I love waking up very early and I especially love very early morning walks esp in the summer!
Just before I woke up this morning I had a very realistic dream that my daughter who lives in Texas was suddenly here, we had such a nice visit in my dream.
After, when I woke up I of course wished she was here and could join me for my walk…and just as it was putting on my shoes guess who called and joined me!!
Life can feel so busy and it’s so important to remember to take time for oneself.
I have been really busy with quilting for others which I am extremely thankful for, I love my job!
Quilting is also my beloved hobby and I wasn’t finding time for me…my friend Louisa suggested that I carve out an hour or so a day just for me and my quilting and guess what? Not only am I more productive with my own projects but also my customer quilts as well!
I am currently piecing Small World by Tara Faughnan along with my Postage Stamp quilt.
I had the pleasure of working on a very special quilt that created by my customer with so much love for her graduating Granddaughter.
The quilt top includes her favourite colours as well as books due to her love of reading, two of the blocks have her initials pieced. The backing was chosen for her love of flowers.
I chose the pantograph Garden Frills. I love the density of this design for a quilt that will follow the graduate to University in the fall and will hopefully be well used! The quilting softens the straight line piecing on the top and plays so beautifully with the backing fabric.
I was given the task of both choosing the fabric for and completing the binding for the quilt. With so much happening visually on both top and back I chose a complimenting dark green solid for the binding.
Her quilt was ready for gifting when it was picked up.
I am so appreciative of all of my customers to entrust their quilts to me to be completed. I have many quilters whom I have been quilting for many years!
This customer has relocated to Manitoba and we have still found ways to work together!
We chose the quilting design Star-swirl for this King sized quilt. It measured 114” square which I was able to easily accommodate on my 12 foot frame! Have I mentioned how much I love my APQS Millennium before?
The backing is a perfect match to the pink in the batik fabric that is in the top and looks amazing together in person.
We had an extremely cold week here and I was grateful to have to spend some of my time hand stitching the binding on this quilt!
So not only was this quilt trimmed and ready for binding it was completely finished and ready for gifting with plenty of time to spare before the wedding is taking place.
I offer Professional Quality Longarm Quilting Services!! Let me help you finish your quilts!
The Pantograph Ground Cover was chosen as the quilting design by its maker and it flows so beautifully over the quilt top and compliments the backing as well.
The batting is Hobbs 80/20,which I always carry on the roll and sell just what’s needed for each quilt to my customers. Thankfully I have a fantastic batting source that continues to offer the best price that I can find and am happy to give my best price to my customers.
Choosing the right thread colour can be a challenge when there is a lot of contrast, in this case I went with white as I knew that it’s contrast with the dark fabrics wouldn’t be as distracting as it would had I chosen a darker colour.
The backing fabric is a lovely match! There are so many wonderful wide backings to choose from!
This quilt was picked up this week trimmed and ready for binding!
We are a little less than a month away from Winter Solstice also known as the shortest daylight day of the year. I was working on another quilt on the Longarm when the sun broke through and I knew that I had a short window to take some pictures!
This quilt shows a fun way to showcase 4 patch scrap blocks, the backing inspired the quilting choice. I used the pantograph Shasta Daisy.
It’s such a pretty design.
Check out the backing! As our days get shorter here the daisies were a nice reminder of summer 😊
Somehow it’s mid November! The leaves have all fallen and the last few mornings have been frosty but for the most part the daytime temperatures have been mild for this time of year.
Where have I been? Busy quilting for the most part.
I have completed several jobs and some I do not have permission to share yet. One was a large queen sized quilt with scallop edges that I hand stitched the binding down…
And then….
One of the true joys in Longarm quilting for others is helping to finish quilts that have a lot of meaning to the owner. This fall I had the pleasure of finishing 3 quilts that were my customers Moms final quilts along with my customers first quilt.
I will write separate blog posts for each starting with this one of her Moms.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love scrap quilts and this one was no exception. There are several fabrics in this quilt that were not quilting cottons and some appeared to be from some time ago reminding me of my childhood. Ok the 70’s
This quilt required a little TLC and I did my best to add extra stitches where needed.
I recently read a post from a Longarm quilter on Facebook about a quilt she was working on that some of the seams didn’t quite meet and wondering why any quilter would miss that. One response was perhaps the quilter is aging and her eyesight isn’t what it once was.
I happily made the necessary repairs hoping that one day if that is me someone might come along and do the same.
Having quilted for others for almost 20 years I have learnt many ways to tackle issues that come with some quilts. Special quilts that need to be completed.
I did consider removing the final border and reapplying it but reconsidered due to all of the bias involved.
Instead I made gentle pleats as needed and hand stitched them down after quilting.
My customer brought me the 4 quilt tops and requested that I choose the backings which I did and ordered them with her approval.
Sometimes using the same fabric for the binding just works.
I carry Hobbs 80/20 on the roll for customer quilts, I do my best to get the very best price that I can so that I can pass that along.
I am often requested to choose the quilting design by my customers.
When I first began quilting for others in 2006 I remember feeling nervous making the decision…however over time it became easier to read the quilt and less intimidating.
Of course I also gathered information about who the quilt was for, its purpose as well as my customers preferences.
This sweet winter themed quilt gave me a few ideas, I could have used the border print and played on the theme of the holly or birds or pine cones. The backing fabric also had holly. However, I wanted something that would be complimentary to the animals and chose a quilting design that would play in the background giving a bit of windy movement along with perhaps a starry night…yes I have an imagination 😊
The quilt didn’t need me to replicate what was already there ie birds, pine cones, holly but instead it needed something to softly tie everything together.
Star Swirl is a wonderful pantograph for its soft density and easy flow.
Although the backing has a Christmas vibe to it, by adding more of a swirly starry theme with the quilting this quilt becomes a Winter Quilt.
I never tire of looking a the beautiful stitching I can obtain with my Longarm!
This quilt was trimmed and ready for binding at pick up.
Our morning view is in Hinckley MN today. We arrived settled in, had supper and went to bed early with a full day planned ending with being home!
It’s been a little over six weeks that we have been on our adventure… it is so nice waking up to sunshine this morning after a full day of driving in the rain. I am not complaining as we had almost perfect weather on this trip.
I brought my travel machine and some little projects just in case however our days were full and the only sewing I did was to stitch the binding on our camper quilt…even that isn’t finished but it’s close and I will share more about this quilt soon.
Wendy’s Quilting and Life 