The Free-Motion Quilting Idea Sampler Facebook Group

Posted on August 27, 2015August 27, 2015 by Amanda Murphy — 2 Comments

Hi guys,

This is just a quick note to say that our Free-Motion Quilting Idea Sampler Facebook group is up and running! We will be sewing and quilting a few blocks each week this fall. This is a super-easy sew (for goodness sake the wedding ring is appliqué) that will get you practicing free-motion fast, so it is really fun! People are sewing in all sorts of fabrics – I’m sewing mine in Carina. SKU info is in the group feed.

FMQIdea Book Fabrics

FMQSampler_Carina_cutup

My good friend Cherry Guidry, of Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studios, is sewing along with us using her Soul Blossoms fabrics. I love sewing with friends!

Happy quilting!

Amanda

The Free-Motion Idea Sampler

Posted on August 8, 2015August 8, 2015 by Amanda Murphy — 5 Comments

HI everyone,

I hope you are having a great weekend! I’ve been waiting to share a new release – The Free-Motion Quilting Idea Sampler! It is a companion piece to the Free-Motion Quilting Idea Book and the piecing directions for the sampler are now available as a download from C&T. The sampler includes piecing directions for every block in the book, so it is a fabulous practice piece if you are looking to improve your quilting skills. (And to make it a quicker sew, there are master cutting instructions included, so you can cut everything at once and then get sewing!) I hope you all will piece it and quilt it along with me this fall on Facebook!

I quilted this on the BERNINA Q 24 and pieced it on my BERNINA 780. To quilt each block, I chose a random pattern from the book – no rules – just whatever I felt like quilting each day. I used Benartex’s Color Weave fabric and Aurifil 50 wt. thread for piecing and Aurifil monofilment (with 50 wt. in the bobbin) for quilting. (There are suggested quilting plans organized by block in The Free-Motion Quilting Idea Book.)

I quilted many of the allover patterns from The Free-Motion Quilting Idea Book in the borders.

FMQIdeaSampler_1307_SM

I used Benartex Color Weave for the example and the SKUs are included in the pattern. I’ll be sewing it again starting this September in Carina. I’ve created a special Facebook group for this piece so we can share our progress. I hope you’ll join me if you are quilting along.

FMQIdeaSampler_Cover_SM

Happy quilting!

Amanda

The Free-Motion Quilting Idea Book

Posted on June 29, 2015July 30, 2015 by Amanda Murphy — 13 Comments

Note: My copies of this book arrived and you can find signed version in my shop!

Hi everyone,

I hope you are having a fabulous week and are looking forward to the long holiday weekend. I’m really excited because today I get to show you what I worked on all last summer. It has been SOOOOO hard to keep it secret, but now I can “let the cat out of the bag”, so to speak, because this landed on my doorstep last week…

I wrote the Free-Motion Quilting Idea Book as a jumping off point for quilters who want to be creative with their quilting and are looking for a place to start. It shows you how to build complex-looking custom quilting plans using just a handful of design families. I was so excited when C&T Publishing took it on – thanks C&T!!! We start with the basics…

And talk about both domestic and longarm machines. (I have a long arm now but started off with a domestic and you CAN do these designs on a domestic!)

The heart of the book is the over 150 quilting designs shown step-by-step.

You can look them up by element…

Or by design family…

But the part I’m most excited about is that The Free-Motion Quilting Idea book is also an app! And actually, I first conceived it as a digital product so a very special thanks to C&T for seeing the possibility and taking it on! In the app version all these designs are hyperlinked for easy access. The app also include actual video of the designs being stitched out on the BERNINA Q 24 and 790 in Chicago! Thanks BERNINA!

In the app the design steps are animated but in the book you also get step-by-step photos that walk you through how to stitch out each section. You can follow along exactly or mix and match to create something uniquely your own!

A sample project is included to get you started, and a optional coordinating sampler will be available from C&T, featuring ever block in the book. (I think it might be my favorite of my projects ever, so I hope you guys like it!)