Prairie Meadow

This beautiful quilt was made by Marlene.  The pattern is Prairie Meadow by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet.

All of the blocks are hand appliqued, and as always Marlene's work is just amazing.  Marlene had a vision for how she wanted this one quilted - with an edge to edge design!  Normally my heart would break at the thought of stitching across someone's beautiful hand applique, and I'm sure I asked Marlene if she was sure multiple times, but I do believe there is always more than one way to quilt a quilt.

I have to say Marlene's vision was the right thing.  The Bora Bora pantograph hold things together and doesn't detract from the top that has so much to look at.  We used a very pale green thread that is visible across the top.

The edge to edge design is a much more economical choice and allowed Marlene to add a cozy fireside backing to the quilt.  (Fireside can be a little thick for me to do a lot of ruler work successfully).

Does seeing this quilt change you mind about stitching over applique in certain circumstances?  It certainly opened my eyes!

 

Turning Leaves

Sydney brought this wonderful batik Turning Leaves quilt for some custom quilting.  The pattern was originally published in a 2002 Quiltmaker magazine but now is available as a download on the Quilting Daily website

I have seen this pattern done with machine applique in the past but Sydney decided to hand applique her blocks.  I used a thin Microquilter thread to stitch in the ditch around the leaves.  I was able to quilt the rest of the quilt with one blendy color of So Fine thread.

Veins in the leaves, some accent stitching in the block corners, loops in the sashing and an echo curve border were our design choices.

I love how the quilting shows on the back as well. 

Audrey's Panel One Block Wonder

This festive quilt was made by Audrey.  This version of a One Block Wonder is made with a total of 7 of the same panel.  One panel is left whole, which you see in the center of the quilt, and the remaining six panels are turned into the hexagon blocks.

It is always interesting to see all the unique blocks that are created with this technique.

Audrey selected the Windswept pantograph and a pretty gold Magnifico thread that adds just the right amount of shine.

Audrey also had a very pretty coordinate for the backing.

A really unique and dynamic project that came from a simple panel.  Great job Audrey!

 

Two for Jukipa

Jukipa made this beautiful log cabin quilt for her daughter.  Her colour palette is warm and gives a cozy feeling.

She selected the Fascination pantograph which is such a great pattern that looks good on so many quilts.

She also brought a sweet rail fence baby quilt.  The Fliratious pantograph was just the right finish with a pretty pink thread.

 

Gemini

Sherry made this fantastic Gemini quilt.  The pattern is by Villa Rosa Designs.  Her fabric choices are bold and beautiful with a selection of Kaffe Fassett prints on a black background.

Sherry picked the Flirtatious pantograph and we selected a dark teal thread that doesn't fully blend into the background, but doesn't distract from the graphic nature of the quilt.

Patchwork Chore Coat

This is my daughter Kendra in her reversible quilt coat.  This was a really fun project because I shared the work load with my sister-in-law Christie.  Christie recently rediscovered her passion for garment sewing, and was up for tackling the construction once I got the quilty part done.

We both agreed that Kendra was the person in our lives who would make a quilt coat look cool (and appreciate the work that went into it).  Kendra really wanted it to be reversible if we could manage that so the Patchwork Chore Coat pattern from Patchwork and Poodles fit the bill.  The pattern gives great instructions for starting out with an actual quilt or using a panel method to construct things.

Kendra and I took a trip to Needle Craft and Studio in Beausejour and fell in love with the Fabelism Sprout Wovens.  Kendra picked a range of blues and greens and we were off to the races.  I definitely recommend prewashing the woven fabrics as the shrinkage was significant.  The reverse side of the coat is an Art Gallery solid in a color called Hunter Fields.

After piecing the simple grid pattern and quilting  the panels for each section of the jacket I washed the quilt sandwiches twice before passing them over to Christie.  I wanted to make sure the batting did all its shrinking before the coat pieces were cut out.

Kendra picked a simple continuous curves pattern for the quilting, thinking that she wanted the reverse side to have a simple look she would enjoy for years to come.

Christie took over the project and did all of the cutting, construction, fitting and mastering a variety of binding techniques to give the coat a professional finish.    (This part was not without trial and error and some ripping and redoing that comes with new territory).  Christie has much more patience than I do, so I was thankful she was doing that part!   I love the sweet touches like the little labels she added.

The end result is one happy daughter/niece rocking her quilt coat this fall.

All Roads Lead to the Sea

This wonderful quilt was brought to me by Lillianne for some custom quilting.  The pattern is called All Roads Lead to the Sea by Country Creations.

Quilts like this always take me a while to wrap my brain around and come up with a plan for all the different areas.  I wanted the sky and water to look different from each other and also different from the fields and paths and foliage.

Once I got going I had fun outlining the buildings and adding details when more quilting was needed.  My goal is always to add a even amount of quilting across the entire quilt so that it hangs or lays nice and flat.

I didn't match threads exactly to every fabric, but found I needed to use a total of 9 to blend nicely with all the different areas of the quilt.  Lillianne picked a beautiful array of fabrics from her stash to add interest to this quilt.

The perfect photo shoot location was at the Marine Museum of Manitoba right here in Selkirk.