Tag: Thunder Bay Ontario

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Jeanne‘s Quilts

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I have been blessed with friends who were well ahead of me in this journey of life!

Having friends who had raised their children and were cheerleading me on as I raised my daughters on my own. Having also worked and raised her family on her own she knew full well what my life was like, my friend Jeanne.

Jeanne was also a quilter and had me quilt for her. Two quilts that I have pictures of hold especially special memories.

Her Alpine Wonder Quilt was an early custom quilt job for me, I remember her delight in seeing it quilted and ready for embellishment! It was quilted before one could find many other similar quilts online for ideas. It still remains after all these years a popular Pinterest image that leads others to this blog.

Many years later after attending a wedding one of my daughters asked if I knew Jeanne. The wedding was at Jeanne’s home and my daughter recognized my quilting.

This next quilt, also an early custom… Jeanne’s Star Quilt.

Jeanne’s Star Quilt

Jeanne’s reaction to this quilt was pure joy and excitement! I wish that I had thought to take a picture of her with this quilt…however this was before I always had a camera (aka smart phone) in my purse. You see I delivered this quilt to Jeanne and visited her at her beautiful home on Lake Superior.

I loved visiting with Jeanne at her house, she had a wonderful sewing room beside her husbands room that was dedicated to his model train hobby.

Jeanne also loved to meet for lunch at Applebees for Asian Salad…she always insisted on it being her treat. She knew that at that time with 4 young daughters to raise, a lunch out was a huge treat!

The back of Jeanne’s Star Quilt

The last time I saw Jeanne was at the Quilt Show before Covid. She came up to me and said that she couldn’t remember names anymore but she was very sure that she knew me. I told her that yes indeed she did and that I quilted her quilts…and then she knew.

I learnt yesterday that Jeanne has passed away at the age of 91 on November 6th.

I am so thankful for my time with this special friend 💗

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Joan’s Quilt

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This quilt left the studio yesterday. I love Joan’s quilts, every one of them is different and fun!

I chose the pantograph Tickle Too, it has some feathers and swirls that just added more visual interest in this scrappy quilt. I really enjoy hand guiding my Longarm Quilting Machine, after quilting for so many years it has truly become a friend.

Joan couldn’t remember the pattern that she used, other than she found it on Pinterest. Does any one recall the name of it?

The quilt was trimmed and not shown but the binding was also prepared and ready for binding at pick up.

The beautiful fabric with the large Hibiscus blooms deserved…in my opinion…for the be pattern matched.

It does take a little extra time to match the pattern when preparing the backing, however I feel that it is time well spent. This is a service that is complimentary for my customers.

Taking a little extra time to prepare a quilt for loading onto the Longarm helps me to achieve the beautiful results that I am happy and proud to show my customers.

Let me help you bring your quilting projects to completion!

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Quilting and Winter…a quilt prepared

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This mornings view from the picture window…

We know it’s coming and this may not stay, but then again it might. It’s truly a sign of what’s to come.

Thankfully my quilting keeps me busy and warm, and to be honest for the most part I don’t mind the snow.

This quilt is now ready for winter! I won’t be trimming this one as it’s not finished. After piecing the super soft flannel backing, it was loaded onto the Longarm with butter soft wool batting. It was stitched in the ditch around all of the blocks, and borders in preparation for hours of hand quilting by its maker.

As a Professional Longarm Quilter I happily offer all kinds of quilting services and love to help others learn this wonderful art of quilting.

As a longtime quilter, I still love the fun of making quilts big and small and learning new techniques and trying new ideas.

A sweet little wallhanging. There’s just something about houses and quilting.

What projects do you have in mind to work on this winter?

I will be doing a presentation of my quilting Journey at the Thunder Bay Quilter‘s Guild this Month, November 20th if you are interested in checking out the Guild it might be a meeting to attend.

https://thunderbayquilters.org

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Free-motion Fun…Quilting

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I am for the most part a self taught quilter, I had never actually touched a Longarm quilting machine until mine arrived almost 19 years ago.

I have always loved to play with fabric and notions and very early on in my life with my Moms sewing machine…until she up graded and gave me her old one, I may have been 9 years or so at that point.

My love of sewing and then quilting has never deminished.

These two quilts are examples of trying out new to me techniques in 2013. They were inspired by the work and book by Angela Walters of Quilting is My Therapy.

This first quilt was one I designed myself wanting an opportunity to play with new ideas and adding piping as a detail in the piecing. The floral print gave me the opportunity to outline and showcase the flowers.

This type of quilting is a lot of fun, well for me anyways! I enjoy creating this density and variety in quilting when I can.

The next quilt was pieced using a pattern called picnic which I found on the Moda Bakeshop site from 2013.

Again playing with ideas from Angela Walters for the quilting. When learning to quilt it was suggested to use a busy backing which I did.

I have a customer quilt in my queue that I am planning to use different quilting fills on, it’s been good to look back on previous work alongside with playing with new ideas.

Last night I began quilting a placemat with my Juki Haruka, it’s a bright and busy mat and a beginning project while I work on this new to me skill.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

An “Extra” Hour…November so far

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My morning view… well it was actually dark out when I woke at my regular time though today it was now 6:30.

The view out the picture window shows the last of the tamarack needles that haven’t fallen against the bare trees and the evergreens. Well there are a few stragglers on the maple trees. It won’t be long before the view will be blanketed in snow…

It’s been a busy month so far in my studio. My Longarm has a new hook and has been freshly retimed…this is my third hook on my APQS Millennium. They do wear out after a while and the time it took to replace is so well worth the effort.

My Longarm is a faithful friend that doesn’t require a lot of care other that regular cleaning and oiling and replacing worn out or almost worn out parts.

