New Pattern – Bundle Up Holiday Coasters

Posted in Gift Ideas, Home Accessories, Patterns for Sale, Published by lorimillerdesigns

Hello Friends! I have a new pattern available called Bundle Up Holiday Coasters. Featuring four mix and match designs, these super cute little guys are the perfect last minute homemade gift. All of the designs are centered around my Bundle Up for Winter theme, a mitten, stocking, Knit Cap and Turtleneck with Sweater Vest.

This pattern started out with the Mini Mitten which was published by itself in Modern Patchwork Gifts back in 2016. It was so cute, I had to add a few more coaster designs to create a collection.

Want to add a little pizazz to your coasters? Try fussy cutting and piecing the sweater vest with adorable prints like these. You can go crazy creating these. For these coasters, I quilted by using straight stitch quilting on the diagonal with a walking foot about 1/4″ apart.

Need to whip up the coasters in a jiffy, go for the simple stocking and just a 3 way color scheme. Those polkadots are just too cheery. Again I am straight line quilting with a walking foot, this time straight up and down.

These coasters don’t take much fabric either, you could easily make them with your holiday fabric scraps.

The pattern is available now in my Etsy Shop HERE.

If you like this pattern, check out my other holiday patterns below:

Gingerbread House Ornament, Gift Card Holder and Pincushion Pattern

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Stitching!

3Dec2021

Published – Santa Baby Door Hanger

Posted in Published by lorimillerdesigns

USED WITH PERMISSION FROM QUILTS & MORE™. ©2021 MEREDITH CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

HO HO HO! Santa Claus is coming to town! This adorable Santa Baby Door Hanger is a festive way to celebrate the season. I am so proud to have it featured in Quilts & More Magazine. It is made with wool felt applique and embellishments. A great gift idea for friends and family too.

My Santa Baby Door Hanger is featured in the Winter 2022 issue of Better Homes & Gardens Quilts & More Magazine available now.

I designed this little project with my trusty EQ8 Quilt Design Software.

I designed this little project with my trusty EQ8 Quilt Design Software. I used it to create the little applique shapes and the background piecing. I love that you can add or remove a seam allowance around the applique shapes depending on the applique technique you are using.

The little guy really starts to take shape as you add embellishements like buttons, pom pom and the fuzzy wool felt I found for the beard and mustache.

The extra fringe, pom pom trim and ribbon loop add to the holiday charm.

You can find the pattern and instructions in the Winter 2022 Issue of Quilts & More.

Happy Stitching!

2Aug2021

Published – Autumn Aglow Quilt

Posted in Published by lorimillerdesigns

I think it is too early to think of fall, yet here I come with a colorful fall quilt call Autumn Aglow. This gorgeous quilt is reminiscent of falling leaves. The large block is simple to piece and when put together creates a unique tesselating quilt design. I love the cheery fall colors.

Featured in the September/ October 2021 issue of Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine, this issue is full of delightful fall, leafy projects… including my Autumn Aglow quilt.

I used blender cottons called Canvas by Deborah Edwards for Northcott. The blenders are perfect for creating the maple leaf pattern in the blocks.

I designed this quilt with EQ8 Quilt Design Software. It made it so easy to try different colors and draw up the blocks.

This quilt uses only four colors and you only make multiples of these two blocks for the design. Looks complicated but it is super easy.

Photo courtesy of Fons & Porter Love of Quilting Magazine, Quiltingdaily.com Copyright 2021

I used an allover edge to edge maple leaf design. The batting is Tuscany Cotton/Wool batting 80/20 generously provided by Hobbs. This is my favorite batting as the loft really shows off the quilting.

Pick up a copy of Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting September/October issue for my pattern and more information.

Happy Stitching!

9Jun2021

Published – Peabody Pouch

Posted in Finished Projects, Gift Ideas, Published by lorimillerdesigns

Hot off the Press! I am delighted to share my Scrappy Peabody Pouches! These cute little pouches feature a unique shaped top that opens wide to fill with whatever goodies you like. I used color coordinated scraps from the stash to create these little cuties.

Featured in the July 2021 issue of American Quilter Magazine, this issue is loaded with lots of fun projects…including my Peabody Pouches.

