Hi Reader,

Today I'd like to give you a little quilting inspiration. Especially for those among us who looooove to buy panels or those of us who always were wondering to buy a panel but don't really know how to use it.

In June I was commissioned to make a quilt for a customer. She bought all the fabric and I designed and sewed the quilt for her. I loved her choice of fabric. It was a under the sea theme with a little touch of "out of space". :) Have a look at the finished quilt.

Originally my customer wanted a quilt with just squares, however, when I stumbled across this beautiful "under the sea" panel which was between all the fabrics she gave me I couldn't possibly cut through it. I had to use it. And it had to become the centre of the quilt. :)

Of course such design changes involve more calculation but it was worth it. Using some of the backing fabric on the front it just worked out wonderfully, don't you think?

As the fabrics had all a certain direction I had to make sure the front looks uniform as well as the back and still cut it in a way that I get the most out of the fabric. The front was aligned to the panel of course so they looked all in the same way. And the back I used the seahorses sideways as I've got more out of the fabric that way and if turned around the quilt on the back has it's own direction and uniform look with a few left-over squares from the front to make it extra special. :)

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I hope I could inspire you to either go through your own stash and get that panel out with matching fabrics that are far in the back of your cupboard or have a look at the beautiful panels that your local quilt shop has to offer.

In this quilt I only used a simple cross hatch to quilt it with a wavey decorative stitch. However, if you are really eager and always wanted to try FMQ (Free Motion Quilting) don't forget those panels are great to practice it. This is a quilt I made for my daughter a few years ago to test and practice my FMQ skills. I just did some stipple quilting and it's hard to see in the image but I also stitched around the outline of the unicorn and the stars with a straight stitch just to highlight it a bit.

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If you always wanted to try some FMQ I reckon using panels is a safe way to practice on an actual project to get a feel for it. :) Improving my FMQ is still on my ToDo list. Even having the BSR (Bernina stitch regulator) on my Bernina machine helps but you still need to practice the hand foot coordination to get equal stitches.

Are there already some ideas flying through your head of forgotton panels or fabrics that you would like to use? Let me know and show me some of your fabrics that you would love to see in a quilt. :)

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If you are not sure yet if quilting is the right thing for you and you'd rather like to test this whole cutting fabric into small pieces business just to stitch them back together again. Try my wall hanging class. I have simplified it so everyone with a basic machine can do it. No special equipment needed and you also learn how to use fabric printing paper and incorporate it into a wall hanging or quilt. The next 2 sessions are within the school holidays so if your kids are keen to create a one of a kind project this is the one. :)

​HERE you can find the dates for my wall hanging classes that are already scheduled and tickets can be booked. Soon I will have the pre-recorded version ready as well. :)

My quilting classes are scheduled for October and November and the ticket sale will start in a few weeks. :) I'll let you know via email once the tickets are available.

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I can't wait to see your fabric panels you would like to use... Just hit reply and send me a snapshot :) Talk to you soon.