Hello My Quilting Friends

Hello My Quilting Friends! Today I'm chatting with Laura-Lynn Fulford, the mom from the Mom and Pop Quilt Shop! Laura-Lynn is a longarm quilter from Canada. She and her husband share videos on longarm quilting on their Youtube channel Mom and Pop Quilt Shop. She also has a website where you can check out all of her services. Find it at WeSewIt.Ca. Laura-Lynn quilts on a Gammill Stattler Stitcher, which is a BIG machine! It's 16 feet all around and she can quilt 24 inches before needing to advance the quilt. She also has automation set up so the computer can drive the machine and stitch out digitized designs. What struck me immediately about Laura-Lynn is her connection to her community. She's a crossing gaurd, teaches quilting to kids, and quilts for a living. She also does alterations and makes charity quilts for her local fire department. Laura-Lynn always sewed and her business started naturally a few years ago when someone needed alterations. Then she and her husband decided to make it

Today I'm chatting with Ann Holmes, the creator of my favorite No Sewing Until You Quilt It applique technique. Get to know Ann and her assistant Rachel and how this cool technique works in this podcast. Check out Ann's website at www.AnnHolmesStudios.com. Ann is both a stained glass artist as well as a quilter and her goal in creating the No Sewing Until You Quilt It Applique technique was to easily make her original stained glass art into quilts. It's a wonderful technique for creating smooth curves without having to sew. Yep, you do have to glue though! You can watch Ann's videos to see how she does No Sewing Until You Quilt It on her YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiBJPsN4Zouv8sSl1NFJkNA Find the full show notes with links to everything we mention here: http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2018/02/no-sewing-until-you-quilt-with-ann.html

Meet my sister Camille and hear how she learned about the Whole 30 diet and how she transformed her body less than a year after having her second baby.

This week Leah Day shares updates about what she's working on, and why she's decided to try the Whole 30 Diet for the month of February.

Meet Christa Watson and learn about piecing and quilting with precut fabrics. This is the topic of Christa's newest book and she shares lots of information about working with precuts, plus how she's designing fabric, teaching classes on Craftsy, and planning more books for the future. Find the episode show notes here: http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2018/01/piece-and-quilt-precut-fabrics-with.html

Basting spray is an aerosol glue you can use to spray the layers of your quilt so they stick together. It's a faster basting method in comparison to pin basting or hand basting, and I know many quilters that prefer to use spray basting because it's easier on their hands. As with all my Great Quilting Debate episodes, I 100% believe you should use what you want and what works for you! I use polyester thread for quilting, I like to prewash and starch all my fabric before cutting, and I press my seams open - all of these are topics that quilters argue about. But I rarely hear anyone arguing about basting spray and this worries me. I get questions weekly about whether starch will make their quilts more susceptible to bugs (a ridiculous quilting rumor in my opinion), but I never get questions about the effects of basting spray - a far more detrimental chemical. Maybe this is because I don't use basting spray so quilters are taking their questions about it elsewhere. Or maybe quilters don't k

Meet Amy Helton, or LongarmYogiGal, a longarm quilter from Kentucky. Amy is also a yogi and we talk about incorporating yoga into a daily routine and how Amy started her longarm quilting business. Connect with Amy through her Facebook Page Amy's In Stitches - https://www.facebook.com/amysinstitches

A new year is coming and that means it's time to pick a new word to serve as a guide. I've used this for years to set new intentions and achieve my goals. Listen to the episode to see how my words for 2017 panned out and what's in the works for 2018!

Meet Melanie Ham, a super successful Youtube teacher who shares videos on crafting, crochet, and quilting. I love her videos which are so nicely edited and clearly demonstrated. Find Melanie's YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/iheartstitching Also check out Melanie's premium course website. This is where Melanie shares more in-depth courses, projects, and quilt alongs. Remember she shared a coupon code in the podcast - make sure to enter Leah in the checkout to save 25% on your course! I really enjoyed talking with Melanie because she and I do the same thing! We both make videos and teach a craft online and work daily to balance our busy schedules along with taking care of our kids, running our businesses, and managing our households. Of course, all of the messy bits get edited out of our videos (along with the unfinished bits too!) but it can be a struggle to get everything done on time. It was so nice to chat with another quilter who understands this world of online teaching and

Is polyester thread bad for quilts? Have you ever heard the rumor that polyester thread could damage your quilt? Many quilter's believe they must use only 100% cotton thread for quilting. Learn more about this quilting rumor in this Great Quilting Debate with Leah Day.

This week's guest is Stephanie Soebbing, the owner of QuiltAddictsAnonymous.com. Eight months ago Stephanie owned only an online quilt shop, but then expanded to create a studio, then expanded again to create a full scale brick and mortar quilt shop. In this episode hear how this transformation has worked for Stephanie and some of the struggles she's experienced along the way.

