Happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day is here and we hope it’s filled with joy, and perhaps, a bit of quilting! We’re thrilled to share exciting news about our new blog, packed with a plethora of new videos and articles, all designed to assist you on your quilting journey.



Just wanted to share some exciting news about my brand-new quilting room! It’s kitted out with a top-notch Q’nique 21X Elite and an impressive eight-foot Evolution Elite quilting frame. Having seen Kathy’s setup, I was inspired to create my own creative haven. As I’ve observed, it seems many of us quilters tend to save our own machines for smaller projects, perhaps feeling a bit timid about creating that dream quilt. It’s like we’re great at piecing together a stunning quilt top, but then hand over the quilting process to someone else. I’m pretty good at quilting, but I’m keen to hone my skills with our KathyQuilts training series. My aim? To bravely tackle customer quilts as well as my own! 

Looking forward, KathyQuilts is keen on developing more training videos in 2024 to help you conquer those seemingly elusive` techniques. We firmly believe that with enough practice and training, anyone can outshine their local quilting community. It’s true that many pros or shops stick to standard patterns, so where can you go when custom quilting is the perfect way to showcase your quilt’s unique character? Kathy and Lynn Barlow are ready to help you master your machine quilting system, so you can relish the satisfaction of finishing your own quilts!

We’re buzzing with excitement to share a rainbow of quilting techniques with you! Help us shape your learning journey – be it Free-Motion Quilting, Automated Quilting, or even Edge-to-edge quilting with a laser. Got a soft spot for Feathers or other fill patterns? We’ve got you covered! Your feedback will guide our next video creations.

Kickstart your quilting business with us! With Kathy’s 26 years of expertise and over 4,000 customer quilts under her belt, we’re ready to guide you. Learn to partner with local quilt shops, create a profitable part-time venture, dodge common business pitfalls, and attract new customers. Join us to quilt your way to success!

We’re thrilled to announce that all your questions will be answered for FREE, for now! We’re planning a paid subscription and need your help. What do you think would be a fair monthly fee? We value your ideas, they can help us make this subscription worth your while!

Keep quilting!

How to troubleshoot machine quilting tension issues

This is a quick post that will help you when trying to troubleshoot tension or other issues that you might encounter when machine quilting. Whether you are using a Gammill, Q’nique, Block RockiT, or other brand of quilting machine, thread tension seems to be right at the top when people encounter issues that frustrate the Heck out of them.

A troubleshooting journal is just what you need to figure out how you fixed something the last time it occurred. Find a notebook that you can dedicate to machine quilting and have three headings, Symptom, Remedy, Result. You can name them whatever you want to but you want to keep track of what happened, i.e. I have looping on the back of my quilt. What did you do to fix it? Changed my needle. Result: it didn’t fix the problem. If you already knew the answer, you needed to tighten the top tension until the loops go away then you would be correct. If you didn’t know that answer then you learned something new. If you keep this quilting (troubleshooting) journal it will save you tons of time. After your find a solution for the symptom, then write a date on it and us a highlighter so you know that issue is closed.

    This is a simple little hint but it can be very helpful.

    2024 is going to a great year to quilt!

    Kathy and I are so excited to figure out how to best share our knowledge about machine quilting and about the awesome products that are made by the Grace Company. We want to have a new “Review” category so that when we try out a new product we can show you how to use it and give you our honest opinion so you can figure out if it is a product you need to own. We are learning about how to use this blog and will fine tune it so that you have a great experience when you read our posts. Please comment and let us know any topics that you would like us to cover.

    Our Jeep Wrangler and Geo Pro Trailer and the places we love to camp!
    Our Jeep Wrangler and Geo Pro Trailer and the places we love to camp!

    KathyQuilts Pro Quilting Tips

    Kathy and I are so excited to have a new blog that we can share our knowledge with you about how to get started quilting so you can get more enjoyment out of your quilting machine setup.

    We will cover basics of:

    • machine quilting
    • intermediate
    • Free Motion quilting
    • Edge to Edge Pantograph Patterns
    • Growing a Machine Quilting Business

    We hope you will post questions or comments so others can learn as well as you.