Welcome to Ships & Violins — tips and tricks

Foundation paper piecing is an important skill to know if you love accuracy in your quilting or love to craft designs beyond the traditional quilt block with precision. But unlike some other quilting techniques, it can produce a significant pile of oddly-shaped offcuts - some too big, some too small, and some just right. This tutorial will not only show you how to decide whether a scrap will be sufficient to complete a section of your FPP pattern piece, but also how to make the best selection.  Pattern pieces featured in this tutorial are from Nesting Phoenix, the 5th star pattern...

If you’re a trail blazing quilter who’s ready to venture beyond fields of HSTs and into some new terrain, I’ve compiled a short list of tips and resources that will help you on your badlands journey. From staying organized to sewing warm-ups, I hope my tips give you the confidence to tackle the project.

Deciding on your next colour palette can be tricky, and if you're anything like me, you'll want to plan it out meticulously. Without being able to digitally colour-in my designs I'd probably print and fill-in a dozen colouring pages before landing on a direction. 

I'd like to save you some time, and give you confidence in your colour palette by sharing two simple tutorials on how to digitally colour your version of The Drop using Adobe Illustrator and Recolor App (free). 

When working on a FPP pattern it's worth organizing a workspace that allows you to flow freely between sewing, trimming and pressing. Here are some key points to consider when setting up your own space.

"Have you ever sewn a scrap onto a FPP template only to find that you missed covering the entire section when pressing it open? I’ve certainly had my fair share of these moments, so I’ve illustrated a simple technique that will eliminate the guesswork and give you the confidence to tackle the job."

Learn my technique by visiting Canadian Mod Quilt Collective's blog.

Click here to pre-order The Drop digital quilt pattern.