Category Archives: Quilt Studio

A Quinceañera Quilt

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

Last summer, I was having a few health issues and my family doctor decided the best approach to treating them was through a home healthcare agency. I had an RN who came out to our house every other week and a CVN who came out once a week. My CVN’s name was Bea and she was just a joy to be around! We got to know her pretty well so when she told me they were planning for her daughter’s Quinceañera for later that summer, I asked her if I could make a quilt for her? Bea was flattered and readily accepted my offer.




Bea and I took a trip out to my quilt studio so she could go ‘shopping’ in my quilt stash. She was very particular regarding the two main colors she wanted in her daughter’s quilt – Navy blue and coral. As I was pulling out fabric from one of my drawers, I happened across a piece of green focus fabric that had both coral and navy blue in it. Once I showed it to Bea, she immediately said yes and that sealed the deal.

Next came the decision about what to embroider in the quilt blocks. We had already decided the quilt was going to be a 55″ square lap quilt so there was only room for nine embroidered squares. In the center row, she wanted her daughter’s name, then her daughter’s favorite Bible verse and then the date of her daughter’s Quinceañera.

Bea told me what she wanted embroidered in the remaining six quilt blocks so I found five of them and sent her links so she could pick out the ones she liked best and then to purchase them. She gave me her login info so I could download them after she bought them. For the sixth one, I hired a custom digitizer to create it and once Bea gave her approval, I stitched it out.

I knew I was meant to make this quilt because everything came together just right!




Once the embroidery was stitched out, I began the process of building her quilt, then sent it on to my dear friend Meloney so she could quilt it on her longarm for me.

For true quilters, there is fun in making a quilt, every step of the way. But the true joy is seeing the faces and reactions of those who receive a quilt. And nurse Bea did not disappoint. She cried a bit when she saw the finished product. She absolutely loved it and she was sure her daughter would treasure it for many years to come.

A Quilted God Moment

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

When our oldest daughter graduated from high school, I gifted her with a quilt I’d pieced especially for her. It just so happened that the summer before her senior year of high school, I went to Iowa to visit my (third) foster mother. She purchased all of the fabric for our daughter’s quilt and I cut it out & sewed it together while I was there. Then I left it with her so she could quilt it by hand.

Now here’s a little tidbit you probably didn’t know about our middle daughter – she’s our “what about me?” kid. Every time we would give her older sister something, no matter what it was, she always looked at us with sad puppy dog eyes and said, “What about me?”

About four years ago, she went with me to a quilt shop. While there, she fell in love with two different fabrics. The first was an antique-looking fabric with all sorts of postcards on it. Not the front of the postcards, but the back of them – the messages, addresses, stamps & postage meter stamps. The second fabric did not match the first as it was not antique-looking but it matched the general theme with stamps and postage meter stamps. Where the postcard fabric had a beige background, the stamp fabric had a white background. I purchased a yard of each and stuck them in a stash bin, knowing I would make a quilt for her out of them someday.

I started her quilt the summer before her senior year, too. Except it was one thing after another that year, so it became a UFO in short order. I’d pull it out and work on it, as time would permit, but I couldn’t pull it off in time for her graduation.

It took over a year but about three weeks before she was set to return to college for her sophomore year, she finally asked, “What about my quilt?” I brushed it off, ignored the question, changed the subject, etc. She didn’t ask me again. Then, the day before we were set to take her back to college, I surprised her with her graduation quilt – made out of the fabrics that she’d chosen all those years ago & using the Sawtooth Star quilt block pattern.

Sawtooth Star Quilt

The God moment happened after we started unloading her boxes in her dorm room. Since she had no clue that I was making her a quilt, and no clue what the colors in the quilt were, she had previously purchased sheets for her dorm bed that were the exact same colors as her quilt!

