Scrap Crazy!

My good friend and client Reneta is scrap crazy!  I recently had the pleasure of quilting these two labours of love.  There are just shy of 3500 -  2" squares in EACH of them!

The quilts were quilted with two different pantos and a variegated multicolored thread.  Grey flannel backing on both.

Flirtatious is the panto on the first one.

Yo-Yo is the second panto.

I had a lot of fun looking for fabrics from past projects that I have quilted for Reneta and scraps that made their way from my collection to hers.  I am still amazed by the amount of cutting, sewing and careful pressing that was put into each of these!

Cindy's Bargello

This stunning bargello quilt was made by Cindy.  The pattern she followed was called "Flamingo Bargello" by Chi Chi Quilt Designs.  

Although this quilt would have finished up nicely with an allover design, it was telling me it wanted custom quilting.  A mixture of big relaxed feathers and straight lines play nicely together and highlight the movement in the quilt.

Here you can see the quilting clearly on the light beige backing Cindy sent.

Deciding where to put the feathers and lines and getting organized was my biggest challenge.  I took photos of the fabrics I wanted to group together and made notes as to the top and bottom threads I was going to use for each section.  Isn't it interesting to see the wide variety of fabrics that made up this quilt?

This is the selection of threads that I used to quilt this one.  Normally I match my bobbin thread to the backing fabric, but as the contrast between the backing and the quilt front was very high in some places, I decided the better choice for this quilt was to match top and bobbin thread colors.

Great job Cindy - it was definitely worth and the careful sewing and pressing!

Disappearing 4 Patch Stars

Karen was the creator of this Disappearing 4 Patch Stars Quilt by the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  

 We decided on the Mimosa pantograph which has really nice movement and murky green thread to blend with all of the colors in the quilt - So Fine 516 Gondola Gold.  Batting is Quilters Dream Blend.

Granny's Choice

Donna made this striking black, white and grey quilt for a special couple's anniversary.  The centre blocks are called "Granny's Choice" and you can find tutorial on the Quilts by Jen blog here.

A lot of of the fabrics in the quilt have a floral or vine pattern so we decided on the Sweet Pea pantograph.  The surprise is the thread choice that you just barely see above - ORANGE!  The lucky recipients of this quilt recently painted their bedroom orange and Donna added the fabulous orange flannel to the back of the quilt, so we decided to have a little fun with the thread color.

Bjorn Bear and Dogs in Sweaters

Amy and Reneta worked together to create a lap quilt and pillow for a friend who is going through some tough times.  The pattern for the quilt is Bjorn Bear by Elizabeth Hartman.  We used the Heartstrings panto.

I just love the glasses!

Reneta and Amy also made Elizabeth Hartman's "Dogs in Sweaters" Pattern for this pillow.  

The girls had a vision for the quilting.  I was asked to add the word "Courage" to the background and densely quilt around it to make it pop.  

I suggested adding something to the bottom corner for balance, we decided on adding Jill's name.  

Jill's beloved dog is a Dachshund, so the pillow is very fitting.  I couldn't help but give this guy a fancy sweater!

On The Right Path

Reneta has been at it again.  This time Australian fabrics and a pattern called "On the Right Path" by Mack and Mabel patterns. 

My quilting is pretty hard to see on the front, but shows up nicely on the cuddle backing fabric.  We selected the Novaya Zhizn pantograph and black thread.

This quilt is a great way to show off a favorite fabric collection.

Hockey Lonestar

This stunning tribute to a favorite hockey team- The Winnipeg Jets was designed and made by my very talented friend Dawn. (Please note there is not a pattern for sale for this design.)   Dawn worked from a traditional Lone Star pattern, but it is her artistic eye for the color placement that puts this one over the top!  

If you looking at examples of how most Lone Star quilts are quilted, they have feathers, or tonnes of feathers.  That wasn't going to fly here, so a more geometric approach was called for.  I wanted to keep the centre star "the star" of this quilt. I echoed around the entire star shape and then added a mix of continues curves and straight lines  to achieve the desired effect.

I filled is some of background acreage with quarter squares filled with u turns.

I knew I wanted to fill the rest with a background that would jsut highlight the centre.  Dawn popped over and we doodled a bit and discussed option and she loved the "cracked ice" triangle meander.  I was a bit worried as I had never done it before and there was lots of real estate to fill, but she was totally right.  I love the final effect!

Since all of the fabrics in the quilt were solid, I matched the top and bottom thread to the fabric on the top of the quilt.  There is a bit of a secondary design on the navy backing fabric.  I am so used to matching my bobbin thread to the backing, that is always shocks me to see bold thread on the back, but it was the right decision for the quilt to ensure a totally crisp finish on the front. 

Thanks for letting me help bring your vision to fruition Dawn, I truly enjoy our collaborations and look forward to the next one!