don't subscribe, then you should.  It has awesome content for both longarm and DSM quilters.

The quilt on the cover is by my quilting friend Andrea Brokenshire.  She was at MQX this April with her truly amazing collection of botanical quilts.  They are painted silk wall hangings of all flowers. She has a feature in this edition with a ton of lovely shots.

And, since the magazine has gone to print, I can now share a small piece I did for my article which is entitled "Finding Your Feather".  I have many, many sketches of feather variations for a variety of common shapes.  But since I feel like the first page of every article needs some nice eye-candy, I squeezed this into my crazy days.

It's only about 18" square, and completely feathered.  My scrap batiks in pastel shades make for a lovely future Easter quilt for my table.   I will also use it as a teaching sample next year.  Oh, did I say that??!

Yes, the cat is out of the bag now.  I am contracted to teach 4 classes next April at MQX in Manchester, NH.  Three are hand's on longarm classes, and one is on  (you guessed it...) Feathers! Getting ready for this is a little daunting, because I know that the client quilts are just about to go crazy.  My clients always know when my kids return to school!  But please, don't let this deter you if you have a quilt to be quilted...somehow I always get them all done.

 Here's a couple of details...Mostly this was just a fun piece to find different ways to feather with traditional feathers.  We all make these very basic and common stars, afterall!