Hi ,

It seems I'm playing another game of catch up this week as I missed the newsletter yet again last week. In my defense, a very beautiful quilt has been on my table pulling my attention off the computer and on the machine!

So let's catch up on all the articles and videos posted to the project over the last two weeks:

Question / Answer Design Process - Based on a number of questions about Duchess Reigns, I decided to write an extra article just on how she was designed and how I'd made the decisions to dye her when I did. If you'd like to learn more about visualizing a quilt project before it actually gets into the quilting phase, this would be a good place to start!

13. Learn to Quilt a New Version of Flame Stitch - I warned you Duchess Reigns had distracted me! Learn a new version of flame stitch quilted out over the arms of this pretty quilt.

FMQ Friday:  Living to Quilt - Sometimes everything works out and you have the right fabric, the right color, the right thread, and the right design, and all you want to do is quilt, eat, and sleep and nothing more.

14. Quilting Hair with Channels and Paths - Here's another fun design stitched out within the red hair of Duchess Reigns. Get tips on controlling the quilt, even when quilting around trapunto (puffy) motifs and how to keep your scale consistent througout.

FMQ Friday: My Brain has the Munchies - Do you find it hard to work on something you enjoy when other tasks are constantly on your mind? I was struggling with this last week and found downloading a new batch of audiobooks the perfect ticket!

I'd Rather be a Quilter Than a.. .- A scary pattern is emerging in my sewing room: a whole lot of materials, but not many quilts! I'm determined not to be a hoarder, but a true quilter and given myself a new ultimatum: no more new materials until something is used UP!

Fear of Time Wasted - It seems I'm not the only quilter with materials on hand I'm afraid to play with! Check out this post to see how I overcame my fear of wasting time and ultimately learned how to felt soap - something I've wanted to try for months!

15. Quilting Cat Hairball Filler / Thread Painting - What happens when you quilt Cat Hairball Filler super densely into a small space? You get a solid texture of thread very similar to thread painting and a huge punch of intense texture for your quilt! Best of all, it's super easy!

Yay! It's finally time to announce my new Craftsy class: Free Motion Fillers Volume 1!  Click here to get 50% off your enrollment in this new class!

As you might remember, I was super busy this winter working on two projects that I kept rather secret.

The first project is this beautiful throw sized (62 inches square) and covered with 50 beautiful designs:

In designing this quilt, my goal was to provide a simple pattern that would be easy to piece so you could quickly create the top, then quilt from the center to the outside edges with multiple designs on a larger, bed quilt scale.

Now you might be wondering - are these designs different from what has been posted to the project?

The answer is yes and no. Yes, there are 11 new designs taught in this class that are brand new and have not been taught before! But that does mean 39 can be found somewhere online, either in a video or photograph I've posted in the last 4 years.

I figure it's best to just get that question answered right up front because one of the most hurtful reviews I've ever gotten of my first Craftsy class was "As Seen on YouTube" where I was criticised for teaching designs and techniques that I'd previously shared in blog posts.

Well, there's two ways of looking at this issue. On the one hand, I'm not twisting your arm to buy my class! Sign up if you want to make the quilt above, if you'd like to get to know 5 families of designs better, and if you'd like personal contact with me on a daily basis.

On the other hand, how many teachers teach class in person? How many share the same designs and ideas in class as they do in a book, a video, etc? The way I practice teaching is to shoot a video and post it for free, and the last thing I want is to feel BAD about teaching this way!

So you know the deal! 50 designs, 11 of them new, and if you click this link, you can get the class for just $19.99.

Hope to see you in class!

Leah