Once Upon a Time

My, oh my, does the time fly! It has been a busy year and I realized that I haven’t posted to my blog for a LONG while! So, today is the day!

I do a TON of stuff – videos, patterns, online classes, in-person classes, etc. – which is all quilting related and I do quilt on real quilts from time to time! The past few months I have been working on some AMAZING quilts and now I want to show you some of them.

This first quilt I am going to highlight is a quilt I made for my Granddaughter Maddie Tong. As with each quilt, there is a story!

This quilt was made from a kit that I found (on a great sale) while visiting with my sister in Illinois. We went “shop hopping” in her area and I found the kit.

Click on any image for a larger view.

I did a little research and this was offered in 2018 by Moda. I purchased the kit in late 2019, pieced it 2021 and finally quilted it earlier this year, 2022.

The quilt is WAY too cute, WAY too much fun to piece and WAY, WAY too much fun to quilt!

Here is the finished quilt! It is a larger twin size.

Here are some of the quilting details –

I quilted a feather cable in the outer borders and a combination of continuous curves, ribbon stipple, swirls and other fill in patterns to complete the quilting, The batting is Warm Company, Soft & Bright and I used an assortment of Signature 100% cotton, machine quilting threads.

For the center Castle block I did straight lines (free hand), wavy cross hatching, continuous curve, landscape stipple and swirls in the hearts.

Here is the back of the quilt and you can see a lot of the quilting detail even though the backing fabric is a fairly busy print

And of course, here is one HAPPY Granddaughter!!

I know she will use and enjoy this quilt for many, many years!

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Batik Log Cabin

My oh my! It has been a while since I have posted to my blog! I have been busy the last few months, I have been traveling, visiting family, designing quilts, making quilts and of course quilting quilts! (That is a lot of “Q” words!)

Here is my latest customer quilt. Karla did a wonderful job of piecing this Batik Log Cabin quilt. This quilt is HUGE! It is 110 x 132 inches and each block is 22 inches square!

It is so huge that I could only photograph half of the quilt as it is hanging on my backyard clothesline!

Click on any photo for a larger view

The colors of the fabrics are fabulous and I love the center of each block (which is 10 inches square!) I used NINE different colors of high sheen polyester thread. Yes, it does take time to change each color, but it is worth it!! Here are the threads!

Here is the quilting on the blocks –

The photo is in a large pixel format. Please enlarge the photo to see the quilting detail an the thread colors! I quilted feathers along the diagonal from the corners to the middle of the block, stopping the feathers at the edge of the center block. Where the colors of the fabric change in the corners, I changed the colors of the thread. I love the overall texture that the feathers give the quilt.

Then I quilted the centers individually, following the lines of the printed design in the center block and filled in around the center with echo quilting and ribbon stipple.

Here is a photo of another block, in a large pixel format. I hope you can see the detail of the quilting.

It is amazing how a simple Log Cabin quilt can be changed / adapted to become a fabulous quilt!

 

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Catching Up!!

It HAS been a while since I have posted quilt photos!!! Even though I haven’t posted many photos, I really HAVE been busy. As always, I am working on several project at one time (I must be the Queen of multi-tasking), and sometimes when multi-tasking it takes more time to get things done! If anyone know of how to get an extra hour or two out of a day, please let me know.

I recently finished this way too cute Snowman Quilt. It is 38 x 51 inches and it was very nicely pieced. There were a lot of small-ish pieces and the stars were done with the folded triangle technique.

Click on any photo for a larger view.

The batting is Warm & Natural and I used several high sheen polyester (HSP) threads. The background fabric is a tree print, and I think the trees are birch trees (I am not a tree expert. Let me know if they are different). The main color of the trees are gray, so I used a silver HSP thread and just “followed” the direction of the trees with wavy lines of quilting. You may be able to see the quilting lines if you expand the photo below.

In the snowmen I quilted spirals. The backing photo below shows more of the quilting.

I love when the quilting on the front of the quilt almost “disappears” but REALLY shows up on the back! Which is exactly what happened with this next quilt.

This quilt, Color Splash quilt, is huge at 101 x 101 inches!!! It is so big, that I could get only half of the quilt over my clothesline to get photos! The photo below is only about one fourth of the quilt! I’m not sure if you can see the quilting from the front of the quilt. I used silver HSP thread and quilted free hand feathers and swirls as an all over design in the body of the quilt.

In the outer border I quilted my “straight edge” feathers and the inner border has my “more bang for the buck” feather! You can see the quilting a bit better in the dark border. (For an online class on how to quilt these feathers Click Here)The batting is Warm & Natural.

