Recapping Quilt Canada 2025 - Saturday Afternoon

 

Free Motion Quilting with Stencils

I had a wonderfully busy day on Saturday at Quilt Canada 2025 with two sold-out workshops.

My afternoon workshop on Saturday was “Free Motion Quilting with Stencils".

Students had a wonderful afternoon learning how to use versatile and cost-effective quilting stencils to mark and stitch beautiful, detailed free motion quilting designs!

Thanks to Husqvarna VIKING Canada for providing the wonderful TOPAZ 50 machines for my classroom.

All designs were quilted with Konfetti 50 weight cotton from WonderFil Specialty Threads

Recap of Quilt Canada 2025 - Day 3

 

The Magic of Thread Painting

I had a wonderfully busy day on Saturday at Quilt Canada 2025 with two sold-out workshops.

First up in the morning was

“The Magic of Thread Painting"

Students learned:

The principles of using a photo editing program to simplify a photo that can be used to make a line drawing or appliqué pattern.

How to make a base image for thread painting with fusible appliqué.

Basic thread painting with a straight stitch, side motion zig zag, free motion satin stitch, slanted satin stitch, and open zig zag.

How to use a variety of different types and weights of thread.

Correct hand and body positioning and more.

It’s fabulous to see everyone just have fun and let the creativity flow!

Thanks to Husqvarna VIKING Canada for providing the wonderful TOPAZ 50 sewing and embroidery machines for my classroom.

Thank you to WonderFil Specialty Threads for making the custome thread kits for this workshop.

A Recap of Quilt Canada 2025 - Day 2

Inspired Free Motion Quilting

   

Fridays, full-day workshop at Quilt Canada 2025 was “Inspired Free Motion Quilting”.

Inspired Free Motion Quilting, class sample

Students learned how to use straight-line quilting (stitched with either a walking foot or ruler foot and template), to divide negative space into sections that add areas of calm to accent their free motion quilting.

They chose their favourite design from a variety of stencils to quilt the center of a table runner, then learned and stitched a simple background fill to quilt the area around the stencil.

To complete the runner, they learned how to stitch four of my exclusive, free motion quilting designs.

Everyone made wonderful progress and went home armed with the knowledge of how to complete their masterpieces.

Thank you to Husqvarna VIKING Canada for providing the beautiful TOPAZ 50, sewing and embroidery machines for my classroom.

Quilt Canada 2025 - A Quilty Sew & Tell

For "A Quilty Show and Tell", each of the participating Quilt Canada instructors were asked to present a fifteen-minute mini-workshop, trunk show, and PowerPoint, showcasing our quilting journey and what we do.

This is an incredibly fun and entertaining format, kind of like a quilter's version of speed dating!

Presenters were myself (Julie Plotniko), Brett Lewis, Ruth Ann Berry, Tina Harris, Celeste Compion, Orbital Quilting (Aline and Natasha Bugarin), Tamara Kate Serroa, and Ana Buzzalino

A Recap of Quilt Canada 2025 - Day 1

Free Form Botanical Quilting With Applique`

Thursday’s all-day workshop at Quilt Canada 2025 was Free Form Botanical Quilting with Appliqué. 

Students learned how to stitch some basic, botanical-inspired, free motion quilting designs such as leaves, ferns, and vines, then took it to a whole new level with the addition of raw edge appliqué, three-dimensional appliqué’s and coloring selected design elements.

 

Even though many of the students were new to free motion quilting, they all trusted me and jumped in with enthusiasm.

As you can see, everyone did an amazing job!

My thanks to Husqvarna VIKING Canada for supplying the beautiful  DESIGNER TOPAZ 50  sewing (and embroidery) machines for my classroom.

They free motion quilt like a dream.

I absolutly loved teaching this group and can't wait to see their finished projects.

Julies Name Game - New Free Motion Quilting Design #438

New Free Motion Quilting Design #438, "Feather Duster"

This new, free motion quilting design, inspired by an antique bracelet that I purchased at a local thrift shop several years ago, has been named.

The winner was chosen by popular vote (Facebook & Instagram), with a little help from a random name picker, at 6:00 PM (PDT) on Sunday, August 3, 2025.

This design is now called “Feather Duster”.

Thank you and congratulations to Judith Cane from Sackville, New Brunswick for suggesting this wonderful, winning name.
WOW, that’s two weeks in a row Judith.

Julies Name Game - New Free Motion Quilting Design #437

New Free Motion Quilting Design #437, "Basil Leaves"

This new, free motion quilting design has been named.

The winner was chosen by popular vote (Facebook & Instagram) with a little help from a random name picker, at 6:00 PM (PDT) on Sunday, July 27, 2025.

This design is now called “Basil Leaves”.

Thank you and congratulations to Judith Cane for suggesting this wonderful, winning name!

Judith is from Sackville, New Brunswick.

Join in on all the fun and follow me on Facebook and Instagram.