My curved seams got better with the practice; by the end they were laying flat and needed almost no trimming. One of the first ones I did was so twisted and stretched that I could have used it as a fruit bowl
And last night my brain decided to spend an hour or so in the middle of the night working out how I can make a quilted cover for my weighted duvet. All the covers I have are Institutional Grey, which isn’t really my style, but it took me 5 years to realise I could make one. I sketched up some very scrappy ideas this morning.
I thought I’d share a Temu fabric experiment; I bought two packs totalling under £5, one red, one animals.
The animal pack felt like typical quilting cotton. It had a tight weave, crisp prints, slight shrinkage (~¼"). Not all coordinated, but 5 worked well, and I plan to use 7 out of the 8.
The red pack had visible loose weave. It was too poor quality to use, even for practice. I’ve already lost it in the studio
My verdict; it was hard to confirm quality or size. I might risk £10 again if I’m feeling brave. This Karen Brown video agrees: TEMU is good for most notions, not fabric.
That’s good to hear. I’ve always bought from AliExpress as I can’t stand temus email spamming. And the quality can be a mixed bag, but honestly I’ve found it’s 80:20 good to bad. So I tend to take a punt. However I do find that you see the same designs over and over
Too much work, not enough play. I’m presently trying to decide upon (then make) a quilt block and print the pattern for my guild meeting tomorrow. Yeah - last minute as always. I did so well the first 3 months of 2025!
Today’s Quiltalong Bingo prompt:
Share a link or pic of your favorite quilt merchandise
Don’t forget that everyone who gets a Bingo is guaranteed to win a prize and the first person to get a Bingo will receive an additional prize! Speaking of prizes, I haven’t actually finished (or started - beyond ordering supplies and doing some digital work) this quarter’s prizes yet, so they may go out a bit later than previous quarters. I am tentatively calling this quarter’s prize pack “Keeping It All Together.”
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AIMR
(Linda -2026 time to regroup and renew :us:)
930
I have many quilt tools and fun stuff from Madam Sew.
This is one of the best things I purchased and use all the time:
There are lots of great quilting tools out there, that I love, and would happily list out. But the one that has helped me the most, is quilting gloves. I have really small hands, and usually a women’s Small glove is still big on me, so anything made One Size Fits All is no good. The small size of these fit me perfectly. Not loose at all, but not too tight in any way. They seriously reduce the strain on my hands while wrestling a project through the machine, and help me get smoother curves when doing free-motion.
The pattern is “Morning Star” on www.quilterscache.com. The challenge is scrappy med/dark with white/cream/light neutral for the corner pieces.
The blue on this is jelly fish, but now I want to find Van Gogh Starry Night style fabric, and some glow in the dark for the star bits.
Not sure if quilting tips are a thing this Q but…
Measure twice, cut once
Never let fabric know you’re in a hurry (or scared. Pretty sure fabric can tell if you’re scared, too)
Do not work on a surface the same color as the fabric you’re using (somebody lost the 2nd blue piece for 20 minutes because it was the same color as the blanket I was sitting on)
And I agree that the fabric knows when you’re in a rush or scared. It always seems to wiggle under the ruler, or be smaller than you’re sure you measured it at
Congratulations on your Bingos @AIMR and @MistressJennie!! AIMR, I will give you a heads up when I send out your extra prize (it may end up going out with your quarterly prize).
There’s plenty of room for additional winners, so don’t forget to check your Bingo cards and see if you’re a winner this quarter (and if you aren’t a winner yet, there’s still time to make it happen!)!
Congratulations on your Bingos 
