Summer is so short here and this summer has been busy, we try to make the most of the nice weather and time with the grandchildren and family.
Some days I quilt early morning but in the Summer it often waits for the evenings! This was a recent quilt that will be going to its piecers friend who loves dogs.
I used the pantograph Popcorn for the quilting.
The quilt is trimmed and ready for binding! (The backing was also made with yardage that I pieced which is another complimentary service that I offer my customers along with trimming)
The cupcakes are on the backing but are so adorable I decided to name it the Cupcake Quilt!
The bright happy colours along with the fun pieced backing called for some whimsy in the quilting which led me to choose the pantograph Tickle Too with its combination of swirls, curls and feathers.
Quilting a pieced backing such as this can be a challenge on the Longarm but with a little extra time and planning it can be done. In this case the quilt is truly two sided!
It measured 100” square and the fabric choices were perfect to really showcase this pattern!
We chose the pantograph New Wave to not only add more movement to this quilt but also to add enough density to secure the piecing in the quilt.
Quilting density is always an important consideration when choosing a design. Enough density to secure the piecing is important especially if the quilt is to used and laundered.
Of course a design that compliments the pattern is important, maybe something that adds to the movement, plays quietly in the background, or adds more dimension or interest to the piecing.
In this case we went with the movement.
Here’s a peek at the backing…. It was difficult getting a clear picture of the stitching, if you click on it it’s a better view…😊
Contact me to discuss completing your quilting projects!
When it was discovered that our newest grand would be a girl…her Mom requested a pink and peachy pink quilt! Music to my ears and the pictures that were shared with me were scrappy quilts…even more music to my ears!
I just had to use my pink Oliso iron for this project!
Erik and I had a lot of fun choosing the fabrics for this quilt, starting at Hannah Johnson’s in Duluth MN…thankfully Megan was working and she helped pull together a fantastic selection of fabrics for us! You can follow her on Instagram megface_makes
On the way home we stopped at the quilt shop One Old Loon in Two Harbours and added more pinks to the collection…and of course I shopped my stash.
Oh, one of the fabrics at Hannah’s that I fell in love with ended up not in the cutting pile!! Thankfully Megan was able to send me this super cute print!
Using 3 1/2” squares I somewhat randomly placed them onto the design wall making sure no two the same were next to each other. I didn’t tweak it too much as I find with this type of quilt you can play with it forever and still will find things to change.
The quilt was so much fun to both piece and quilt. I used the pantograph Two of Hearts and of course used Pink 40 wt thread (glide)
I love the backing! Those puppies are so adorable!!
I love hand stitching the binding, it’s a labour of love and an opportunity to sit and relax. Machine stitching binding is popular and for donation quilts that will be heavily laundered it is more practical but for my personal quilts I still prefer the look of hand work.
Of course the very best thing about making a quilt for a new Grandchild is meeting the baby.
I’ve been working on a very special project that is so close to being finished. I will share more about this quilt after it has been gifted!
After showing the quilt to my friend Ana Paula she suggested a little more fun be added to the project and so I added some of her thread by Wonderfil Glamore which is one that she designed that also goes with her fabric collections!
My Juki Haruka made sewing with this 12 wt thread a breeze!! So much so that I wanted to play with it a little more and made this little pouch.
I have quilted several different critter quilts for one of my customers. This one, the fox required whiskers and I was asked if I could embroider them for her. Which I did happily.
I offer Longarm quilting services and to me that includes things like finishing touches like whiskers!
I chose to quilt this sweet quilt with the pantograph Waterworld. It is a little denser but with all of the small piecing in this quilt I feel that the extra quilting will add to the longevity of a quilt that will no doubt be loved and heavily used.
I love this gorgeous orange she chose for the backing!!
The quilt is trimmed and ready for binding…and then gifting.
Our house was full of activity this week! We are truly blessed with grandchildren! Our time with them involves a lot of activities from soccer, quad and dirt biking and even target shooting (and other adventures which I will write about in another post).
Music to this grandmas ears is when Kaija who is almost 4 yrs asks if we can go to my studio and make something! She loves my scrap basket, looking and checking out my notions and my sewing machine.
