Fran's "Houses" quilt

Here's Fran's second quilt that I got to help with. It's a lovely, earth-tone piece that will be sure to bring warmth to the eyes, body, and soul!

Fran requested lots of feathers, so I used them in various placed throughout the quilt. A feather wreath in the center medallion of the log cabin layout. I also used meandering feathers in the pieced borders, and then used the piece seams as my guide for quilting piano keys in the solid red and black borders. Some outlining in the houses and trees, surrounded by somewhat dense filler.

In the darker areas of log cabin, I used an alternating serpentine quilting motif - and I LOVE how it turned out. I've worked on several log cabin quilts with similar layouts, and this is the first time this idea occurred to me. I think I'm gonna use it more in the future! It contrasts really beautifully with the roundness of the feathers and pebbles, and gives the whole quilt a great texture.

I'm really happy with this piece, and I'm wishing I could have kept it!

Fran's Scrapbuster

Here's a fun, yet traditional quilt. Full of scraps from past projects, this quilt will be a love-filled gift for Fran's granddaughter, who picked out the navy blue color-scheme. Just look at all those teensy tiny pieces! I loved quilting overlapping swirls all over this quilt top. Whimsical and fun!

This is the first of three quilts that I'll be posting from Fran. And she deserves my HUGE thanks for her patience and understanding as I took time off during the holidays and during a move to our new home. She gave me these quilts in NOVEMBER, and I didn't get them back to her until just this week. Thanks again, Fran!

A Monster of a Scarlet & Grey Quilt!

This quilt came to me from Ohio, where I grew up. It was made my newest client, Maura, and you guys! I think this is the BIGGEST quilt I've ever worked on! It was 125x122", and it took up almost every bit of my 12-foot quilting frame! Apparently, it was so big while Maura was piecing it, that she actually worked it up in three sections, and then pieced them together, just so she could manage it through her sewing machine.

It will be a bed quilt for her daughter and son-in-law, and I'm guessing that since these two are both Ohio State University grads, these colors are no accident. I'm a Scarlet & Grey alum myself, and I loved being reminded of my alma mater while working on this piece. Go Bucks!

I applied a few different textures to each of the color-ways of this quilt. The bargello pattern made a lovely sense of movement to what would otherwise just have been stripes. I also affixed the binding strip that Maura had prepared, to the front of the quilt. Then I shipped it off to Florida where she is wintering, so that she can hand-stitch it to the back side of the quilt. All I know is that she's going to be hand-stitching for a LONG time. This thing is HUGE! Ha!

Cute Baby Panel

Here's a cutie patootie little quilt for the newly born great-granddaughter of my client, Louise. Doesn't it just make you smile? I outlined all the adorable little animals and leaves. Louise wanted this piece to be on the fancy side, so then I filled in a pretty dense swirly whirly background design around those feature elements. Mwah!

Valentine Set

Here's some yummy Valentine's decor for my client, Joni. The lap-size quilt and the set of 12 placemates all feature raw-edge applique. "Raw-edge" refers to the fact that seams are exposed on the outside of the quilt, rather than folded under or enclosed in a decorative stitch. As a quilt like this gets used, the raw edges will fray a bit and become a little raggedy, creating a lovely 3D effect.

I included photos here of how I mounted the 12 placemats on my frame. I've quilted placemats a few times now, and I thought it would be worth mentioning that I request my clients bring one single, solid piece of backing fabric - rather than 12 individual pieces of backing for the 12 placemats. I just lay each subsequent mat next to the previously completed one, and I continue quilting. It saves fabric for my clients, and saves time for me. Win-win!

Darlene's Mystery Quilt

A HUGE thank you to Darlene - another of my very patient clients. Darlene began this quilt as a weekend mystery project a year ago. A too-big chunk of that timeline was due to me. Darlene waited a VERY long time for me to get this piece back to her, as I worked through a Christmas rush and took a month off work to move to a new house. But at long last, I applied custom quilting motifs, along with my "effortless binding", and gave it back to her completely read to use. Great one, Darlene!