I pieced the scrappy half square triangles and then used scrap linen from the stash for the body of the pouch.

I stitched the zipper right on curved top of the pouch to create the unique shape.

I quilted right through the lining and just used binding to hide the raw edges on the inside.

That curved top helps the bag open wider to really fill it up whether you use for cosmetics, quilting notions or essential chocolate.

You can stitch up a whole group of little Peabody pouches for gifts or just make something special for yourself. They make great assembly line sewing, so make up a pile of them.

Grab a copy of the latest issue or head over to Americanquilter.com to get a digital copy.

Happy Stitching!

17Jan2021

Published – Cool Waters Quilt

Posted in EQ8, Finished Projects, Published by lorimillerdesigns

I am pleased to share my Cool Waters Quilt that is published in the January 2021 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine. This throw size quilt is a block full of triangles. It is easy to piece and I love the calming color way.

This is the cover of the January issue to look for. It is packed with great projects to sew this winter.

Here is the full Cool Waters quilt in all its glory. I loved the way a secondary pattern appeared in the design as the blocks were sewn together. By limiting the fabric choices, I think it seems crisper and simpler even with all those triangles.

I designed my quilt with EQ8 Quilt Design Software. It is a regular pieced quilt block. It makes it so easy to try different fabrics and combinations of colors. I could add or remove blocks until I got the size of quilt that I wanted.

Here are all my stacks of pieces. EQ8 gave me a handy rotary cutting guide to help cut all the patch shapes. I print it out and scribble all over it as I cut things out and take notes.

I Pieced the larger triangle modules first to make it easier to assemble.

This is a common scene when I am in the middle of a project. Pieces of fabric and notions everywhere!

I used free motion quilting to quilt a paisley all over design on this quilt to finish it off. I usually quilt on a Bernina domestic machine.

Please tag me on instagram @lorimillerdesigns or on facebook @lorimillerdesigns. I would love to see your version!

Happy Stitching!

5Jun2020

Published – Welcome Neighbor Table Topper

Posted in Finished Projects, Gift Ideas, Home Accessories, Published by lorimillerdesigns

In the August 2020 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine, you will find my latest design. It is a table topper of little rainbow paper pieced houses. I used a linen background and colorful fabrics from my stash to make this little cutie. It is a great gift idea to celebrate a new home, welcome new friends or just spiff up your own table.

Here is the cover of the August issue to look for, there are lots of fun projects in this issue just in time for summer sewing.

I designed my topper in EQ8 Quilt Design Software. It is a foundation paper pieced design that would be great for an intermediate quilter or a dedicated beginner. I find starting on paper pieced projects that are smaller is a great way to try out this technique.

I played with a lot of different color ideas, EQ8 Quilt design software makes it easy to do that, try on different fabrics and styles. Here is another color way that I played with in EQ8.

I used foundation patterns created with #EQ8 to make each of the eight sections of the quilt. This section is the top of the house.

i just took my time carefully pressing and trimming. I did not want to handle too much to keep the linen edges from fraying.

I always think it is a little weird to sew upside down and backwards, lol, but the precise stitching lines it creates are so worth it.

Here is one of the 8 little house wedges all put together. Ignore my well used ironing board cover. I will have to make a new cover one of these days.

I did assembly line sewing for each section. I just love how they take shape.

I stitch the wedges into pairs aligning the seams. Then I sew the four sections of the block together to make half of the table topper. I then sew the two half together and press seams open.

I used a combination of walking foot quilting and free motion quilting on the topper. It is small enough that you can experiment with some detail to get the lovely texture.

I would love to see your version, just tag me on facebook or instagram @lorimillerdesigns

I love a good table topper. Check out my other designs on these posts.

Welcome Home Pineapple Topper information can be found HERE.

If you are new to paper piecing, you might like to try my Stardrop Table Topper first. I have a free tutorial HERE.

Please tag me on instagram @lorimillerdesigns or on facebook @lorimillerdesigns. I would love to see your version!

Happy Stitching!

