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)
One of the things we really enjoy when on a road trip is staying off of the interstate highways as much as possible!
Driving home along the Mississippi in Wisconsin allowed for interesting sites and finding fresh corn for sale at the end of a farms driveway…no pictures but wow you can’t beat fresh corn!
The roadside stops were interesting and this was at one of them…the guys really enjoyed using it!
We stopped to explore and play in Hastings MN.
Liam really really wanted to rent the scooter…unfortunately there wasn’t time and it also requires riders to be 18 and over…
We did find some other fun though…
Erik found a play to play too!!
Liam likes to climb and tease me that he is going to jump!!
The next stop was Stillwater MN where we climbed the 150 step stairs!
The bridge we were standing on used to be for vehicles, now it’s pedestrian only and the new bridge is in the background.
Another rest stop just before Hinckley MN where we stopped to grill. Liam had a great time in the play area with his skateboard!
We stayed overnight at the Hinckley Inn…we all had a good sleep…
The next morning we were off to Duluth MN for a little shopping…
Liam loves his Lego!
All things that drive
And esp visiting Camping world where he likes to explore the Ice Fishing “Shacks” and travel trailers.
One last cookout of the trip was in Beaver Bay…the weather had changed to drizzly and cool but that didn’t stop the fun!
One last stop to play and explore!
I didn’t take pictures but I did visit the newer quilt shop in Two Harbours MN on the way home it’s called One Old Loon and is well worth visiting!!!
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…😊
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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!
I have always loved my birthday as a child and young Mom it was almost always the first day of summer holidays! I loved having my daughters out of school and with me in the summer…though I did share them with my parents for part of several summers so they had time in Calgary being Grand Parented.
I wasn’t expecting anything big for my special day, I always just enjoy that I have as they say made another trip around the sun. This birthday was different and my girls family and friends managed to completely surprise me with a party.
My daughter Mary’s birthday is the 25th and she had told me that my Dad was having a brunch for her on her day…which is something that usually happens so that’s what I was expecting.
If you have Instagram you might be able to see this Reel that my friend Ana Paula made for me sh really captured it well!
With three of my daughters and three grandchildren! My eldest daughter and grandson live in Texas and were there in spirit 💕
Jaki (my sister by choice) helped make it all happen and flew in for the surprise!
Liam knew all along…as in from March when the planning began!
My Dad hosted the party, Romee used the opportunity for a sweet snuggle with her Great Grandpa!
Every detail of the party was amazing, my youngest daughter, Katie made most of the food, my Dad grilled and smoked the meat. So much food art!!!!
Emily and her sweetie pies took care of the decorations and Mary organized and together my daughters made it all happen….
I am not capturing it all, it was such a special day with so many special and near and dear to my heart people. Everything was perfect.
Using a favourite quilt that I made years ago, the girls hired Heather from @sayitwithcookiesrm and she replicated my quilt with these amazing cookies!! She is a true artist! They were incredible and so delicious as well!!
I am missing pictures here of everyone, but so touched and appreciative of the whole day it’s one I will never forget 💕
Wendy’s Quilting and Life 