Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

December and Life

wendysquilting

Big News on the life front! We found our Christmas tree!

I guess we are just a couple of old souls as we just love having a real tree for Christmas.

Every year we visit the tree farm and carefully choose our tree. It will be set up and decorated before next weekend. I love the addition of light the tree brings to our home during the less day light days this time of year. 11 more days until Winter Solstice 😊

The owners of this tree farm we recently discovered have retired and moved…yesterday I met the new owner and am so happy to say that she is so excited about their new home and venture.

On the quilting front my days and evenings have been busy helping others finish their quilts!

This one is currently being quilted, and in fact is more than halfway finished. I pieced the backing for its maker, something that I offer for free to my customers and for the most part am taken up on the offer.

I also like to take the time to press each quilt top and backing before loading onto the Longarm.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Terri’s Granddaughters Quilt

wendysquilting

How sweet is this quilt that will be gifted to its makers Granddaughter this Christmas.

Terri chose the pantograph Star Swirl for this quilt which flows beautifully over the stars, moons and planets throughout the fabrics.

Part of my Longarm Quilting Services include trimming your quilt at no extra cost so that it is ready for binding.

Contact me at wendysquilting@gmail.com and let’s talk about finishing your quilt projects!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

November/December Life and Quilting

wendysquilting

November has sure been a busy month in the studio and the next weeks now that it’s December will be as well. I really consider myself fortunate to be able to spend my workdays helping others complete their quilts!!

There hasn’t been a great deal of personal piecing time and I haven’t felt overly motivated either which in a way is a good thing … I have been percolating different border ideas for my Longtime Gone Quilt. This has been a long-standing project that I had been hoping to quilt over the holidays.

Well, after finishing quilting this customer quilt last night…

I spent some time in my studio puttering and playing with left over blocks in the LTG (longtimegone) bin and looking on Pinterest for inspiration and it’s finally come to me. I have also decided on the quilting design and backing.

Just to remind…here is one of the more recent sections completed for LTG. It’s been such a fun project and I am excited to see it completed.

Also some of the blocks on the design wall. I actually have the top pieced and ready for the final border.

I have a tractor quilt ready to load this morning…Stay tuned!

Contact me about having your quilt top professionally quilted, my services include free piecing of your backing fabric along with trimming your quilt if desired so that it’s ready for binding.

All tops and backings are pressed by me prior to being loaded on my longarm. I am happy to assist you in deciding on the design for your quilt or as many people do I can decide for you.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Kim’s Quilt

wendysquilting

This quilt was imagined and then designed by my friend Kim. The quilt will be a Christmas gift for her grandson who love dinosaurs.

She chose solid fabrics for this quilt top and added appliqué dinosaurs on the top and bottom. How fun is her border utilizing all of the colours in the top!

The backing is so sweet and perfect fun for a small child who loves to name the different dinosaurs. (the backing background is actually much whiter than it appears in the picture…we were getting more snow when I took it)

Kim chose the pantograph Popcorn for its playfulness and it also gives a cloud like appearance. Thread colour choice was a little more challenging but in the end I chose baby blue which works really well as a chameleon colour when quilting.

The quilt left yesterday trimmed and ready for binding.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Some Cotton Christmas Candies

wendysquilting

Candy Quilt that is!

It was quilted using the pantograph Windswept…which added a ribbon like look.

I pieced the backing…this fabric needed to be matched due to the print. it’s not always easy to get it perfectly matched but in my opinion it is well worth the effort!

Here is a link for a fantastic tutorial for matching large prints. Of course I happily piece customer quilt backings free of charge, contact me for more information.

https://shannonfraserdesigns.ca/2022/11/16/how-to-match-a-fabric-print-on-your-quilt-back/

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Melissa’s Sweet Little Girl Quilts

wendysquilting

Melissa used the same collection of fabric for 2 quilts that are similar but very different.

I chose to quilt the first one with the pantograph Daisy Swirl.

The design really shows well on the fireside backing.

The second quilt was quilted with the pantograph Hearts and Blooms…

Backed with yellow fireside.

Both quilts are so sweet and will be so snuggly for two little girls who will be receiving them for Christmas.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Michelle’s Quilt

wendysquilting

The sun was shining yesterday!! Depending on where you live that might not be something worth noting. Living in Northwestern Ontario as we edge closer to winter solstice the daylight especially the sunlight is shorter lived each day.

Finding the right light to capture the true colours in the quilts that I photograph becomes more challenging as the days become shorter. Thankfully I have a large window beside my Longarm…

So on to todays quilt. Michelle pieced this quilt for a friend who requested a quilt and her friend wanted red. Many of the fabrics are from the French General collections by Moda.

I chose the pantograph Rhapsody which adds such a lovely flow of flowers and leaves without being overstated. The density of quilting is a perfect balance for a bed quilt.

Michelle purchased the backing from Donna at Fuelled by Fabric in Pass Lake.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A Quilt Story

wendysquilting

I think that every quilt has a story…

Sometimes it’s in the journey of deciding to and making the quilt itself or who the quilt will be for.

This particular quilt was pieced and purchased from a local person and brought to me. The customer is a very kind giving caregiver to many and recently gave her bed quilt to someone that she felt needed it more than she did…but then realized that she did want a quilt on her bed.

This flower garden quilt was a perfect place for butterflies to hang out…so was quilted using the pantograph butterflies.

My customer chose a light pink 100% cotton sheet for the backing, which really showcased the butterflies and quilt up beautifully.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Circles and Swirls

wendysquilting

It seems so rare these days when I work from the front of my machine. Last week changed that as I was requested to quilt a 9 foot table runner with an idea inspired by a pattern that it’s maker had found.

I call this kind of quilting doodling and while it’s time consuming and can be a little scary to start I always remind myself that I am going for the whole picture and not the first few square inches.

The choice of backing is important for this type of quilting and in this case the chosen back is perfect. (Shown on the bottom portion in the picture below)

The runner will eventually be displayed on a ten foot table. It was a very fun project to add my touch to and I am excited that there is a second one waiting in the Que that I will incorporate more aspects to my doodles into.