By Kathryn – Quilt for Joy

Patchwork baby quilt

Published on April 15, 2026April 24, 2026 by Kathryn Strasser1 Comment

This afternoon I finished long-arm machine quilting a baby quilt that my younger sister pieced. It is a fun mix of blues, golds, and peach fabrics in a variety of patterns.

My sister left it up to me to choose the over-all quilting design and I chose double loops, one of my favorite designs for baby quilts, especially quilts that have a lot of pattern and color in the fabrics.

As part of the design I also stitched the name of the baby one to the quilt in a square that wasn’t too patterned. Adding a name to a quilt is a fun way to add personalization and can be done in various ways.

For this quilt, I transitioned from the over-all double loops into cursive lettering and then continued the double loops. I went back after finishing the over-all design to dot the “I” and cross the ‘T.”

I really enjoy long-arm quilting baby quilts. They have some of the cutest fabrics, and helping my clients finish a sweet baby gift brings me so much joy! I hope the mom-to-be and the baby that this quilt are going to feel joy when they use this precious little quilt!

Do you have a quilt top ready for machine quilting? Get in touch with me to discuss my long-arm quilting services!

Using loops as an over-all quilting design

Published on April 14, 2026April 14, 2026 by Kathryn Strasser1 Comment

Loops are an excellent choice as an over-all quilting design! They are simple enough to avoid distracting from the quilt piecing, but they add movement and texture to the finished quilt.

Using loops is one of my go-to long-arm machine quilting designs to use on baby quilts because of the playfulness this design adds to the quilt.

The picture below is of a baby quilt I machine quilted for my grandma several years ago. She embroidered the cross stitch blocks and my mom helped her piece them together with the colored boarders. On the long-arm machine I outlined the embroidered animals and blocks and then filled in the rest of the quilt with loops.

Variations of over-all loops

In addition to single loops used in an over-all pattern, I sometimes use variations of loops to create different looks. Below is an example of a double loop. This variation gives more texture and visual interest than a basic loop and is a fun way to add more dimension to the quilting design.

Another variation on over-all loops is the quilt a loop and then stich in a circular pattern around the loops one or more times to create a spiral look. This design works well on quilts that have a lot of straight edges or angles in the piecing as it gives softness and motion to the finished quilt.

Do you have a quilt top you have had finished with a loop design, or one you are piecing that loops would be a good choice as an over-all quilting design for? I would love to hear about your project in the comments below!

Red, White and Blue

Published on May 4, 2023May 9, 2023 by Kathryn StrasserLeave a comment

Summer is just around the corner, and this client’s quilt is perfect for the 4th of July!

Long-arm machine quilted swirls on a 4th of July inspired quilt

My client left it up to me to decide which long-arm machine quilting design to finish this quilt with. Because the quilt top has lots of triangle and chevron shapes, I chose a pattern with curves to compliment the straight lines. Swirls fit that description and they also make me think of sparklers on the 4th of July.

Quilted swirls compliment the straight lines in the quilt top

In addition to the red, white, and blue top of this quilt, my client also pieced the quilt back. A pieced back is a great way to use up the scrap fabric from piecing your quilt top, and gives your quilt a unique look on both sides. If you choose to make a pieced back for your next quilt, be sure to make the backing 4 to 6 inches bigger than your quilt top on all sides so it can be mounted properly on the long-arm machine for quilting.

Warmer weather this week, and working on this 4th of July inspired quilt have me in a summer mood!

Do you display seasonal quilts in your home, or quilts that fit your home décor year round?

A Classic Pattern – Sunbonnet Sue

Published on June 21, 2017 by Kathryn StrasserLeave a comment

This quilt top from a new client was a joy to work with! The Sunbonnet Sue block is a classic pattern and makes for a lovely quilt. Everything about this quilt from the fabrics to the design to the impeccable applique work was perfection!

My client wanted a softer look with the custom long-arm quilting and chose an over-all loops pattern like the one on this baby quilt. It compliments the block piecing pattern very well!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to add custom quilting to wonderful quilts like this one that my clients have put so much time and effort into. One of my favorite parts is seeing how the long-arm quilting makes a pieced quilt top look and feel like a quilt. The more I custom long-arm quilt for myself and others, the more I love quilts of all patterns and sizes!

Thanks for visiting the blog today – I hope to see you here again soon for photos and stories of more fun quilts that come across the quilting machine in the upcoming weeks!

~ Kathryn

Embroidered Frogs

Published on April 25, 2017 by Kathryn Strasser1 Comment

I smiled so much while working with this fun quilt! I absolutely love these little embroidered frogs!

This unique quilt crossed my path several months ago when one of my neighbors from back home reached out to my mom and I to see if we could help make a quilt from the embroidered blocks that she had found when helping her mother sort belongings.

My neighbor asked me piece a simple lattice in a darker fabric color to allow the light yellow blocks to pop out. A green boarder finished the design.

