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!

Pine Trees

Sydney made this beautiful quilt with a collection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics. The pattern is called Pine Trees by Kim Mclean Designs.

Sydney’s piecing and appliqué are just immaculate.  She selected the Fascination pantograph.

Sydney used an amazing collection of polka dot prints in the background of the blocks and continued that theme into the backing fabric.

Japanese Jigsaw

Sydney made this lovely quilt using the Maven collection from Basic Grey for Moda.  The pattern is called Japanese Jigsaw by Tracy Brookshier.

Sydney chose the Time Warp pantograph. I love the texture it added to the quilt.

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.

Raise the Woof!

Karen made this unique One Block Wonder quilt for a friend.  Karen started with a panel from the Raise the Woof line by Connie Haley.  Karen removed most of the blue sashing before she began cutting the pieces for the blocks.

When you look closely at the individual blocks you can start to see some of the eyes, noses, tongues and letters.

The border adds another little bit of interest to the quilt and frames it nicely.

Karen rarely gives me a plain piece of backing fabric.  She added a few pieces from another coordinate from the line.  The Windswept pantograph was nice choice against the busyness of the quilt.

 

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.

Jolly Holiday

Shelly is ready for the holidays with this fun quilt.  The pattern is called Jolly Holiday from Lella Boutique.

Shelly chose the Advent pantograph.  She used a great red for the backing.

Nothin' Like a Puffin and more from Reneta

Reneta brought a pile of small projects for me to enjoy.  First up is her version of the Nothin' Like A Puffin pattern from Art East.  I have quilted a lot of quilts for Reneta so I have a pretty good handle on her likes and dislikes, so I sent her one picture with the Windswept pantograph as my suggestion.  She agreed and I do think it was the perfect fit.

Reneta also made a cute set of Highway 10 Designs' Roundabout placemats.  The forest themed focus fabric called out for the Oak Breeze pantograph. 

Reneta has 3 grandchildren, so she made 3 versions of the Pink Picture Frame quilt by Wood Valley designs for them.

Frist up is this Buzz Lightyear one featuring the Galaxy Pantograph.

There are two princess quilts - a blue and a purple and both feature the Ginger Heart pantograph.