I don’t often mention quilt backings…one of the services that I like to provide to my customers is to piece their yardage into backings. This complimentary service began shortly after I began quilting for others.

After trying to load a customer quilt with a queen sized backing that had been pieced and was in no way going to work I had no choice but to call and let her know that I wasn’t able to use the backing. She brought me a wide back instead. She explained that she found it really challenging to piece such a large backing.

Well I love piecing! This includes backings, thankfully I have the space and ability. I also know how I like a backing pieced in order to obtain the best result on my Longarm. Many customers bring their backings pieced and ready for quilting and many are so thankful when I let them know that this is a complimentary service that I offer.

I have mentioned before how much I love my Juki Haruka, have I mentioned that her name is Bella? Well Bella has a new friend in town named Agnes!!! I am really excited to see what she and her owner Deb come up with 😊 another friend and customer has added a Juki Haruka to her sewing room … not sure if she has a name or not.

One of the main reasons I had for wanting to add this straight stitch machine to my studio was my desire to learn to free-motion quilt on my domestic machine. I do love quilting on my Longarm, I use it primarily for quilting for others.

I began practicing about a month ago, an hour several evenings a week after finishing on my Longarm.

One of my first evenings of playing

And some of my latest play pieces:

Practicing doesn’t have to be perfect and either does quilting however practice does lead to improvement in your quilting.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Shattered Heart Quilt

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Actually called Exploding Heart, for some reason I have always thought Shattered and it’s maker recently referred to this pattern with the same name.

Made using Laura Pilands pattern for Slice of Pi Quilts . Using vibrant Kaffe Fasset fabrics for the heart with a white backing this quilters quilt is gorgeous!

The quilt maker found and chose the pantograph Two of Hearts to be used on her quilt which is how this pantograph made its way into my collection and onto other quilts.

I am always happy to order pantographs that my customers request for their quilt at no extra charge to them as I add the design to my collection….if you haven’t been to my studio…it’s an extensive collection.

I am not always a fan of using a dark or contrasting thread when quilting an edge to edge design as it can leave areas with partial design showcased that looks odd. However in this case that was not at all an issue with all of the white background that really showcases the quilting.

Oh and the backing! It’s one of Kaffe Fassetts spectacular designs!

This quilt is trimmed and ready for binding…

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Freehand Quilting and Practice

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This picture of a customer quilt from 2014 always makes me smile. I love the look of freehand quilting. There are many sources for learning freehand quilting now and at the time I quilted this quilt Angela Walters of Quilting is My Therapy was promoting her early books and inspiring many quilters.

This particular quilt was a lot of fun to put to use some of the techniques that I had recently learnt.

For the most part my quilting is done on my APQS Millennium Longarm which truly is such a wonderful machine .

However, I have always admired people who also quilt on their domestic machines and in the last couple of years have set goals for myself to work on that.

Another quilter who has inspired me is Cindy Needham and I have taken some of her classes over the years. She has some on Craftsy that I really enjoyed.

Lately after I finish working on customer quilts I will spend some time quilting using my Juki Haruka playing and practicing freehand quilting. I have been playing with small squares with 3” grids and loving the texture. These are some earlier examples of playing.

Just like when I was learning to quilt with my Longarm it takes what we used to call PPP practice practice practice!

My friend Ana Paula teaches so many amazing classes and one of them is freehand quilting if you want to learn and want a fantastic teacher I highly recommend her! She has also inspired me to spend time playing and growing in my freehand quilting fun.

http://www.canadapaulabrasil.ca

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Dancing and a Quilt

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Having a couple of granddaughters who are enjoying dance classes this recent customer quilt is a little more than inspiring. Time will tell.

We chose the pantograph two of hearts, which has been a very popular choice recently. The hearts really convey the love the maker Mom has for her dancing daughter.

The pretty pink fireside backing is a perfect match and has made this quilt perfect for snuggling as our temperatures continue to dip below freezing.

This quilt is trimmed and ready for binding.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

A Fun Kaffe Fassett Quilt

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For a truly fun splash of colour Kaffe Fassett fabrics can be truly depended on and this quilt was no exception.

Rhododendron was the pantograph chosen to compliment the lovely huge blooms in the centre of the quilt. An almost neon orange colour for the thread was a perfect choice.

The batik backing completely complements the quilt top.

The quilt is trimmed and ready for binding.

Wendy's Longarm Quilting, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Forest Floor Quilt

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I spent some time playing in the leaves with our 4 year old granddaughter yesterday.

We have 3 maple trees in the front yard that supplied several leaves in different colours for a fun project…that we made by sealing the leaves between two sheets of wax paper.

Sadly I forgot to take a picture of the project or endeavour. I do however recommend the project if you have little ones, hanging the project on a window the leaves truly glow in the daylight.

Back to quilting… I chose the pantograph Forest Floor for this recent quilt. The leaves in this design have such a beautiful flow and is a fun design to guide along a quilt.

All of my quilting is hand guided and I love working with my machine and the beautiful results that I can achieve with my APQS Millennium Longarm.

I always offer Hobbs 80/20 quilt batting that I carry on the roll for my customers… as I find it provides such a lovely loft and feel in finished quilts. I also quilt with other battings and often customers will provide their own and I am happy to quilt with almost all battings that have come my way.

I do like to have batting on the roll available, first of all because I do my best to source the best price and then am able to share that with my customers and also because I can cut just the right amount from the roll for each quilt with very little waste. At this time I am charging $15. a yard for Hobbs 80/20 I calculate the customer price by how much is used for the quilt.

I love this flannel backing and how beautifully the stitching shows up.