DreamWeaver's Quilts Quilt Epiphany Weblog

If you already have a heat tool to apply hot fix crystals and other such embellishments, you can purchase an extra tip shaped like a mini-iron to use with it, and get two tools for just a little over the price of one! Visit Cheri’s Crystals for the pressing tip and other “Cool Tools”!

There’s no hard and fast rule about matching beading thread to the beads or to the background fabric. Sometimes matching the beads looks best, and sometimes it looks better to match the background fabric depending on the beads, the type of stitch, or the style of the project. Experiment to see what works best on [...]

When you’re stitching two patchwork pieces together and one isn’t quite the same size as the other, if the difference isn’t too large you can ease the two pieces together to match while stitching. Pin the pieces together, matching the edges at each end. Place the bigger fabric piece on the bottom as you feed [...]

I keep a round kitchen caddy (the type with many sections and it spins) on my sewing table to keep my tools handy. I have stitch rippers in one section (very full if they are all tidily away); marking pencils in another, long tweezers and a hemostat in another, screwdrivers, sewing machine oil, fabric scissors, [...]

Need some free motion quilting practice? Purchase small preprinted whole quilt designs or mark your own whole cloth mini quilts on plain fabric. The markings on preprinted quilt tops will wash out with water; if you mark your own, test the marker you plan to use to make sure it can be removed easily. There [...]

Having tension trouble during free motion quilting? Go back to square one. Test the tension during basic sewing (feed dogs up!) with just two pieces of quilting weight cotton fabric without batting between. Use a dark colored thread in the top and a light colored thread in the bobbin so that you can easily see [...]

Quilting with variegated threads is great—some of the time. Variegated threads can add color movement and something extra special to background or all-over quilting designs, but when used for motifs like feathers, variegated threads can sometimes do a disappearing act, making it look as if parts of the quilting design are missing. The fabric plays [...]