10Apr2020

Published – Welcome Home Pineapple Table Topper

Posted in EQ8, Finished Projects, Home Accessories, Published by lorimillerdesigns

In the May 2020 issue of American Quilter Magazine, you will find my latest design. It is a stunning table topper made with Princess Palette Batik by Mirah. This palette of batiks acts like blenders and is the perfect combination of colors for the design. This sunny Pineapple represents warm welcomes, celebration and hospitality and is perfect to welcome guests or gift to a friend.

I was able to import the Princess Palette Batik fabrics right into EQ8 to mock up a realistic picture of my design. I could try different colors before I had to cut into that precious fabric. Batik by Mirah generously provided all of the fabrics. They have some beautiful fabrics that you should definitely consider for your next project. Batik by Mirah

I used foundation patterns created with #EQ8 to make each of the eight sections of the quilt.

It is a lot of stitching, pressing and cutting, but the result really starts to take shape.

Here, I am trimming the sewn foundation.

Then I stitched the four sections of the block together.

The individual blocks come together to create one pineapple. There are 8 blocks needed to make the topper.

I sewed four blocks together to make half the topper and then stitched the two halves together.

I use a water soluble pen to mark the quilting designs on the topper. I wanted to stitch little feathers in the background.

Then I stitched cross hatching in the pineapples.

Here is a closeup of the quilting after it was finished and washed. I love that crinkly texture!

I would love to see your version, just tag me on facebook or instagram @lorimillerdesigns

Happy Stitching!

16Nov2018

Published – Connect the Curves (Cirque)

Posted in Finished Projects, Published by lorimillerdesigns

My Connect the Curves (Cirque) quilt has been published in the December 2018 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting

There are a lot of amazing quilts in this issue and I am so proud to be a part of it.

As usual, I designed this bold quilt with Electric Quilt design software. I started with a regular drunkards path block, super sized it and then made a few adjustments to create the swirling effect.

I used templates that I created with #EQ8 to cut out all of the curved pieces in my quilt. I generously received beautiful fabric from American Made Brand fabrics.

Stitching the curves on these 10″ blocks is easier than you think because of the size.

I use a 3 pin method and stitch from the outside to the center. Then I flip and stitch from the other end to the center adjusting the curve if needed.

The individual blocks come together to create a 20″ wide swirling center.

Does this happen to you? I can piece all day in quiet, but as soon as I start quilting, I get a furry helper. Cookie, you make it a little difficult to use the walking foot!

I tried some echo quilting around the curves of the center quilting about 1 ” apart to accentuate the motion.

Then I did some free motion feathers and free motion fill to finish up the negative space on the sides. You know I love the texture!

I hope you enjoyed getting a little behind the scenes view of my process on this lovely quilt.

Happy Stitching!

14Sep2018

Published – EQ8 Designing More Quilts

Posted in EQ8, Published by lorimillerdesigns

I am honored to have a Chapter in the new EQ8 book, Designing More Quilts from the Electric Quilt Company. I have been partnering with the Electric Quilt Company to share quilt design lessons on their DoYouEq,com blog for both EQ Mini and EQ8 for a couple of years. Many of you have made those designs with the tutorials I offer right here on my Lori Miller Designs Blog.

I have the privilege of joining many EQ Experts who share their Quilt Design Tricks in this book. They include lessons on creating Medallion quilts, panel quilts, baby block quilts and more.

I wrote Chapter 3 Creating Modern Quilt Layouts with Alternate Gridwork. Wow, that’s a mouth full but it includes a chapter jam packed with ideas to use EQ8 to create modern elements like asymmetry, exaggerated scale, negative space and minimalism in your quilt designs.

There are lots of tricks to creatively use borders, horizontal layouts, whole top designs and clever block placement to create beautiful designs.

I finish with ideas to use the built-in Irregular grids provided by EQ8 to add to your design toolbox.

It’s a fun lesson if you are exploring modern quilt design concepts using the tools that came with your software. My lesson is just a jumping off point to highlight design tips you might not have thought of or tools with EQ8 you have not used before.

EQ8 has other books that might be of interest to you.

A couple of my favorites are the EQ 8 Block library book (You can peruse all of the free blocks that come with the software at your leisure, it is great inspiration too!)

and the first design book, EQ8 Designing Quilts.

For more information on the EQ8 Designing More Quilts book, you can visit Electric Quilt HERE.