This week she pulled some crumb piecing from the basket and we added some fusible batting to them and spent time together quilting the two pieces…just nice relaxing stitching using the walking foot and pink thread…her choice. Her job was the foot petal and some guiding with help of the quilt sand which. She loves to push the thread cutter and needle up and down buttons as well.
She was pretty proud of her work!
When we finished stitching she decided to add some colour to the back and very carefully wrote her name on each piece and coloured in the squares with a highlighter pen. The original plan was to make another pouch and she had picked out a pink zipper and fabric for a lining…instead she wanted to colour the back.
She proudly took her art home 😊 it may or may not come back to be turned into a pouch and that’s fine. I think it’s more important that she had fun and enjoyed the process and was allowed to make her project into what she envisioned!!
Kaija also spent a lot of time examining several different notions wondering what they were and what they were used for! I remember playing with my Moms sewing tools, I much preferred them over toys! I hope that she will continue to ask if we can make something 😊
My friend Ana Paula is offering Sewing Camps this summer in her fun bright studio. If you have budding artists and creators who are curious or interested in sewing you might consider checking out what she is offering! I know that as a child I would have been overjoyed!!!
I had an idea of how I wanted to quilt Karen’s Sparrow quilt as soon as I saw it…which also gave me an excuse to add some new pantographs to my collection!
Nebula has movement galore, and as I had visioned turned out to be a perfect fit! Using a 60 weight thread in silver caused the quilting to take back stage from the piecing, it shows up clearly over the dark background fabric but not in an overpowering way that a 40 weight thread would have.
Karen’s choice of backing fabric was so perfect with the subtle addition of bird tracks over the robins egg blue colour.
Karen’s quilt left my studio trimmed and ready for binding and soon to be gifted!
Anyone who knows me knows that I love June! I always have for as long as I can remember!
The month started off welcoming and celebrating the grand opening of my friend Ana Paula’s new shop!
Two of my daughters share my birth month, the weather truly warms up and my world outside turns green!
Oh and Summer Solstice! Something else Liam and I share is the love of looking forward to and enjoying the longest daylight day of the year.
In the last years Liam delights in June looking forward to the first swim in the pool, barbecues (especially his favourite Bison Burgers) playing soccer outside and of course looking forward to summer holidays!!
This June for Liam marked a big milestone in his life! He graduated from grade 6 (grandma brag here…with an excellent report card!) on that note He had an amazing teacher this year and school really clicked for Liam starting in the fall, when he informed me that his teacher had a standing desk station for those who found sitting for long stretches hard. She also announced the snack table and that if you are hungry please have a snack! This woman clearly has a good understanding of 11 year old boys!! Liam will miss her and the elementary school but now moves onto Jr High in the fall.
This Junes ice cream cake was to celebrate Liam’s graduation!
He and his Mom spent well over an hour playing in the pool, the laughter was true music to my ears!!
Speaking of Liam and his Mom…she has shared her love of beading with him! The creativity in my family always amazes me and fills me with joy!!!
My Sister by choice and longtime very best friend came for a visit! Liam has met her before and when I mentioned something about her being a pilot and now is a captain he told me that he thought she was one of those people who bring you food! So we did some education 🥰 that those flight attendants are there much more for your safety than anything else!!
There was quilting happening as usual…though somehow I managed to pick up a flu bug and ended up spending quite a bit of the month dealing with that…thankfully that’s behind me!
It was pieced using the pattern Those Trees by Zen Chic.
We chose to use faux trapunto under the larger trees giving them a little more of a pop with the dense quilting in the background.
Have you done Faux Trapunto before? If not, it is really easy using the Longarm but also manageable with your sewing machine.
With the Longarm, I load the batting as I would the backing and then the top. I using water soluble thread to sew around the trees and stars and afterwards very carefully trimmed the batting away as close to the seam as I could. This technique adds an extra layer of batting under certain areas of your quilt and in this case was well worth the effort.
The runner left yesterday making its way home to Ottawa, ready for binding. More pictures will follow when it’s finished.
Wendy’s Quilting and Life 