Baby Quilts

March 31, 2015March 31, 20151 Comment

Joan brought me this adorable baby quilt, that was made using a

pre printed panel.

These panels make quick work of creating a baby quilt. Joan wanted

some custom stitching done of the top and I had lots of fun fulfilling that

wish for her.

I quilted around all the motifs on the panel and matched thread color

to each motif. In the palm trees, I used a Glide green thread. The thread

really shines and glistens; it was the first thing Joan noticed when

she looked at the quilt.

In the bottom border, I quilted grass to resemble the grass

that was on the panel, in the area beneath the animals.

On both sides of the panel, I quilted in ferns which was on the

panel as well. Sometimes, the panel or fabric will give you a

clue as to what to stitch on the quilt.

On the top of the panel, I quilted in palm leaves. They are my

favorite part of this outside border.

As usual, the backing tells its own story too. I love the lime green

fabric. The stitching really shows up because a variegated King Tut

thread was used.

The backing is alot of fun as well.

The second baby quilt is adorable as well.

The fabric in this baby quilt is really quite classy. Marilyne

wanted this quilt to be extra special so she wanted it custom

quilted.

In the 9 patch, I outlined the square and then stitched in

curvy lines. The solid colored blocks beside it have a nice

feather wreath in it.

I cheated when it came to quilting this feathered

wreath. Can you believe that I actually had a

stencil that fit this space perfectly? All I had to

do was mark the feathers and stitch away. I used

an air erasable pen to mark the wreath.

I love the feathers and they dress up this quilt beautifully.

The outside border also has feathers in it. They are hard to see

due to the printed fabric but they are there.

I used a taupe polyester thread for the top and on the backing,

I used a white polyester thread.

The backing fabric shows up the quilting a little more, in

the outer border.

Even the backing has a classy feel to it.

Marilyne did a beautiful job on the piecing. Everything

laid flat and square. Someone is receiving a very special

baby quilt.

Have a great Easter.

It’s time for Maple Syrup

March 25, 20155 Comments

While spring is in the air, sometimes, it is that time of the year

once again.

Yes, the sap is flowing when the weather is co-operating. I hope that

you get the chance to sample some maple syrup because it is

yummy.

While the sap is flowing, I am being busy like a beaver. Yes, the

puns are flowing too and with a Canadian twist. Ok, I will stop

with the dry antics.

Seriously, I have been busy and it seems blue is the color of this

post.

Doreen brought me this blue quilt and decided that she

wanted an all over design.

We chose a new panto that I just purchased from Anne Bright named

“Florence.” It has somewhat of an elegant feel to it.

We weren’t sure of the thread color, as there is a lot of deep

blues and white on the top of the quilt. In the end, after

pulling different colors of thread, we settled on a medium

grey polyester thread. It suited the quilt top nicely.

It is funny how the color of thread changes depending on

what other colors are surrounding it.

The back of the quilt was a rich blue color as well. For the

backing, we chose a deep blue to match the backing.

The backing fabric itself is very beautiful in and of itself.

My sister also brought me a scrappy quilt that she had made.

I think that the blocks are a simple block made up of 3 strips.

It does make an effective pattern. She added two outer

borders, of blue and white to enlarge the quilt top.

The backing is white and you can see the panto that we chose too.

It is named “Flirtatous” and is quite a fun design that stitches up

quickly.

We chose a light blue polyester thread for the top and a

white polyester thread for the backing.

Have a good week and don’t forget the maple syrup.

My QAL….

March 18, 2015Leave a comment

I am participating in a QAL (Quilt Along) for the next 12

weeks over at QuiltArtDesignblogspot. Two weeks have

already passed and I am unsure if I will be able to keep

up.

This is the first 2 weeks put together thus far. The blocks aren’t that

big but it does take time to decide which fabrics to use. As the

weeks go on, I just pick what I see. In the end, I hope that it

looks ok.

Some of the colors are funky but that is what makes it fun.

I hope that you are getting more sewing and quilting done

than I am this week.

Ruth

Anyone for the cottage?

March 17, 20152 Comments

Arlene brought me this wallhanging a while back. I think she

was preparing for the summer and heading up to her cottage.

It seems fairly easy to create. Each block has a black

background. All the other pieces are fused onto the black

background and the edges stitched around. You can use

either a straight stitch or a zigzag stitch. You can also use

a matching thread for each color or a monfilament thread to

stitch around the shapes. You can also use a monofilament

thread in the bobbin but it shouldn’t be a full bobbin. I have

heard that it is not good for your machine to use a full

bobbin of monofilament thread-just a half of a bobbin.

If you use a monofilament thread, please remember to use a

the clear monfilament for the light colors and a smoky

monofilament thread for the darker colors. The size

of the monofilament thread is the size of one strand of

hair. I use monofilament all the time and sometimes

you have to loosen the top tension so it doesn’t stretch.

I also wouldn’t recommend it for baby or children’s

quilts either. They may get tangled in it and it is hard

to see, especially if you are not a quilter and don’t know

that it is there.

Arlene did a lovely job with this wallhanging. I used a black

polyester thread for the top and the back. The monofilament

was used in the colored square border so that I didn’t have

to change thread color constantly.

