Do You Have A Happy Machine?

I've been having some minor issues with the quality of the seams on my machine lately. They've been coming out wavy or loose and just plain inconsistent. Enough to get me completely frustrated. Crap!

I tried changing the needle, loosening the presser foot pressure, rewinding my bobbins, etc. with no success. This morning I decided to do a little investigating and solve the problem.

I normally take my machine in for bi-annual cleanings, but because of my work schedule I haven't lately. In an effort to save funds, I was toying with the idea of doing my own machine maintenance. Not that I don't think it's important for you to take your machine to a professional, but I think sometimes it's OK to take matters in your own hands. After all, I could put that $75 plus that it costs me to good use like buy more fabric! :)

I've found great tutorials on YouTube in the past for quilting techniques so I decided to stop there first. I did a quick search for "clean bernina" and found this excellent video:


Let me tell you, Sara, if you saw the inside of my machine, you would give me a BIG scolding! This is so embarrassing!

Look what I found after I removed my stitch plate...


Ooh, what pretty colors. Have I been needle felting on my machine? That can't be MY machine!

I was in denial big time.

And what I saw when I actually got down there and looked inside the bobbin housing...


Boy mister, you need a shave! How many weeks have you been growing that beard?

I got right to work swiping and oiling and accepting that I let my machine get in this condition.

Here's a few "after" shots. Ah, that's much better...




Thanks for making that excellent tutorial Sara!

***UPDATED***
To add that the machine sews like butta' now! Purrs like a kitten. Back in business. Thanks everyone for asking!

Take some time to make your machine "happy" today!

A Website Mention | Thank You WeAllSew

Big thanks go to Jo Leichte and the staff of WeAllSew.

Jo contacted me this past week to let us know they were featuring Patchwork Squared on their site. CHARLIE AND I ARE SO HONORED TO BE INCLUDED!

WeAllSew, sponsored by BERNINA, is updated weekly with the best online stuff for sewers and quilters.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Memorial Day Weekend Sale Flyer | Sponsor Sales

Treat yourself to a little fabric therapy this weekend! Check out these great weekend sales from some of our sponsor shops!


Kimberly and the crew at The Fat Quarter Shop have listed hundreds of fabrics in their SALE section. Browsing through, you will find fabrics by several designers that have been featured on RWQ like Kate Spain, Amanda Murphy, & Cosmo Cricket!


Use the coupon code MEMORIAL11 through 05/30 to receive 20% off your order at Wondrous Woven Fabrics. 20% offer includes all fabrics and pre-cut fabrics except the $4.99 per yard and less clearance sale section. Thanks Cathy!


Jody always has a well stocked SALE PAGE over at the Fabric Shoppe. Don't forget to check out her weekly customer appreciation sale fat quarter for only $1!


Charlie and Lindsay regularly update their SALE PAGE. I think they currently have some cute Sweet Broderie and Ruby Star fabric in the mix.


Cynthia is offering 10% off all Michael Miller fabrics now through 06/02! You can also enjoy up to 40% off select fabrics in the Fabric Worm SALE SECTION!


Leah has over 100 fabrics listed on her SALE PAGE over in the Burgundy Buttons shop!


Jackie always has a nice selection listed in the Canton Village Quilt Works clearance PAGE.


Tisha of So Fun Fabrics is offering 15% off your order from 5/27 - 5/30 using the code MEMORIAL15.


Karen of Venezie Designs is having an inventory reduction sale in her SHOP now through 05/30!


Traci of Hip Fabric has over 90 fabrics listed on her SALE FABRIC PAGE.


Lori offers discount designer fabrics every day in her Stitches N' Giggles shop!


You can snag some designer fabric at up to 40% off in the Lola Pink Fabrics SALE SECTION. Jennifer and Janet keep it well stocked!

Don't forget to enter the Fabric Shoppe giveaway HERE! There's still time to get your name in for a fat quarter bundle of Sew Cherry fabric!

Happy shopping,

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Sew Cherry Giveaway | Fabric Shoppe Sponsored Giveaway

Since 2008, Jody Rowan has been selling fabric online through her cute (and oh, so popular) etsy shop appropriately named, Fabric Shoppe. Browse it's virtual shelves and you will find the latest and greatest fabrics, patterns and trims at great prices.

If you don't follow Jody on twitter, you're missing out. She regularly posts bundles of new to the shop fabric at 50% off to celebrate the addition of new inventory. Her shop is just about to hit 26,000 sales. Not bad for a small, home-based business.

When she's not selling fabric you can find Jody on her blog, Everyday Beautiful. There she hosts great tutorials by bloggers from all over the net.

We here at RWQ are proud to have Fabric Shoppe back as a sponsor. To celebrate, Jody would like to give away a fat quarter bundle of the new Riley Blake line, Sew Cherry by Lori Holt.

This fabric has a hip, retro feel and features one of my absolute FAVORITE color combinations: red & aqua.

To enter for your chance to win the fat quarter bundle of 8 fabrics above, leave a comment on this post. Only one entry per person, please. All duplicate entries will be deleted.

I will draw a winner using the Random Number Generator on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 and announce it here.


Please take the time to visit the Fabric Shoppe today by clicking on the image above.

Good luck and happy Friday!

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Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day Winner

Wow you guys! Are you serious!?! 995 comments? Thanks for all the interest in my giveaway!

I really do appreciate all the shout outs and comments that my readers lay down here on RWQ, so I thought I could return the favor by hosting some rad giveaways. It's been a while ...

