Tag: Quilting

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Specialty Quilt Rulers…. Drunkards Path

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In preparation for an upcoming class through the Thunder Bay Quilt Guild that I am taking soon. We will be using a drunkards path ruler set so I went looking through my collection….

I am so fortunate to have not only collected rulers myself but have also inherited many.

Some of my rulers came from a good friend and mentor of mine who also included tutorials in each pkg… she loved to teach and for many years would offer a tutorial before each guild meeting.

This set is just a little too big compared to the supplied print out. it does remind me though that it’s time to hang my Wheel of Mystery quilt though.

How interesting is this set, it might work and will be played with now that I have had a good look at it.

Now this ruler from 1994 designed by Virginia A Walton might just work. It will be another one to play with for sure.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Liam’s Quilting part one

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Liam joined me in my studio yesterday afternoon and we decided that it was time to use up the fabric left over from his baby quilt.

It was announced that the schools won’t open again until April 19 so we decided to start a new project.

Our project started out when he found the stuffed puppy below and wondered why I had it. It will be part of a donation for Christmas Cheer through the Thunder Bay Quilters Guild called Teddy Bear Quilts.

Thankfully I still had a good stash of the Max and Whiskers fabrics along with other coordinating fabric. Liam mastered ironing. We worked on using the rotary cutter but both agreed that this time Grandma would finish the cutting.

We laid out the blocks together

And made a practice piece…machine set to turtle mode as he tried out the hare and it was a little too fast!

He mastered the 1/4” and sewed 3 rows.

By the time we were finished for the day he was already talking about his next quilt!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Scraps and Life

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Today will be an at home all day kind of day. The last two days involved helping family with appointments along with my grandson and school. I read this morning that the schools will not open next week. That’s life these days…I am very thankful that I am able to be there for family when they need me.

I will soon have more customer quilts to show. The sunshine quilt is finished, as I bound that one by hand for my customer.

Hand stitching really is relaxing and I should make more time for it. I have been on the lookout for a good floor lamp for evening sewing.

My friend Betty gifts a lot of her scraps to me which bring me back to my childhood sewing and the excitement of a bag of scrap fabric to create with. So with a recent large assortment given to me on top of what a I already have and a new to me creative grids pineapple ruler…it started with making a block for my blockheads quilt.

It is not one of the official blocks and although the mistake glares at me I have left it for the time being or maybe for all time.

The ruler is fun at least for me to use. So over the weekend I let myself play…

It amazed me once I got started, how many scraps of fabric I have!
Those kitties left over from Minka’s quilt keep popping up!
These are at the point where I decide to stop and make the blocks finish at 4” or to grow them another inch which I am considering for a quilt that is on my mind. How cute is that little mouse, I did cut into a Fatquarter for that but other than a few Fat-quarters so far the rule has been only scraps…
Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Happy International Quilt Day 2021

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It seems in my life anyways…every day is a quilt day! If I am not actually quilting …a customer quilt or working on one of my own I am thinking about quilting often.

36 years or so worth of quilting and a lifetime of sewing as I can’t remember not sewing even if it was just playing with Moms notions stash or her machine oh I loved readjusting those settings. I suppose that she had me to thank when her Kenmore just was never working right and she then upgraded to her much loved Pfaff!

My Longarm not only brings me joy but enables me to bring joy to those who for the most part just want to piece quilt tops.

I also finish vintage tops! Carefully sewing fabrics of days gone by into backings and finished off with the final stitches of bindings.

I have often found patterns and ideas online and just have to make it, sometimes just because I know how I would like to quilt them.

Quilts like this one that I just couldn’t get off of my mind so it found it’s way to my design wall and later the Longarm.

And of course my wonderful customers that just let me do my thing with their tops!

Oh and of course there are friends that share their scraps instead of tossing them that cause me to play with more ideas! If you have ever read the book Jillian Jigs you can imagine what that play does to my sewing room!!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Liam and the Pencil Sharpener

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My Grandson Liam is 9 years old and has been spending his weekdays with me due to schools being closed and the students doing virtual classes.

He emerged from the office and asked if we had a pencil sharpener so I took him down to our utility room where we have ours… I asked him if he had one like it in his classroom at school. He said no, so I asked if he knew how to use it…Yes Grandma, I saw one on a YouTube about the Olden Days!

I guess that says something. However, that sharpener is one of my often used quilting tools not only for pencils but I also sharpen school chalk (white) for when I need to mark quilts for longarming.

White chalk is another great tool as it is simple to remove by using my compressor when the marks are no longer used. It leaves no residue.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Baby it’s Cold Outside…Quilt

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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!!
Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A few more favourites and a little of this and that…

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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.

The Sunshine Quilt
The Snowman Quilt….more to come
Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A Few of my Favourite Things!

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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.

I will share a few more things tomorrow.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Pretty Stars

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I have always been drawn towards soft colours for quilts maybe because there is a gentleness to them. This recent quilt of Joan’s is so pretty.

The pantograph chosen is called Chantilly and added another element of elegance.

Swirls and small feathers
Such a pretty backing that really showcases the quilting design.

Some of my customers like me to prepare their binding for them, I enjoy adding this little touch to help them complete their quilt.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Frozen and Snow

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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.