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!
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.
We have been going to Duluth Minnesota every May or June since we met to celebrate Eriks birthday. (Missed the years when the border was closed)
We love the drive down, and usually stop for a few hikes…this year we chose not to feed the mosquitoes…they seem worse this year.
We did stop at the scenic lookout in Grand Portage. I am always in awe of all of the different greens in the spring and early summer!
I love Canal Park so we always book a room there so we can walk to restaurants and explore.
Much to Eriks delight I’m sure, I didn’t take the usual pictures in the restaurants haha.
This spring trip we usually do some shopping for supplies…this year was mainly parts for the backhoe on Eriks side of things.
My shopping in my opinion was way more fun!!! More Pantographs to add to my collection…it’s always so much fun to have more to offer and to learn, and of course fabric!!
We also visited 4 quilt shops missing one but will get there next time 😊
There is a new granddaughter arriving in August and the quilt requested is for pink!!!!
Thank you Megan at Hannah’s Quilt Shop you are amazing!!Oh those puppies!!!
I really love my morning coffee and I really don’t like drinking from paper cups…so I almost always bring a favourite mug 🥰. Staying at the Inn on the Lake we request lakeside and ground floor and enjoy walking outside from the room.
Oh and the view!!
The hotel also offers bikes to borrow and the trails are fantastic in Duluth!
We stopped along the drive home…I thought of our rock collecting grandchildren and the fun they would have had!!
Lake Superior really offers spectacular views!! The lake was so calm yesterday.
After stopping at the DQ in Grand Marais for a bite to eat…we were on our way home. Sven and Ollie’s is open again which was our first choice but this popular pizza place had a very long line!
It’s good to be home!
My Longarm awaits!
I am really looking forward to my visit with Ana Paula and seeing her Studio and Open House today!
When I first was curious about quilts and quilting my Moms first reaction wasn’t positive…though not too long after I began she caught the bug as well.
My Mom sewed many things during my childhood and loved to decorate our homes but it was not until after her family had grown and flown did her true creative self emerge! She was an amazing painter and weaver and had an incredible sense of colour.
My Dads creativity really flourished after retiring from his longtime career and amazed us all when the suits and ties disappeared and his garage became a workshop! He is an amazing woodcarver.
My Parents have encouraged my creative gifts as well and when I found myself at a desk job in a little grey cubicle while raising my 4 girls on my own…I received a call from my Dad…while at work with some very life changing news!!
Wendy, he said…I have ordered an APQS Millennium and it will be delivered in 2 weeks can you get a room ready for it!!!
Visiting with Ana Paula
So on Sunday, I invited my Dad on a date to view the quilt show! It was so much fun showing him all of the different quilts and how quilting has changed and yet remained the same in many ways.
This king sized quilt is to be gifted soon and what a wonderful gift made by the brides Mom and Aunt!
I love the giant gingham affect these large blocks make.
The pantograph Forest Floor was chosen as it suits the couple who will receive this quilt it also compliments the backing. When you look closely at the backing fabric you can see the subtle addition of blue in the veins of the leaves and some of the designs.
The binding was made from the backing which will be just the right pop on the front and won’t detract from the print on the back.
This quilt left my studio trimmed and binding prepared.
Let me help you bring your quilting projects to completion!
My first quilt was made about 38 years ago, I was 22.
Quilting was on my mind though for many years before that! I loved making things as a child and my Mother and other sewers provided me with scraps of fabric to play with!
It was when Quilt Canada was held in Thunder Bay in 1992 that I discovered there was a local Quilting Guild! I was really excited that I could meet like minded friends…though the first time I went to a meeting and saw that everyone appeared to be much older than I was I chickened out and didn’t attend!
Thankfully I met my new friend Alva at the fabric store and told her and she convinced me that those ladies would be more than happy to welcome me, and welcome me they did! They mentored me and my skills and love of quilting grew!
Jo Anne is one of the founding members of our guild and one of the women I remember welcoming me. It has been my absolute pleasure to quilt for her over the years!
Here we are in front of her quilt at this years show.
On a fun note, that day I attended the show with my friend Betty Maki…the two of them chatted and Jo Anne commented that she is the younger one by a year! My friend Betty is 88 1/2 and isn’t afraid to admit it 🥰
Well that was a fantastic quilt show weekend! So many people put so much work into making it happen! So many quilts to see!
I shared in my previous blog a post about micro scribbling because of a quilt at the show that was absolutely amazing!
Joyce designed her quilt herself and followed her vision, I cannot imagine the hours that went into this quilt! I know for myself the hours of planning and dreaming often aren’t recorded along with the actual physical effort that goes into a quilt or work of art such as this.
First her story about her quilt!
Her borders and use of embellishments were absolutely stunning!
I hope that this won’t be this quilts only show!
I worked as a hostess Friday evening and show many people this amazing quilt as a hostess is allowed to touch the quilts as we wear gloves.
I used both of my votes for her quilt and clearly others did as well as Joyce and her quilt won a very deserved first place!!
There is a quilt hanging in our quilt show this weekend who’s maker did an absolute amazing job not only making the quilt but also designing it!
I volunteered as a hostess last night, meaning that ai was wearing white gloves and was allowed to touch and show the backs of the quilts to those people interested!
Joyce’s attention to detail on her quilt is extraordinary and I found myself returning to it over and over again as did others.
Her scribbling technique had me wanting to head to my studio to play last night though I thought better of it and put myself to bed!
This morning I found a Craftsy link of Cindy Needham demonstrating the scribbling technique if you are interested.
Wendy’s Quilting and Life 