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.
I saw a reel on Instagram for the Holland Pouch by Center Street Quilts and liked it so much that I bought the pattern!
The pattern has three different sizes, it’s well written and is easy to follow.
I had fun playing with scraps and also quilting it with my Juki. The Zippers by the yard with fun pulls a fantastic to work with.
I love how this one turned out…
This led to making a smaller pouch to match…
And an even smaller one…
Not pictured is the fourth even smaller one.
The Holland Pouch was so much fun I made another one…
My little sewing buddy Kaija and I have been busy making pouches when she has been here this summer… we made a Holland Pouch first (not yet pictured) then this week a smaller pouch. She loves the idea of making smaller ones so that will be next week’s project!
The use of black for the background on this quilt really allow the colours to pop!
The pantograph A Little Bit of This was the design chosen, often adding a soft flowing design opposed to strong angles or lines in the piecing of the quilt adds a different dimension and plays on the designs of many of the fabrics in a quilt like this one.
The backing choice was perfect for this quilt! if anyone knows somewhere still selling this wide back please let me know!
The quilt left trimmed and ready for binding.
Wendy’s Quilting for Professional Quality Longarm and Quilting Services wendysquilting@gmail.com
Just before our trip I was contacted by the daughters of a quilter that I knew of through guild and online. They wondered if I would help complete a quilt that their Mother had begun and sadly had passed away before completing it.
The quilt had been intended for her granddaughter.
I was happy to accept this project and let them know that I would check with a friend of mine to see if she would complete the quilt top for me while I was away as they hoped to have the quilt ready for the Granddaughters bridal shower.
Kim did a wonderful job! Due to the Grandmothers illness some of the blocks needed some work and some needed to be made.
The daughters had a card that their Mom had written to her Granddaughter and had it printed onto fabric for the label.
I attached the label onto the backing before quilting the quilt.
The pantograph Two of Hearts was chosen for the quilting…perfect for a quilt that has so much love attached.
Hot pink was requested for the backing which I found locally. It was also used for the binding.
I was told that the Granddaughter absolutely loves her quilt 😊💗
A few weeks before our big trip I wanted to finish up a quilt for the Motorhome…I had one in mind that I had begun making in 2019 it started out as a kit from Craftsy back when they had their own fabric lines.
My customer quilts take priority for the most part over my personal projects especially the ones that I have pieced just for fun with no particular plan in mind for them.
The top had been completed as per the kit however it wasn’t big enough, thankfully I had collected some of the fabrics and had some scraps in my stash.
It was a generous twin size to begin with so it needed more blocks, I had almost enough of the background fabric and in the end I added in some solid white in a few of the blocks.
I also used the fabric that I had planned for backing for the borders.
I had some left over blue backing from a quilt of my Moms that I had quilted for her and used that for both the containment border and binding.
Adding some fun I chose the pantograph Bubbles for the quilting design. The backing is a wide back full of friendship quotes.
I truly believed that I would have time to stitch the binding on our trip and I did work on it here and there and did finally finish it before we got home…
We decided to leave Texas the way that we arrived, taking the Galveston Ferry. Headed to Lafayette Louisiana for a night.
Continuing on we drove along the coast…enjoying the scenery. it was fun watching the dolphins swimming along the boats.
Our first night on the way home was in Lafayette Louisiana, we spent our evening relaxing and going for a walk to check out the campground.
The next days driving took us to Hot Springs Arkansas driving through the Ozark Mountains was amazing and at times a challenge. We made an interesting stop at the Hidden Bridge … the sign said no trailers or long Motorhomes and once on the very winding narrow road we could see why…it was well worth the driving adventure!
We attempted to find rv parking in Hot Springs Arkansas to check out the baths however parking wasn’t to be found and we were tired so made our way to the campground, had supper a walk and slept!
One of the things that we really enjoyed were the welcome centres in most of the states. Unfortunately the one in Springfield Missouri had closed just before we arrived. Route 66 is on our to drive list.
