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 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.

“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.

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

simple designs.

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.

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

goodness.

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.