Quilts – Page 37 – Wendy’s Quilting and Life

Liam was here for a few days this week and will be back next week. He loves to use his IPad so I have been having him research areas around Thunder Bay.

I wanted him to choose the backing for his donation quilt so we made an appointment to visit Donna and her shop Fuelled by Fabric in Pass Lake. I will share a picture next week of the perfect backing that was chosen. No pictures were taken as he was much more interested in going up their Mountain and exploring outside. It was a fun Day for us all.

Some fabric followed me home…

This backing has been on my mind…it’s a little too much for what I have currently been working on but when I saw a 6” strip by 100” I knew that it need to come home!

Donna’s husband has been given credit for adding this bolt to her shop.

When I finished in the Longarm studio I decided to play and see how it would play out with the pineapple ruler.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

When Quilting Makes the Quilt

April 8, 2021 wendysquilting

When Joan brought me this quilt she said that she wasn’t overly excited with it, she had a huge amount of fabric for the backing. A large beautiful print that deserved the extra time to match. I piece many of my customers backings.

I chose the pantograph Flying Paisley and a 40wt linen glide thread.

Quilters are often so surprised at the difference the quilting makes to their tops. In this case we both agreed that the quilting really made it sing!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Liam’s Quilting…part 3

March 30, 2021 wendysquilting

Liam and I spent part of Monday afternoon working on his quilt. The rows are all together and he was pretty pleased with the results.

Now to choose the backing and we will slip this quilt onto the Longarm once I finish the current customer quilt.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Anne of Green Gables Quilt

March 29, 2021 wendysquilting

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.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Liam’s Quilting…part 2

March 27, 2021 wendysquilting

All of the rows are sewn! Liam really mastered the 1/4” and towards the last rows he was edging up closer to the rabbit setting on the machine and really controlling the foot pedal.

He was really proud of how well the first two rows came together.

He said to make sure to send these pictures to his parents!

Grandma’s brag haha…well look at those matched seams! We started with pins however changed to clips which worked much better. He is really looking forward to trying out Grandma’s Longarm!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Liam’s Quilting part one

March 25, 2021 wendysquilting

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.

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

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

March 24, 2021 wendysquilting

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

March 20, 2021 wendysquilting

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

Baby it’s Cold Outside…Quilt

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021 wendysquilting

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.