It's May and the weather is divine. I'm torn between working out in the garden and quilting! What a choice! My husband, Fred, just got back from exhibiting Sulky Products at the Spring Quilt Market in Salt Lake City, UT. Quilt Market is always an inspiration. It's so much fun to see all the new fabrics and products. I plan on going to the Houston Quilt Market in the fall.

Are you free-motion phobic? It's time to let that go! When I first got into this business, it was by teaching free-motion work. I still remember how fearful many students were. Since then, many new products, feet, and home sewing machines have become available that all combine to make it so much easier, so much more fun, and so much more perfect. As you move the hoop, the machine senses your movement and compensates the needle speed to match it. So every stitch is near perfect - all the same length regardless of the speed that you move your hoop or run the machine. It's like magic.

So, for those of you who have been reluctant to learn how to do free-motion work, there's never been a better time. In our newest book, Quick and Easy Weekend Quilting with Sulky, there is a small sampler quilt that I designed to help you learn great free-motion stitches while making a very pretty wallhanging or pillow cover. It teaches 4 different free-motion stitches, and at least one of those is going to be the very stitch to make you feel good about your free-motion work. We all have favorite free-motion stitches that feel right to each of us.

Below, I'll show you some close up photos of the stitching using the Sulky Cotton Blendables. The Blendables create very forgiving stitches because they are subtle, multi-color cotton threads that change color every couple of inches randomly, so no pattern really emerges and any inconsistencies in your stitching are not noticeable.

Blendables are ideal for quilting batiks, mottled solids, florals or any multi-colored or shaded fabric. One "Blendable" will work with many different colored and textured fabrics. The blending effects that you can create with these heavier 30 wt. and 12 wt. 100% Cotton Threads are like nothing you have ever seen before!

Also, in our previous book, Sulky Secrets to Successful Embroidery, there are 5 pages of free-motion "secrets" to make it fun and easy for you.

But, don't despair if you just aren't ready for free-motion quilting, you can always use one of the pretty, decorative, machine-fed stitches along with the Blendables, and have spectacular results.

Happy Mother's Day to all who have Mothers and Grandmother's, and to all who are Mothers and Grandmothers!