Happy Quilt Designing!

7Feb2018

Published – Cookie Cat

Posted in Finished Projects, Home Accessories, Published by lorimillerdesigns

MEOW! Cookie Cat is here, my latest quilt made to celebrate my sweet kitty, Cookie.

You can find this fun little quilt in the March 2018 issue of American Quilter Magazine. This magazine is published by the American Quilt Society (AQS).

Note: If any of you would like to join AQS in February, you will get access to the March digital issue as soon as you join, plus you can get 6 additional issues, a full year, in print. Also, if you join and log into americanquilter.com, all AQS members have digital access to ALL American Quilter magazines back to 2013. I just happen to be a member, so I though I would share.

Here is the real Cookie Cat, he loves to help me with my quilting.

As usual, I designed this cutie with Electric Quilt design software. It makes the process easy and I had quite a few iterations on this block until I got it where I liked it.

I started quilting at my cottage in Northern Michigan. I have a well used Featherweight Singer up there and it pieces a quilt quite nicely.

I generously received cotton solid fabric from American Made Brand to make this sweet quilt. The pieces are sized at five inches so they are charm square friendly too.

There are two variations in the colors for the blocks. These are large 18″ blocks. I love a large block, easy to sew, easy to have a large quilt quickly.

Here is my fancy light box at the cottage. Yes, its a window from the second story, so I have a lovely pine tree backdrop. I just taped the template to the window and then moved the block to where I wanted the face and taped the block to the window. Then I traced with a water soluble marker. Once I had the face on, I hand embroidered the whiskers. The little nose is a piece of fleece.

I went a little crazy with the quilting. I wanted to try out my Babylock Jazz on a larger quilt. It may look like a jumble, but the large throat made it easy to do free motion quilting and the walking foot quilting.

Here you can get a better idea of all of the quilting. I made the tiny swirls so tiny around the kitty, that took me forever. Next time, I will make those babies just a bit bigger to get it done sooner. I cant complain too much, I do love all that texture it creates, especially since the kitty is so basic.

I have enough scraps to make a baby quilt with just four blocks. That just might be a great idea if you want to try this block but not make a twin size quilt. Just one block would make a super cute pillow too.

Happy Stitching!

21Jan2018

Published – Concentric

Posted in Finished Projects, Published by lorimillerdesigns

I am proud to introduce my quilt, Concentric, which is published in Modern Quilts Unlimited Issue 22.

And I am thrilled to be listed as a top designer with some other great quilters right on the cover highlighting the circles under Geometric Gems. Step into my studio for a little peek into behind the scenes of making this quilt.

I had the idea of concentric circles of color gradations and started with the traditional drunkards path block and turned it up a notch. I used large 12″ blocks to really show off the colors. Electric Quilt Software made it easy to try a few things with the design until I really liked it.

You start with the center in the lighter tone and then keep sewing each round of color for the block. I used Michael Miller Cotton Couture Solids for the fabric.

To create the middle double blocks, you cleverly cut a finished block to add another set of color.

The fit together perfectly and you just stitch like you were sewing on another drunkards path round.

Just a picture of the teal and blue colors at the ironing board. I was helping them with a little starch.

Here is my original design out of Electric Quilt. I thought the borders added something and the pops of purple added some color to the asymmetric pattern.

All of those open squares were hollering for some extra quilting so I chose a unique design for each one. I think I went though about 8 reference books I had for free motion quilting to find all of the ones I liked. Then it was ready for some pin basting.

I went bonkers with the quilting using my Babylock Jazz. I just wanted to try everything out. I did a lot of marking to try a few new things. I really wanted a lot of texture.

Of course, Cookie cat comes running whenever I quilt and thinks he needs to ride along. It can make things difficult but he is so furry purry, I can’t complain.

Here you can see that wonderful texture after washing the quilt. The designs in the squares show pretty well too.

Another view of the finished quilting.

I hope you enjoyed your behind the scenes tour.

Happy Stitching!

19Dec2017

Published – Viewfinders Eye Glass Cases

Posted in Gift Ideas, Published by lorimillerdesigns

I have been published again, this time it is a fun quilt project, paper pieced eyeglass cases with the title Viewfinders.