After another one night stop we were on the road again! Headed to Hamilton! For a few years I had mentioned to Erik that I wouldn’t mind going to Hamilton Missouri and so it was added to the list!
When we arrived, Erik dropped me off to explore! It was a bit overwhelming but my kind of fun overwhelming! Walking through and exploring 13 quilt shops!
We spent the night at A Country Charm Campground which I highly recommend, it wasn’t far from the shops and was a relaxing quiet stay.
Our next destination was Clear Lake Iowa. We made a fun stop at the Iowa Visitor Center…
Clear Lake Iowa is the home of the Surf Ballroom… it was the last place that Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.P. The Big Bopper performed before “The Day Music Died” sadly they were tragically killed in a plane crash February 3, 1959 shortly after takeoff.
That night we stayed at a Harvest Host location, we found a nearby park to grill at and explore before settling in for the night.
Onto our next adventure and headed to our final campground for this trip was to Hinckley Minnesota.
We love the areas around Minneapolis and so made some stops along the way…
First stop was Northfield, famous for the Bank Raid of September 7, 1876.
We also stopped in Hastings for a walk, the weather was not cooperating it was a cool rainy day not at all what we had gotten used to!
We settled into our campsite in Hinckley and woke early in order to have some time in Duluth before heading to the border and home.
We had fun in Duluth and bought a fun pattern… for a really cute little bag at the new quilt shop in Miller Hill Mall.
We arrived home early evening…
Erik had been watching for the smelt run so on the way home he had me ask Liam if he would go with him that night…that was a big yes and a very late night but fun for them.
We were both tired and it took a few days before we felt settled in again. The first few nights we woke up wondering where we were 😊.
After a month of travel and exploring we arrived at my Daughter, Son in law, and Grandsons home in Texas and had a week of visiting with them and exploring the area.
One of the first things on the agenda was that my Grandsons dirt bike wasn’t working so he and Pappa got to work right away…
Sarah and I went on a fun shopping trip in Houston to both Trader Joes and Whole Earth Provisions Co. I would love to have a Trader Joes maybe one day Duluth will have one.
Anyhow Whole Earth Provisions was also a great shop and we had a lot of fun finding birthday gifts for 2 of our granddaughters/Sarahs nieces.
Our grand cat Tommy really enjoyed his toy from our trip!
After a fun weekend, we were on our own for a day which we spent taking care of things…an oil change for the Motorhome and I caught up on our laundry.
We also enjoyed a walk to a nearby park.
We didn’t run into any alligators/ there were also signs warning of venomous snakes which I was also thankful not to encounter. I loved the trees!
The next day we used Sarah’s car to explore Galveston and enjoyed a nice long walk along the beach…and a little drive on the beach as well.
Erik had been wanting to visit NASA for a long time…
One of the things on my list to do that I think really surprised my Son in Law Jeremy was that I wanted to visit their gun range and I was hoping that he would teach me a bit about this I want to call a passion of his.
I have found the issue of guns unsettling and when Sarah first told me about the shooting range that they were opening I really didn’t know how I felt about it.
Jeremy is an excellent and patient teacher. He showed us his collection, teaching about safety first and then about shooting. We started with handguns and then shotguns/rifles and I tried them all out. I really enjoyed my time there and came away with more of an understanding.
On a side note one of the campgrounds that we stayed at on the way home had a note in its policy that although it was an open carry state they requested that their guests did not, although if they found it necessary to use their weapons judiciously. The owners 12 year old granddaughter was beside her when I was checking in and I said oh I am Canadian so we don’t have a gun. The granddaughter was shocked to learn that we have such different laws in Canada.
Back to our visit, we had so much fun playing games and visiting…
and taking pictures…
The hardest part of the whole trip was leaving Sarah’s. It was such a great visit but it is hard having them so far away.
Hopefully we will find our way back there sooner than later!
We left a day earlier than planned due to weather and tornado risks. Thankfully Eriks plans to skirt around the storms heading north worked out really well and we still had some fun adventures a head of us…
On the quilting front… I have been busy quilting for others and will start sharing more about that soon!
Wendy’s Quilting and Life 