Russian Tiles #3

Yay, another Russian Tiles quilt for me to feast on! This pattern was a kit/class offered by Rumpled Quiltskins quilt shop in Okotoks, Alberta, in Fall 2015. The store owner, Linda, took a leap of faith in me (a BRAND-new longarm quilter at the time) and hired me to quilt the class sample. Since then this is the second quilt I've gotten to do for students of the Russian Tiles class. See the other one here.

It's so fun for me to work on a quilt top that has siblings in my repertoire. Each piecer adds her own distinct details, through fabric and thread selections, and I try to give each quilt it's own unique look through the quilting motifs I use - honoring the pattern of the piecing and embroidery, but changing it up each time.

Just as before, I marvel at the exquisite work in this piece. Look at all the thread that went into this embroidery! It is definitely a head-turner!

All quilting is free-motion, hand-guided on a longarm quilting machine.

No-Sew Baby Quilt

People often ask if they could hire me to make a quilt for them, from start to finish. But in truth, I'm just a sub-contractor. People hire me to do part of the quilting process. My clients sew together scraps of fabric to construct the quilt top, and then they hire me to quilt it together with the batting and backing. For more info on this, see my post, "What Exactly Do you DO?".

But this quilt was made without any piecing. I encourage anyone to consider this idea for a small quilt, for example a baby shower gift. Go to the fabric store, and pick out a fabric you like. Buy 2.5 yds of it, and I'll take care of everything else!

If you want to incorporate 2 different fabrics, buy 50" of the fabric you like more and 40" of the secondary fabric.

I will quilt it for you, using batting from my own stash, and and I will bind it, too. It will be ready to use when you get it back from me. If you're curious about this process or costs, please email me!

My neighbor, Kassie, found this cute fabric at Ikea! In keeping with the theme of the little woodland creatures on the fabric, I quilted a woodgrain motif. I think it's pretty adorable!

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

Barb's Log Cabin quilt

This piece came from my client, Barb. It is a very traditional quilting pattern, known as Log Cabin - this block has a small square in the center and builds outward as rectangles lean on each preceding piece. This quilt is especially lovely in how the log cabins were arranged in light and dark values.

When you stand back and look at the whole piece, you might not realize that THIS is the actual quilt block:

All quilting is free-motion, hand-guided on a longarm quilting machine.

With the very bold patterns and color varieties, it wasn't worth putting a lot of time into very intense custom quilting. The quilting really didn't show up that much anyway. So I took a lighter approach. Free-form feathers in the lighter areas, and my favorite swirls in the darker areas. 

I quilted parallel straight lines along the points of the log cabins, to emphasize the sub-pattern of diamonds that radiated out from the center of the quilt, created by the difference between light and dark fabrics. 

Custom treatment in the borders included arches with feathers outside and ribbon candy inside, as well as some ruler work in the cornerstones. 

Sub-pattern really shows up nicely on the back.

Ocean Quilt

My quilting client, Nicole, brought me this vibrant quilt top that her mom, Vally, had pieced. She wanted simple wavy lines, which was a welcome treat for me after a couple more intense custom jobs in the  preceding days. I really love having variety in my quilting schedule. Thanks, Vally and Nicole!

All quilting is free-motion, hand-guided on a longarm quilting machine.

Betty's Star quilt

My quilting friend, Betty, made this quilt for her grandson. She wanted it to be cuddly, so I quilted a little on the sparser side. Although, I had to make a conscious effort to switch gears after the quilt I had just finished before this one. It was very dense. Hopefully, this one is supple enough for Betty and her grandson!

Betty mentioned liking feathers, so I used my all-time favorite filler, a feather meander, in the interior section of the quilt.

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

A curly feather variation in the outer borders. Attic windows in the inner border.

In progress.