Do you prewash fabric before cutting and piecing a new quilt top? Learn about this Great Quilting Debate with Leah Day and hear why she believes prewashing fabric is a very important step in the quilt-making process.

Meet Sheri Cilfaldi Morrill, the designer behind WholeCircleStudio.com and what she noticed at the 2017 fall Quilt Market! Hear about the trends, pretty fabrics, and new gadgets Sheri noticed while attending this quilt industry trade show.

Yes, the choice to use starch on your fabric is a contentious subject in the quilting world and over the years I've gotten comments ranging from "You're ruining people's quilts with your bad advice!" to "Wow! Starch made such a difference to my fabric and piecing is so much easier now!" One thing I forgot to include in the podcast is why I use starch - I find it stiffens the fabric nicely, which makes squaring it and cutting pieces and strips much easier and more accurate. I also find starch fabrics are less likely to fray on the edges. Lately I've been testing the stability of my starched fabrics by not pinning units together. Even with the seams pressed open and no pins, my seams are matching every time and I think a lot of that has to do with all the fabrics in the quilt feeling and acting the same. I don't have one fabric that's going loosey goosie while another is stiff as a board. So yes, I'm on Team Starch and I use it to prepare the fabrics in

Meet Janice Brewster Weiser and Karen Sulmonetti the team behind creative girlfriends press. Check out their website at: https://creativegirlfriendspress.com/ Both Janice and Karen have years of experience in book and magazine publishing and have helped me on three books so far. Learn how Janice can help you transform your text into excellent quilting patterns or books. Her editing skills will polish up your first draft perfectly. Karen Sulmonetti can then take your words, photos, and diagrams and add her magical pixie dust to create your finished book. Find Karen's website at: http://www.sulmonettidesign.com/ Both the Janice and Karen helped me create my new book Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day. This in book is now available for preorder at: LeahDay.com/WalkingFoot

Do you press your seams open on your quilt blocks or to one side? This is a Great Quilting Debate that I get asked about almost daily in comments and via email. In this episode I share why I believe pressing seams open is better than to one side, but also why many quilters believe the opposite is a better method. I also share lots of sneak peeks and details about my new book which will be available for preorder on November 1st! Find the show notes, plus many more podcast episodes at LeahDay.com/podcast

Today I have a wonderful interview with Luis Sanchez, our first international quilter on the show! Luis is a hobby quilter, but has started sharing quilting tutorials in Spanish to help spread this wonderful craft in his home country of Costa Rica and beyond. Find Luis's YouTube Channel Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBQZqkX3AZ35QlXBL-fX1Ig The videos are all in Spanish, but you can use the translator to read the translation in English. Luis was raised listening to a sewing machine hum because his grandmother sewed all the clothing in the house and also worked as a seamstress in two factories. The sound of the machine running was relaxing to him so when his grandmother passed away 7 years ago he inherited her machine. He learned how to sew first and created basic projects, then moved on to wallets, purses, and bags. From the videos he found he learned the basics and eventually ran across my videos on free motion quilting, but had no idea what I was doing in the video, but thought it could he

Meet Deborah Fisher, a successful ceramic artist, quilter, and writer who has had terrific success with her Etsy shop. I found Deborah at Quilt Con and instantly fell in love with her whimsical ceramics which are also pincushions too! In this episode we talk about creating the pincushion creatures, how Deborah manages a high demand item, and her plans for attending quilting shows in the future. You can find Deborah's Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FishMuseumandCircus

Hello my quilting friends! Today I have a terrific interview with Anne Marie Chany from Gen X Quilters. Anne Marie hosts a yearly sampler quilt along, is the author of several quilt books, and has recently created Hoop Quilts - a new way to create and display mini quilts! Let's learn more about Hoop Quilts! I fell in love with this over the summer as Anne Marie began posting pictures to Instagram. I LOVE this idea because it takes care of a big issue I have with mini quilts - what do you do with them after they're done!? Anne Marie has created a beautiful quilt pattern for you to make your own mini hoop quilt with sixteen half square triangles you can mix and match. She also has templates you can cut out and piece the curved seam to create this pretty circle too. Hoop Quilts are also a great way to use up small scraps of fabric and play with embellishment. I love the idea of gluing on buttons and stitching decorative threads on the surface. Anne Marie was originally inspired to create Hoop Quilts

Meet Jennifer Farsh, a quilting hobbyist and how she's used quilting to transform her life and the way she feels about herself. Quilting is a powerful, transformational craft and you can use it as a creative tool for change. Hear about quilting from a hobbyist perspective and why Jennifer was drawn to making quilts after building a chicken coop and barn in her back yard. Find the episode show notes here: http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2017/09/love-yourself-quilting-with-jennifer.html