When I quilted it, I stitched around all the shapes in a black

thread so that the thread wouldn’t be noticeable. This helps

the shapes and images to pop out a little.

And I stitched around the colored border but not in the black

outer border. I felt that the pictures were the focal point of this

wallhanging and anything in the border might detract from that.

The border wasn’t that big anyways so you can get away with no

quilting in it, in this case.

I really like these flames. The batiks are so cool.

I forgot to take a picture of the backing but I think

that it was a black color as well.

Hope you are having a great March Break.

A Quick Peek…

March 13, 20152 Comments

Here is a quick peek of what I have been working on this week.

I have joined a Block of The Month, at QuiltARtDesignsblogspot.com

The theme is “Oceans” and this is the third block.

Can you believe that it took me 8 hours to complete.

Crazy! I do like the Manta Ray though. Can you see the

mistake that I made in the colors of the Manta Ray?

You will have to wait until next week for the answer.

Birch Trees…

March 10, 20157 Comments

Susan brought me this quilt and I totally fell in love with it. I love

birch trees and maybe it has something to do with the fact that

while growing up, my family used it as a source of fuel and heat.

Pinterest and Charley Harper were the source of inspiration for

Susan. She saw a similar quilt on Pinterest but wanted to do it

a little differently. She had some fabric designed by Charley

Harper and wanted to incorporate it into her quilt.

What a great cardinal. So much attitude! I think that I may

have to create a fabric postcard of this one.

Susan and I discussed what to do on the quilt top. All I could think

of was “branches.” Luckily, Susan agreed. To be quite honest, I was

scared to death of how I was going to quilt in these branches.

I did procrastinate for a while but eventually I had to quilt this

top.

I was going to draw up a paper pattern but decided not to. I laid it on the floor,

hoping that inspiration would hit me. The white areas reminded me of

Birch trees and the blue area, the sky.

I printed off several pictures of birch trees and decided that I would

have to work backwards on this quilt top. Usually, I stitch the top

onto the backing and work my way down the quilt-top to bottom.

With this quilt, I had to baste from the top to the bottom and then

work my way back up, from bottom to top. This was the only way

I would be able to ensure that the branches were quilted in the right

direction, growing up and not down.

Then, I had to decided which branches would be in front of what

trees and what branches would be behind other trees. Also, the

size of the tree would also determine how large the branches would

be. For instance, a small tree would not have large branches nor a larger

tree, smaller branches. Yes,alot to consider but , in the end, I did

enjoy the process of it all.

Working from the bottom and checking with my printed off

picture, I started marking with a chalk marker. It rubs off

easily so I don’t worry about removing the marks later.

I also decided to stitch in the ditch around all the birch trees but

not the blue pieced sky in the background. I wanted the trees to

stand out a bit more than the sky. I used a monofilament thread

as well, on the top and a grey on the backing.

I am glad that Susan chose grey for the whole top or I would have

been changing thread like crazy. The grey also works well with the

blue and white and stands out a little too.

I began marking in branches and decided that the bigger birch

trees would stand out in front of the smaller ones. Smaller

trees mean that they are further away. So, I could stitch

branches on the small birch trees but not on the bigger ones.

I started stitching in branches and it looked okay. I just had to

keep checking which trees I had stitched over and which ones I had not.

Here is the finished quilt. I think it looks great. I really

love how art quilts are a bit tricky but you have so much

more freedom with your quilting. I enjoyed this quilt

so much, that I had to recreate it somehow. I didn’t have

a lot of time so I decided to make a fabric postcard.

I laid out layers of dark blue to light blue and then

3 birch trees on top.

I used a dark grey thread and stitched in branches. I really

liked how this little postcard turned out. I think I may have to

make a bigger version though.

See you next week.

As promised…

March 2, 20153 Comments

As promised, here is Linda’s BOM that she made at a local

Quilt Shop, Country Concessions.

As you can see from the photo, there was alot of fussy cutting and

piecing but Linda handled it all beautifully. Everything was flat and

square. No ripples or extra fabric in the borders at all.

The flower panels are really pretty. I didn’t want to detract from them so

I merely quilted around them. I had to do some type of stitching or these

areas would “puff” up.

In the smaller sections, I used a green polyester thread and followed the

print on the fabric. I think it looks like a wobbly cross hatch.

Originally I had promised to use feathers in the quilting so I had

to make sure I followed through. I quilted feathers on the 4 corners,

around the fan blocks.

In the green borders, I again followed the print of the fabric. I think

that the wobbly cross hatching looks great!

The white backing shows off the quilting. I used a white

polyester thread for certain areas on the top as well as for

the backing too. If I had to choose again, I would use a light

green because there was alot of green on the top.

This shows some of the stitching in the outer brown border. I went

with feathers again because I thought it was appropriate. You really

can’t see the feathers that much on the quilt top because the

outer border is a dark brown. If you want the quilting to be seen,

remember to use a solid color and not a print.

This shows some of that wobbly cross hatching. I love it!

The outer corner and the stitching on it.

This little fabric postcard was made after I had completed

an art quilt by Susan. She made an amazing art quilt of white

birch trees. I loved her art quilt so much that I felt compelled

to make a smaller version of it.

See you next week.

Stitching Impressions

All aspects of longarm quilting

Month: March 2015