with Rob Appell
When you tune in to Man Sewing, you see only me and my sewing machine. But if I were to flip the camera around, you would discover an entire team of creative geniuses working together to make Man Sewing a success.
Today I’m working on a quilt that was designed by my good friend Heidi. As a talented member of the Man Sewing family, she is always coming up with cool project ideas. Click HERE to learn how to make Heidi’s Hexis Quilt!
Inspired by lumberjacks, cowboys, and Scottish warriors, the Buffalo Plaid Quilt is quite possibly the manliest quilt of all time.
This is the quilt you reach for after a chilly wood-chopping session. This is the quilt you sleep with in a snow cave carved with your bare hands. This is the quilt that will keep you warm after a long day of wrestling bears and alligators. It’s rugged stuff.
Of course, with a soft-as-butter flannel backing, it’s also super cuddly, and strip set construction makes it a cinch to put together. Click HERE to watch the tutorial.
(A big thanks to my pal, Shea Henderson, for sharing her awesome Buffalo Check pattern with me. Click HERE to take a peek at her website, Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio.)
The half-square triangle is one of the simplest elements of quilting; I can crank out entire stacks in my sleep! But the really cool thing is how versatile they are. No doubt a thousand years from now, we’ll still be using half-square triangles to make new and innovative designs, (Of course we’ll probably be able to control sewing machines with our minds by then.)
Today I’m working on the Stars, Stripes, and Diamonds Quilt. This design is packed with action, but it’s as easy as laying out your half-square triangles in the right order. Click HERE to watch the tutorial!
Rev up those sewing machines and get ready to stitch, cuz I’ve got two new FMQ motifs that are going to rock your holiday socks off!
Pumpkins and vines are perfect for all kinds of festive quilt projects. So crank up your favorite Halloween/ Thanksgiving/Christmas mix tape, and have a blast whipping up these cool little designs! Click HERE to watch the tutorial!
Half-square triangles are as basic as it gets, but that doesn’t mean they are boring. Those little easy-to-make blocks are so amazingly versatile, I’ll never stop building with ‘em.
Today’s project, Reflective Stars, is a modern mashup of simple and complex design elements. But because we’re using half-square triangles, construction is a cinch! Click HERE to watch the tutorial.
I’m a free motion kind of guy. My quilts are like blank canvases just waiting to be filled with pure creativity. But this week, I’m actually “coloring” inside the lines.
Free motion quilting on a panel is like target practice. As you stitch along the printed designs of your panel, you get a feel for the pace and movement of machine quilting. Bonus: because you’re practicing on a panel rather than scraps, you’ll end up with a totally useful quilted project. Click HERE to watch the vid!
A fidget quilt is outfitted with a variety of textures and moveable parts: prairie points, ric rac, pockets, velcro, zippers, you name it! It’s purpose is to occupy restless hands and soothe anxious minds – all while keeping your legs warm.
Fidget quilts can provide tons of comfort to individuals with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, and fiddling with those little parts and pieces is great exercise for the mind as well as the hands. (They are also great for kids and adults with ADHD, ADD, or autism.)
These quilts are super fun to make, and they bless the lives of those who receive them. Click HERE to watch the tutorial!
Do you remember making snowflakes in grade school? We’d fold the paper into an itty-bitty triangle, snip out shapes with little safety scissors, and then open it up to reveal a frosty masterpiece. Good times!
Today we’re kicking it back to those school days, but this time we’ve brought along our best sewing shears and a yard of batik. Click HERE to learn how to make an applique Snowflake Quilt!
Quilt-as-you-go is a nice change of pace for a quilter like me. I generally spend many happy hours piecing, sandwiching, and machine quilting my projects, but a quilt-as-you-go is finished in one step.
The top is actually built on a foundation of backing and batting, so the quilt is complete the minute the last piece is attached. Add a quick binding, and you’re ready for snuggle time! Click HERE to watch the vid!
I’ve got to admit, I’m a bit of a tree hugger. And with good reason!
Over the course of one year, a 100-foot-tall Oak can convert 50 pounds of carbon dioxide into 6,000 pounds of oxygen. That’s a lot of fresh air!
That same tree can sustain 284 species of insects, which, in turn, support countless birds and small mammals.
In short, trees are amazing! Click HERE to learn how to make my latest tree-inspired design, The Tree Hugger Quilt!