Professional Longarm Quilting Services
This is the final Christmas customer quilt this year. I chose the pantograph Ground Cover to play on the outdoorsy fabrics theme.
The backing is a beautiful chocolate brown that did not want to photograph well but really works well with this quilt.
A closer look:
This quilt was trimmed and ready for binding and yesterday I was sent this picture of how the binding process was going with Beth’s assistant!
Welcome December 21! The first official day of winter…I may come to regret saying this but where is the snow? The weather forecast for Christmas Eve and day are for above 0 Celsius. This might just be my first not white Christmas in Thunder Bay.
I am finishing up my Christmas projects this week. This little pouch along with another were my fun task last night. I love making these little projects and they make fun gifts.
December like November seems to be flying by! We had a dusting of snow overnight however with the projected temperatures it will disappear by noon and now we have unseasonably warm temperatures for the rest of the month and no sign of snow! It might not be a white Christmas this year.
One of the quilts that I have finished is a fantastic example of using colour values in piecing a quilt top along with the value of saving and using scraps.
Marilyn has made several of these quilts, one for each of her grands I believe. I have met two of her granddaughters that absolutely treasure their Grandma and also her gift of quilts.
As a professional Longarm quilter for almost 19 years and a quilt maker for close to 40 years I know how much time and love goes into making quilts for others. (Along with the expense)
I have always strived to give each quilt job my full attention and providing my customers with quality workmanship.
I was recently asked how many quilts I work on a month, following me on social media she is able to see many of the quilts that I am entrusted with.
My response is that it depends!
It depends on the size of the quilt as well as what that particular order entails.
I spend time preparing each quilt before loading onto my Longarm. I sew yardage for backings for some and also carefully press the quilt top and then the backing in order to prevent issues afterwards. Such as puckers and pleats.
This isn’t a race, I like to give each quilt the time and attention that I give to my own.
I absolutely love quilting and spend an average of 8 hours most days quilting. (I enjoy a short commute to work).
This is a busier season and most of my customers let me know in advance if they are working on a quilt for Christmas and so have their quilt placed in my queue.
If someone asks to fit one in before Christmas who isn’t in my queue I will do my best to work a little overtime and fit them in. 🎄
Marilyn’s quilt is trimmed and ready for binding.
Let me help you bring your quilting projects to completion.
This memory popped up, Liam has always enjoyed quilts and quickly crawled into the middle of this customer quilt just as she arrived to pick it up! Thankfully she was delighted to see how much he liked it. (Liam is now 12yrs old)
I am currently quilting another half square amazing quilt by Marilyn… I have lost count however this may be the 5th or 6th this was taken on the weekend I did get a few more rows quilted after this picture…however….
Yesterday we had a fun filled day with our grandson 3 yr old Jaxson!
His Mom sent us this picture she took on the way home. He is big into dinosaurs and the puppet in his hands was a gift we bought last summer but when he first saw it, it was scary…yesterday he told us it’s not scary anymore.
After supper, I attended our local Quilt Guild meeting, we had 3 in person meetings and have now resumed Zoom meeting for the winter…I was thankful for that after such a full day.
We enjoyed guest speaker Jane Z Haworth
She did a wonderful and informative talk about her Collage Quilting…she was very inspiring.
The day also held a big surprise which I will share a little later when we have some daylight. Our hours of daylight are noticeably shorter each day right now, making me look forward to the Solstice.
This Christmas tree quilt was made using a pattern and fabrics by Edita Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. It was such a pleasure to quilt and enjoy having in my studio!
We chose the pantograph Rhapsody which played on the theme in many of the fabrics.
I like to choose a design that compliments the quilt not necessarily one that echoes the design. Thread colour and weight of thread also make a big difference in the outcome of the quilting.
I personally find it very difficult not to be inspired by the quilts that I work on! Edita’s quilts often have the small piecing that I love to do and the appliqué ❤️
I love the way the quilting shows on the back of the quilt!
Trimmed and ready for binding!
Let me help you to complete your quilting projects!
As we move closer to Winter solstice our amount of natural daylight hours become less and less add to that, that it seems that the sun is shy and hiding behind the clouds… making it really challenging to truly capture the true beauty of some quilts. I came close with this quilt.
Marlene’s White Chocolate quilt is absolutely stunning with its subtle soft colours and creamy backgrounds.
