Birch Street Collage

This is Sandra's version of the Fiberworks pattern called Birch Street Collage.    I was a bit hesitant to take this one on at first as sometimes certain brands fusible web in multiple layers can cause stitching issues and gummed up needles. Sandra knew what products she used, so I felt better and thankfully I had no issues.

Trying to stitch the individual fused pieces down was not an option I was willing to consider as I was worried about causing fraying along the edges, and the number of thread changes required would have made this a very time consuming and expensive endeavor.  

We opted to follow along the lines of what the designer Laura Heine does with her samples.  Quilting a grid across the whole thing.  The benefit of this is ensuring all the pieces are securely held in place, and that the piece will hang nice and flat against the wall as the quilting is even.  It is also a cost effective option.  Superior’s So Fine thread in #504 Silver Screen blended in nicely across the whole quilt. 

I quilted the grid on one direction, took the quilt off the frame turned it 90 degrees and reloaded it to quilt the lines in the opposite direction.

 

Julie's Hexagons

Julie made this quilt for her granddaughter.  Julie's granddaughter was very invested in this quilt.  She helped select all the fabrics and placed all the hexagons in the layout she found pleasing.

As we were auditioning different pantographs, we both knew we found the right one when we looked at Oak Breeze.  Great movement and a motif that fit with the fabrics in the quilt.  Perfect!

Stars in the Garden

Ruth, a new to me client wowed me when she pulled this amazing quilt of out her bag!

  The pattern is called Stars in the Garden from Piece O' Cake Designs.

Ruth is a master of hand applique!  I stitched around all the applique with Micro Quilter thread which is 100wt, so it is a virtually invisible.   Ruth opted for Quilter's Dream Puff batting and the loft it gave to the applique was very pleasing.

In order to keep the quilt soft we opted to not fully fill the background with echoes or pebbles, but just filled in the larger spaces with curls and a leafy motif.

I stitched in the ditch around the inner green border and added simple curls to the outer border.

The above Hydrangea block is certainly a labour of love!

Proud to be Canadian Quilt

Kris brought this fabulous Mountie quilt that was a labour of love.  Kris is also part of an RCMP family so this will be a family treasure I'm sure.

The pattern is called "Love of Country" from a booklet called "Proud to be Canadian - True North Strong and Free" from Ruffled Elegance.  This quilt seemed familiar, and I found a copy of the book that I was given somewhere along the way,  I couldn't find a publication date, but it was an official product under license from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Foundation.

Kris said she worked on this over a number of years - I can see why.  The are about 225 log cabins blocks in the centre maple leaf section before you get to the trees or the applique!  

It was quilted with the Fascination pantograph and a nice blendy thread - So Fine # 456 Goose Down.

Irish Chain

Kathy brought this pretty Irish Chain quilt.  There is something about a blue and white quilt that is just extra appealing to me.  This quilt was a very generous Queen size.

Kathy selected the Come Dance with Me pantograph and a light blue thread.  I think it adds some nice movement to the top.

After searching for a backing that she loved, Kathy opted for a simple blue/grey grunge this is pretty and compliments the top nicely.

Sparrows

Carolyne brought this lovely quilt that she was making for a friend.    The pattern is called Sparrows from Pen + Paper Patterns.

Carolyne knew exactly what pantograph she wanted when she came by to drop this off - Blooming Birds.    And her bird fabric on the back ties everything together just perfectly.

Easy Bargello & More

Madison brought this batik jelly roll quilt.  The pattern is called "Easy Bargello" by Busy Hands Quilts.

Madison selected the Raindrops pantograph and a dark grey thread.  I love the cozy Fireside backing that completed this quilt.

Val brought this pretty quilt that featured some batiks and some Asian prints.  She selected the Ginseng pantograph and a shiny blue thread.

 

Cross Stitched Flowers

This was a very unique quilt that came my way recently.   Olga stitched the 4 preprinted panel sections together and competed all the cross stich flowers and borders on this top, but decided she was no longer up to hand quilting the project.

Olga purchased this kit from the Mary Maxim catalogue years ago, and it was stamped with the cross stitch designs and quilting lines.  Olga asked if I could custom quilt this one by following the pre-stamped lines.  This was a request that was new for me, but I couldn't see a reason why it wouldn't work so we agreed on the plan.

I used a variety of rulers to follow the lines.  The process was certainly sped up for me as I didn't have to measure and mark anything and I was able to quilt the entire quilt in a single thread colour.

Helping my clients get their projects to the finish line instead of languishing in cupboard somewhere always make me happy.  A new take on this was was a great option and I wouldn't hesitate to tackle another one in the future.