Curly Q Pantograph

This lovely quilt is from my friend and customer JoAnn and her quilts are always such a joy to work on.  Just coming off of  a couple of large custom quilts and it has been so refreshing and really enjoyable to do a pantograph.  This one is called "Curly Q" by Lisa Calle. I used 100% cotton variegated thread (Tutti) by Wonderfil.

Custom Medalion Quilt

Well I finished up this custom quilt with a few days in 2010 to spare. Not that I set that as a goal but it gives me a bit of time to, as I call it "play".  I mentioned before this is a customer quilt made as a gift for her daughter.  It was a full custom quilt using Warm/Natural batting, and Wonderfil Invisifil thread.  The design on the half square triangles were created with a template and the center medalion was freehand (Mactavishing). The large border was a freehand allover meander.   I've had a few comments about getting a closer look - if you click on the photo itself you can get a bit closer.  I struggle with the photography - my apologies.

New Project on the go!

I have just started a new custom project this morning.  I will be at this one for quite a while as it's 88" x 103" - lots of half square triangles.  There is also a hand appliqued motif in the center.  I'll post more photos as I get to the centre. This is a customer quilt who made it for her daughter.

Ladies in Red

More photos of the Ladies in Red. This was a full custom - with swags in the outer borders and piano keys in the 2nd border - I used black thread so it doesn't really show.  A medium stipple was done in the charcoal blocks with the centre being outlined to make them pop.  Each lady was outlined and has a fairly tight fill to try and emphasize the designs.  I used Invisifil thread from Wonderfil for most of the work top and bottom.

New Project

Hi all - I just wanted to share a bit of what's happening in the studio these days.  This is a lovely little quilt my friend Max did a while back.  Max does beautiful machine embroidery and hands some of her gorgeous work over to me to complete for her.  I just started this one, hopefully she'll be happy with the results.  This is just one of the blocks I've worked on today and will post more photos when finished.

Lone Star Custom

Those of you that know me, know I love love love doing freehand feathers.  Well I definitely had my chance to do feathers on this quilt. This is a full custom with 3 thread color changes.  A wonderful quilt from my customer Lisa which will be a Christmas gift for her mother-in-law. I have a few more quilts to do before I book off for Christmas so I'd better get back at it.

T Shirt Quilt - Custom Quilting

Wow - All I can say is "man it's a busy time of the year".  I just finished custom quilting this T-Shirt quilt for my friend Jane.  What an amazing labour of love for her daughter who played volleyball for a number of years.  I tried to use a number of different fill stitches and was fairly happy with the results.

"Sister's At Heart" Wins at the Calgary Stampede

I've been meaning to post a photo of my beautiful blue ribbon but quilting got in the way - go figure.  Anyways, yes "Sister's At Heart" did win a blue ribbon at the Calgary Stampede.  I think Lynn would be proud.  This is the quilt I made in memory of my best friend Lynn who passed away August 2009.

Scrappy Flannel Quilt

Well as some of you know I do try and still get a bit of piecing done in between longarm quilting for others.  This is a scrappy flannel birthday quilt for one of my grandson's. I quilted it with a pantograph called "Sea Weed" by Lorien Quilting. But the one thing I still don't understand - is how come my scrap bin is still as full as it was??????  The pattern started out being out of Judy Marin's book but ended up being my own design - those that know me shouldn't be surprised.

Glamorgan Care Centre

My friend Max (the charity coordinator for our quilt guild) and I delivered over 20 quilts to the Glamorgan Care Centre here in Calgary yesterday to be given to the residence to help keep them warm this winter.  Hopefully the quilts will put a smile on their faces and that they will enjoy them as much as we enjoyed making them.

This was the 2009/2010 charity chosen by our quilt guild. Each of the 19 members made at least one quilt - but I know for sure there were some that made more. All the ladies in our guild are so talented and so very very generous - hats off to all of them for such a job well done!

