Black and White and Yellow

Wendy made this bold baby quilt for a friend.   She used such in interesting variety of black and white prints.  The fish appliques are really a sweet addition.

We decided on a freehand quilting plan.  I added a watery meander in the body of the quilt, and stitched around the fish applique.  How fun is the yellow Cuddletex backing that Wendy provided?  Cozy and a great pop of colour!

 

Scrappy and Applique

Marlene brought this beautiful quilt that came entirely from her stash.  She saw a snippets of a quilt in progress on Instagram and knew she wanted to make it too. At the time there was no pattern, and no time frame when one would be released.  She did some figuring, guessing and came up with something close to what she had seen.

Marlene requested an edge to edge design,  I know some people may think it is a crime to stitch over hand applique, but I have to agree with Marlene's request on this one.   There is always more than one way to approach quilting a quilt. This was a economical choice for a quilt that was made for fun without a final home in mind.  

Marlene added a cozy Fireside backing that shows off the Come Dance with pantograph so well.

 

Rifle Paper

Amy made this very lovely quilt for her new great niece- Elouise.  The pictures do not do these Rifle Paper Company fabrics justice at all.  They are just so much prettier in person.  I believe Amy selected prints from the Strawberry Fields and basics collections.

Amy selected the Novaya Zhizn pantograph which just adds a nice leafy texture over the floral top.

 Often the backing for a quilt is an after thought and we use something that is close at hand and "fine".  Amy splurged on more coordinating fabric from Rifle Paper Company and it really does add to the finished piece.

Adding Elouise's name just adds an extra special touch! 

 

Lug Nuts with a Bee Theme

This fabulous Lug Nuts quilt was made by Reneta.  This is the 4th version of the Highway 10 Designs pattern that Reneta has made.  She obviously enjoys putting these together!

Reneta was making this quilt for a specific person and bees were an important part of his family.  Reneta purchased a selection of Bee themed fabrics online, which is always a little scarier when they aren't all from one collection.  You need 9 - 1 yard cuts to create this quilt, so that certainly simplifies an online purchase.

The Windswept pantograph was the perfect choice for this quilt.  Reneta asked if I could add a little personalization (which I love to do), but to keep it subtle.  I quilted a nickname in amongst the curls of the panto.

Lug Nuts is definitely easier to put together than it appears at first glance.  It isa available in both paper and PDF downloadable option from Highways 10 Designs.  

Over By The Pond

 

Lea made this fun "Over By the Pond" wall hanging.    The pattern is still available through Quilting Daily and would be a fun project for someone who enjoys Foundation Paper Piecing.

Lea requested custom quilting.   I mostly stitched around the paper pieced critters and plants.  The frogs needed a few extra quilting lines.  They will be complete when Lea adds the button eyes.  

I added a watery background fill, curls in the inner border and a leafy feather in the outer border.  In the strips between the critters I added a motif that matched the fabric that Lea used.  Once I had a plan in place this was quite fun to quilt.

 

Cedarcrest Falls

Julie made the lovely quilt using the Cedarcrest Falls panel form Northcott.  She used the Morning Spring pattern from Villa Rosa Designs and added extra blocks to use up the fabric she had and made the quilt a little bigger.

Julie was looking for flannel for the back of the quilt but didn't find what she was looking for, so I suggested she give Cuddletex or Fireside a try.   Mama Bear's Quilt Shoppe  pretty much carries the rainbow of Cuddletex colors and this teal was the prefect compliment.  

There are a few great thing about Cuddletex.  First it comes in 70" or 90" widths.  (Fireside is 60" or 80")  So it doesn't require piecing for a backing as often. It is produced by Siltex Mills whose Head Office is located right here in Winnipeg, Manitoba!

Julie selected the Bora Bora pantograph which looks great on a variety of different quilts, including many panels.

Birch Street Collage

This is Sandra's version of the Fiberworks pattern called Birch Street Collage.    I was a bit hesitant to take this one on at first as sometimes certain brands fusible web in multiple layers can cause stitching issues and gummed up needles. Sandra knew what products she used, so I felt better and thankfully I had no issues.

Trying to stitch the individual fused pieces down was not an option I was willing to consider as I was worried about causing fraying along the edges, and the number of thread changes required would have made this a very time consuming and expensive endeavor.  

We opted to follow along the lines of what the designer Laura Heine does with her samples.  Quilting a grid across the whole thing.  The benefit of this is ensuring all the pieces are securely held in place, and that the piece will hang nice and flat against the wall as the quilting is even.  It is also a cost effective option.  Superior’s So Fine thread in #504 Silver Screen blended in nicely across the whole quilt. 

I quilted the grid on one direction, took the quilt off the frame turned it 90 degrees and reloaded it to quilt the lines in the opposite direction.