But the back looks spectacular! The backing fabric is a dark,  black on black print, but in the photo it is showing up as gray. Trust me, it is DARK black fabric! And since I use the same thread on the top and the bobbin, the silver HSP thread really sparkles on the back of the quilt.

On the left edge and lower left corner, you can see the border feathers. ALL the feathers are done free hand – and I LOVE quilting free hand feathers!!!

I am planning on posting more quilt photos in the not too distant future.

 

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New Year’s Day 2018 Mystery Quilt

Every New Years Day, for the last 10 years, I have hosted a New Year’s Day Mystery Quilting Event and it is SO much fun!

The class project is titled Medallion Mania and (hint, hint) the quilting is mainly feathered wreaths! Generally, no hints about the quilting are given, but this time I made an exception.

This is how this Mystery Quilting Event works – when you sign up for the class you will receive the piecing instructions. Choose the class project size you want to make – this year there is a Wall quilt, Twin size quilt and Queen size quilt – piece the quilt top and have it on your quilting machine, ready for quilting on January 1, 2018. On that day, about 8 am Pacific time (usually a little earlier) the first “Part” of the QUILTING will be activated on the website. Then, about every 1-1/2 – 2 hours throughout the day, other Parts of the class will be activated. By the end of the day you will have all the Parts to the class and (maybe) have the quilting done on your own class project!

If you are busy on New Year’s Day, don’t worry, you have 60 days of 24/7 access to the online class AND at no additional charge, a DVD of the class and all printed material will be sent to you!

Here is a photo of the Wall size quilt, 60 x 60 inches, BEFORE quilting! Click on the photos for a larger view.

And here is the Queen size quilt, 96 x 96 inches, which is the quilt I am quilting in the class video.

As you can see, the piecing is super simple. But the quilting – for that you have to attend the class on New Year’s Day!

Note – the quilt blocks are 34 inches! That is a LOT of room for quilting!!!!

If you have a small throat quilting machine or you quilt with your home sewing machine, YOU can attend this class! I am showing several different ways to quilt the feathered wreaths, including using stencils and how to quilt on a smaller throat / sit down machine.

For more details on the Medallion Mania online class Click Here 

I hope to “see” you in class on New Year’s Day!!!

PS For more information about past New Year’s Day Quilting Events Click Here 

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Hearts and Feathers

I finished these quilts this week and they are WAY too cute!!

This quilt is a Batik Irish Chain for a baby that I quilted with feathered heart wreaths and continuous curves. The quilt is 41 x 53 inches.

Click on any photo for a larger view

I love the colors of this quilt! And here is the back of the quilt.

I used Soft & Bright batting, Lavender and Sand Dollar Signature, 100% cotton thread.

When I make feathered heart wreaths, there is a “process” that I use. Here are some photos to show the basics of how I quilt them. Here is the un-quilted space.

Then I mark the spine and the inner and outer boundaries of my feathers. On this quilt I used the Mark-B-Gone, water soluble marker. You can barely see the marker, enlarge the photo to see it better. I mark just enough that I can see the lines.( If you want more information on what I use to make the heart shapes Click Here)

Now I quilt the feathered wreath free hand, including the spine line!

And lastly, I removed the marker with a spritz of water. Here is the finished feathered heart wreath.

I quilted the heart wreath with the Lavender thread and the background (behind the heart) I used the Sand Dollar thread to match the fabric. I LOVE the effect! If you look closely in the expanded photo, you can see the continuous curve quilting I did in the squares.

One More Quilt! This quilt has hand embroidered squares and (again) is WAY too cute!! This quilt is 34 x 45 inches.

Here is a close up of some of the blocks. The embroidery was VERY well done!

I used Signature Lavender thread in the printed fabric and quilted feathers in the borders and sashings and added “detail” quilting in each block. I also used Warm & White batting.

Like I said, WAY too cute!!! And here is the back of the quilt. You can really see the quilting!

Here is a close up of the back of the quilt.

Needless to say, I had a lot of fun working on these quilts!

 

 

 

 

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Pebbles and Feathers

I have been working on a couple of HUGE quilts lately and I finally have some time to post photos!

The first quilt is 106 x 106 inches and it is gorgeous!! It is the Labyrinth Quilt pattern by Debbie Maddy. My customer did a great job with the piecing.

Click on any photos for a closer view.

The photos don’t do justice to the color of the fabrics. In real live the colors are more vibrant.

I quilted the “fabric” and didn’t put any other pattern on it.

There were small circles or dots on the light teal fabric and I quilted pebbles on this fabric! It was slow going because the pebbles were fairly small and dense.  (click on the photo and expand the view to see the pebbles.)

Here is what a section of the pebbles looks like from the back.

