Some of my projects & ufo’s…

July 27, 20166 Comments

At the beginning of the year, I made a resolution to take time to

create some quilts for myself. So, this summer, I am still trying

to follow my own advice. Here are some of my projects and

ufo’s that I am trying to complete so that I can actually quilt

and finish them up – this year.

This top was actually created by one of my customers. She was

wanting to quilt it and sell it, so I bought it from her, un-quilted.

I do have some plans for this one but am waiting for the time to

quilt it.

A CrabApple Hill design

I love snowmen and what better way to show them off than

with a hand embroidered quilt.

It has only taken me 2 years to complete but at least it is

done now. As usual, I do have plans of how I will quilt this

one as well. Hoping that the pictures in my head look as good

on the quilt top.

Nancy Halverson designed this quilt. The blue turquoise color

is what drew me to it; that color is currently my favorite. Last

year, it was orange. Can you believe that? I wonder what next

year will bring?

From Deauville to Cape Cod

Sharon, over at Scrap,Quilt, Sew, designed this top. I fell in

love with it and it has only taken me several years to make as

well. Seems to be a trend with me. At least I am getting

some done and ready for the quilting stage. Hopefully, it

won’t take me 2 years to quilt.

Even though it is hot and the kids are home from school, I

am still trying to quilt for some customers. Expectant babies

always give you a push (I know, it’s a bad pun) to make sure

that their arrival is met with a quilt.

Evelyn did a beautiful job making these 2 quilts for an

upcoming baby. She is a new quilter too, so hats off to her

for completing 2 baby quilts and having them done before

the baby even arrives.

2nd baby quilt

We used a light yellow polyester thread for the top and the

backing. “Flirtatous” is the name of the quilting design. It

is a popular design, as it is very versatile and fun.

The backing

The backing is really a brown color but it shows up as

a light purple color on my monitor.

The swirls are easy to see and so much fun.

Evelyn’s 2nd quilt

Evelyn created this second quilt, in preparation for

the baby and whether it is a boy or a girl.

This time we used a light brown polyester thread for the

top and the backing; the same quilting design was used as well.

The backing

The backing shows off the quilting nicely.

A close up of the back of the quilt and the stitching.

I wanted to send out an official congratulations to Kerry

Burke, over at Simple Bird Applique. She is now an

official teacher at the Applique Academy.

She recently won 1st place at Quilt Canada, 2016, for

her “Friends of Baltimore” applique quilt.

Can I brag a little here?

I actually quilted her quilt last summer for her.

She is a very talented lady. Congrats again, Kerry!! It is

great to see Canadian quilters leaving their mark (or

stitch) on the world. Ok, another bad pun.

Have a great week!

Summer time…

July 20, 20162 Comments

I am not sure about you but summer time makes me lazy.

All I want to do is lie in a hammock and take a quiet afternoon

nap. No doubt that this attitude has been cutting into my

quilting time.

Here are a few of the quilts that I have managed to complete

for customers.

Barb’s Quilt

Barb really likes this pattern. Who can blame her?

And batiks, you can’t go wrong with them.

Barb chose an overall design called “Flirtatous;” another

one of her favorites as well. If you like something alot, you might

as well stick with it.

A light purple So Fine thread was used for the top and the

backing. Tension issues are at a minimum then, especially in

the summer with the humidity.

The backing is pretty interesting as well. I really love

pieced backing, as it adds more interest to the back. It

also looks like a totally different quilt; two quilts for the

price of one, not bad indeed.

A soft flannel green fabric was used for the backing. Adding

more of the piecing from the quilt top is quite smart and also

uses up some of the leftovers.

Karen made this quilt. I am seeing more Downton Abbey fabrics

and quilts lately. The prints are very interesting. I think that the

Dresden Plate is seeing a resurgence in popularity lately as well.

Karen wanted an all over pattern so she chose “Blossoms.”

And we used a light purple polyester thread for the top and

backing as well.

The design shows up nicely between the Dresden Plates.

I really like the purple border and how it is pieced together.

Adds more interest than your typical 2 pieces of fabric borders.

The backing has the title of the British’s Show-Downton

Abbey-printed on it.

A close up of the backing.

Hoping you are enjoying the warm weather and getting

more quilting done than I am.

Trains and Halloween

July 14, 20161 Comment

I have been dealing with trains and Halloween this past week.

It certainly adds some interest to the hot weather we are having.

