Design Wall Monday March 13

Happy Monday!!  Just when I thought my design wall couldn't get any more colorful, well I just added another layer!!  The Queen of the Nile from Pride and Joy Quilting is a new guest on the design wall as we gets started, just completely smitten with her!

I think I need a bigger design wall!!

But alas there is some custom quilting that must be done and it's a great wintery day to get that started.   But I will have the queen of the Nile peeking over my should as I quilt.

Did I tell you about my wonderful time in FL?  I spent two full weeks at Santa Rosa Beach with a friend who graciously and generously hosted.  We did watercolor (I painted people who actually look like people!!!), we made a small collage project, made some hearts for IFAQH foundation, some slow stitching on a project that I can't share or they will boot me right of the group and not look back, there was mediation at the ocean front almost every morning, some really good seafood, a quilt show, some thrifting, some shelling and the BIGGEST and BEST  fish sandwich I've had in life (and that's quite a few years....)  I now understand why people snow bird.  I just can't tell you the impact to my psyche with the sun shining, the greenery and the sound of the gulf coast, did my soul good!  I am definitely a midwestern girl, there's no doubt about that.  But finding a place to go that is sunny and warm for a month in the winter, is now on my todo list. Phew, time for vacation right?

this is what daily morning beach walk and meditation were like

Sunsets all different, all beautiful

Spreading some quilty love

I hope someone found and felt the good vibes coming their way

Cooper loved a morning walk and mediation too!!

Some slow stitching by the sea, this is a sharable project!

there were a few little sand creations found along the way

Shells, shells and more shells!!! what fun we went home with so many!

Peg Leg Pete's in Pensacola area  - hands down the best fish sandwich I have had in over 60 years!!  The grouper was amazing!

And there we are seeing Forest Williams at a local bar, the ladies were with were hot and everyone wanted to dance with them.  What a great time, thanks Kim!!

I did actually finish a couple things of my own.

My Squash squad is now complete!!  Yeah, she will be entered into the NSQG show in May.  She has a double bat, 80/20 with wool on top.  FMQ with 60 wt thread.

My first real collage (not counting the peacock).  I added a little yarn couching to this guy.  I started with some thread painting and that was taking way too long, so I stepped up my game and add some yarn.  Less than 2 hours to finish this little guy.  This will be my mini donation for the sale at NSQG show in May.  I hope he's not the last one there!!

Judy has a blog post on her Birds of Feather Quilt here. This quilt, I'll never make one but if someone wants to make one like this for me, we can trade quilt top for custom quilting.  I just absolutely adored this quilt and I hope she'll enter in a show.  Judy has more pics on her blog, check hers out too! She's got the story about the pattern and how this came about. It's a good one!

Don't forget to check out all the linky parties on the side bar. So much to be inspired by! Have a great quilty week!

A feather for you and a feather for you and a few other things.

 Oh 2023 has gotten off to a great start!  3 quilts on and off the frame.  I am in such a quilting groove right now.  And I have two more to finish by the middle of Feb so, I do hope the quilting Gods stay with me just a wee bit longer.  Want to see what I've been working on?   So many beautiful and different things.  This is the part where I feel very lucky to be a longarm quilter. I love the quilting part, the final icing on the cake.  I get to work on so many beautiful and creative pieces that I never in my wildest dreams would ever make.  But yet with the grace of the Quilting Gods above they cross my longarm and I feel ever so grateful to be a small part of these beauties....Ok so are you ready to see????

First up is Kim's New York Beauties, The stars are silk and the background is aboriginal fabrics.  I did a simple design in the middle of the stars, I wanted the silk to just shine through.  On the background I literally used the prints for the dense background quilting, quilting on the lines and then added the border.  I tried to pull some elements from the fabrics for the last border, but I think that silk, anything quilted on that would look amazing.

Next up was the first art quilt that I've quilted.  Kathleen's water lily pattern by Sandra Mollen.  I am so in love with this, I really need my own!!  Isn't that the hardest  part about being a longarm quilter? You want one of everything that goes on the frame! Hmmmm can't remember the last time I quilted on of my own....oh wait it was an edge to edge :)  Yes I digress here.  One day I will have my own quilt with some fancy stitching but in the mean Kathleen gets hers.  I have to admit I was a bit nervous, I have never quilted an art quilt before and I did love how Sandra Mollen quilted hers so I took that as inspiration.  This is all free motion, two layers of batting, quilters dream wool over dream orient. The fabrics everything, just in love with this

And finally a sampler quilt for Annemarie. The pattern is Portage Lake.  Is there such thing as too many feathers?  Oh I think not!  She likes feathers, I like feathers, there are lots of feathers.  One person commented there are feathers everywhere except on the Bird, lol!!  Samplers are fun and it's like a new quilt with every turn of the frame and this was no exception. This has two layers of batting as well, background quilting with 60 wt glide thread, the rest with 40 wt glide thread and too many rulers to mention!  Lot of free motion, lots of rulers, lots of fun.

