Finishing Quilts Faster: My tips

Hi there, and welcome to my stop on the Fabulously Fast Quilts and Quilting Tips Blog Tour!

Fabulously Fast Quilts is a new book by Amy Smart, the incredibly sweet and talented blogger behind Diary of a Quilter. What a great concept for a book, right? I mean, who wouldn't love to be able to finish more quilts? Fabulously Fast Quilts is filled not only with ingenious methods for quick quilting, like strip piecing and "stack, slice, and shuffle," but 12 patterns to make use of all those speedy tricks.

There are so many beautiful patterns in this book, but this one, "Modern Buzz Saw," is probably my favorite.

"Crossing Guard" is another highlight.To celebrate the release of Fabulously Fast Quilts, Amy has asked each of us bloggers to share our own favorite time-saving tip. For me, working quickly means making the best possible use of my time. When I get in a groove and I'm flying through some chain piecing or free-motion quilting, I really hate to be interrupted by something like a bobbin running out!

So I love pre-winding my bobbins when I start a project. Especially for quilting, when stopping to wind a bobbin especially feels like a disruption, to stop, pull the whole quilt off my machine, and unthread it so I can wind a bobbin.

Having a bunch of pre-wound bobbins sitting there, ready whenever you are, is a great way to keep your momentum going. And that actually leads right into another tip, which is: Try to stick with the same brand, type, and weight of thread at all times if possible. Using different thread in the bobbin from what you're using on top can cause tension problems, requiring you to stop and mess with the settings on your machine. Keep your thread consistent to save headaches and time.You can pick up a copy of Amy's book right here. And keep following along with the Fabulously Fast Quilts blog tour to read more tips from bloggers, all week long!Monday April 28 Sachiko Aldous of Tea Rose HomeApril Rosenthal of April RosenthalJennifer Mathis of Ellison LaneTuesday April 29Jen Wilding Cardon of Stitch This! Martingale BlogAmy Ellis of Amy’s Creative SideLori Holt of Bee in my BonnetWednesday April 30 Faith Jones of Fresh Lemons QuiltsMelissa Mortenson of PolkaDot ChairAmy Gibson of Stitchery Dickory DockThursday May 1 Me! Lee Heinrich of Freshly PiecedLynne Goldsworthy of Lily’s QuiltsJeni Baker of In Color OrderFriday May 2 Katie Blakesley of Swim Bike QuiltLindsay Conner of Craft BudsSherri McConnell of A Quilting Life