It has been a long time since I quilted pebbles like that, and it may be a while before I do them again! But they do look wonderful on this quilt!

Here is a closer view of the center of the quilt.

And here is a view of the back of the center of the quilt. The backing fabric is actually a very rich dark chocolate brown.

The other quilt I have been working on is a Star Sampler quilt. This customer started making the star blocks and then built the quilt around the blocks. She had no specific quilt pattern when she started the piecing. This quilt is 94 x 116 inches!

I have the quilt hanging on my clothesline to take the photos, but I still couldn’t get the whole quilt photographed!

Click on any photo for a larger view.

I love the large borders and I quilted feathers in the outer border, but you can’t see them.

In the green border I quilted a 4 inch Double Cable and then feathers (some of which you can see) in the inner borders.

I kept the quilting fairly simple in the blocks. I also hope you can see the feathers in the light background behind the block.

Here is a small portion of the back of the quilt. Here you can see the quilting in the large outer border and the cables.

One more photo of the blocks and hopefully you can see the feather work in the light background areas.

I had WAY too much fun working on both of these quilts and both my customers were THRILLED with the quilting!

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Late August Update

The month of August is just about over and things have been beyond wild!

The first part of the month I was in the Midwest visiting with family and then I drove to Southern Indiana to teach longarm classes. The classes were a LOT of fun and I met some wonderful quilters. One student drove all the way from Eastern Tennessee to attend my classes.

(I am in the process of working on the details for another teaching trip to the East Coast in mid October. I can’t say too much yet, the plans are not firm yet. As soon as I can, I will post the information.)

My Mother had her knee replaced in May. Of course we had to compare scars – her knee vs my hips! And, as I promised her last year, I gave her a quilt for her surgery.

Mom’s Quilt

I had the top pieced for a while – it just needed quilting. I quilted free hand feathers and swirls in the body of the quilt. In the border I quilted half circle wreaths and the “math” came out perfectly! I didn’t plan the placement of the wreaths that way, but I am glad it worked so well.

Top Border

Here is a closer view of the top border. I used Soft & Bright batting and Signature threads.

And best of all, my Mom LOVED it!!!

FWIW – I used the Longarm University 8 inch Feather Guide template set to quilt the border designs. For more details about this template set Click Here 

When I was in the Midwest, the weather here in Seattle was amazing! While I was gone my garden went crazy! (A huge Thank You to my neighbor Ellen who watered my garden while I was gone.)

My sunflowers are amazing! The zucchini are fabulous, the green beans -delicious.

Here are some photos. Click on any photo for a larger view

This year I planted two different kinds of sunflowers. These are my “smaller” sunflowers. (Note: The top of the arbor they are against stands least 6 feet off the ground. ) These sunflowers are darker, smaller and have many more flowers on them.

Then there is the “big” sunflower which is at least 9 feet off the ground! I am a little disappointed this year. Most of the seeds I planted of the big sunflower didn’t grow. So I have only this one big sunflower and one more that hasn’t bloomed yet. I’ll post photos of that one when it blooms.

The plants that have taken off like lightning are my “Jack-be-Little” pumpkins. When I left they were scraggly little plants. When I returned, they had nearly taken over part of the yard!

The photo below was taken yesterday and they have taken over most of the area behind the sunflowers and over my cinder block garden area.

I forgot how much these plants spread! And there are lots of little pumpkins on them!

Here is a close up of one of the pumpkins. (That is the garden hose next to it.) I would say that the pumpkin is about 6 inches in diameter and about 3 inches high. It won’t get much bigger.

These little pumpkins make great decorations and I will be giving them to the Grandkids in October.

They say it is going to rain over the weekend – I truly hope so! It is SO dry and in Eastern Washington the wild fires are awful! They REALLY do need the rain!

I hope your summer was wonderful and that you enjoy the last few days of summer.

I’ll post photos of pumpkins soon!

 

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A Wedding Quilt

On Saturday, my nephew, Jake is getting married to Lessa. Of course, Auntie Cindy had to make a quilt for the happy couple.

I pieced the top late last Spring. Below is a photo of it un-quilted.  This is a large scrap quilt, about 100 x 100 inches. I took the photo at my daughter’s house and there is a little bit of a breeze. My Grandson Nathan (at the right) and Granddaughter Mackenzie are holding the bottom of the quilt while I am taking the photos.

Click on any photo for a larger view.

On to the quilting! Here is a photo of the quilt on my machine.

I quilted curved feathers in the light parts of the block and wavy lines in the darker parts of the block. In the light sections I used Signature 100% cotton thread, Sand Dollar, and in the darker sections I used the same Signature thread in Fawn.

