How sweet is this customers quilt. She used a Dick and Jane panel along with fabric purchased and saved from a trip to Prince Edward Island.
It will be for a grandchild and I am sure will be cherished.
This quilt arrived with the backing pieced and the exact size of the top. Thankfully my customer also provided more fabric and I was able to expand the backing. In this case I added a strip of the gingham fabric by cutting the existing back 1/3 rd if the way top to bottom and also added borders to the top and bottom.
Winter comes to a close later this week as far as the calendar is concerned that is…and now this fun and happy king size snowman quilt is off the Longarm and will be heading home before spring!
The quilting is a mixture of ruler and freehand quilting.
It is always such a good feeling when a large custom job is off the machine!!
Well you know how it goes…when things go well ordering from Amazon it can be amazing. Well my paper piecing plans went out the window…no delivery as promised on Friday and then it was out for delivery yesterday but was a no show despite the tracking that said it was delivered. Oh well thankfully the deadline isn’t this week.
Our weather was fantastic yesterday so it was a good day to be outside anyways.
I shared a few favourite things yesterday and I have a few more so here it goes…
I love these thread picks…not only do I use them for unstitching but they are also fantastic for retrieving stray dark threads under light colours on quilted quilts. It’s like a super tiny and sharp crochet hook.
These scissors all have serrated blades and are super sharp. I use all three sizes fairly often in my work. They aren’t all needed but I do enjoy them.
The navy blue Olfa cutting mat just looks so nice in my sewing room which is why I had to have it..It really is nice to have for cutting lighter fabrics. I use a smaller version when I am trimming small units as it’s easy to turn. I do have some rotating mats as well however I rarely pull them out. I have also over time acquired different size and colour mats that are very useful at times.
It was a very busy week for my Longarm and I. I finished quilting 2 queen size quilts and the sweet little Frozen quilt.
I will hand stitch the binding on the sunshine quilt in the next couple of days and the snowman quilt will require a whole blog post after it’s owner has seen it.
As a professional Longarm quilter I have over time discovered a few tools that make life a little easier.
I love good lighting and as much as I love my domestic machines they lack good enough lights. A friend gifted me an led strip light meant to be attached to the machine however the strips included never stuck long term.
My newest machine does have a led light, however not as bright as I would like.
I really didn’t want to glue anything permanently to my machine so my solution was to use command strips and crazy glue the light strip to it. It hasn’t moved since!
My daughter gifted me a shoulder massager a few years ago and it’s right up there with good lighting!
Also in the lighting department this led rechargeable flashlight has been invaluable not only for checking the tension on the quilt back when longarming but also when doing maintenance and work such as retiming the Longarm.
This one has a magnetic base and is adjustable.
My Carol Duek paper piecing paper order is out for delivery. So hopefully I will get to play with that today. It was a busy week on the Longarm.
The binding is prepared for the sunshine quilt and will be applied today.
This cute little quilt was next and the customer chose the pantograph ground cover…this added to the swirling leaves in the panel. In place of batting she requested a thin fleece fabric which quilted up beautifully.
I won’t trim this quilt as the backing will be brought forward as binding. You can see the fleece that was used.Frozen back…such pretty stitches.
In keeping with the theme we had snow overnight and it’s still snowing this morning. Hopefully it won’t be too wet for my Grandson and I to explore the woods again.
The schools will remain closed for another 2 weeks here so we will continue to hang out together next week 😊
I am currently working on a custom snowman quilt…pictures to follow.
So I started some practice pieces for the sisterhood swap. I haven’t done any paper piecing in years so it was a practice in patience. I also realized that It will be easier to use my printer instead of tracing so this morning I ordered Carol Doaks papers.
That will make the project a little easier. Also by the magic of online ordering the paper should be here on Friday just in time for some weekend sewing.
I am also contemplating making the 12” block to add on to my Moda Blockheads 3 quilt. I am very close to calling that project done and moving on.
On the quilting front…I am currently working on a customer quilt that is of her own design. She has been using up some of her Mothers stash to make her quilts. This job makes me smile and because it’s large I really get into the zen mode while running my machine over it.
I have my grandson with me during the days, due to virtual learning so I quilt while he is in school. This week seems more challenging for him and he is not as happy to do school as he was last week. I suspect it’s not as much fun as being with classmates and teacher in person and also not easy for a 9 year old boy to sit for so long.
We made plans to go out on our trails this afternoon and check for animal prints in the snow … and maybe use up some of his built up steam. then some pizza for lunch 😊
Joan’s quilt brightened up the room as soon as I opened it up. I always press quilt tops before loading them onto the Longarm.
I also prepare quilt backs. Many of my customers bring yardage as I offer free piecing…I use a lot of pins which always give me nice even and flat seams.
How bright is this back! It’s hard to see the stitching on the back.
Trimmed and ready for pick up. The majority of my customers choose to have me trim their quilts. I use the table on the back of my Longarm which is 12’ long making the process much easier.
One of my friends recently commented that it must be a good feeling when I unwind the quilt on the frame. It is! I always like to see how the back as well as the front turned out.
Susan M’s quilt
Instead of taking the risk of the backing being too short …I added. Ten inch leader to the top . I very rarely need to do this but it’s a good trick to keep in mind when there is just enough backing.
It was my Grandson who decided the name of this quilt because it reminded him of lakes and water. He is presently doing his schooling virtually so is spending his days with me while his parents work.
I chose the pantograph bubbles as not only are their circles in some of the squares but the background is full of circles.
Our days are getting brighter…so they feel longer which is very welcome. February seems to have flown by. I was busy with customer quilts, family and a little of my own projects. Our area began another lockdown today due to rising covid cases which feels discouraging. I will have my grandson with me as the schools are back to virtual learning. I plan to start planting some seeds with him this week.
So many of my friends and customers have told me how thankful that they are for their quilting as many of us get lost in our work which makes the days pass more easily.
Laura’s Care-bears. Care-bear quilt back
Laura’s Care-bear quilt was a pleasant surprise as most quilts arrive to the door these days and the quilting decisions are left to me. I raised my daughters during the Care-bear era and I couldn’t help but think how much the world could use those bears these days 😊
It was a fun cheerful quilt and it was quilted using a tried an true pantograph called popcorn which gives a cloud like appearance.
This tulip quilt is also a reminder that spring will arrive.
