Machine-Quilting Pin-Loom Projects

Posted on by texasgabi

While I have always enjoyed designing and making quilt-inspired pin-loom projects, I usually don’t “quilt” them, which means adding a backing with some batting in between, and then stitching all layers together.

I’ve done some tie-quilting, where every few inches apart you pull and tie off a piece of string through all layers.

During my recent visit to the International Quilt Festival, seeing all the quilting equipment, I started to wonder if or how machine quilting might work for pin-loom woven tops.

I decided to ask the Gammill quilting equipment experts at the show; the company had sponsored all Open Studio sessions, including mine.

What started as a question turned into a proof-of-concept experiment … with a stunning outcome.

I showed Gammill representative Sue Kleinschmidt one of my woven projects that I had brought to the Festival, and she suggested that we could try quilting a smaller sample, which I agreed to put together. Sue also suggested to stabilize the fabric with light interfacing, and I just happen to have some at hand from another project.

I wove a flower like for the Flower Garden Throw, but with one ring only, using the same Ad Astra cotton that I had used for the original project. After sewing the flower together, I added some Pelon interfacing to the back.

The sample passed Sue’s inspection, and Gammill representative Cathy joined us when we started to prepare the work.

I asked if we can try the fully computerized method (compared to the hand-guided approach) and they agreed.

We started by basting the flower to the other layers so that it would stay in place.

Sue then traced the outline of the flower, and at the computer calibrated the quilting pattern that we had picked in size and direction. I was surprised to see how similar the software looks compared to the CNC router work that we do when we cut our pin looms out of wood!

Sue suggested a smaller stitch size and a slower speed than for a typical quilt. The latter would also give us an opportunity to intervene if needed. I held my breath when she pushed the start button …

The sewing head floated smoothly over the fabric, sewing stitches in beautiful sways. It was a delight to watch and I found it very calming. Everything worked flawlessly, and after a minute or so the flower was beautifully quilted!

Because of the coarse fabric, Sue suggested that for a real project she would use a thicker thread for quilting. And for a large project, she would baste the fabric by blocks, to keep the layers in place during the quilting process.

Working on the Gammill equipment was a prestigious treat, but you can even try some quilting on your sewing machine at home as well.

Whether you have access to a longarm machine or work with your sewing machine, it is my hope that you may consider giving quilting your pin-loom woven projects a try!

I would like to send a big, heartfelt thank you to the Gammill company, and particularly to Sue and Cathy Kleinschmidt, for the opportunity to sample computer-guided machine-quilting on a pin-loom woven project. The experiment went far beyond a simple proof of concept. Watching the process was an absolute delight.

Using A Quilt Design for Pin-Loom Weaving

Posted on by texasgabi

Pin-loom weaving means creating small pieces of self-contained fabric in certain shapes. Traditionally, squares were the most common shape, by now accompanied by rectangles, triangles, hexagons, diamonds, and a few other shapes. Those little pieces of woven fabric are perfect for modular projects that combine shapes, and the quilt world provides a vast ocean of inspiration for just that.

In this blog post I’d like to walk you through the process of creating a traditional star quilt design, inspired by this year’s International Quilt Festival logo.

The traditional eight-point star design (Lone Star) can be easily broken down into squares and triangles. For those shapes, pin looms are available in many sizes and a variety of weaving methods.

The chart shows the color distribution “wrong side”, so it’s ready for you to use.

For demonstration purposes I decided to make a table topper, using a 2″ square loom and cotton yarn (I used the TURTLE Square 2″ F-fine sett loom and Catona by Scheepjes, a fingering weight cotton yarn).

You can weave both, squares (video instructions for square weaving) and triangles (video instructions for triangle weaving) on this loom. Some people prefer the convenience of a matching triangle pin loom.

If you are weaving along this blog, here is a list of pieces that you will need to weave. Once the pieces come off the loom, they are ready for assembly. You can use the yarn tails for sewing.

Catona ColorColor# of Squares# of TrianglesYardage
130natural123287
253turquoise0814
388rust122473
401teal368111

When assembling pin-loom projects, I usually look for how I can join the pieces into rows first, then join the rows. This keeps the project manageable, allows for frequent checks to make sure that there are no mistakes, and it nicely shows the progress while you work. Use the chart above to assemble the table topper.

To assemble the Lone Star design, start by “thinking in squares”: Join triangles first into squares. Then it’s easy to connect the squares into rows, and lastly connect the rows.

Weave in the ends and clip to about 1/3″ to avoid that the tails travel to the right side of the fabric. You don’t need to weave in the ends if you plan to add backing.

Block as desired. A 20-minute soak in cold water with a no-rinse detergent will do.

While I chose a small loom for the demo project, you can work the same design on any loom size and still follow the same process. Make sure to adjust your yarn requirements to the loom that you are working with. I’m working on a blanket right now and will show it here on the blog when it’s done!

Travel Project: Easter Bunny

Posted on by texasgabi

One loom and one skein of yarn is all you need to make this Easter bunny, a travel-friendly, fun and quick last-minute project.

To make the bunny …

The bunny is worked on the Original TURTLE loom R-regular sett and I used Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Cotton (about 42 yards).

You will need 3 plastic eyes for the eyes and nose. You can also embroider or use small pieces of felt to add the face.

Use a small amount of stuffing of your choice for the bunny’s body and tail.

Weave 7 hexagons (4 for the body, 2 for the ears, 1 for the tail).

Using whipstitch, sew two hexagons together as shown for the Front. Repeat for Back.

Assembling the Body

Put Front and Back on top of each other, right sides facing towards each other.

Sew all but the bottom side.

Turn.

Install the eyes and the nose.

