Turning Twenty in Black and White

This is Eileen’s Turning Twenty quilt and she used Black and White print fabrics from her stash to make this quilt.  Since the blocks are such a large scale I like to use large scale panto so chose Popcorn.  The thread is white So Fine and the batting is Quilters Dream Blend.

 

We had a bit of a warm spell for a few day with above freezing temperatures.   I would prefer it if it didn’t get this warm in January and it even rained last night so now the roads are slippery!  Strange to hear rain at night in January and would rather it snow as that is easier to deal with than ice! I took these picture before the warm temps arrived.  I am almost finished the NYB quilt and will share that soon.

Practice, Practice, Practice!

This weekend I wanted to finish up some place mats for my table.  My original plan was to use this Blueberry Bali Pop to make place mats using a Judy Niemeyer pattern called Cappuccino  but realized after making one block that I had no patience for that pattern.  Since all the fabrics were already cut into 2 1/2” x14” strips I just sewed nine together to make a mat and made six mats in total.    I quilted them with my favourite design from the Pajama Quilter called Dwirlling.  It is a super easy and fast quilting design that looks really good, I highly recommend her DVDs.

Once I had the place mats done I thought it would be a good idea to do some practicing!    One design that I don’t feel I really have in my head yet is McTavishing.  I think it is absolutely beautiful but I have never been asked to do it on a quilt so I thought I would give it a go so I’m ready for the day that request comes in!  It’s good to be prepared.

McTavishing is like handwriting, every longarmer’s looks different and I had no idea what I was doing so I just went for it!     I started by trying the more traditional McTavishing but kept adding the shell shape into it.  Then I tried doing it around large swirls and I really like how that turned out.  Basically a mix of swirls and shells with a lot of echoing, I like the texture it creates.

I just loaded a beautiful New York Beauty quilt on my machine and it will probably take me all week or more to get that one done as there is a lot of ditch stitching to do.

Here is a peek at the quilt top.

Fancy Fox Quilt

This is Heather’s Fancy Fox quilt and it is a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.    She ask for it to be quilted flat and I was shown a picture of one done with wood grain quilting so that is what I did.  I found the source of the picture, which was from the Red Red Completely Red blog which you can see here.  I think it is important to share your sources of inspiration in this business as I have, thankfully only on a few rare occasions, seen others copy my quilting exactly with no credit to my work given on their blog or Facebook page.  Like most longarm quilters I love to see others copy my work, that is the greatest compliment, but when there is no mention of the original design inspiration then that can dampen the compliment, so please give credit where credit it due.

I don’t know the name of the fabric line used but know it was a kit she bought at Fabriculous in Swan River, MB.

I just quilted a slightly wavy line down the quilt and added the a wood knot to the lines randomly.  I loaded the quilt sideways on my machine so the quilting process was very quick!  I used a variegated grey Lava thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.

Nine Patch

This is Lorna’s Nine Patch baby quilt and she used small cat print panels for setting blocks.  I kept the quilting light as the fabrics were bold and the backing was flannel so that keeps the quilt soft.   I used black So Fine thread in the outer border and just quilted piano keys in the black so the quilting does not compete with the bold stripe print.  I used a bright Rainbow thread for the CC’s in the Nine Patches and black thread to stitch simple frames around the cat blocks.

Mahjongg #5

This is Myrna’s Mahjongg quilt that she made at our guilds Beginner workshop this summer.   One of our guild members donated these fabrics to the guild so we could make a kit for our class with them and when she saw the top finished she was in fun kicking herself for giving that fabric away!   I’m sure we have all done that, not seen the potential in some fabric so we give it away and then love the final quilt that is made with it!   But knowing the fabric was made into a quilt and will be used and loved makes it all worth it as I have done this a few times myself!

 

The pantographs used is called Plush, the batting is Quilters Dream Puff, thread is white So Fine and the backing is a white Minkie with a raised star design.

This week I also finished a fun flannel quilt for Donna and she said this will be a quilt for her grandkids when they go camping with them in their trailer in the summers.    I love how she used a simple nine patch block and highlighted the fun scrappy flannels with solid flannels.