Here is the completed quilt – Enlarge the photo to see all the detail of the quilting. The texture is amazing! The quilt is so large that I couldn’t get it all in the photo.

I hope you can see some of the detail in this photo. Again, enlarge the photo to see the quilting detail.

Here is the back of the quilt. The backing fabric is actually a darker burgundy color. The sun (yes, there is sun in Seattle in October!) makes the fabric look lighter. The texture is amazing!

One more photo of the back. This is the border area so you can see the feather quilting.

The wedding is on Saturday and today is Wednesday. I have to pack this quilt up and send it to Illinois, like right NOW!! I do my best work on a deadline!

I won’t be able to be at the wedding, but I am sending all my love and  best wishes to the bride and groom!

 

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Martha’s Quilts

Oh my gosh! It is September already! This summer has FLOWN by! I have been busy and I finally have some time to add to my blog.

I have been working hard all summer – I was gone for nearly a month traveling on the East Coast and the Midwest, teaching longarm quilting classes and also visiting with family. Then, when I returned home, it took me nearly four weeks to catch up with all the work and “stuff” that piled up while I was gone! Finally, I think I can breathe now, and add photos to my blog.

I just finished working on quilts pieced by Martha D, who is 91 years young! She does wonderful work and I have enjoyed quilting for her. She dropped off three quilts, which she machine embroidered.

The first quilt is embroidered Cardinals with some of the nicest Cardinal fabric I have seen in a long time.

Click on any photo for a larger view.

The quilt is 53 x 44 inches. It is wider because it was made to go across the back of a couch.

Here is a closer view of the embroidery and the quilting. I quilted Feather Plumes in the cornerstones and the “solid” red blocks.

She even pieced blocks for the back. This was way too much fun to quilt!

The next quilt Martha did was this Americana Quilt with embroidered eagles.

This quilt is 47 x 72 and is a traditional block pattern I used a combination of “Fireworks” , continuous curves, feathers in the sashings and echo quilting around the eagles.

Here is a closer look at the piecing and embroidery. The back is a busy print and you can’t see any of the quilting.

The last quilt Martha brought was this beautiful Purple Roses embroidered quit. Again, I had way too much fun quilting this quilt!

The quilt is 51 x 51 inches. I quilted my free hand feathers and swirls with silver, high sheen polyester thread in the background. I LOVE the texture – expand the photo to see the detail.

Here is a closer view. And look at the quilting behind the roses in the light blocks. I used white, high sheen poly thread for the quilting in these blocks.

A lot of the time people will just stipple behind an applique. This time, I used feathers as the background quilting! The photo is a little dark – I turned off the overhead lights and did not use a flash. The texture of the quilting shows up better this way.

Here is a photo of one more of the embroidered blocks. I love the way this looks!

I used Soft & Bright batting on all these quilts and cotton threads on the first two quilts.

I hope Martha continues quilting, because I want to continue to work with her in the future!

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March Quilts

March has been a busy month! I started out traveling to Dallas, TX and teaching longarm classes and then came home and have been working hard at the quilting machine!

The first quilt, pieced by Karla S, Amarillo, TX, is a beauty! The two contrasting colors make this a stunning and graphic quilt. It took me a while to figure out what to quilt on it, but, I feel that the quilting compliments the piecing.

Click on any photo for a larger view

The fabrics are solid black, assorted beige prints and then the wonderful black and beige large scale print for the border!

 

The quilt is 69 x 84 inches. I used Soft & Bright batting, Signature 100% cotton thread in Black and Baguette.

I quilted half feathered wreaths with the Baguette thread in the side triangles and then continued the feathered wreaths into the border using the same color thread. I used the black thread for the fill in stitching. The quilting in the block is simple – I didn’t want to overwhelm the block with too much quilting.

The backing fabric was a burgandy-ish and black mini print. The photo makes the fabric look more red. You can see the detail of the quilting in both the blocks and the border. The texture is amazing!

One more quilt to show. This quilt is a Sampler Quilt by Jane S, Kent, WA. This quilt was part of a “Round Robin” that was done with her quilt group.

Click on any photo for a larger view

I love quilting  Sampler Quilts! I go a little “crazy” and stitch something different in each block. The piecing and the colors of the blocks tell me what to quilt! I used several colors of thread on this quilt and the batting is Warm & Natural.

Here is a close up of two of the blocks showing the quilting. I love the swirls in the top block!

Two more blocks showing the quilting. Also notice the feathers in the sashing.

I enjoyed working on this quilt. In fact, I may have had too much fun quilting this quilt.

Did I mention that with quilts like these, I LOVE MY JOB!!!

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