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Here's a beautiful throw size quilt I made for my MIL for Christmas.  My local quilt store was selling the kit. I loved the fabric and thought it would be perfect for my MIL. The center is a pre-printed panel and the striped inner border is actually a flange. I finally felt confident enough to quilt it with a scrollwork design. It reminds me of snow flurries and is perfect for this Christmas quilt.  The scrollwork design can be tricky because it's hard to quilt over the same line you just quilted, but I am getting better. Yay!  If you follow my instagram, I gave a sneaky peak of it in process back in November.  
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 Crayon Blox Quilt Just got the quilt off the longarm and attached the binding. Here's the full quilt after binding:  This was a block of the month quilt project at my local quilt store. Here you can see when I was deciding how to set the blocks and an image of the top before the quilting was started. I used solid fabrics on the back so the quilting really shows - eek!  But I love how the back turned out!  Which leads to Lesson One: I think the quilting is too much for the front; it "fights" with the piecing.   And Lesson Two: The thread is the wrong color. It just looks dirty on the light colored batik fabrics. I used King Tut thread in Riverbank on the top and So Fine in Clay for the bobbin. Maybe a light gray or off white would have been better and then black thread in the solid black areas and in the outer border.  But the back is fun ;)  So, it's not perfect; but the quilt is done, I learned some useful stuff and I have more quilting experience. It's not about perfection, it's about the journey. I was pleasantly surprised with the back - maybe I should hang it like this!   Who is the Quilt For? This quilt was made as a donation for an organization that helps homeless veterans. I wanted a more masculine feel for the quilting so I used pointed, linear, geometric designs instead of organic, rounded, floral designs.  Quilting Detail Notice the zig zag quilting in the bear claws and the curved pointy design in the bear paw. Straight lines were quilted in the sashing.  This quilt could have easily been given a softer, more feminine feel by quilting a large mum design in each bear paw and feathers in the sashing. What is the Quilt For?
 I quilted half feathers in the inner border and pointed leaves in the outer border. Once you decide who and what you quilt is for, you'll have a better idea of how to quilt it. Test the designs right on the quilt using your piece of clear plexiglass. After you've quilted a few tops, you'll start to get a better idea of which designs give the quilt a perfect finish.  Pumpkin Bundle and Old Timey are some of the first quilts that I quilted for someone else:  Pumpkin Bundle  Old Timey I had done a lot of practicing of other quilting designs, but wasn’t feeling very confident and didn’t want to mess up someone else’s top! You know how you’re about to take that first stitch and feel so nervous you think you’re gonna pass out? So, because of the more traditional quilt design and because of my nerves(!), a medium size meander was the perfect choice. The quilting would blend in and continue the traditional scrappy feel of these quilt tops.  meander quilting on Old Timey I call this one Old Timey because my husband loved it and it reminded him of his Grandma. I used off-white thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting. These quilts are another example of same pattern, different fabrics like these.  Because of the fall colors, Pumpkin Bundle is my favorite of the two. I used Superior's So Fine thread in Hawk for the quilting and Hobbs 80/20 batting. If my customers don't already have a name for their quilt, I give them my own name because it helps me remember them.  Quilting Tip To keep the meandering the same size as you move along the quilt: After quilting the first section, place your plexigass on the top and trace over your quilting. You can refer to this as you roll the quilt and keep the quilting consistent.  Beautiful Basic Meander Quilting With all the fancy quilting, you may be discouraged because you only feel confident doing a basic meander quilting motif. But take heart, sometimes it's the PERFECT choice!
So give yourself permission to be a beginner and get comfortable meandering!  Here's a quilt I recently finished for my Sister-in-law. She asked for a quilt with red and with flowers so the beautiful red and white floral border was my starting point. I only had 1/2 yard of it, but thankfully I had a bunch of fun red and white fat quarters that matched the red in the border fabric - yay!  A good beginner quilt project I decided on a pretty basic pattern and bought some solid red fabric for the sashing and binding. The Quilting I planned on an overall quilting design but added a little twist to make it interesting. Here's the basic plan drawn on my plexiglass:  The Quilting Plan I divided the quilt into diagonal sections and did a different motif in each section. The circle quilting in the sashing made it easy to stop and start each section as I rolled the quilt on the longarm.  I used chalk to divide the border into matching diagonal sections.  I got brave and used solid white for the backing! The diagonally quilted motifs show up much better on the back.  Add a label and ready for gifting!   Bonnie Blue Quilt I am excited to present the completed bear paw quilt. Here's the quilt that lived here previously. VERY different, huh? It's nice to be able to change things up a bit. Here are a few detail shots:  Feather and Meander Quilting I love how the bright blue binding and tiny border pop and bring out the blue in the wide border.  Blue Binding - Love! Here's the tutorial so you can make hanging pockets for your quilts.  Back View Showing A Hanging Pocket Fabric backing faux pas (learn from my mistakes):  Pretty feathers! In the picture above, you can see some practice is needed on these bump back feathers - tracing over previously quilted lines can be tricky. But the busy fabric on the front hides the detail and is a great place to practice new quilting designs.  Feather Quilting Detail Sew on a little label:  and done!  Is is perfect? no. Will it win an award? no, I almost always do cheater binding (not hand sewn). The piecing had some problems, the backing wasn't big enough and I wish I had done a different quilting design in the quilt body.