Quilters Dream Blend batting, the panto is called Fascination and the thread is a blue So Fine.

Lug Nuts #2

I’m trying my best to get back into a routine now that everyone is back to work and school.   With the weather turning so cold after Christmas I found  myself just wanted to hibernate instead of quilt.   Spent a good week cuddled up on the couch under a few quilts watching TV or playing games on my tablet.   I stupidly downloaded Candy Crush and have regretted ever since.  My ‘ must finish what I have started’ personality is more suited to games that have an end like Scrabble not games that go on and on and on!  Oh well, some brainless fun is good for the soul too right?
Now to the first quilt of 2015!    This is Yvonne’s Lug Nuts quilt that she made at the class I taught in August at our guild.  She used a Moda line called Bee My Honey and I used the Bayside panto on it.   Light grey So Fine thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.

It is –26’c with a –37’c windchill when I was out taking these pictures today.  It as a quick photo shoot and ended when the tip of my nose keep freezing to my camera, time to go back inside to thaw out and get the snotsicles off my camera!

When Yvonne was piecing this quilt I was curious how her striped fabric would look in the lug nuts blocks.  The striped fabric was printed in the 45’ angle, not perpendicular or parallel to the selvage and it ended up giving the block a spinning effect which I really like.

Looking Back at 2014

It’s that time again where I like to look back at the quilts I have finished for myself over the past year.   This year my list is much smaller than in past years but that’s okay as i really don’t need any more quilts.   I have closets and boxes full of new quilts that I just can’t seem to part with so maybe my goal in 2015 is to find the right homes for all these quilts that I have made over the last couple of years.

So here are my quilts for 2014.

February – Perfect Ten quilt made with Under the Australian Sun fabrics that my friend Desley sent me!

February – Lug Nuts, a new Highway 10 Designs pattern.  This was our cover quilt using Little Black Dress 2 fabric.

March – My International Friendship quilt!  The fabrics were sent to me by my friend Laila in Norway and the wool batting used is from Desley in Australia.  This quilt has a great story which you can read here.

May – My original Four Patch Charm Quilt.  This is one of the most popular posts on my blog and has been viewed over 24,000 times!   You can see the tutorial for this quilt here.

July – Quarter Sections, a new Highway 10 Designs pattern.  Our Fat Quarter Friendly pattern was perfect for using my Cupcakery fat quarter bundle.

July – Metro Hoops, a pattern by Sew Kind of Wonderful.   I think this is the quilting I am most proud of this year as the design really suited the quilt.

August – Pillows designed by Robinson Designs.  Fun Minkie applique pillows on a batik background.

August – Popsicle Sticks quilt, an Atkinson Designs pattern.   Great pattern for Jelly Rolls and I really like the new panto I used on this one, Deja Vu.

September – 4 simple baby quilts using the Wishes collection.

November – Professional Tote Bag, a pattern by Creative Thimble.

November – Lug Nuts, a Highway 10 Designs pattern.    I wanted to see what our Lug Nuts pattern would look like in blue batiks….okay I just wanted an excuse to make this quilt again as it is so much fun to piece!

December – International Round Robin.   This was a Round Robin I did with Lori, Desley and Bronwyn over the course of a year.  I was the first one to finish mine so hope that lit a fire under those ladies to gets theirs done too! 

December – Day Break Quilt, a pattern by Jaybird Designs.   I have admired this patterns for awhile and was glad Wendy, the owner of Fabriculous quilt shop, convinced me to make it so she could hang it in her shop.

So that is what I made this year and I have to confess that I now only have one quilt top that needs quilting and NO UFO’s!   I keep telling myself I do not need to make anymore quilts, I have too many around here as it is but like many of you I don’t think I can go too long without having a quilting project to work on.  I have a couple of jelly rolls and fat quarter bundles that I should figure out what to do with and I’m not going to buy anymore this year …well I’m going to give it a good try anyway!

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND ALL THE BEST IN 2015!