Month: January 2018

A Favorite Quilt…

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More quilts that were completed before Christmas . Amongst these are

one of my new favorite quilts. Can you guess which one it is?

Joan created this cute owl quilt. All of the owls were fused onto the background but

all the blanket stitching around the owls were done by hand.

The hand stitching really does go fast. I love all the bright colored backgrounds

in this quilt.

Joan wasn’t sure what design she wanted stitched onto the quilt so I merely followed

the design printed onto the background fabrics. Why fight the printed design? All

that stitching wouldn’t show up anyways. In the border, I added leaves to

resemble the trees that owls sit in.

In the middle section, I did stitch in some branches, just because the fabric was lighter

in color and to add some interest to the quilting design. I used a monofilament thread to

do all the outlining of the owls and around the blocks. I love this thread for outlining, no

changing thread constantly to match colors.

The backing fabric

I love the backing fabric as it matches the colors of the quilt  on the front.

A closer look shows even more of the printed fabric on the back.

Judi’s Quilt

Judi has been really busy creating quilts. This one is really interesting in that she

made an entire quilt for the back of it as well. It is really 2 quilts in one.

The “Swirl” panto was chosen for the design and I used a white polyester thread for the top and

a light purple polyester thread for the backing.

Here is the back of the quilt. The person who is getting this quilt is one lucky person.

Judi also created this quilt for a special someone. I used a light pink/peachy

polyester thread for the top and the backing.

The border shows off the quilting nicely.

 

The backing

Once again, Judi made a very nice backing for the quilt.

And the solid fabric shows off the stitching very well.

This is Judi’s third quilt. What a great way to use up some 4 patch blocks that are hanging

around. I say that because I have over 100 of those 4 patch blocks that I need to use up and

create a quilt with. Any suggestions for patterns?

You can see the stitching here and the fabric that makes up the background.

 

The backing looks so different in these 2 pictures yet they are the same fabric.

A brown polyester  thread was used for the front and the back of this quilt.

Ruth made this huge quilt for her and her husband. They are such a  sweet couple;

is is so amazing to watch how attentive her husband is to her needs. What a great guy!

They both chose to add hearts onto the quilt top. In the middle of the big blocks,

I added 4 big hearts in a gold colored polyester thread.

In the smaller areas, I added 4 smaller hearts in a darker blue polyester thread.

In the striped border area, I stitched in straight lines, just to hold down the that area.

The backing shows off the stitching nicely.

In the darker border area, I stitched in swirls, you really can’t see it that much on the

front of the quilt but it is there.

Dale’s cousin first quilt

Isn’t this a cute quilt? Dale’s cousin made it-her very first quilt. I think she came upon it

when there was a local Shop Hop in the area.

I really struggled with what to stitch onto this quilt. An overall design would ruin all the piecing

used to create the critters. Eventually, I tried to mimic the environments that each animal

lives in. The Loon received some water and reeds to swim in.

The border area started growing leaves  to resemble the woods where all these animals live.

The Caribou or Moose was given some trees to hide in.

The mosquito just got wind, hopefully to blow him away. Thank God that

mosquitos aren’t really this big.

Reeds, rocks and some water was given to the turtle. I love his purple color. I would be

worried if I met a purple turtle on the side of the road though. Isn’t it great to be able

to switch the colors up a little, just for fun?

The backing

The back of the quilt shows off all the quilting and yummy texture that was created. I love

this part of the process too.

The moose in all his glory, on the back of the quilt.

This is my favorite quilt of 2017. I kept it for last. Do you like it?

I love the colors of the fabrics, I love the gradual gradations of the color as well.

Dale made this beauty and what a job it must have been! Just keeping all those

colors in the proper order and then to make sure you had sewn them in the correct

order. That must have been a nightmare in and of itself.

If you are wondering what blocks make up this quilt, it is rather surprising

that the 2 blocks used are a solid square and a 4 patch block. Now, maybe, I could

try this with my 100 plus blocks?

The center of the quilt is light and then all the darker colors change from

there on out.