I put the nose button into the center of the hexagon and each eye four rows up and four rows over. Adjust to your liking.

Stuff and close.

To make the Ears …

  • Thread the end tail of one hexagon. You will gather the two sides that are marked in red.
  • Start with “securing the thread” … guide the yarn around the outermost warp thread and pierce the yarn. This will ensure that the yarn does not pull the weaving.
  • To gather, go through every other edging turn of the weaving as shown.
  • After gathering the stitches on both sides, pull the thread and secure with a stitch.
  • This is what the ear will look like. If you prefer a less floppy ear, close the side seam and gather the two remaining sides at the top the same way you did the bottom.

Sew the ears onto the head, right behind the upper two corners of the head hexagons.

To make the tail …

  • Use a secured yarn tail or a separate piece of yarn to gather all sides of a hexagon.
  • Add a little bit of stuffing.
  • Pull close the Tail as shown and secure the thread.
  • Mount the Tail to the back of the bunny … if you position it as shown (right under the center of the lower back hexagon), the bunny will be able to “sit”.

Enjoy your bunny!

Be creative …

  • Weave the tail in a different color, or make a pompom.
  • Make a patchwork bunny where each hexagon is different.
  • Add some embroidery like eye glasses or flowers.
  • Add a bow tie.

The bunny can be worked on any hexagon loom. The yarn requirements will vary if you use a different loom. Make bunnies on different loom sizes for a bunny family!

A Color Gamp Bandana

Posted on by texasgabi

As a weaver, at some point during your weaving journey you most likely have encountered color gamps, the systematic use of color combinations within a project.

It has been a great privilege for me to write about special aspects of color gamp weaving on pin looms for the Little Looms magazine, and you can read about it in the new Little Looms Summer 2025 issue that has been released today.

For the Weave Together 2025 retreat, I designed a sample project that allows pin-loom weavers to explore color-gamp weaving in a practical project: A Color Gamp Bandana.

Louët’s Venne Eco Jeans (available at Louët dealers like the Lone Star Loom Room) proved to be an excellent yarn choice for such a project. I used it double-stranded on our TinyTURTLE F-fine sett hexagon pin loom .

Colors from left to right:

  • 19-5056 Olive
  • 19-3005 Deep Red
  • 19-4038 Slate Blue
  • 19-1021 Cornsilk
  • 19-4060 Steam
  • 19-3034 Pelican Pink
  • 19-6005 Sahara.

For the gamp, I combined these colors with themselves (see diagonal) and then with each other, and arranged them in a gamp with slanted columns (read about that construction in the Little Looms article).

Using seven colors and the TinyTURTLE loom makes a project large enough for a bandana that can be worn with a bandana clasp clip or ring (I used a faux leather clip).

If you would like to make a larger bandana, consider adding more colors or use the same colors on a larger loom!

While this project concludes our Weave Together 2025 miniseries I hope that you enjoyed it and will stick around, because there’s always more … alligator Mardy is right around the corner, and I saw a bunny hopping across the lawn recently, and then there is a long list of pin-loom tips and tricks that want to be shared …

Simply sign up to the turtleloom blog to be notified so that you don’t miss anything:

Take a moment and share what you thought about this miniseries
in the comments below!

Let’s Have a Countryside Brunch

Posted on by texasgabi

Weave Together 2025 location: York, Pennsylvania. Theme: Traveling. Retreat focus: Weaving immersion, yarn, good food.

There is no escape … this is inspiration for an outdoor brunch with a country table setting! I grabbed some looms, yarn from the Marketplace, and designed a Countryside Brunch Table Topper, which is our third Weave Together 2025 project.

The Yarns

Lofty Fiber’s LoftyCotton Pillow Soft yarn is a beautiful thick/thin cotton that weaves up great on our F – fine sett looms, but for this project I used it double-stranded on the R – regular sett which allowed me to blend colors.

I also discovered Circulo Natural Multicolor 4/6 at Lofty Fiber, a variegated thick cotton that weaves up into a sturdy fabric on the R – regular sett looms.

Looms and Instructions

To make the project, weave:
– 6 jewel shapes on the Original Jewel Loom, R, in Circulo Natural, I used multicolor 9392
– 12 hexagon shapes on the Original TURTLE Loom™, R, holding two strands of Pillow Soft together (I used colors Gold and Cayenne)

Joining pieces that are not organized in rows and columns is not always easy (ask any quilter), so here are a few “best practices” tips that you may find helpful when assembling your table topper:

To assemble the center circle, layout the jewels with the end tails pointing together and the start tails pointing into the same direction, for example “all to the right”.

Join the jewel pieces along the long sides first. Secure the first stitch (splice the yarn tail with the first stitch as shown), then whip stitch along the side, skipping about every fourth stitch.

Before joining the last two sides, use the following method to make a nice center … no ugly hole, and the jewel shapes don’t pull together and pucker.

Tip: This method works for joining other shapes, too!

  • Start with a securing stitch at the top of the current jewel (make one stitch around the last warp and split the working yarn ), to make sure that the yarn stays in place.
  • Gather one stitch at the tip of each jewel shape …
  • Continue all around.
  • Pull in the circle enough to reduce the opening without pulling in the jewels too much.

Next, add the hexagons all around the jewel circle, like a ring or border.

For a neat border, first attach hexagons to the bottom sides of the jewels as shown.

Finally, “insert” a hexagon each into the remaining spaces.

Tip: If you use the hexagon tails facing towards the jewel circle as shown, you can use those tails for the sewing and you will have no tails left after that … which makes a really neat edging for the table topper with no more tails to weave in.

There you have it! All done!
Serve with bread and cheese and a beverage of your choice …