Birch Trees and Blogging

I read a lot of quilt blogs and am so inspired by what people in the quilt world are doing! Sometimes it seems a little daunting to see all the talent out there and think that I can do this too....who the heck am I?? Sometimes I want to start making a specific quilt because I think it is what people would like. But then that stresses me out and I remind myself that I am quilting because it fills my soul, not other people's. If it ends up being something even just one person loves, that's frosting! :)

Speaking of what I love and filling my soul, I started adding some branches to my trees. This is a very time consuming project, but I am SO in love!

UFO!

I believe in UFO's! I even have a few of my own! Un Finished Objects, that is! Ha! I love my V Dubs, especially the red one! I actually owned a red one in my youth! This UFO is about 15 years old, all made from batik fabric! Aren't they cute!?

 I haven't applique stitched them on my Pffaf yet, but it's on my to-do list. I find applique very relaxing for some reason! Well, on the machine, not by hand. I am in awe of people who use the turn applique method!

Interpetive Tumbler!

I made this a few years ago when we didn't have any space at all but I needed to MAKE! I have a Go Cutter, and hadn't used my tumbler block yet. Take a bunch of strips of Kona solids in a rainbow of colors, sew them all together, set it on your die, and cut away!

 Of course, you need lots and lots of them! And solid white ones too!

 I quilted feathers free-hand on my Juki (no Monster to make things easier!).

 And since I love to piece my backs, here's a wee block in a sea of Kona grey! Those were some of the leftover from all that cutting and piecing! I went with a scrappy binding too, because scrappy bindings are the spice of life!

 I put a sleeve on it to hang in the 2016 Summit Quilters quilt show. Oh, I just love a pieced back!

1930's Repro Baby Quilt All Done!

I don't know why but I have been hoarding my huge stash of 1930's reproduction prints! I guess I just hadn't found a pattern that I thought would work perfectly for them! I have since found a few. This one is a lattice bones pattern from Julie Hirt.

I chose to do a butterfly panto to add to the whimsical nature of the prints. And just look at those cows jumping over the moon!

I love a red binding!

                                               
I used a yellow backing in a repro print too!

Monsters Need Quilts Too!

I made these little crochet monsters some time back. Today I needed to make her a quilt! She's much happier now, don't you think??

Snowy Day Sampler Work

Been working hard on this client sampler quilt! I took it off the Monster yesterday after free-motion quilting the sashing and borders. Today I am doing the shadow quilting in each block on my Juki with walking foot attached. Excuse my strings! Those will get buried with a needle when I am done!

My client's pattern originally calls for poly batting, which was typical of that period (see-through and hard to work with, not to mention flimsy and cheap! imho), but I exclusively carry Warm and Natural 80/20 - hence the tighter quilting. I suppose I could have done a loopy quilting in the sashing, or even stitched in the ditch, but I really love the texture here!

 This is looking out my front door! October 20. Ugh. Oh, well. Makes for happy quilting hours!

Awl Made Here Quilt!

Tracey Keating, from Awl Made Here - awlmadehere.com - asked me to make her a quilt! I was so nervous because her leather work is beautiful and her skill is top-notch (I've ordered from her before)! This is while it was still on the Monster. Another panto by Urban Elementz.

I chose a simple modern design. The pictures don't do it justice - they never do! I just love Kona solids so I settled on a mix of eye-popping colors. 

 I chose to piece the back so that it mimicked the front. I love that one little splash of orange in the bottom right corner. All by itself but making lots of noise!

You'll have to zoom in to see it but the binding is also a little play on the theme of the quilt. I chose to add only four or five colors in the binding, and then the rest of the binding is a royal blue Kona Cotton. I really enjoyed making this quilt for Tracey! She's so inspiring to me!

Isn't this fun! (Sampler Quilt!)

This is a sampler quilt that was started by my client over 20 years ago! She asked me to finish it so I have been working diligently over the last few weeks. Can you name all the blocks? The Bear's Paw is one of my favorites (bottom, far right)!

 I did some applique in there, which I haven't gotten to do in a while, so it was super fun! Can't wait to load it on the frame and start the quilting! <3

Client Memory Quilt

Client Memory Quilt! This is a surprise for her daughter - what a poignant gift! She wanted the individual shirt patterns to stand out and settled on this simple design, which was a great choice! The quilting is a pantograph pattern from Urban Elementz (my fave!). This is guided by my hand on my 17" midarm. I think it turned out so nicely!

I fussy-cut a lot of the designs on the shirt because I wanted those patterns to stand out, especially the fish! You can click on the picture for a closer look.

You can see the quilting a little better in this next pic. I chose it to mimic the floral theme in the shirts.

The whole back of the quilt is this lovely turquoise print - you can really see the quilting pop on the back! We chose the same fabric for the binding, which I think really brings the whole quilt together!

Isosceles Triangle Quilt all Done!

I just love this quilt! From the color combinations, to the playful layout, to the black and white striped binding! I see more of these in my future! PM if you want to buy this quilt!

Isosceles Triangle Quilt

I started cutting for this the other day, and now it's time to rock and roll!

This one isn't going on the Monster - I want the colors and triangles to stand out, so I'll shadow quilt the seams. It's a gender-neutral baby quilt, and measures about 29" x 40". Aren't the colors fun?

Also on my Design Wall!

I just can't help myself! I see something that grabs my eye and I MUST try it out! This is an isosceles triangle quilt pattern that I was inspired to make from Audrie over at Blue is Bleu - she is so good at pulling together colors that you wouldn't think would work together. It's going to be a baby quilt, which I will have for sale soon enough! Here's my rendition:

For Sale! Fall Colors for a Cool Fall Day!

I made this quilt a few years ago but still love the rich browns and golds! Perfect for this cool fall weather we are having! Cut a bunch of 6 1/2" squares and made half-square triangles, using my design wall to balance shades, rather than prints, which makes your eye move all around the quilt, not getting stuck in any one spot. 

 I quilted it in an all-over meander. I love how there are flower prints as well as plaids in this quilt - really adds a lot of interest and variety!

Log Cabin on the Monster!

I am making great progress on the commissioned queen sized log cabin quilt! I should have it completed and shipped out by next week! Woohoo! Here it is, getting the Baptist Fan treatment! The panto is from Urban Elementz! I am using Connecting Threads Espresso thread.

The panto is a 6 1/2" panto - I chose this one because it's a nice close stitch, which means the texture, once it is washed, is going to be scrumptious! All that wrinkly goodness!