WEBINAR: SEPTEMBER 18, 2024 at 7 pm ET Aline and Natasha Bugarin of Orbital Quilting provide fun and easy custom quilting techniques. This award-winning duo will also show some of their incredible quilt designs. Tickets available now for both members ($10) and non-members ($15).
Get ready for a fun hour with Aline and Natasha! You will love the enthusiasm of these young Brazilian quilters, and their unique story.
Less than a decade ago, when Aline and Natasha were fresh out of college, they decided to start a longarm quilting business. Just like that! They had never quilted, so they literally didn’t know what they didn’t know.
Natasha was attracted to the idea of working from home, doing something fun and relaxing. At that point they had no idea that quilting would become an exciting, creative adventure.
Armed with Natasha’s mother’s credit card, they purchased a longarm machine and then taught themselves how to use it. In their haste, it didn’t occur to them that longarm quilting can be challenging, even scary, for beginners.
“We were like, oh, okay, this is just drawing in reverse, with a sewing machine,” says Aline. “If we figure out the tension thingy we’re good.”
At first they made small things, like placemats. Aline quilted cupcakes, and Natasha quilted monsters.
“I remember saying to each other,” says Aline, “this is too easy. I’m in love with this.”
Deep Night, one their first quilts, entered into the National Juried Show in 2016 in the Modern category.
It felt magical, they could quilt whatever they wanted. Less than a month later they had their first client. (You will hear that whole story at the webinar.)
Within six months of learning to quilt, Aline and Natasha made their first show quilt, a whole-cloth quilt called Vine Jade’s Garden, and entered it into the National Juried Show in 2016. It won second place in the Modern category.
Vine Jade Garden, second-place winner in the Traditional category at the National Juried Show in 2016.
In 2017, they entered two quilts, Navigator Star and Pegasus Mandala, in the Traditional category. Both won awards—the latter for domestic machine quilting, the former for longarm quilting—and as you can tell from looking at the top photo, they have collected quite a few NJS awards, among others, since then. You’ll see all of the award winners during the webinar.
Learning the business was a blur. “We devoted all the hours in the day, all our energy, all our creativity, all of us, all we have, to quilting,” explains Aline. “That gave us lifetimes of experience and inspiration, you know?”
She says it helped that Natasha has a background in architecture and design, and she herself worked in the film industry. Those experiences had a big influence on their quilting style and teaching methods.
So, when they say they can show us fun, “beginner friendly” ways to start custom quilting, they’re speaking from real experience. To date, Aline and Natasha have taught 3,500 students around the world.
Navigator Star, award of excellence winner for longarm quilting at the National Juried Show in 2017.
They’ve developed three rulers for free motion quilting on both longarm and domestic machines, which are useful on light and dark fabrics, and allow many possibilities for creating custom designs with confidence. You can purchase these products and others, including free motion quilting templates, on their website.
Aline and Natasha love to experiment and invent new things, which is not surprising, given their fearless approach to quilting. Rather than repeat the same designs they learned early on, they are always trying new things, to keep forcing themselves out of a comfort zone. They even invented a board game called Master Quilter, which helps to generate ideas for free motion quilting designs, and they’ve written two books that are being translated to English: Orbital Feathers and Orbital Rulers Designs. Their online shop ships worldwide.
For those of us excited about sustainable materials, Aline and Natasha have started a fabric line with two products made using less water than traditional methods, no toxic inks or chemicals, and certified cotton produced free from labour and social exploitation. They are hoping to make these products available through Canadian fabric shops soon.
Aline and Natasha are planning to be at Quilt Canada in Toronto next June, 2025. In the meantime, they say they are excited, honoured, and grateful to share their creative spirits and beginner-friendly custom quilting techniques at the September 18 webinar. See you there!
Did you know you that CQA/ACC members purchase all four Autumn 2024 webinars in a bundle? See the details here.
