Guest Article from Nancy Lee Chong

Opinions and Possible Helpful Hints to Finish Sewing Faster

1. Never stop sewing at the end of the thread. Before you set your quilt or block down, always tread your needle, and take at least one stitch.
2. Only use your favorite fabrics and your favorite pattern. Don't settle for what others have chosen for you to work on.

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I have been playing with our Hoffman Supernova fabrics and have come up with a wonderful way to use them for our Applique Quilt Border and Runner Patterns. I have used our Galway Applique Quilt Border and Runner Pattern. READ MORE >

I have had many questions in the last few months from customers wanting to create larger quilts using our Hawaiian Wall Quilts. There are so many ways you can combine the Hawaiian Wall Quilt Patterns and Block Patterns to create a larger piece.

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What to do with this big wad of fabric?

Quilter's Question: I have been asked to finish a king-size Hawaiian quilt that someone else started. The problem I am having is that when I do needleturn applique, my left hand holds the fabric positioned so that my finger is under where I am working and my thumb can hold the edge of the applique as I sweep the raw edge under with the needle and stitch. But with this king-size project, as I move to the middle of the design, there is too large a wad of fabric for my left hand to do its job. How do people do these king-size quilts?!

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Here is my three color version of You are in Our Hearts Hawaiian Wall Quilt. This quilt was created using one of the Hoffman Supernova Panels. I am just loving this color combination and how it also shows off the plumeria blossoms. You can find an earlier blog post about Multi-colored Hawaiian Quilts and how to create them by clicking on the link.

I decided I wanted to have it complete for the Mountain Stars Quilt Show so in order to complete it in time I was going to have to quilt it by machine. I felt it would look it's best with the traditional quilting method of echo quilting.

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We all lead busy lives. It is difficult to carve out time to take a quilting class, even when you have a good teacher in your area. Taking a class has its own challenges...being able to see what the teacher is doing, and then remembering what you learned days, weeks, or even years later. What's the solution? A DVD, of course. If your goal is to learn needleturn applique, or to improve your techniques we recommend our DVD: 2 Fabric Applique Quilts with Nancy Lee Chong. Why a DVD? It can be played over and over again while you practice your techniques; READ MORE >

We find it is often the outside points that are the most off-putting to people considering an applique pattern. Far too often we watch someone put back a pattern with a comment like, "Too many points!" It makes us sad to think that someone would not choose their favorite pattern, just because they don't feel they can applique the points. So, we want to show you our technique for outside points, and hope that you will never again turn away from a pattern you really like, just because of the points.

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Continue the Tradition

Hawaiian quilters have long been known to make special quilts for each of their children and grandchildren, choosing a design motif and colors that had personal meaning to the person who would receive the quilt. Until commercial patterns became available in the 1970's and 1980's quilters either designed their own quilts, or were given a pattern from a close friend or relative. No two quilts were identical, to honor the spirit of the quilter and the person receiving the quilt.
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Where to clip?

Using our Tulip Vases pattern, let's look to see where to clip the fabric. In this sample, to the left, three inside corners are highlighted:

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Have you ever worked with 1/4" bias tape?

You can make your Galway quilt in the usual method of Celtic Knotwork using the Clover 1/4" (6 mm) Bias Tape Maker.

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Those pesky inside curves!

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MACHINE APPLIQUE WITH FUSIBLE

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Hand Applique

If you have been to our booth at a Quilt Show you will know that I have a notebook that illustrates how to create your 2 Fabric Applique Quilt's using either the Hand Applique method or by Machine with fusible method. This is very helpful for new customers who have never heard about our patterns or the process we use to create them.

Some of us are more visual than others and I have had many requests to have the images available

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Fun use for our Applique Quilt Borders and Table Runners patterns

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Using Janice's Hand-dyed Sunset Fabrics

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It is easy to trace a 2 Fabric Applique Quilt pattern on a light applique fabric by just placing the fabric on the pattern and tracing the cutting lines. But what if your applique fabric is too dark to see the pattern lines, even if placed on a light box? This could definitely be a problem with the new quilts we are introducing you to this month. What to do??

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Have you ever heard the Hawaiian greeting: "E komo mai", it means "Welcome." We created a pattern variation to and here it is! READ MORE >

Temporary, not tedious

Think of thread-basting as a temporary replacement for pins.

You need to hold two pieces of fabric together just long enough to applique them together. If it is a small applique piece then a pin or two will do the trick, but if it is a large applique piece (like a Hawaiian or 2 Fabric Applique Quilt) then thread-basting is in order. READ MORE >

Reducing or enlarging patterns

We are frequently asked if a wall-hanging pattern can be enlarged for a bed quilt. Or, if a bed quilt pattern can be reduced to make a wall-hanging. Here are our thoughts and suggestions.

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Hawaiian Quilts vs. 2 Fabric Applique Quilts

You may have wondered what exactly are the differences? What determines whether one of our patterns is Hawaiian or 2 Fabric Applique?

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