Written with love by TK Harrison




Quilt Studio Pegboard

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

One of the things I wanted, when my husband was finishing out my quilt studio, was pegboard.  We purchased one 4′ x 8′ sheet and then cut it into three pieces (with some leftovers).  I had my husband place one piece above my sewing station, one piece above the longarm and one piece in my foster mother’s nook.

That was one of the best decisions I made!  I’m using the one over my sewing station for all sorts of things – and I’ve almost filled up the space already!  I’m using the one in my foster mother’s nook to hold my thread holders.  The one over the longarm isn’t really used much but I’m sure, as I fill one of the others up, I’ll have to spread out and use that last one for more hanging tools of my quilt trade.

047

How do YOU organize your quilt-related tools?

Quilt Studio Etiquette

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

IMG_9587

I have noticed, since I made the big move from my sewing room in our house out to my quilt studio behind our house, that I am pretty retentive about cleaning up after myself.  First, however, is that my studio is no longer the collection plate for all things that have no home in our house.  When I had a sewing room, anyone and everyone piled so many things in there because they didn’t know where they went or they didn’t want to put them in their correct places.  Now?  Not an option!

Second, before I leave my studio, I go around to all of my stations (ironing, sewing, embroidery, etc.) and put away the tools of my trade, making sure there are no impediments to foot traffic and even putting my printed patterns into their proper plastic folder.  It is SO refreshing to walk into my studio and have a relatively clean slate just waiting for me to explore my creativity for that evening.  Some days, I have a plan as to what to do.  Some days I wait until I get to my studio, taking a deep breath just inside the door and waiting for whatever inspiration comes to me.  I am able to focus so much better when I start each session in my clean studio.

How sweet it is!  Quilt Therapy at its finest!

Tutorial Tuesday: Star Light, Star Bright Table Topper

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

This tutorial is sponsored by Warm & Natural Batting® From The Warm Company™

StarLightStarBrightTutorial

This is a photographic tutorial.  A link to download this pattern in PDF is available at the end of this tutorial.  You need to download it so that you have the fabric requirements and cutting requirements for this quilted project.

002

Lay out complimentary fabric scraps and choose the appropriate number needed for this table topper.

006

When you cut out your Star Points, be sure to draw a diagonal line, corner-to-corner, on the BACK of your fabric.

008

Once you have your fabric choices, this photo above shows you the fabric cuts needed for this table topper (sans the 1″ Scrappy Bright Fabric as is noted in the PDF pattern).

009

Begin by making flying geese to create your Star Points.  Sew ONE (1) Star Point to ONE (1) of the 4 1/4” x 7 3/8” strips ON the line you drew.

010

Next, trim off the corner of the White and Star Point fabrics 1/4″ beyond the sewn line.

012

Press the Star Points toward the Star Point fabric.

013

Repeat the same process as shown above, with another Star Point fabric sewn diagonally on the White fabric strip.

014

Again, cut the Star Point corner 1/4″ beyond the sewn line and press the Star Points toward the Star Point Fabric.

015

Now, sew TWO (2) of the Star Point strips to the left and right side of your center fabric.

017

Sew the 4 1/4″ White Cornerstones to the remaining TWO (2) Star Points and then pin them and sew them to the top and bottom of your Star.

018

This is a photo of the finished center of this table topper.

020

Next, time to add the White left and right borders to your center star.

022

Then sew the top and bottom White borders to the center star.

025

Create your scrappy final Border using the images above and the cutting requirements in the PDF pattern.

026

Sew the left and right scrappy borders to the center star and White border.  Then pin and sew the top and bottom scrappy borders onto the center.

029

This is a photo of the finished table topper top!

030

Follow up with quilting the table topper as desired.

032

Finally, sew the binding onto your table topper and whip-stitch or machine stitch the binding to the back (or front, depending on your binding process) of your quilt project.

StarLightStarBrightTutorial

To download a PDF of this pattern, please visit this link:
https://www.bomquilts.com/2015/StarLightStarBright.pdf

TK Harrison is a member of The Warm Company’s Designer Endorsement Program.