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Click here for an interview with Leah Day about her quilt, "Release Your Light." What inspired this quilt? What does Release Your Light mean? What parts are fabric and what is painted? (Is a bed sheet involved?)

Do you know about Quilters' S.O.S, created by the Quilt Alliance?

Here's their definition:

Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories (Q.S.O.S.) creates, through recorded interviews, a broadly accessible body of information concerning quiltmaking, both present-day and in living memory, for scholarship and exhibition. This grassroots project continually captures the voices and stories of quiltmakers and posts the transcribed interviews here. Our downloadable how-to Manual has everything you need to conduct your own Q.S.O.S. interviews. Our archive for the original audio recordings and photographs is the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

Star Members can also learn more about Leah in Show 1712: Free Motion Practice Makes Perfect.

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At WeAllSew.com, Annie Smith of simplearts.com shares some free-motion warm-up exercise tips.  She uses these warm-ups to test batting, thread and presser foot options.

Star Members can watch Annie in Show 209: Fabric Detective.

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During our Stash Buster series, we shared a tip for making fabric twine using your scrap fabric.  Go retro this Holiday Season and keep things simple.  Make your own Candy Cane Twine that will bust your scrap stash (which leaves room for more fabric shopping!) AND looks great on presents wrapped in brown paper.  MyPoppetMakes has all the details to get you going.

Love the idea and have more scraps to use up? Brighten up the floor in your space here.

Add a fabric collage card (from Sue Bleiweiss on our Projects Page) to the gift
and you are really chipping away at that stash, while creating a unique and personal touch.

Watch Sue Bleiweiss' show (1608)

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Leah Day began free-motion quilting a decade ago, and has spent a lot of hours making it look easy.  Her ease and fluidity did not come naturally, but she certainly makes it look as if she was born to quilt!  Leah shares her journey from novice quilter to the stunning patterns she produces today.  Her online teaching via her blog outlines how to get started with simple designs, how to move to more complicated patterns, and when to set aside a design that isn’t working.  She discusses the process start to finish, from sketching ideas on paper to hiding threads at the end. 

Then it's Laura Gaskin's turn to demonstrate her amazing and intricate embroidery pieces, many of which are inspired by nature.  Laura does all her embroidery by hand, then finishes many pieces with a fabric border.

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This is a quilting bee in Douglas County, MO. Watching this video will make you appreciate the community that is involved in making a quilt, and looking at some of the handwork on the quilts will demonstrate this Ozark community's dedication to its work.

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A TQS Member shared this recipe from Sue Spargo's newsletter.  "Angel" chicken seems just right for the holidays, but you might have a devil of time fitting into your clothes after you eat it.

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Enjoy some seasonal quilts from the Gallery, made by TQS Members.

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Leah Day walks you through her quilting studio. She shows you how she stores tools, supplies, and fabric for quilting. She also shows you how she organizes sewing patterns, fusible applique, AccuQuilt cutting dies, fabric, fat quarters, unfinished projects, thread, and more, in this video showcasing Leah's basement kitchen and sewing room studio.

Star Members can watch Leah in Show 1712: Free-Motion Practice Makes Perfect, which debuts Monday, December 7, 2015.

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Leah Day began free-motion quilting a decade ago, and has spent a lot of hours making it look easy.  Her ease and fluidity did not come naturally, but she certainly makes it look as if she was born to quilt!  Leah shares her journey from novice quilter to the stunning patterns she produces today.  Her online teaching via her blog outlines how to get started with simple designs, how to move to more complicated patterns, and when to set aside a design that isn’t working.  She discusses the process start to finish, from sketching ideas on paper to hiding threads at the end.  Afterwards, Laura Gaskin demonstrates her amazing and intricate embroidery pieces, many of which are inspired by nature.  Laura does all her embroidery by hand, then finishes many pieces with a fabric border.

Show 1712: Free-Motion Practice Makes Perfect debuts on Monday, December 7, 2015.

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Alex and Ricky never use cue cards on the set of TQS, so sometimes it takes a few tries to get things right.  Particularly when the ears don't cooperate.  Here's a little bit of fun with our hosts.