Oh this quilt was such a joy to work on! I love scrap quilts and bright colours especially this time of year. This quilt just made my heart sing…sometimes it’s really hard to part with a quilt job and this was one.
On a funny note Erik took one look at it and couldn’t understand it at all, I suppose to his mechanic mind it looked chaotic.
To me it just looks like artistic freedom and fun!
Its maker and I decided on the quilting design Rhodendrom adding a lovely softness against so many lines as well as just adding more blooms to the incredible Tula Pink backing.
Her quilt was trimmed and ready for binding…yes I did part with this quilt 💗
This Sampler quilt was added in with my customers group of tops that she brings me once a year, sometimes more. Anyways she included this quilt and said one wasn’t hers and she was sure that I knew which one it was.
The quilt belongs to her niece and was pieced by her Grandma. It’s a beautiful example of talent and some blocks that take advanced skill.
This type of quilt was popular when I first began quilting almost 40 years ago. They were a great way to learn different skills without making a whole quilt with the same block.
I chose the pantograph Here and There for the quilting design. Some of the blocks had a little fullness that this type of design helps to flatten without causing puckers.
It also could have been a candidate for custom quilting however it won’t be a show quilt it will become a cherished gift from a grandma.
This quilt was trimmed and ready for binding and returning to my customers niece.
You can see a glimpse of the quilt on my Longarm that I was working on when suddenly the lighting from my window was cooperating for a photo shoot!
We are a little less than a month away from Winter Solstice also known as the shortest daylight day of the year. I was working on another quilt on the Longarm when the sun broke through and I knew that I had a short window to take some pictures!
This quilt shows a fun way to showcase 4 patch scrap blocks, the backing inspired the quilting choice. I used the pantograph Shasta Daisy.
It’s such a pretty design.
Check out the backing! As our days get shorter here the daisies were a nice reminder of summer 😊
Framing scrappy 16 patch blocks with a unifying colour clearly ties all of the random fabrics together in this quilt. It is the third of my customers Moms quilts.
It always amazes me when I am working on scrappy quilts how many different prints there are out there! I recently read where a quilter asked if any others look at scrap quilts to see if they have any of the fabrics!! I admit that I do and am amazed at how many I don’t have!
I chose the pantograph Here and There with its heart like shapes it has such a nice soft flow with great coverage and the hearts of course make one think of a Mothers love.
Look at this backing!! I admit that it was fun shopping for the backings for these quilts and this is one that just makes me smile.
I again chose a very dark green binding to frame the quilt it matches some of the fabrics in the 16 patch blocks and is very close to the dark green in the backing.
It’s a wonderful feeling to have completed another quilters work for her in order for her daughter and other family members to enjoy 💗
This is the second of three quilts that I recently completed for my customer that were pieced by her Mom.
In my imagination, her Mom was using up her stash or perhaps her scrap bins to make the three quilts as they are definitely scrappy. She tied all of her blocks on this one together with inset triangles and border with the same butterfly border.
I chose the pantograph Rhododendron which added softness against the angles as well as coverage of the piecing.
The backing chosen for this quilt is absolutely gorgeous and a perfect fit for this quilt.
I found this beautiful dark green fabric for the binding and cutting the strips on the binding added a little more dimension than cutting straight on grain would have given.
I personally like to make my bindings 2 1/4” and use the edge of my walking foot as my guide when attaching the binding to the front of the quilt.
When I make bindings for my customers and or attach them to their quilts for them to hand sew down I cut the strips to their preference as 2 1/4” can be a little more challenging to stitch down.
Somehow it’s mid November! The leaves have all fallen and the last few mornings have been frosty but for the most part the daytime temperatures have been mild for this time of year.
Where have I been? Busy quilting for the most part.
I have completed several jobs and some I do not have permission to share yet. One was a large queen sized quilt with scallop edges that I hand stitched the binding down…
And then….
One of the true joys in Longarm quilting for others is helping to finish quilts that have a lot of meaning to the owner. This fall I had the pleasure of finishing 3 quilts that were my customers Moms final quilts along with my customers first quilt.
I will write separate blog posts for each starting with this one of her Moms.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love scrap quilts and this one was no exception. There are several fabrics in this quilt that were not quilting cottons and some appeared to be from some time ago reminding me of my childhood. Ok the 70’s
This quilt required a little TLC and I did my best to add extra stitches where needed.
I recently read a post from a Longarm quilter on Facebook about a quilt she was working on that some of the seams didn’t quite meet and wondering why any quilter would miss that. One response was perhaps the quilter is aging and her eyesight isn’t what it once was.
I happily made the necessary repairs hoping that one day if that is me someone might come along and do the same.
Having quilted for others for almost 20 years I have learnt many ways to tackle issues that come with some quilts. Special quilts that need to be completed.
I did consider removing the final border and reapplying it but reconsidered due to all of the bias involved.
Instead I made gentle pleats as needed and hand stitched them down after quilting.
My customer brought me the 4 quilt tops and requested that I choose the backings which I did and ordered them with her approval.
Sometimes using the same fabric for the binding just works.
I carry Hobbs 80/20 on the roll for customer quilts, I do my best to get the very best price that I can so that I can pass that along.
It’s so wonderful when I meet a younger quilter and see in them the excitement for quilting that I found in my early twenties for this amazing craft!
The Paper Pieced stars and chain blocks in this quilt really pop against the black background.
Sarah chose the pantograph Belly Bop, this design added to the modern feel of her quilt.
Her backing was so nice to work with, it was 60” wide so only required one seam for this queen size quilt. I asked Sarah where she purchased it and she told me it came from Ana Paula Brasil’s shop.
Sarah’s quilt was trimmed and ready for binding at pick up.
There are several quilt groups that meet in our city, these quilts are a result of one of the groups doing a mystery quilt project .
Both of these quilts were fun to add my touch to. This first one with its trains and the steam coming from the engine on the backing made me think of swirls…bear with my imagination…
Also adding a curvy or swirly quilting design over angular piecing is pleasing to the eye.
I love how this backing adds a fun touch to this quilt esp with the purple in the steam coordinating with the quilt top.
The same quilt, different colours…so soft looking.
The backing is a winter scene, I chose the pantograph Star Swirl playing on the idea of winter night with swirling snow and a starry night…the curvy quilting with some points also works so nicely on angular piecing.
Both quilts were trimmed and ready for binding at pick up.
Many of my customers ask me to choose the quilting design for their quilts. More often than not as soon as I look at a quilt top I know how I want to quilt it.
My initial thought was wow, I love all of the colours in this quilt, how fun!! On closer inspection of the fabrics…all batiks had various shapes ranging from bubbles, dots, curls, swirls, flowers and leaves and more.
The pantograph Waterworld came to mind initially which surprised me to be honest as it’s one that I often use on baby or children’s quilts.
The more I thought about it, as I prepared the quilt for loading onto my Longarm, (which involves pressing the top and in this case piecing the backing) the backing colour confirmed my choice.
The next decision was thread colour, the fabric used in the border and sashing initially read black but it is actually a very dark blue with hints of a softer blue, choosing a baby blue thread worked perfectly.
The thread plays really well across all of the colours, there is some contrast on the border and sashing however it isn’t enough to jump out at you.
Wendy’s Quilting and Life 