Ivy Twist

This is Ina's version of  "Ivy Twist" by Southwind Designs.  See all those turned edges in this close up?  They are all hand stitched down!  I couldn't put a panto over this one! But since Ina is once again planning on donating this quilt to her local care home, I wanted to find a custom solution that would keep the costs down.

One thing that adds to the cost of custom quilting is ruler work stitching in the ditch around blocks and applique.  I did not pick up a ruler when quilting this quilt, it is SID free.

The blocks motif avoids crossing over the hand stitching, and I decided a simple stipple was all that the background needed to make things pop.

I tried a "new-to-me" sashing motif.  I have long admired the work of Terri Watson over at Thread Tales.  She has a lighter touch than many other quilters, and I find her style practical, and perfect for quilts that are meant to be used.  I had tried to figure out how to stitch these "fat leaves" a number of times, but just couldn't get it right.  When I asked Terri for help, she graciously shared her stitch path here.  Not too difficult once someone gives you the step by step!  Thanks Terri!

For the larger border I decided to add a row of my newly aquired "fat leaves" framed by some stippling.

Wrought Iron

I know I have been a little slow in sharing some of the quilts I have been working on, but I will try to make up for it by sharing three today!

This is another one of Ina's lattice quilts that she is making for her local care home.  I used the "Wrought Iron" panto. I have had this one in my collection for a long time, but hadn't found the right opportunity to try it out.  I thought it suited this quilt really well and I love how it looks on the back.

Another Disappearing Nine Patch from Ina.  She starts with 5" squares for those of you who are wondering.  This one got the "Flirtatious" panto.

This one came to me from Ruth.  She is donating this one to the New Horizons Senior Centre in Winnipegosis and they will raffle it to raise money for the centre.

Ruth chose the "Heartstrings" panto, and I'm glad I have stocked up on my colors of So Fine thread over the years as I had the perfect dark mauve to compliment the background fabric.

Ruth also chose one of my Stonehenge backings and the quilting shows up really nicely!

International Round Robin - Round 2

The results of Round 2 of the International Round Robin that I am lucky enough to be participating in are here!  Our instructions were to make more blocks to add to what we received.  They could be 6", 9" or 12" and the number of blocks we made went according to a point chart.  We had to include some of the consistent fabric in what we made.

I worked on Kathy's blocks this round.  This is what arrived.

  Those chains at the corners of Kathy's star block looked to me as if they needed to be going somewhere.  I made 4 - 9" blocks that could be used to extend the chain, and two more nine patch blocks to add to the pile.

Here are all of the blocks so far.  It will be interesting to see where they end up in the quilt top!

This is Desley's pile from Round 1.

These are the blocks Bronwyn added.

And here are all of Desley's blocks to date.

Next up are my blocks from Round 1.

Here are the blocks that Kathy made to add to the pile.  I love how she picked up on the little bit of plum I had included and the darker brown really adds depth.  Fun to see a few more variations of the large sawtooth star blocks too.

Here are all my blocks to date.  I can't wait to see what gets added next!

These are Bronwyn's blocks from Round 1.

Desley made four 9" blocks like this one.

Here are all Bronwyn's blocks to date.  I get to add to this collection in the next round.  Hmmm.  What will I do?

This is a lot of fun.  Looking forward to Round 3!

Cindy's "Not Your Mother's Rail Fence" - 2.0

The stunning version of our Highway 10 Designs "Not You Mother's Rail Fence" pattern was made by Cindy.  The mix of rich and bright batiks really is breathtaking.

Cindy chose the paisley panto, Quilter's Dream Blend batting, and a shiny turquoise Magnifico thread.

Cindy also used some of my wide Stonehenge backing fabric.  It is a navy and brown combination that really adds to the richness of the quilt.

So tricky to get pictures in the wind!  Cindy, I loved your version of this pattern.  I can always tell when I've got a special one and all my family members stop to comment on it.  When you can stop a teenage girl in midstory to comment "wow, nice quilt" you know you did something special!   I really enjoyed having it in my house for awhile.

I am also excited to show my second completed row in the mystery leaf row quilt I am participating in.  This time the leaves were fused on and I did a machine blanket stitch around them.  

Here are rows one and two together.  I am loving this one.  I can't wait for next week to see what's next!