Breaking news

The American Quilter's Society is proud to announce the creation of a new magazine with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson as creative and executive directors. The Quilt Life is scheduled to premiere in April 2010 with six issues per year. According to Ricky, if you are someone who understands that quilting is a way of life, "you'll find our new magazine, The Quilt Life, has been created with you in mind."

Issue one will focus on inspiration and how it compels a quilter to start a new project. You will find articles from quilt artists who reveal the sources of their inspiration and share the techniques and patterns they use to create works of art. Popular quilter/teacher/author/judge Libby Lehman will write a regular column featuring tips and entertaining stories about her quilt life.

As editor-in-chief of The Quilt Life, Jan Magee is proud to be "working with the cream of the quilting industry crop - Ricky, Alex, and AQS."

Subscription to The Quilt Life is available at http://www.americanquilter.com/ and is separate from AQS membership, which includes a subscription to American Quilter magazine.

Better Blanket Stitch

This is Barbara Polston, American Quilter Contributing Editor, writing from Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve been working on a quilt where the blocks are tracings of children’s hands positioned to look like hearts. To give the fused appliqué a nice finish, I machine blanket stitched around all the shapes. After doing about three dozen, I thought I would share a technique for turning the inside corner neatly. Using your machine’s needle-down feature is a great help here!
1. As you approach the corner, make sure your last left-right stitch ends with the needle down right at the corner. We’ll call this the pivot point.
2. Raise the presser foot and turn the block so that the foot is at a 90-degree angle to the corner.
3. Lower the presser foot and take one-half stitch (the needle comes up). Then raise the presser foot and reposition the block so that the needle will re-enter the fabric at the pivot point. Lower the presser foot and complete the stitch; your needle will be down and at the pivot point.
4. Complete the left-right stitch, which will end with the needle down at the pivot point.
5. Raise the presser foot and turn the block so that your foot is at a 90-degree angle to the next segment you’re going to stitch.
6. Lower the presser foot and take one-half stitch (the needle comes up). Then raise the presser foot and reposition the block so that the needle will re-enter the fabric at the pivot point. Lower the presser foot and complete the stitch; your needle will be down and at the pivot point.
7. Complete the left-right stitch and keep sewing.
This method gives inside corners a three-stitch finish, just as if it the stitching were done by hand. With some practice, you’ll be turning those pesky inside corners with ease!

For more great tips on blanket stitching by machine, read Ricky Tims' article in the September 2008 issue of American Quilter magazine.