Have you ever given a quilt as a gift and not gotten the reaction you were expecting? I've given a lot of quilted gifts over the years and it's been interesting to say the least. I've experienced every reaction from a tearful hug of gratitude to a casual shrug with "Gee, thanks. A quilt..."

The fact is, not everyone understands quilting or how much time, energy, money, and effort go into making these beautiful creations. It's hurtful when the effort we put into our quilts goes unappreciated, or worse, downright disrespected.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately because I have a big goal to really enjoy the holidays this year. I don't want to get to Christmas and feel frazzled and guilty about all the things I meant to do and didn't have time for. And a big part of that is planning what gifts I'm going to make because that making needs to start now!

I shared a podcast episode on this last week with 5 Tips for Quilted Gift Giving. Click Here to find the podcast episode.

One of my tips in the podcast was to look for projects you can create more quickly... maybe even automatically. Yes, I'm talking about machine embroidery!

I've just published a new collection of Elemental Energy embroidery designs that will automatically stitch out on your embroidery machine with the touch of a button. This collection features 25 natural energy themed designs from Universe Spiral to Sun Medallion.

All of the designs will stitch a perfect 3.9 inch square, which means they will fit embroidery machines with the smallest 100 mm hoop. The designs are available in all the major file types: ART, ART USB EXP, DST, EXP, HUS, JEF, PCS, PES, SEW, VIP, VP3, and XXX.

Note: many of the designs in this collection were also included in the Expressions of Textures design CD which has been unavailable for several years. We've re-digitized the designs and now you can create the Chakra Wall Hanging once again.

Click Here to learn how to make this cute wall hanging - the perfect quick gift for your favorite yoga teacher or friend.

We now have 3 collections of 25 designs each so you can stitch out 75 designs from the Free Motion Quilting Project! Click Here to check out all of our machine embroidery collections

On Friday I played with free motion couching again, this time stitching out different filler designs and seeing how that works using thick yarn and the smallest couching foot on my Grace Qnique longarm. 

It might be a little confusing to understand how free motion couching works on a longarm. I have my machine set up the way it normally is with the stitch length set at 16 stitches per inch, a size 16 needle, and the tension set to where it's normally balanced for regular free motion quilting.

This week we are finishing up the piecing with the fourth leaf block so we can finish up the quilt top. Like all of our quilt alongs, Leaf Peepers will never go down and will always be available. Click Here to pick up your copy and get started at your leisure!

First learn how to piece the prettiest red, orange and purple block with half and quarter square triangles in this new quilting tutorial

Sheri's also shared tips on basting your quilt on a small table. Click Here to find her tutorial.

This leaf block is composed of lots of little shapes and the first step is to arrange all the units on a flat surface next to your machine. Make sure to check out the videos on how to piece half square triangles and quarter square triangles to help you create all of the units for this leaf block.

This past weekend I continued my doll making adventure by sewing dresses for Ms. Bunny.

Last week I stitched three versions of this doll and finally solidified the design. Now I am focusing on drawing and planning the two dresses described in the book Mally the Maker and the Queen and the Quilt.

This is tricky because I'm basing my design on the memory of my Ms. Bunny and the dark pink calico dress she wore. Click here to read that story.

It's tricky because after making a very similar shaped dress, I realized that it's far more formal looking than what I described in the book.

So this is a bit of a conundrum – do I design for what I wrote in the book or design for the memory of my own Ms. Bunny?

I think the ultimate solution is to design a dress that I like and in which Ms. Bunny looks cute.

These dresses just ended up looking... well, a bit old fashioned. I'm going to keep tweaking until I get the pattern pieces perfect (which will probably take another three tries!) and then stash this pattern away for a future pattern collection with formal dresses.

Quick update on the novel Mally the Maker - the preorder will begin on October 1st!

I can't wait to get this new book in your hands. It was such a fun adventure to write and illustrate and I've already started writing the second book in the series. Be looking for more info about Mally the Maker in the next few weeks.

Don't forget to check out our new Elemental Energy Embroidery Collection available here and save 30% on all embroidery designs this week!

If you are also in the path of Hurricane Florence, please take the necessary precautions and stay safe. Our thoughts are with everyone on the east coast this week.

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day