Eileen's Pinwheels

This lovely batik Pinwheel quilt was made by Eileen.  As she was working on it, her sister Deann mentioned how much she liked it.  Eileen decided that this quilt would make the perfect gift for Deann and Jeff's 40th wedding anniversay, and she contacted me to get it quilted.

I have gotten to know Deann over the last few years as she herself has also started quilting, and I am getting a sense of her style which is quite different than her sister Eileen’s.  Eileen is firmly in my "no feathers" group of clients.  The quilt was telling me it would look great with a few feathers, and since it wasn't going to live at Eileen's house but rather Deann's.... I sent over some doodles that included feathers becuase I thought Deann would like them.  Eileen agreed with my suggestion and away I went.

I kept the quilting quite simple.  I didn't do any stitiching in the ditch.  I was able to use a single colour of thread and found a good path that allowed me to travel across the quilt without breaking thread.  I settled in and had a lot of fun quilting the feathers, curls, loops and curves with no rulers or marking involved.

The navy Stonehenge backing was a bit tricky to photograph but a cool pattern emerged on the back.

Thanks for trusting me Eileen, I loved being in on the surprise.

Farmer's Wife

This amazing quilt was made by Kristine.  The pattern is the Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt. It contains 111 different 6" blocks! 

Kristine and I attend a retreat togethers a couple of times a year, so I saw her steady progress on this over 3 or 4 retreats. She started with a pretty fat quarter bundle and picked fabrics for each block one by one.  With patience and determination this masterpiece was born!

I asked Kristine how she felt about custom quilting on this labor of love and she said that she trusted me to make the design choices and go for it. 

I knew I wanted to add feathers to the outer border and setting triangles.  I stitched in the ditch by the sashing and cornerstones and added a simple petal motif over the blocks.

Kristine provided a taupe Fireside backing that shows off the quilting really well.

I was a pleasure to have this one in my studio.  One I won't forget anytime soon!

Scrappy Irish Chain

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Mary Margaret sent this fun scrappy Irish Chain quilt.  She requested the same quilting as I did on her previous Irish Chain quilt and I was happy to oblige.  The first quilt is in a totally different colour way and you can see it here.

The navy blue sections are much larger than you imagine.  I used a 7' circle template to quilt the centre circle.  I enjoyed quilting the mix of continuous curves, curls and feather plumes.

I love the navy backing fabric that Mary Margaret chose as well.

Rosie Glow

Joanne and her sister Patrice made this quilt when Joanne was in town for a visit.  The pattern is called Rosie Glow and was found in Best Weekend Quilts 2013.

Joanne knew exactly how she wanted it quilted.  The Gingersnap pantograph in the body of the quilt, and the borders quilted like they were in the magazine. 

Joanne opted to have Marion finish the binding before it was returned, so it is just ready to enjoy!

J

Imperial Garden

Louise made this lovely Queen size quilt.  The pattern came from the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of Fons and Porter Love of Quilting Magazine.  It is called Imperial Garden and was designed by Jan Douglas.  The original pattern had two additional borders, but Louise decided to stop at 90" x 90".

Louise knew she wanted custom quilting and asked for it to be quilted less densely than the example in the magazine.  I tried to accomplish this by only quilting in the ditch for some of the smaller borders/sashing and not using any dense fills.

The navy border and beige setting triangles got a mix of feathers and leaves and curls. 

The outer drunkards path border received echoes and some petals. 

Louise was planning to get this bound and put it straight on her bed.  I hope she enjoys it for many years to come!

Dogs!

I had two great dog themed quilts come into my studio in one week.  First up is this one by Valerie.  It was a quilt along with her quilting group and she decided to feature some dog themed fabrics that she had been collecting.

We opted for a simple meander over the body of the quilt and a paw print border motif.

Wendy made this quilt for her brother-in-law who has loved his pet goldens.  The request was for simple quilting, and nothing cutesy like bones or paws or hearts.  Wendy and I discussed a number of options and settled on a "less is more" approach.   I stitched around the appliquéd wings and paw prints, and filled the rest of the quilt, including the digitally printed panel with a simple meander.

Sometimes I really know we hit the nail on the head when the reaction when first seeing the finished product is a gasp and then a hug!

The panel and applique are the stars of this show and the quilting is the supporting actor.  Quilting does not need to be over the top to make a quilt perfect.

City Blooms and more for Sandra

Sandra brought this City Blooms quilt that is a pattern designed by Flaurie and Finch.  The top was started by a friend who passed away and Sandra saw it to the finish line.

When deciding on a quilting design and what thread to use across the lights and darks, I came up with a fun idea.  Sandra liked the idea of freehand wavy lines and I suggested using three shades of blue thread that would blend better across the light, medium and dark sections of the quilt.   The threads are all Innovatech -Azure, Largo and Blue.

You really have to look to see where I changed threads, and I like that the thread blends in well across the entire quilt.

Next up is Hyde Park from Cotton Street Commons featuring some Tim Holtz Fabrics.

Sandra chose the Come Dance with Me Pantograph which looked great on the rich golden brown backing.

Last up is this English Breakfast mini quilt from Robin Pickens Inc.  Sandra choses the Time Warp panto for this one and it adds some great steamy texture.  She had the prettiest backing fabric on this one.

Hummingbird Bouquet

 

Annette made this great modern Hummingbird quilt.  The pattern is by Corinne Sovey Designs and was originally published in the American Patchwork and Quilting magazine under the name Birds and Blooms. It is now available as a stand alone pattern under the name Hummingbird Bouquet.  Did you know that one of the names for a group of hummingbirds is called a Bouquet?  Cool right?

I used very blendy thread in each of the sections.  Wavy lines in the background, simple lines in the throat and breast and flowers, and some feathers for interest in the in the head, wing and bodies.  Annette did not want heavy quitting so I did my best to keep a light hand.