After looking at several options for the quilting, Marlene chose the pantograph Gravity. The fun oval design of this pantograph leans toward a modern look and really plays so nicely with this more traditional looking quilt.
The curves in the quilting soften the angular look in the piecing.
The backing fabric has a beautiful sheen to it and as it was brought to me as yardage, it was pieced by me, carefully matching the design. This is a complementary service that I offer.
Both quilt top and backing are always carefully pressed before loading onto my Longarm.
The quilt was trimmed after quilting and ready for binding when Marlene picked her quilt up.
Let me help you bring your quilting projects to completion.
The Nebula Quilt designed by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts with fabric designed by Tula Pink is a glorious party of Colour!
Suzanne chose a soft flannel backing and Wool for her batting. A good quality wool batting from companies like Hobbs and Quilters Dream are wonderful to work with and add more loft to a quilt.
Wool is warm in the winter without added weight and also cooler in the summer. It does require a little more care when washing and I personally would not ever put a quilt with wool in the dryer. I actually hang all quilts to dry but that is a personal preference.
After looking through several options for a quilting design Suzanne chose Belly Bop, it is a fun and medium dense design that plays so nicely over these modern prints.
The super soft flannel backing has such a soft flowing design and really showcases the quilting.
The quilt was trimmed and ready for binding when it was picked up.
Let me work with you to bring your quilting projects to completion!
I am not entirely sure how December has arrived when I was just getting used to it being November!
The very best part of November in my books is that it’s Liam’s Birthday…he turned 12 last week.
My Dad hosted a family dinner in Liam’s honour, he smoked a turkey that Liam’s Mom provided and the rest of the dinner was made by my daughter Katie and I. Family dinners are so much easier when everyone helps!
I wish that I had taken a picture of his gift and reaction to opening it. You see he had requested money for an upcoming trip in February…this request was made in the summer. So to make it fun, I put 4 $1. USD bills in a peanut butter jar as a liner to look like the label…then filled a third of it with coins and wrapped more bills into the centre of the coins and topped the jar up with our remaining Halloween treats. The gift was a total success.
As his Grandma I have enjoyed his childhood so much, we have spent so much time together and he has truly brought so much joy in my life. These last months I have noticed how much he has grown and is definitely less of a little boy. I am sure by his next birthday he will be taller than I am, his life is busy with soccer and school and friends as it should be…though he has told me he still plans to be here in the summer and our annual trip to the Dells.
When my 3 year old granddaughter Minka let me know that she wanted an all pink quilt, I happily got on that…I am also making one for her sister. Pink is Minka’s favourite colour right now. The quilt is similar to Olivia’s baby quilt that I made last summer.
I have been collecting pink fabric for awhile now, I took advantage of Road17N’s Black Friday sale and ordered backing fabric and a couple more metres of pinks…what a great surprise to find more pink fabrics inside the parcel a few days later!
I really try to allow for an hour of piecing every evening after I finish working on the Longarm. I may have to add an extra hour in the morning in order to finish both quilts.
My presentation of my quilting journey went well at the November Quilt Guild meeting.
Welcome to December…
Last year when some of my customers saw this table runner that I had quilted they were inspired!
The pattern is Those trees by Zen Chic.
Melissa chose Kona Sheen in Arctic Ice for her background fabric, it truly has the sheen of ice with a very subtle sparkle to it.
Backed with a silver grey Fireside fabric and quilted with the pantograph Windswept, trimmed and ready for binding….her quilt that she made for herself will soon be ready to snuggle under.
Cathy took part in Joyce Gilmores quilting retreat in Terrace Bay this fall, she had let me know that she was making the quilt and as she already had a quilt in the queue when she told me she was going I had added this Christmas one along with her batik quilt.
If you let me know when you begin a quilt and would like to have me quilt it for you I will add you into my list at that point.
She has named her quilt Baby it’s Cold Outside.
It was a fun and happy quilt to work on and she chose the pantograph Rhapsody and a perfect one in my opinion for this quilt!
Cathy likes to have me attach her bindings for her so that they are ready for hand stitching when she picks them up.
She had this quilt completed finished for Monday and showed both this and her Batik quilt at the Guild meeting this week.
Wendy’s Quilting and Life 