quilting tips

National Quilters Circle Top 5 of 2019

December 17, 2019 By Editor & filed under Blog, Tips & Ideas.

As we near the end of 2019, National Quilters Circle is looking back at what videos and articles our community has found most useful. We’ve rounded up our top 5 most popular videos and articles, picked by YOU. Read below to see the best of 2019!

Meet an NQC Ambassador: Chris Davidson

January 30, 2019 By Editor & filed under Blog.

We are so excited to introduce Chris Davidson, a National Quilters Circle Ambassador! Be sure to connect with Chris on her website Memories in Stitches, on her Facebook page, and Instagram. Think you have what it takes to be a National Quilters Circle Ambassador? Apply here! Check out our question and answer with Chris below!…

10 Amazing Places to Donate Your Quilts

August 15, 2018 By Editor & filed under Blog, Tips & Ideas.

When it comes to quilting, many people don’t realize we aren’t always quilting for ourselves. A lot of time, effort, and love are put into quilts, and it’s incredibly satisfying to give one as a gift. It’s like you’re sharing a piece of yourself! Though it’s easy to opt for gifting quilts to family members, many of us like to donate quilts to charities and give something back to the community. But how do you know where to donate quilts?

So You Want to Try Hand Quilting?

May 18, 2018 By Editor & filed under Blog, Tips & Ideas.

Back in the day, quilters didn't have many of the luxuries we now take for granted, but they still made beautiful quilts. Now, we opt to hand quilt not out of necessity, but for the nostalgia and it's soft look. If you been looking to try out hand quilting but don't know where to start, don't worry, we've got you covered! Not only can you learn to hand quilt, but we've got quilting tutorials for hand quilted embroidery, hand applique techniques, and more! Check out our hand quilting tips below.

Meet Susan Guzman of SuzGuz Designs

May 7, 2018 By Editor & filed under Blog.

I’ve been quilting on a regular basis for about 14 years and am self-taught. I’ve always enjoyed figuring things out on my own and found much satisfaction in challenging myself to learn the various techniques and methods of quilting. When I began quilting, I joined an online quilt guild with members from the U.S. and Canada and almost immediately began joining their regular Round Robins to perfect my skills: from redwork blocks to hand applique and machine piecing, I enjoyed how imaginative and diverse the projects could be.

Top 10 Game-Changing Quilting Tools

October 16, 2017 By Victoria Benson & filed under Blog.

The pioneer women who quilted over a hundred years ago did amazing work with the simplest of tools: scissors, needles, and pins. Up until the middle of the 20th century quilters were making pattern templates using cardboard boxes, re-drawing the shapes as the old edges wore out. Today we have a huge array of quilting…

Beginner’s Guide to Quilting: Essential Tools & Supplies

August 12, 2017 By Kelly Hanson & filed under Blog, Quilt Supplies.

I am often asked about tips for beginning quilters. “How do I even get started?” is a more common question than you might think! Not only are there lots of new techniques and terminology to learn, but the laundry list of supplies needed for quilting is a bit long and sometimes confusing for those new…

Quilting Fabric Quality: Is More Expensive Always Better?

March 2, 2017 By Victoria Benson & filed under Blog, Quilt Supplies.

Photo by Hank Hession Most beginning quilters have one of two competing mindsets about fabric: either they want to be frugal (like our quilting ancestors) and plan to use the least expensive fabric they can find, or they want to create something that lasts centuries (like our quilting ancestors) so they use the most expensive…

Why You Should Use a Walking Foot for Quilting

February 22, 2017 By Kelly Hanson & filed under Blog, Quilt Supplies.

There are so many makes and models of sewing machines today, a far stretch from the machines of yesteryear. A recent arrival in machines is the dual feed system which enables the feed dogs and machine foot to work together to move the multiple layers of fabric through the machine. Bernina calls it their innovative…

Quilters We Love: Norma Riehm

August 2, 2016 By Editor & filed under Blog, Quilters We Love.

Meet Norma Riehm, an accomplished quilt artist and professional quilter. Norma is also a member of the National Quilters Circle Ambassador program! We sat down with Norma and asked her to share a little about herself and her quilting. How long have you been quilting, and who taught you how to quilt? I taught myself…