Does anyone remember the song “I think I’m turning Japanese, I really

think so?”  Well, this quilt, that was made by Linda, reminded me of that song.

Linda is a great piecer, everything is flat and square.

It is a very distinctive quilt and one that proved to be a bit challenging.

In the outer border, I  quilted  circles and squiggle lines.

Who would want to stitch anything over this design?

I used a red polyester thread for the top thread and in the

bobbin as well.

The inner black border received a swirl design.

Once again, black thread was used in both the top and in the bobbin.

In the middle section of the quilt, I quilted around all the ladies.

I didn’t want to take away from that design either. White thread was used here.

Beside the white area,  there were red round circles.  These circles

received  squiggly lines inside of 2 circular lines.  I used my Gammill

Workstation for the circles.  It proved to be very handy indeed.

In the small black rectangle area, I quilted a swirl and pebbles.  I used

circles once again.

At first glance, I thought that this area of the quilt had been pieced but

when I got closer, this is an actual  printed fabric.  Isn’t that cool?  In the light

areas, I stitched a squiggly line.  In the dark red sections. I did straight lines.

They kind of mimic the border area again.

In the black areas that surround the red circles, I quilted in

pebbles.  Again, echoing the circles that were all over this quilt.

May I remind you to consider the color of fabric you will be putting

on the back of your quilt.  This quilt has a white backing on it.  I used

black thread, red thread and white thread.  Because this is not a show

quilt, Linda did not mind allowing me to do this.  I really don’t like how

the back looks with these thread colors on it.

Maybe a red backing or a combination of red, black and white would

have been more appropriate. So, please think of this when choosing

your backings.  It does make it a little easier for your longarmer.

Here is my WIP:

Don’t forget to check out Freshly Pieced.

Have a great week.

Mary is the creator and designer of this quilt.  I think that she did a

fantastic job of it.

There is also a terrific story behind this quilt.  Each block

in this quilt represents something that happened to Mary in

1968.  It was the Elvis era, The Beatles sang about a Yellow

Submarine, The Bug was popular and Mary got married,thus

the wedding dress.  And who could forget about the record

players and the round black albums?  Check out some of the designs

on the quilt top itself.

And who can forget the funky dresses worn then?

In the large black squares, we decided to mimic the designs that Mary

had already chosen.  Taupe or a light tan thread was chosen, to match

that color already in the fabric on the quilt top.  It would also stand out

so that it could be seen on the black background.

Mary loves swirls so I quilted in a swirl design in the small black border.

In the large outer border, I used black thread and just followed

the pattern on the fabric. Black thread was used so that it was easier

to stitch around the swirls in that area and the thread color didn’t

distract from the design on the fabric.

I know that it looks like it isn’t quilted but believe me,

it is.  The textures is pretty neat on the back of the quilt too.

For the pieced areas between the large black blocks, Mary decided

that circles, squares and bubbles would add some nice texture to the

quilt

I love bubbles (or pebbles, as I call them) too so that was an easy

decision to make.

I also stitched in the ditch around each area of the quilt.  This helps

to stabilize the quilt.  It is also the boring part but once it is done, you can

move on to the fun part-filling in the remainder of the quilt.

Black batting was used, instead of white or cream too.  Sometimes the

batting does pop through the holes made by the stitching.  If it does, then

the color won’t be seen as much as a white batting would be noticed.

Here is an overall shot of the finished quilt.

I think that it turned out great. Mary loved it and that is

all that matters.  What a great story and I thouroughly enjoyed

working on this quilt.

I am also working on another quilt that will prove to be quite a

challenge for me.  Here is a preview of it.  Designing the quilt top

is one area that I struggle with but I know that with practice, I can improve.

Don’t forget to check out Freshly Pieced.

Remember the draw at the Hospital last week?  Well, I did take

my camera but the quilt was not laid out so I didn’t get a full view shot.

I do apologize for that.  A man from Brampton won the quilt. His

grandmother was sitting beside me at the luncheon-she was so excited

that he won.

And for a sidebar, the Auxiliary at the hospital is made up of 800 members.

They managed to raise $5,000,000 for the cancer wing at the hospital!!

Isn’t that amazing?!  I think so too.

Have a great week.