The back of the quilt. Dale wanted a light brown polyester thread for the back

of the quilt and a light brown polyester thread for the front of the quilt.

The panto used looks very sophisticated. I feel very jealous of the person

who is getting this quilt. Well done Dale. What was your favorite quilt?

Have a great week and check out The Needle and Thread Network.

 

I have no title….

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Here are some more quilts that were completed before Christmas. Hope

you enjoy the show.

A huge quilt

Look at all the piecing! Wow! This quilt was also huge!

This is a close up of one of the blocks in the quilt. The overall quilting design comprised

of leaves.

Look at all the Flying Geese in the border area. Again, all the time it took to create

this beauty.

Another shot of the completed quilt. I used a bright orange polyester thread

for the top and the backing of the quilt.

Here is the back of the quilt. I love the deep orange color.

You can see the leaves on the back of the quilt.

Dara’s Quilt

Dara created this Canadian quilt;  there were alot of these Canadiana quilts this

past year. Kind of makes me regret that I didn’t  make one myself.

It was easy  to choose a design:  Maple Leaves. What could be more Canadian than that?

The backing shows off the Maple Leaves beautifully.

Close up

This quilt below was made  by a very generous person. I quilted it up for a charity.

Another Canadian Quilt

Instead of Maple Leaves, I quilted in straight lines all over the top. I used a cream

polyester thread for the top and the backing.

The backing fabric kind of looks like candy canes, to me anyways. Why does fabric

seem to remind us quilters of food?

Too bad the fabric doesn’t smell like candy canes.

Charity Quilt

This is another quilt that was made by people all over Canada. The completed blocks

were sent into Quilt Canada and the tops were then put together. I quilted straight lines

all over this one too. It was quicker  and I could manage to get it done on time.

A close up of the block. I really like all the colors in this quilt top.

The backing is flannel and the colors match the top perfectly.

Anne purchased this panel and was planning on giving it to someone special.

I stitched in the star lines because I noticed them after staring at the panel for

an hour or so.

The Tree

I outlined the panel and added in some extra stitching.

The border

I quilted in swirls in the green border; a lot of the stitching wouldn’t be

seen anyways so it was a good choice.

The backing is a really fun fabric;  shimmering metallic snowflakes.

A close up of the metallic snowflakes fabric.

Another large coverlet also found its way onto my frame. I outlined the shapes on

the fabric.

The hardest part about quilting this fabric, is deciding what motifs to stitch around.

You have to make sure that the stitching is even and you have to find a

continuous line; you also have to make sure to stop and start really well so that

the stitches don’t come out later on.

The motifs are embroidered onto the fabric;  I try to stitch around them as close as

I can. You would laugh at how fast I can stitch. Sometimes, I have to mentally tell

myself to slow down.

The back of the coverlet; it usually is a thin cotton or polyester fabric. The batting

inside is always a polyester so it puffs up somewhat when it is all done.

Anne’s Quilt

Anne also brought me this panel. I really like it, so vibrant with that black door.

Again, I outlined stitched around the whole panel. The door really stood out when

it was all done.

Some of the Poinsettas on the panel. Even the flowers stood out a little as well. It was

a really fun panel to work  on.

The backing

The back of the panel shows off the stitching nicely. I used a monofilament thread to

go around all the flowers and the door. I used a black polyester thread to fill in the door and

a white polyester thread for the backing.

Hope you enjoyed the show. Check out The Needle and Thread Network.

 

 

 

Staying warm and sewing lots…

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Hoping that everyone is staying warm during all this cold weather. Here in

Ontario, Canada, it has been cold  but it is a great incentive to stay indoors and

quilt like crazy.

Here are some of the quilts that I worked on for customers in the fall of 2017.

This is quite the quilt; look at all that piecing!  Wow! I can’t even imagine  the time

it took to piece this one together. All those Flying Geese blocks;  one of my favorite.

The overall  stitching design is called “Swirl” by Norma Sharp. A dark polyester thread was

used on the top and the backing of the quilt.

The Backing

The stitching shows up nicely on the back of the quilt.

The backing fabric looks like it is textured due to the printing on it.