Joan made this cute quilt for an upcoming new baby. She

bought the train border fabric at Lens Mills. Then, she designed

the center pattern by herself. I think she did a great job.

I love the train border print. Isn’t it cute?

Trying to keep the quilting design simple isn’t so

easy after all. I stitched in a railroad track, some

cows and several houses, all in keeping with the

border print.

The back of the quilt also tells its own story. I love the

texture on the backing.

Quilt #2 by Joan

Joan had to cover all her bases by making a quilt for

a baby boy or baby girl. The owls remind me of a

modern quilt, so that is the route I chose for

deciding what motifs to use on the top.

A wavy rounded blocks were stitched in the outside

border. In the white blocks, I stitched in wavy lines

and I ditch stitched around the owls.

I used an aqua polyester thread on the top and for

the backing. Again, you can see the texture on the back

of the quilt. Both quilts will be a great gift to receive.

Next up is Laura’s Halloween quilt. She is already

prepared and ahead of the game for this upcoming Fall

season.

Laura’s Halloween quilt.

The panel was discovered at Lens Mills. It is a great

place to find distinct fabrics.

Laura sewed together half square triangles to make the

quilt bigger and to add to the Halloween theme. She did

a great job finding matching fabrics for the whole quilt.

The panel section was easy to quilt, just stitch around each

character in a monfilament thread.

I really love the mummy owl.

The half square triangles. I love the spider webs. Laura

didn’t know what design to place on the top so I

suggested spider webs. It seemed to fit the Halloween

theme so, why not?

Again, the back tells its own story. Even though it

is a print, you can still see the spider webs. I used a

black polyester thread for the top and the backing.

The spider webs

The spider webs look great on the back of

the quilt. Laura really loves the spider webs so that is all

that matters.

I really like them too.

Have a great week.

Happy Summer…

July 6, 20163 Comments

Summer has finally made it here. And with quite a splash, I

might add; very hot and dry. Despite the weather, I am

quilting along, trying to complete some orders.

Judi made this quilt for her daughter. It has over 3,000

pieces in it. And over 350 identical blocks. Now that is

a labor of love. I hope her daughter likes it because it

is very stunning.

Judi wanted an overall design that resembled paisleys,

due to paisleys being on some of the prints on the fabric.

Isn’t it amazing where some sources of inspiration come

from?

Did I mention that this quilt is also very big? It is

huge!!! The backing fabric is pretty cool, in and by

itself too.

I really love the swirls on the back. I used a cream

Omni polyester thread for the top and a black

polyester thread on the backing. As usual, tension

always seems to give me headaches during the summer

months; it seems thread doesn’t like humidity at all.

Helen’s hand embroidered quilt.

Helen brought me this quilt and I quickly became

giddy with appreciation when I saw all the hand

embroidery that she had done. The quilt is composed

of all the provincial flowers of Canada, minus Iqualit.

The panel was bought prior to Iqualit becoming a new

territory. When I first saw the embroidery, I asked

Helen if she had an embroidery machine. “No, I just did this

because I had the time and I enjoy it.”

Wow!! This is truly a labor of love. Her hand embroidery

is amazing!!!

In the background, Helen wanted a tight stipple so that the

embroidery would pop. And that is exactly what happened.

More flowers

“Keep it simple” was the motto going through my mind as I

worked on this quilt. Helen hasn’t seen it yet either so I have to

finish cleaning up the loose threads on the back.

I tried to keep the designs and the quilting simple so I

could make sure that Helen’s embroidery would be in

the lime light and shine.

Sashing area

In the sashing area, I quilted in straight lines, again

simple designs.

More provincial flowers.

I SID around all the flowers too and the embroidery so

that it would add more dimension to the quilt.

In the stars, I did a little more fancy quilting, just to add

a tad bit of interest and I couldn’t help myself.

Helen mentioned that she wanted a classic cable design

in the outside border. In the inside, light green border,

I quilted in feathers. Another classy choice as well.

Helen likes them too so all is well in my quilting world.

The backing.

I love, love, love the backing. All that texture

goodness.

The cable border.

The cable border looks fantastic.

I used a monofilament clear thread for all the

ditch work. A cream for the background block

fills and 2 shades of green for the borders.

On the backing, I used a cream Omni polyester

thread. I hope Helen likes it as much as I do.

Have a great week.

Stitching Impressions

All aspects of longarm quilting

Month: July 2016

Some of my projects & ufo’s…

Summer time…

Trains and Halloween

Happy Summer…