The Second Chance giveaway is now closed. Congratulation to our winner, Wendy Allen, who has been notified.
Long Thread Media’s Holiday Guide has been a huge success with thousands of people signing up for a chance to win one of the 17 prizes.
We decided to give all y’all a second chance and this time, you can enter to win a TURTLE loom of your choice! Visit theLoom Catalog to see all the looms we’re making.
For a chance to win, sign up to receive TURTLE blog updates with news about projects, looms, and events:
For an additional chance, leave a comment here on this post and share which TURTLE loom you’d like in case you win (no worries, you change your mind later if you win).
The giveaway will end on November 30th, 2025, midnight CDT. We will randomly draw a name from all subscribers (old and new) and the comments on this post. We will announce the name of the winner here on this post on December 1st (and contact the winner via email).
This year, the TURTLEs decided to participate in Long Thread Media’s Holiday Guide. 17 companies are coming together in a showcase of inspiration with fiber related gifts for your loved ones … or yourself. Get inspired with giving ideas, and at the same time you can sign up to win.
Hop over to the holiday guide, indulge exploring all the options, and sign up to win prizes! The giveaway ends on November 7th, which means if you don’t win you can still order your favorite picks in time for the holidays.
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.
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.
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 Color
Color
# of Squares
# of Triangles
Yardage
130
natural
12
32
87
253
turquoise
0
8
14
388
rust
12
24
73
401
teal
36
8
111
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!
The interview resulted in two amazing opportunities for me to talk about pin-loom weaving and how I use this yarn craft to create quilt-inspired projects:
Saturday, October 11, 2025 is the official “I Love Yarn” day, and I cannot thing of a better way to celebrate than to invite you to weave a little something with yarn.
I will be hosting a Make-and-Take event at the brand-new Sit & Stitch Lounge. Come and sit down and I’ll teach you how to weave a hexagon (using the sample looms at the table), and you will take home a little bag charm. I have Make-and-Take kits prepared to make a little pumpkin charm as pictured (free of charge, while supplies last). I will also have a variety of yarns available for you to sample, or feel free to bring your own!
Over the next few days, I will blog about some of the projects that I’ve made to celebrate the Festival, including the table topper that was inspired by this year’s Festival logo.
I invite you to subscribe to this blog so that you don’t miss any of those stories!
