Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Northern Quilts

There are so many amazing Panels available now and this one is no exception. I absolutely love my customers borders and colour choices that she used to grow the panels and add her person touch to them.

She is a longtime quilter and at 86 yrs she is still going strong! A fantastic role model.

When choosing the quilting design I was considering one pantograph that really adds to the movement and look of the Northern lights however feel it didn’t do anything for the lake.

When the design Ripples came to mind I knew that it would perfectly fit the bill.

Thread weight and colour make a big difference in the final outcome. When I don’t want the thread to steal the show I choose a 60 weight which sits beautifully in the background for the most part. I chose a very soft blue that does show up minimally where it contrasts.

Her quilts were trimmed and ready for binding when I delivered them to her…(both complementary services)

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Life and Quilting

My days do seem to fly by, I spend several hours most days working on customer quilts. As much as I love that I also really love piecing quilts.

Joining Tara Faughnans block studies this season has been a fantastic addition to my quilting practice with both learning a new block and playing with a palette of her choosing it really does make for great fun in my life.

I will share more but for now these are a couple of my blocks from the first month that I plan to mount on canvas.

Other samples that I have made are earmarked for some other fun ideas.

My Small world quilt blocks almost fill my design wall and my postage stamp quilt continues to have a few blocks pieced and is slowly being completed.

A friend of mine suggested trying an eye pillow at bedtime made with flax seed and lavender…so I did make myself one and a few more for others…

With the winter months approaching there should be more time for studio play.

We are so wealthy in Grandchildren and have had the pleasure of their company and all the fun and joy that they bring with them!

On a personal note and adding to what I have written in previous posts…. A year ago tomorrow I made a decision to remove certain things from my diet. Alcohol was one and following that dispite for the most part eating a healthy diet I have made changes and tweaked it to better match my health and wellbeing goals.

There is so much to learn about food and it’s not always easy to navigate away from ultra processed foods but it is worth the effort. The Yuka app has been very helpful.

Adding more exercise and learning more about what we women need at my stage of life for bone,muscle and heart health has been enlightening as well! I have so much fabric and so many ideas that healthy longevity is a big time personal goal.

So to that some personal progress gifts!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A First Quilt! An Extra Special Gift 💝

A first quilt made as a very special gift!

Its maker chose the quilting design Forest Floor as the recipient loves the outdoors.

This pantograph has such a wonderful density and is such a perfect Autumn design.

It’s always fun to flip over the backing and see how it looks as well! In this case the indentation and not the stitching is what shows up more.

The quilt was trimmed and ready for binding at pick up!

The quilt was made by the Bride and presented to Her Groom on their Wedding Day this past weekend.

Photo taken by Zach Baranowski

Such a wonderful gift Congratulations to the Bride and Groom!!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Design Board…and Block Studies

I have often thought about making myself a design board. Tara showed us how to make easy ones as part of the introduction to her block studies and I had planned to make simple and fast ones like that.

Then…the other night I came across a YouTube video by Gina Tell and I just couldn’t resist giving it a try!

https://youtu.be/lfmrpN_vHfg?si=1lqEwisZwXgvuh9g

I already had some foam board, and oh so many batting scraps and left over bindings.

Gluing the batting to the board and sewing on the binding was easy. I did use a glue stick to hold the binding onto the back as I used the duct tape to finish the board. The white duct tape came from the dollar store as did the foam board.

Yes I am having fun playing! After spending my day working on the longarm and preparing today’s quilt for loading, the evening was mine!

I had initially only cut a couple of strips from each colour that I am working on, so had to start with some prep work!

Then…

Yes I am having fun!!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Disappearing Nine Patch Baby quilt

With a request for a baby quilt this one began with a cute but older baby print with baby blocks, rattles and such. Adding the read solid prints to the mix that played nicely with the print resulted in a super cute baby quilt! With the added bonus for my customer of using up fabrics from her stash!

She also pieced the backing from her stash adding more sweetness and fun!

Her quilt was trimmed and ready for binding at pick up!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Yellow and Quilting…a sweet baby quilt

This sweet baby quilt recently left my studio quilted bound and ready for gifting!

A popular design with many of my customers Waterworld was chosen for the quilting. I was also tasked with providing the binding fabric which made for a fun dive into my stash! The backing (not sure why I didn’t get pictures) was a lovely soft pink flannel.

I love how happy and sunny this little quilt is and how happy I felt working on it esp knowing that it would soon be gifted to a little one.

It also brought back a memory of an early quilting instructor who said not to use yellow in your quilts or if you did to only use a small amount because it was a colour that could easily overpower the rest of the colours!

That bit of advice seemed strange to me as it’s one of my favourite happy colours!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A Sweet Winnie the Pooh Quilt

While recently reading bedtime stories to one of my granddaughters (3yrs old) I asked her if she knew who Winnie the Pooh was she said no so I read her one of the books…so much silly fun!

Anyways, this was a fun, happy customer quilt that was quilted by me this summer…

We chose the pantograph Popcorn for its fun light puffy like clouds appearance. Again as I have mentioned before, when quilting a child’s quilt I like a little more density which I feel adds to the durability of the quilt.

The backing as you can see it a delightful rainbow of colours, a wonderful compliment to the quilt top.

This quilt was trimmed and ready for binding at pick up!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A Robot Quilt

Elizabeth Hartman has many fun children’s quilt patterns and this one is definitely a winner.

Karen pieced it for her 2 year old grandson and it’s sure to be part of many fun adventures, with that in mind I chose the pantograph Waterworld not only for its playfulness but also its density will add durability to withstand hopefully years of use!

The backing, is another fun robot print!

This quilt was trimmed and ready for binding at pick up.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Colour and Play and Quilting

How much fun is this quilt!
As a quilt maker myself I am almost always drawn primarily to scrappier quilts, the more fabrics the better! I also love the improv piecing! When this quilt first arrived and was added to my queue it was a challenge not to drop everything and just work on it! I did however make it wait its turn.

The quilting design New Wave that was chosen worked perfectly adding an extra layer of playfulness and fun!

As if that wasn’t enough fun and excitement in a quilt, the backing added even more delight with both colour and the tumbling blocks!

Her quilt was trimmed and ready for binding at pick up!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Thunder Bay Quilt Guild Quilt Show 2025 (part 2)

Ellen’s quilt is a stunning example of Krista Moser’s pattern Fall Foliage! Her piecing was so exact and super fun to quilt for her.

I loved how beautiful it looked in my studio, but hanging in the show it was truly eye catching!!

I’ve added a few pictures below from my studio.

Cindy’s version of Krista Moser’s Crimson Christmas was a true treat to see, she quilted it herself. Her quilting is truly inspirational! Cindy also chaired the quilt show and has many times, she also has taught so many classes over the years and taught Crimson Christmas at the Circle of Friends Quilt Shop this year.