Mia's Parade

I recently had the pleasure of quilting this sweet baby quilt for Cindy.  The pattern is Mia's Parade by The Quilt Patch. I always like to personalize a baby quilt if they come to me after the baby has been born.  I asked Cindy if she wanted to add the baby's name to the quilt and if she wanted the name to be boldly on the quilt on more subtly snuck in.  She said she preferred bold and once Alexander arrived and the name was confirmed, she  left the rest up to me.

I played with some design ideas using my iPad and the "Draw On Photo" app.  I didn't have a full plan going in, but I did figure out a spacing for the letters that I was happy with so I could use that as a reference.

I started with the letters.  I drew many a bubble letter on title pages in Junior High school (I'm dating myself now), and it seems to be a skill that translated easily to quilting!  Next I added the balloons.

At first I wasn't sure what to do to fill in the open spaces between the balloons and the elephants.  I decided some ribbons on the balloons and some hearts blowing from the elephant trunks would be just right.

Then, what do I do with the background areas?  I decided to differentiate the ground and the sky so some pumpkin seeds on the bottom and some wispy clouds to finish it off.

I can't really imagine having more fun quilting than I did completing this one.  I am thankful for trusting customers like Cindy who let me play!

Reneta's Pixelated Heart Quilt

Reneta made this super cute baby quilt off some ideas she saw on Pinterest.  The picture that caught her eye first were from the blog post from Renewing Mrs. Sew & Sew.  The original idea came from Blue Elephant Stitches and you can see that version here.  Reneta used 3" squares and added her own borders ideas to make a rectangular rather than square quilt.

Reneta has originally asked for a flowery panto, but nothing I had seemed the right scale, so when I suggested Heart Strings, Reneta was on board.  I normally choose more matching thread, especially on the back, but I decided to do a medium pink front and back.  The Dream Puff batting makes for a lovely weight with flannel backing.

This is such a sweet quilt and aside from the back ground came right from the pink scrap bucket.  Inspired to make your own?

Sherry's Leaf Row Quilt

 This is Sherry's version of the leaf row quilt.  If I am counting correctly this is the 7th one I've had the pleasure of quilting. If you are interested in seeing the others, type the words "Leaf row" in the search box on the right side bar. 

Sherry was one of the leaders of the project and she asked me to share this story.  I dropped this quilt off to Sherry's house and we didn't look at it together as we normally would have.  When she unfolded it the first thing she saw was a "glaring piecing mistake".  Hmm, I didn't notice a quilting error when I was working on it.  I let you see if you can spot it at all before I share where it is.

Sherry asked for a simple panto and she decided on Bora Bora which feels like the wind blowing the leaves in the fall.  With the fabrics Sherry used in her border and sashing custom quilting would have been lost, so a panto was a great choice.

This block has a 3D stem for added interest.

 

I also like the little bit of interest that this simple but effective border adds.

Sherry's quilts often have a scrappy component to them, but I would called it "controlled scrappy."  She has a way of adding just the right amount of an unexpected color to make the quilt sparkle.  The teal blue below is one such example.

I also love the little ladybugs farming this block.  Just one piece, not a lady bug infestation!

So, have you figured out what Sherry's error was?  Actually the block above is the culprit.   I was too focused on enjoying the lady bugs to see that in the third row from the bottom, all the leaves have framing on two sides except for this one that has three.  I'm sure many of us would leave it and move on, but Sherry can't unsee it, so she is working out a plan to either applique over the extra green bar with beige, or add an extra green bar or two to balance things out.  (Sherry is extremely accomplished at hand applique so this is a viable option for her).  She will stitch in any missing quilting lines when she is done and no one will ever know what used to be.

Polar Frost

Cathy made this cozy quilt from Northcott's Polar Frost collection.  It is flannel front and back and the crisp white and icy blues are just perfect.

Cathy selected the Fascination panto and had one request for me.  She was really hoping that the quilting wouldn't go through the eyes of the bears in the large panel.  (She had seen a finished quilt and the stitching lines through the eyes really didn't sit well with her.)

This is how I fulfilled her request.  When is was time to start the panto row , I dropped my needle in to the bear's eye. 

Then I headed to the back of the machine and laid a piece of plastic over the panto and marked the spot where the laser light was shining.  I knew that for this one I just needed to stop short of the point and all would be well.

For the baby bear, I had to redraw the panto line ever so slightly as you can see below.

Such a fun quilt to cuddle up with winter!

Fat Quarter Place Mat Tutorial and more

I recently have a had few requests to make my Fat Quarter Place Mat tutorial into a PDF download.  Well, ask and you shall receive!  I have added a new page to my blog called "Tutorials and Freebies" that you can see above.  The free download is available there.

I also had a number of requests for the instructions for these cute fabric baskets that Kathy and I made for our retreat participants in October.  Many have the retreat attendees have been making multiples and everyone seems to want in on the action.  There are lots of basket tutorials out there.  This is is super fast, and if you have two coordinating fat quarters you can make two baskets.  There is no interfacing or fancy stabilizer.  We used 2 pieces of fabric and a batting scrap.  They are also reversible.  Again the pdf download will live on the page above.

I also found pictures of a quilt that I hadn't yet shared.  Our Nimble Thimbles Quilting Club in Gilbert Plains have two members who have some health concerns and as a group we wanted to send them a little love.  We pieced two of these 10 Minute Block Quilts and I had the privilege of quilting one of them.

I repeated a design I did on another 10 Minute Block Quilt because I just loved it so much. 

Nina's Labyrinth

I recently had the pleasure of quilting this beauty for Nina.  The pattern is called Labyrinth by Calico Cottage.  This pattern had been around awhile but this is first one to come into my studio.

Nina selected the Zephyr panto and a charcoal Magnifico thread.

Nina does not like to waste fabric and was creative in her approach to the quilt borders and pieced backing strip.   Nina did a great job measuring and pressing when assembling the backing as it was as flat as a solid piece of fabric.  What makes the achievement even more impressive is that it was a mix of flannel and cotton!   (Normally I wouldn't recommend this much piecing in a backing because the chance of working in a little extra fabric here or there and causing a pleat to form in the quilting process is a clear and present danger.)

I'm sure the lucky recipients who find this under their Christmas tree will be thrilled!

Cora

I recently got to quilt this fun baby quilt for Reneta.  The pattern is called "Cora" was designed by Wendy at Fabriculous.  This is the third version of this quilt that I have quilted for Reneta.  It has become one of her go to patterns and she keeps requesting that I quilt it the same way!

This quilt is just so fun to quilt!  You can see Reneta's other incarnations here and here.

Reneta also passed on this tree skirt for me to quilt.  She said she thinks she has made it at least 11 times!

I used the "Holiday Garland" panto and my favorite gold thread - Maginfico 2063.

And a peek at the back that make it reversible.

Fun as always Reneta!