Dorothy’s Quilt

Dorothy made this Lighthouse Quilt from two panels that she purchased at Lens Mills.

She also added in the white sashing and a pieced blue and white border.

It was easy to choose a design because of the topic:  lighthouses. In the lighthouse blocks, I

outlined the lighthouses and all the areas by using a monofilament thread. I love this thread

because it means that I don’t have to constantly change thread colors and it is almost

invisible.

A  l ighthouse

In the dark blue border area, I stitched the same half circle around the block.

Why fight the pattern printed onto the block? Instead I used  it to my advantage and

stitched  over the design in a dark blue polyester thread.

Another lighthouse with the white swirl design in the outer blue border. I also stitched

in some radiating lines from the top of the lighthouse; hopefully, it looks like  light beams.

The white sashing

In the white sashings, I quilted in a rope design. I love the look of this design and

it fits perfectly for lighthouses.

In the inner white border, I stitched in pebbles. Once again, it works well with the lighthouse

theme and adds some contrast with the rope pattern.

The backing

This is the backing for the lighthouse quilt.

Close up

You can see some of the lines from the front of the quilt. I had alot of fun working on

this quilt.

Square Within A Square Quilt

This quilt pattern was very interesting to me, so much so that I made one for a

couple at Church. I used a black and white color scheme though.

I was surprised at how quickly this pattern sews up. I forget who made this sweet

baby quilt but I like the overall pattern it creates. Hearts were quilted all over the

quilt. I used a white polyester thread on the top and a light gold polyester thread

on the backing.

The back of the baby quilt.

The hearts are very sweet on the back of the quilt.

Anne’s Anne Quilt

Anne made this Anne of Green Gables quilt for one of her granddaughters. She is

really getting into the Gables series so Anne thought it would be appropriate for

her to have her own quilt. What a great grandmother!!

I was surprised that Anne actually found this fabric.   There is some pretty cool

fabric out there but I guess that you don’t notice it unless you are specifically

looking for it.

The backing

The back of the quilt looks  like this. Anne chose a pattern that depicts

flowers.

I used a light pink polyester thread for the top and the backing.

Hope you enjoy your week and  check out some Canadian artists and quilters at

The Needle and Thread Network.

 

 

 

Happy New Year and I am back…

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Happy New Year! I have been off for several weeks but I am back now. It is good to

take a break and do nothing. Can you relate?

Here are some of the quilts that I completed before the Christmas break.

This was a Mystery Quilt that a local Quilt Shop ran last year. I was

surprised how many came through, there must have been at least 10 of these.

It was a really popular design; and there were so many different colors

used on this quilt too.

Here is the border;  the fabric is really rich looking.

This block is very interesting to me.  “Happy Times” is the

overall design used on the quilt top.  A white polyester thread was

used on the top of the quilt as well.

The backing.

The backing was dark and the owner wanted a grey polyester thread for the backing.

Lynn created this quilt for one of her daughters for Christmas;  Lynn designed the quilt top

herself . Great job!

Lynn’s Quilt

Lynn wanted flames all over the quilt top. It was a lot of fun to stitch in and very fast too.

I used a purple polyester thread for the top of the quilt and a black for the backing.

The backing fabric is interesting;  it is called “grunge.” And it actually looks like it too.

 

 A Baby Quilt

This is a cute baby quilt. The quilting design is called “Swirl” and it looks great with all

the straight blocks on the quilt top.

I used a light grey polyester thread for the top and the backing.

The backing

The backing fabric was a light grey color and it was flannel so it will be

warm and cuddly for the baby.

I like the swirls on the back of the quilt.

Mystery Quilt

This quilt is the same as the one above but different fabrics are used.

The outside border areas.

The overall design is more complex here and makes the quilt look more classy.

A close up of the block and border.

The thread I used was a light cream polyester thread on the front and the back.

The Backing

The backing fabric was very soft and beautiful but it wasn’t a cotton fabric at all.

A close up of the fabric used for the backing. Hope you have a great week and

exceptional New Year.

Check out The Needle and Thread Network.