But it was fun to make, I learned a lot and it looks awesome in my living room. I highly encourage you to begin your quilt journey!
Comparing 2 Jelly Roll Race Quilts: "Pink Lemonade" and "Army Green" Both of these quilts use the jelly roll race pattern just like my previous post about Batik Garden. This pattern is a wonderful way to start your quilting journey. You can see how using totally different fabrics and quilting designs completely changes the mood of the quilt.  Masculine Quilting Motifs About Army Green Army Green was made for Quilts of Valor so I wanted a very masculine type quilt. I had a jelly roll full of green and tan batiks and added some green, tan and brown fabrics for the borders and did mostly angular quilting. I used a design I call Palm Frondish in the body of the quilt, meandering triangles in the outer border, spiral boxes in the dark brown border and radio waves in the tan border.  Quilting Detail  Back of Army Green Quilt I just love the batik leaves fabric I found for the backing; it's perfect. About Pink Lemonade  Pink Lemonade is a very feminine quilt. I made it for Quilts Beyond Borders when they were collecting quilts for young ladies in Russia who were coming of age and had leave the orphanage. I wanted something cheery and bright; so when I saw this pink, orange and yellow jelly roll at Quilter’s Market, I knew it would be perfect for this top!  Scroll Quilting Feminine Quilting My quilting inspiration was from this book, In the Studio with Angela Walters, where she did different designs across the body of a quilt. I used chalk to mark diagonal lines on the quilt top to divide it into three sections and filled one section with scrolls, one with paisley and one with bullseye spirals in pink thread. These rounded, flowing designs add to the feminine, happy feel of the quilt.  Bullseye and Paisley Quilting  Flange on a Quilt I added a flange between the body of the quilt and the border. I love how the black makes those bright colors pop! Quilting Inspiration Where do I get my quilting ideas? Books with quilting designs are an invaluable resource that I refer to whenever I’m looking for inspiration. I also keep a list of quilts and how I quilted them and notebooks where I doodle to test out ideas. Some designs work better on one quilt than they do on another, but the only way you learn this is by actually quilting! Two very different looks from the same pattern!
 Custom Longarm Quilting This is a wedding quilt I designed, pieced and custom quilted for my nephew and his bride. I used the Metro Rings pattern and the Quick Curves ruler to make the double wedding ring blocks.  Before Quilting How to pick quilting designs When deciding on the quilting motif, it helps to know a little bit about who the quilt is for. My SIL said the couple were young hipsters, so I tried to keep that in mind when deciding on the quilting design. He plays drum in a band and they both have tattoos and ride motorcycles so I wanted something more graphical so I went with a Celtic/Egyptian/Art Deco feeling.  celtic motif and ruler work Most of the pictures were taken while this was on the longarm, so you may see chalk marks, unquilted areas and batting with no binding on the edges.  Art Deco corner design I quilted the solid blue corner areas as if they were pieced:   Celtic and Egyptian designs You Should Name Your Quilts! You should definitely name your quilts - it will help you remember them and picture them in your mind. The large triangles in the border represent the Tennessee mountains where the couple live so I named this quilt Wedding Rings in the Tennessee Mountains.  Quilting in the Mountains I used a combination of stencils, longarm quilting rulers and freehand quilting.   Happy Wedding Rings! Fran's Paper Pieced Cats Quilt This is Fran's absolutely amazing paper pieced cats quilt. She designed the layout of the quilt and had a wonderful idea for the quilting motif - an allover loop-de-loop with yarn balls.  The paw print blocks in the border are a really fun touch and I love the way she incorporated the cute pictures from a pre-printed panel in alternating blocks.  Fran also included the printed cats along the sides and bottom so the quilt ended up the correct size - 110" x 115". This is a big quilt and I was excited and a little nervous about quilting it, but I think it turned out wonderful.  Here you can see the quilt on my longarm and a closeup of the loop-de-loops and yarn balls. What a perfect quilting idea!
Before and after quilting shots of the blue cat. He looks so cute with the runaway yarn all around him. The quilting helps tell the story of the quilt without overwhelming the top.  On the longarm. You can see the quilted and unquilted areas.  The completely quilted top with a peak at the back. Quilting Summary
 Fran did an amazing job on this quilt and I'm sure the lucky recipient will love it! |
To You:My favorite way to express my creativity is with fabric. Join me as I share my journey with you. I hope you'll be inspired to create something too! Archives
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