Check out the linky parts on the side bar for inspiration!  So much out there.

A Little Holiday Quilting

Did you make any gifts for the holidays?  I'm in a small but very talented quilt, Friendship Star in Crystal Lake.  These ladies are avid quilters and they make the most beautiful things.  For our Christmas Challenge we all got a fat quarter and had to make something as a gift. We have no idea who the recipient will be.  It's a bit intimidating for me, while I have the quilting down pretty well, everything that comes before is certainly questionable!  My first thought was a bag.  I've wanted to make the Dancing Diamonds bag for years and the fat quarter that we were given would be just perfect for it.  Now any of you that know me, know that for one reason or the other when I go to make a bag all the sensibilities that I possess run and hide in a closet, a cozy for a nap, but they there's no sensibility left in me.  It's the strangest thing, but it's very true.  But some day I will prevail and this bag will be mine!!  

I get ready for this bag, convinced I am going to turn the corner in this wonderful bag making world and I can create something just as amazing as the other ladies in this guild.  I have my coordinating fabrics, I cut my strips and I'm ready to go.  As soon as I laid my strip from the fat quarter I realized they were not cut for diamonds.  My heart sank, I have this bag curse that I just can't shake, dang it.  But time is running out, there's only a fat quarter, and I needed every inch of what I had.  

I quickly scour the internet for ideas that will not be nearly as spectacular as the bag planned but certainly there could be something that would be pleasing.  Then I found a runner from Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn and like many quilters do, I thought.....I can make that!  And so I fell into my comfortable quilting corner and made a runner.  I'm not sure I got many pictures of it as I was riddled with quilt at first not giving a second try to the bag and then blatantly taking the pattern I say and making it and not even giving the proper credit (I looked for it again and couldn't find it....I tried). Shoot didn't even take a picture after the binding was on!

If you're still with me, I can give you just a few details on what I did.  It's really a simple pattern with the ornament on the ends (using the fabric that I was able to salvage).    I used  my Accuquilt circle die and cut the circles and then a couple of 1.5 in strips for each end, fused them on to a 14 in width of beautiful green fabric.  Then the fun begins!!!  All my sensibilities have returned.  

So this runner needs some fancy quilting and I am in just the mood to quilt something to death, I need a win!!  I wanted to evoke the sense of an vintage ornament in the middle of this modern runner.  I found the center and started marking.  I used the Leisha Kaye Circle2 (circle squared) rulers for this.  The 10in for the outer circle and the 5 in for the inner and the 8 in for the top and bottom.

Then I got to quilting. I've got two layers of batting, Quilters Dream Blend with Wool on top and 60 wt thread top and bottom.  I normally don't like to use different colored threads but thought  this one need just a little bit of something different so I added a Christmas Green to the cross hatched center and top.  Finished it off with a lovely teal binding.  The recipient loved it. Someone asked how long it took to quilt it.  I just explained that it took longer to sew the binding on than it did to quilt it!  I'm the slowest binder ever.

So what do you think?  Does it bring out that vintage glass ornament?  I sure hope so. I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season however you celebrate!  I hope there's lots of stitching time as well.

Check out the linky parties on the side bar, lots of inspiration out there

A little birdie told me.....

 I finished Jeanne's little quilt. It is super sweet with the rainbow position nine patches and the background to match as it travel around the circle.  The pattern is Rainbow Nest by Editya Sitar.

The quilting...that's the part I love!  Lets start with the batting an the thread.  Two layers of batting, Quilters Dream 80/20 under Wool.  Look at that Applique, it has such definition with the two layer.  Almost looks like trapunto doesn't it?  Thread, well you know I like to use a lot of thread.  So I use Glide 60 wt top and bottom.  

Now for the quilting designs.  My first decision was to treat the 9 patches as a large border rather than individual blocks.  Once I got past that, things fell into place rather quickly.  I knew there had to be a frame for the bird in the nest and of course what goes well with birds?  Why feathers of course!  I got my Rhonda S Ruler and used that for the frame.  I wanted each side to have the feel of a birds wing.  There are mirror images used by simply flipping the ruler to the other side.  

I also wanted to spotlight the nest and the bird.  So I found my Lsheia Kaye from quitingit.com 13 inch circle and we had that covered.  

Lastly, I wanted the finaly borders to have a tree like, bush like something natural along those.  I marked an S curve using Julia Quiltoff's  5 ruler.  I had this going up the side and long the bottom, then in the other corner going across the top and down the side.  I used a feather, leafy, loopy natural thing (yep that's the technical name).  

To finish off I used three different fills. For the center circle I did McTavishing, I just think it gives such movement and really highlights the piecing.   the inside border (between the feather border and the feather frame) I used an dense leaf feel to add to the natural design.   Finally finished with a  little less dense curls design.

Next up is a beautiful tradtional quilt.  I've been craving traditional for some time.    Check out the linky parties in the side bar, lots of inspiration out there!