Carol's Blue & Gold set

My friend, Carol, recently brought me this very large (95x104") quilt top, along with two pillow shams. 

Carol was one of the brave ladies from my church who trusted me with a quilt top when I first bought my longarm quilting machine in August 2015. At first, I practiced on plain muslin, but when I felt ready to "pull the trigger" on a real quilt top, I opened an invitation to our congregation - offering to quilt one top per person for free, in exchange for giving me some actual, real quilt tops to work on. And it was Carol's that was my very first quilt.

Hopefully we have many more joint projects to look forward to in the future!

Bev's Primitive Stars

My client Bev received this project as a kit, a gift from her children. It has tiny pieces, I mean TINY. She invested a lot of time into completing this quilt top. I was honored that she entrusted the quilting to me.

I also have to say, this piece was right up my alley. I'm a traditionalist. I love "primitive" home decor. I love the earth tones in this piece. I love the stars - very traditional quilting pattern. It really matched my living room quite well. Do you think Bev would notice if I "forgot" to return it to her???

All quilting is hand-guided on an APQS longarm quilting machine.

Finished! That clock is in the AM. Best work happens by the light of the midnight oil. 

I can't say that this was a real clean slate for me as a quilter. Because of the small pieces, it didn't give me a lot of room to "be creative". I tried to be true to the style of the project, and use very traditional quilting motifs. 

Lots of straight lines (tribute to our hand-quilting fore-mothers) in and around the stars and squares.

Curved cross-hatch around the center-piece star. 

In the tiny log-cabin blocks around the perimeter, I tried to echo the idea of the cornerstone stars by quilting the same shape. It took a LONG time, and I regret that the quilting doesn't actually show up in those log cabins all that well. The tiny pieces, with quite busy patterns, serve as a sorta camouflage.

Ribbon candy in the olive-toned triangles. Feathers in the double-checkerboard border.

Kathy's Geometrical Homewarmer

I recently got to meet a new quilting client, Kathy, and let me tell you, she was a hoot! She and her husband recently moved back to High River, AB, after living in Newfoundland (Canadian maritimes).

She picked the fabrics in the quilt to match the lovely burnt orange color on the walls in their new home. It will be the topper on their dining table. She designed the pattern herself and let me choose how I wanted to quilt it. I love people who take a leap of faith!

All quilting is hand-guided on an APQS longarm quilting machine.

Some dot-to-dot motifs in the diagonal stratta. Attic windows in the sashing strips. Serpentine back-and-forth in the inner border.

Ruler work in the braided outer border, along with swirls.

The back really shows off the textures. Love!

Jane's Musical Masterpiece

My longtime client and friend, Jane, made this quilt top as a bday gift for her pre-teen granddaughter, Carolyn. Soft "fireside" (a fluffy minky-ish material) for the backing and high-loft polyester batting will make this a super-snuggler. Happy Birthday, Carolyn!

No matter how much I'm enjoying the quilting process, getting to the last "swath" is always a fun feeling. Gets me excited about getting it off the frame and thinking about the next quilt adventure! 

Gloria's Dusty Plum Dazzler

This was a piece from a new client, Gloria. She's steadily creating quilts for each of her children and grandchildren. I envy the person who gets this gem! All quilting is hand-guided on an APQS longarm quilting machine.

Here's a few photos "in progress". I've learned that I have to take photos at the top of the quilt to remind myself what the design is supposed to look like at the bottom of the quilt. Otherwise I forget by the time I get there and have to roll all the way back to the beginning to have a jog my memory!

Arches with feathers on the inside and serpentine lines on the outside = the outer border

Continuous curve (double) with feather clusters = the setting triangles

I wish you could see it better, but in the purple sashing strips I put some "cathedral windows". I love this continuous curve/squares combo. It has such a classy effect. I put a free-form feather fill in the sampler squares. 

The back side.