I promise to get this giveaway train rolling again soon!

Oh, and a BIG thanks to Sew Mama Sew for hosting! Please go check them out.


Time to plug some numbers into Random.org! The winner of the entire bundle of patterns and fabric shown below is:

Comment #139, kimland!



Congratulations Kim! I'll be emailing you later tonight for your address!!

Until next time,


PS: We have ANOTHER giveaway scheduled for Friday, so you might want to check back then! ;)

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day! | Win Amy Butler Patterns, Robert Kaufman & Moda Fabric!

Hi all! It's that time of the year again! Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day! I can't think of any better way to get rid of a case of the Mondays than a little giveaway.

Shown below are several brand new Amy Butler bag patterns from my shop, a fat eighth bundle of Sunkissed by Sweetwater for Moda, and a fat quarter bundle of Ambrosia by Amanda Murphy for Robert Kaufman.


To win these patterns and fabric bundles, please leave a comment on this post. The winner will be drawn and announced here on Wednesday, May 25, 2011. Only one comment per person, please. I promise to ship these items off within a few days of announcing the winner.

International entries are welcome!

Happy quilting,

P2MSQAL Week 7 - FINISHING Post is LIVE!

The last tutorial post of the Patchwork Squared Modern Solids Quilt Along has gone LIVE!

Have you been following along? Here's what our finished top looks like ...


Happy quilting everyone!

Star of the Show Quilt | See It Today In SLC!

Charlie and I are so happy that we get to FINALLY share photos of the quilt we made for Spring Quilt Market 2011! We’ve spent the better part of 3 weeks fighting the urge to let it all out and spill the beans!

It all started in February of this year when I interviewed Kari Ramsay for a feature on Ryan Walsh Quilts. She and I emailed a few times after the interview and talked about her new line coming up called Daisy Dance. I mentioned that P2 would LOVE to make a quilt using her fabrics and that was about it.

A few months later, Kari contacted me again and asked if we’d still like to make a quilt for her. I politely replied, “YOU BET I WOULD!!” And it was at that time we were sworn to secrecy…

You see, this line was so secretive, that not even the reps had been given papers previewing it. It was all “your eyes only” and between me, her and Henry Glass. This is where I started getting REAL excited.

A few weeks later, Kari emailed me the images of her fabrics and the quilt designing began! Keep in mind, this was about 5 weeks before Quilt Market!! The clock was ticking!

At first glance, they immediately spoke to me. The colors were bright, the designs were a little retro and the subject matter was just plain fun! I knew I had to think up a quilt that would help these fabrics sing and I knew I had to try and get as many of them all on one surface. Enter the Kaleidoscope Ruler…

Charlie had sent me a new ruler by Marti Michell a few days prior to receiving the fabric images, when the subject of kaleido quilts came up in one of our weekly business Skype chats. Let me tell you, this ruler is KILLER! Makes everything so easy!

The fabrics were sent, the quilt was made and without any further stuff and fluff, here she is in all her glory: Star of the Show!







Designed by: Ryan Walsh & Charlie Scott for P2
Pieced by: Ryan Walsh
Quilted by: Lynda Turner of The Kilted Quilter
Fabric: Daisy Dance by Kari Ramsay for Henry Glass

Pattern to debut in mid June 2011. Around the same time as Kari’s fabrics become available to sell in quilt shops all over.

Let us know what you think…

Name in Print, Again! | Top 55 Quilting Blogs!

I got a BIG surprise when I opened up the pages of the latest issue of Quilter's Home magazine today!

Every year they do a "55 Best Quilting Blogs" article and I always get a kick out of seeing all my quilting buddy's names included.

I knew the article was coming up and my subscription issue arrived this afternoon.

During lunch I grabbed it to read and got caught up in a narrative written by male quilter, Josh Cacopardo.

It was so good, I even tweeted about it!

He was talking about the stigma of being a male quilter and how he used his talent to propose to his wife. How RAD!!

FYI: He's written a few other articles of interest to manquilters. You can find one HERE.

A few pages further I came to the quilting blogs article (p. 68) and saw my pal Heather's blog in there!

I just about finished up my mini fanfare, verbaly congratulating Heather out loud (way to go, whoop, that's my bud, etc.), when I saw a VERY familiar name on the next page ...

Imagine my surprise when mine was there!

I had NO idea! You can see it on page 69 of the June/July 2011 issue:



Thanks Quilter's Home and everyone who gave them my name!

It's going to be a great day!

Bookworm Redux! | Just Wing It

Angela sent me some pictures of a quilt I put together for the latest Patchwork Squared pattern, named Bookworm. Didn't she do an awesome job with the quilting?


This is a smaller version using 1 charm pack of Just Wing It! by Momo and various Kona solids. You can find the pattern here in issue 5 of Fat Quarterly!


A lot of you are asking what solids we used in the quilt.

For my version I used the following Kona Solids by Robert Kaufman:

1295 - Pomegranate
1192 - Lime
1009 - Azure
195 - Evening
1063 - Cardinal
192 - Mango
1482 - Banana
1123 - Dresden Blue
317 - Peridot
1387 - White


Charlie's version (above) uses 2 charm packs of Hullabaloo by Urban Chiks and the following Bella Solids from Moda:

9900-109 – Pond
9900-017 – Country Red
9900-130 – Sunshine
9900-084 – Blue Raspberry
9900-134 - Pistachio
9900-088 – Bubble Gum
9900-034 - Aqua

I can't wait till it arrives home so I can get it bound!