I was so happy to get to go on a quilting retreat with some wonderful women in the Madison Modern Quilt Guild this past weekend! The location was beautiful -- the Jones Mansion in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. I stayed up way too late, laughed until tears came out of my eyes, and got a lot of sewing done. What I didn't do was take photos over the weekend. Darn it. And a lot of what I worked on is not yet finished.

But I did finish these two t-shirt quilt samples for Quintessential Quilts. I will have classes scheduled there very soon! They make great graduation gifts. These two aren't yet quilted, but the tops are done. I'll post them again after they're really finished!

Good news: I also plan to write up my method for these as a tutorial or pattern.​​

Which do you prefer?

Some new tuffets come out of Quintessential Quilts in Reedsburg this past weekend. Canada was working on her second tuffet, and Marge was finishing up her first. Canada brought her first along as well as I didn't get a chance to photograph it when it was completed. Lovely job, ladies!

Katherine made this tuffet in class at The Electric Needle in Madison, but it worked out better for her to finish it at my house, which is why these photos are from my living room and not the shop. She made her tuffet out of silk dupioni. It is stunning. She made it to match a silk quilt she has. The colors are so rich on this tuffet!

So pretty!

I had three people finish tuffets at Quilt-agious in Mukwonago last week. Two of them took back to back finishing classes, making two each, and another made her third tuffet! That makes three people who have finished three tuffets! I'm so proud of them!

​First up is Sandy's (third) tuffet. She made it from fabric that belonged to a friend who passed away. What a special way to commemorate her friend.

Next we have Lynn's two finishes. Both are Kaffe Fasset tuffets. They use a similar palette of colors, but they are both beautiful.

Rachel also made two tuffets, her second and third. She took her first class not long ago! I'd say she's hooked.

I've had a few people ask me if I've ever seen one come out badly, and I have to say, I haven't! Sometimes I'm not so sure based on the fabric someone chooses, but they always come out beautifully!

Last week at Quilt-agious in Mukwonago, three students finished up their wedges and began piecing together some beautiful Lone Star quilts. They got pretty far! I expect we'll see some finished quilt tops soon!

We also had a big tuffet class finish. I was unable to get a full group photo because we were having too much fun and ran late, but I did get all of their tuffets. Here are all of the photos...

One of the biggest problems experienced by machine quilters is tension issues. No, I'm not talking about headaches that cause you physical pain; I'm talking about thread tension. Though sometimes thread tension does seem to lead to physical headaches too!

Threads magazine has published a fantastic video that shows exactly what is happening when your machine takes a stitch. Check it out:

Okay, so now you know how the machine makes a stitch. So much is happening at amazing speeds! My straight stitch machine can sew at 1500 stitches per minute. That's 25 stitches a second!

You also saw how the two threads meet perfectly right where the two pieces of fabric meet. The video shows perfect thread tension. But what if you have your top thread showing on the bottom of your quilt? Or your thread breaks? Or any number of issues?

Well, I've put together a tension issues flowchart that will hopefully give you some tips on how to solve your own tension issues. I hope you find it helpful!​​