Le Jardin Won 2nd Place Ribbon - Calgary

My customer Kerry took 2nd place at the Creative Sewing Festive here in Calgary in the large wall quilt division.  Kerry did such an awesome job on this gorgeous applique quilt and yes I'm going to take a wee bit of credit for the quilting. If you're a quilter, do scrapbooking, sewing, knitting, etc. etc. and live in Calgary this show is a must to see.

Snowman Applique Quilt

Another adorable applique quilt from my customer Kerry.  This one I used 100% wool batting and Wonderfil Invisifil thread.  I did light custom quilting in the appliqued blocks, some ruler work in the pinwheel and log cabin blocks and freehand quilting in the borders.

Nosegay Floral Customer Quilt

This is a lovely quilt I just finished up for a great lady, friend and customer - Joan.  I used a floral pantograph called "Flowering Pond" by Nancy Johnston. Legacy 80/20 batting and a beige polyester thread. This one was a bit of a challenge as the prairie points were already on the quilt so I had to be careful not to catch them when quilting. Fairly happy with the outcome.

Turning Twenty - Customer Quilt

Wow this was another huge quilt from a dear customer Lisa (98"x112").  I think she mentioned it's for a wedding gift for, if I remember correctly, a cousin.  This gal is a fairly new quilter and doing an amazing job.  I am so pleased when I see young people taking up the art of quilting.  I quilted it freehand "Meandering with Attitude" swirls,  using Warm & Natural batting and Wonderfil Mirage variegated thread (lots and lots of it). :0)

Watermelon Quilt

Hi Everyone - Yes I'm still here and slowly getting back to normal.  Hubby is now home from the hospital and doing well - thank you everyone for your kind messages.  I have been working in the studio and believe it or not I am a bit ahead of schedule.  We were hoping to get away to BC for a few days but hubby wasn't feeling up to it so I just kept on quilting. 

This is the latest project finished.  Isn't it the cutes quilt ever.  No it's not mine - a customer left it for me to do a freehand on - so "Meandering with Attitude" it was.  I think it is sooooo cute!

Le Jardin by Bunny Hill Designs

Lovely customer quilt just finished and picked up.  This lady did such an amazing job on the applique work in the quilt. All the 3 dimensional work made it so much fun to quilt. It was a challenge to try and decide what fill to do in which block.  The outside dark border has swags on it as well as bead board. All in all I think she was happy with the results.

Art Quilts by Carol Schmold

A few months back I was asked by a very talented art quilter out of Saskatchewan - Carol Schmold, to custom quilt 2 of her pieces.  Although I was a bit nervous because she was doing them for an exhibit she was having, I took on the challenge.  She has now sent me photos of these two beautiful art quilts to share with all of you. Carol has been having trouble with her website and as soon as I get word that it's up and running I'll post her site so you can all enjoy her other pieces of art.

The first one is called "Broken Ladders" and the second one is "Prairie Landscape Tapestry".

Beautiful Applique Quilt - Traditional Custom Quilting - More Photos

I have now completed this adorable customer applique quilt.  This quilt was perfect for some nice traditional custom quilting - so that's what's happened in the studio.

Custom Irish Chain

I finished up this custom Irish Chain this past weekend.  Can't get any good photos of the whole quilt or of the back. Too bad because I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. The feathers go all around the border with the feather wreaths in the center and cross hatching around the wreaths. I really enjoyed doing this, sure hope the customer likes it.

Custom Quilt in Progress - Traditional Irish Chain

This is a lovely customer quilt which I am doing some traditional custom quilting on.  It took me 3 tries to get the thread color right for the feathered block.  Yep - I had to pick out the feather twice.  Now I think I'm happy with the color.  Hopefully it won't take me more than 1 week to get finished but just wanted to share what's been happening in the studio.  I also have done a bunch of quilts with freehand designs but they've been picked up before I could get any good photos.  It's been a very busy month and I'm HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!