Karen's Memory Quilts

I recently had the privilege of quilting three very special quilts for Karen. Karen made three unique memory quilts for her sisters out of their father's shirts.

The first one based on the Crossroads quilt block, got the London Fog pantograph.

The second one got the Gingersnap pantograph.

The third one, based on the "Chandelier 2 " pattern got the Plush pantograph.

When Karen came to pick up the quilts she brought along the labels she had made, and I think they are awesome.  She used the shirt collars in the most creative way.  Each of her sisters selected a different photo of Dad that was meaningful to them.   Karen also included the pattern inspiration and date as well as my name as quilter under the collar.  The quilts were already aweome but the labels are just the icing on the cake!

Irish Chain

Working on this quilt brought me so much joy! Cheri brought this quilt into the studio, asking for advice.  It belongs to a widower friend from her home town.  His wife did not complete this quilt before she passed away, and he wanted to see if it could be finished. When Cheri received the quilt, it was basted together with a thin batting, and a wide binding attached to the front. Neither of us had ever encountered a binding being attached before quilting. After Cheri and I looked at it for a while, we realized that the binding was a little too small for the top, causing it to not lie flat.  Cheri agreed to remove the binding and basting and ready a new back.  We added some modern batting, I just got to play and do the quilting!

Cheri and I discussed some design ideas, but she mostly left it up to me.  The hardest part was to figure out what to quilt in the braid border! 

I chose straight lines for the blue chain squares, and continues curves in the peach squares.  Molar feather and curl wreaths in the open spaces, a wavy line in the inner border, and a curl and feather in all the braid sections.

The maker was an interior designer by trade and I love how she used the various shades of blue in the chains.  I definitely adds interest to the finished product.

Cheri and I chose a solid beige for the backing fabric and I love how the quilting shows up.  I believe the owner intends to hang it on the wall so it really won't be seen, but I enjoyed looking at it!

I never know exactly what is going to come through the door of my studio, by I am thankful Cheri brought this one to me to help finish so that it didn't languish in a drawer any longer. 

Dog Gone Cute (With Kittens too)

 

This cute quilt was made by Reneta, Amy & Shalane and will be used as a Fundraising Raffle quilt for out local Humane Society. The ladies pooled their time, talents and fabrics and knowing them, I'm sure a lot of fun was had along the way.

The ladies combined two blocks from two favorite designers to come up with their unique design.

The cat blocks are from the pattern "The Kittens" by Elizabeth Hartman.

 

The dog blocks are from the "Dog Gone Cute" pattern by Sew Fresh Quilts.

I love the variety of fabrics included, especially this "Blueberry Cat."

The ladies' request for me was to quilt  paw prints on the quilt top.  They offered to get a paw print pantograph, but I thought a could add them freehand instead.  I decided to quilt a few paw print paths across the top and fill in the rest with some modern wavy lines.

We added the grey Northcott Essentials wide backing to compliment the modern feel.

I think we are all pleased the with end result.  Looking at this quilt makes me smile.

Love Links

Amy brought me this fun quilt to work on.  The pattern is called Love Links by Studio 180 Designs.    Amy made this quilt for her niece's graduation, and we discussed some of my more modern pantograph patterns but nothing seemed quite right.  

The idea of all over "Loose Feathers" came to be the design of choice.  I didn't do any marking for this design.  I just let the feathers flow organically across the quilt.  It was a fun design to do and I am really pleased with the final look. 

Amy's niece loves the color pink and is a cosmetology student so fabrics were chosen accordingly.

I love to find a way to add a touch of personalization in the quilting when I can.  Adding the recipient's name in among the all over design seemed like the right touch.