These fun eyeglass cases are published in the 2018 Winter Quilts and More magazine issue.

It features a great beginner paper pieced flap of little flying geese. I used Electric Quilt to design it. Then I used linen for the body, scraps of batting for the inside and a color coordinated binding.

Just the flap is paper pieced so it would make a great beginner project to learn paper piecing. It also makes a great eyeglass case for a gift.

You can easily use your scraps to make these adorable cases. Happy Stitching!

15Dec2017

Published – Beach Glass Quilt

Posted in Finished Projects, Published by lorimillerdesigns

I am so excited to be published again. This large block quilt in beach glass hues captures the feel of sand and surf while the snowflakes swirl outside.

And I was surprised to find that I am a cover girl too. Beach glass was featured on the cover of the 2017 International Quilt Festival Magazine.

I designed this large 18″ block with Electric Quilt Software. I wanted to show off the turquoise and sea green colors of the fabric with larger pieces. And I wanted a pretty simple block to put together.

Here is an assembled block. It really shows all of the low volume grey fabric scraps I was using. They just had to be a lighter grey and I used both cream and white tones.

I started out with this large quilt design but ultimately decided to downsize it to a throw that was 3 x 4 blocks.

I hand marked the quilt with ideas I had for quilting. I just use a water soluble marker to put the designs on the fabric. If I am going to quilt right away, I sometime use the disappearing ink one.

I decided to try to mimic the medallion shape into the grey center shapes that formed when the blocks were put together.

My new Babylock Jazz sewing machine made it easy to quilt with that extra large throat. I was able to free motion almost the whole thing.

Here you can see that wonderful texture after washing the quilt.

Another view of the finished quilting.

I think this is one of my favorites! Thanks for letting me share. Happy Stitching!

31Mar2017

Published – Baby Raccoon Bandit Quilt

Posted in Finished Projects, Gift Ideas, Published by lorimillerdesigns

This little sweet Baby Quilt with the Raccoon Bandit has been published in Fons and Porter’s Easy Quilts Summer 2017 Magazine. I am happy to share this cozy little cutie with you.

My girlfriend called to say she had received her newest issue and had found my original pattern. It is always a nice surprise since you make your quilt months in advance for the Magazine and have to wait for the published issue to arrive.

I used EQ7 to design this quilt. I was able to upload swatches of the actual fabric I was going to use and get a good idea of what the quilt would look like. Northcott Fabrics generously provided the material which was a gorgeous, heavy weight flannel. I used prints from TeePee Time by Deborah Edwards that had a super cute little raccoon in the design and I coordinated with Toscana flannels also by Deborah Edwards that has a nice mottled look that blends well with the prints. These sewed and washed up beautifully and they have a very nice hand feel.

For this quilt, because I had some interesting piecing directions I wanted to try, I made a prototype quilt. And I made him super modern, a blue raccoon!

I print out the rotary cutting directions from EQ7 and then I adjust them based upon how I want to assemble the quilt using my quilting knowledge. I like to avoid bias edges and make things as easy as possible to assemble. So I write up all my notes as I sew.

Here is my Baby Blue Bandit. It just gives you an idea of how by just changing colors, you can make lots of different styles from one pattern.

I used some simple constructions shortcuts to make this giant 20″ block even faster. There is only one template for the ears. I loved this cute little critter, I hope you enjoy making one too!

Thanks for letting me share! Happy Stitching!

19Mar2017

Published – Steppin’ Up Quilt

Posted in Finished Projects, Home Accessories, Modern Quilt Guild, Published by lorimillerdesigns

I am pleased to share my latest published Quilt, Steppin’ Up in the 2017 issue of Quiltcon Magazine. It arrived mid-February so I am a little behind in sharing this striking beauty.

I had an idea of a step ladder and all the possibilities of meaning that is could represent. It could symbolically represent a promotion, taking charge or great success.

I started out designing my pillow with Electric Quilt 7, quilt design software. It really made it easy to bring my design to life. I wanted it to be asymmetric to create movement and interest.

I also made it easy with 2 1/2″ strips to put together. you need to use a good 1/4″ seam. It is important or you may spend an entire evening ripping out over 100 seams to sew over again. Don’t ask me how I know.