When I mounted this quilt on the long-arm machine I decided to custom machine quilt a pattern of echoed swirls intended to mimic water. I am happy with the motion the quilting adds to this quilt, and the way it works with the frog emphasis.

I love quilts because they tell stories. This quilt has so many stories, some known and some unknown, sewn up in these adorable embroidered frog blocks. They are the stories of the women who gathered to share life together. I am privileged to have played a small part in preserving these embroidered blocks in a completed quilt.

~ By Kathryn

T-Shirt Quilts 2.0

Published on November 29, 2016December 8, 2016 by Kathryn StrasserLeave a comment

The T-shirt quilt pictured here, and the T-shirt quilt I posted about here were made by sisters with the help of their grandma. Even though they both used the same sashing fabric and layout design, I love how their individual personalities came through in the different T-shirts they used.

When I asked what type of long-arm quilting design the customer wanted, she told me to do an over-all design similar to what I have done for her in the past. She likes a little variety in the quilting.

To go along with the fun colors, I decided to do loops and add in some echoed loops to mix things up a bit. I made sure to do some of the echoed loops in areas of plain fabric so that they would show up more.

This quilt had this fun, flannel fabric for a backing which will make it a wonderful quilt to have on hand a winter approaches!

~ By Kathryn

Squares!

Published on November 21, 2016November 22, 2016 by Kathryn StrasserLeave a comment

This quilt was pieced by my mom and custom long-arm quilted by me a few months ago as an apartment warming gift for my older brother. We chose browns and blacks for a color scheme to match the furniture that my brother has in his new place.

To stay with the rectangle theme, I used the long-arm machine to custom quilt squares all over the quilt. This was great practice for me in free-handing straight lines, and my brother was quite impressed when he saw the finished quilting!

This quilt looks great in the living area of my brother’s apartment, and it is super comfy to curl up with while watching a football game on the TV… (I know because I’ve done it)!

Thanks for reading!

~ By Kathryn

T-Shirts Quilts 1.0

Published on November 17, 2016 by Kathryn Strasser1 Comment

T-shirt quilts are so special and unique! I love getting to spend time thinking about the stories behind each of the shirt squares as I add my custom, long-arm machine quilting.

The varity of T-shirts in the quilt had enough in common color wise to create a really neat color scheme of grays, reds, and blacks.

I added a combination of loops, swirls, and feathers with some echoing to this quilt with the long-arm machine.

The gray flannel backing fabric shows off the custom quilting very well, and makes the finished quilt so cozy! This was a fabulous quilt to work with, and having the privilege of adding my custom quilting to it made me so happy!

Thanks for visiting the blog today!

~By Kathryn

Kirstin’s Quilt

Published on September 26, 2016September 26, 2016 by Kathryn StrasserLeave a comment

My younger sister made her first quilt this summer! I’m a little late in posting these photos to my blog, but here they finally are 🙂

Kirstin has helped me out in the past by assisting with cutting the fabric for some of the quilts I have made, and with that practice she was ready to make a quilt by herself this summer.

Kirstin loves the pink and zebra color scheme, so for this quilt she asked me to do long-arm quilting that looked like zebra stripes in the pink chevrons. Since the multi-colored fabrics had busy patterns that would hide most of the long-arm quilting, I chose to do fun bubbles as a filler.

The finished quilt looks great in Kirstin’s pink and zebra bedroom!

~ By Kathryn

Sampler Snapshot

Published on September 17, 2016September 18, 2016 by Kathryn Strasser2 Comments

I’m excited to share some photos today of a sampler quilt that I made a few years ago.

My mom had gifted me the fabric which sat unused in my project box for several months. I absolutely loved the colors and patterns, but I was waiting until I came across just the right project to use the fabric for. As I was scrolling through Pinterest one day I saw a chevron quilt pattern and I knew that this was the pattern that I’d been looking for to go with these fabrics. Once I settled on a project idea I jumped right in, and in this case I was especially excited to get to the machine quilting stage! That provided plenty of motivation to finish piecing the quilt top in a relatively short amount of time.

Most of the fabrics have patterns which hide the custom machine quilting to some extent. Because of this I saved some of my favorite quilting patterns for the solid chevrons. I had so much fun long-arm quilting on a smaller scale then I usually do, as well as quilting a different pattern in each chevron stripe.

The photos of the back of this quilt are a little crazy to look at because I chose a polka-dot fabric, but these two photos allow you to see some of the different designs that I did in each of the chevrons. (Note: if you want the custom long-arm quilting that you have done on your quilt to show up well on the back, choose a solid fabric for your backing).

I was so happy with how this quilt turned out, and it perfectly matches the chair that I have in my room (now in my college dorm room)! It’s the perfect spot to curl up with a textbook to do some studying, or with a good book to enjoy a few lazy afternoon hours!

~By Kathryn