Barbara's Quilt Finished

A little late to sharing, but yay!  Barbara's quilt is finished and by now should have made its way home.  :)  I had so much fun quilting this - and I know I say that frequently but I really do love my job, and I really DO enjoy quilting quilt tops up for folks!

Barbara had been concerned that her top might be too plain for fancy quilting - I'm so glad she decided to send it along despite that concern.  The truth is, for most of us machine quilters who do a lot of custom work, the simply pieced tops are our FAVORITE.  The ones that have a lot of negative space give us the most opportunity for creativity.

Barbara sent along a few photos of quilting she had see online and requested something with a similar feeling.  I can at times recreate quilting, but often times it works best for me to see a photograph of what you like and then create something new and fresh but with a similar feeling or style.  So that is what we did here.  Because the photo she sent was a tad difficult to draw directly on I opted to recreate her blocks and share with her my ideas for each section of the quilt.

 

I almost always ask for the tiniest bit of creative freedom even when a mock up is approved.  Just like any plan, sometimes ideas look better on paper than in reality.  Or, what happens more often with my work, is that I think up little details to improve on a design as I'm working.  Sometimes those little gems are what really set that quilting design off.

Barbara requested two layers of my Hobbs 80/20 batting.  For most show quilts I like to use wool layered over Hobbs, but I find that 80/20 in double layers quilts up very nice too.  Wool is slightly lighter and has a filling quality that 80/20 doesn't.

I used Glide in the top and Bottom Line in the bobbin.  I do love this combination for appropriate quilts.  As a general rule I prefer a fine top thread for dense quilting - but this quilt in particular has dense and medium/light areas of quilting and I wanted the heavier thread to compensate in those areas with less quilting to give it a more even feeling.

All in all I am very please with how this one turned out!  I think I always spot a few things with each quilt that I will do slightly different on the next...but I still think it turned out quite drool worthy!  :)

Here I am! Quilting Update

Wow - it's been ten days since I last blogged!  It sure doesn't feel that way!  Things have been busy but slow if that makes sense.  The morning sickness has been nothing short of brutal.  Today is the first day in about two weeks that I have felt somewhat normal - the past two days I've spent on the couch with nearly unbearable waves of nausea.  I think the dear Lord above is making sure that my last pregnancy goes out with a bang!  I have always really enjoyed being pregnant, but this time I'm positive that I don't want to go through this again!  LOL  I keep thinking about the prize at the end, cuddling with a new little member of the Smith family.  In any case I'm having a good day - and I'm going to take advantage of it and try to get as much accomplished as I can.

What I've been working on this past week - has not been much!  I altered a mermaid costume for a friend of my Mother in Law's, and another friend's daughter asked if I would make her a Minnie Mouse skirt for a school event on Halloween.  This was the final skirt that I'm really proud of considering I'm far more a quilter than a seamstress!

She asked for tulle underneath so I did my best to keep it from being bulky around the waistline but full in the skirt portion.  She is going to wear leggings underneath and I'm not sure what the rest of the costume will look like - she's a Majorette so something for her performance.  I asked for a picture so I will share if she sends on over.  I thought it turned out really cute!

I've made little to no progress on my pumpkin mini!  LOL  The measurements are totally off as I've been making it up as I go along.  Knowing I have to go back and do math is causing me to procrastinate.  Don't be shocked if this goes in a baggie to work on next year!  I'm already in Christmas mode!  ;)

I am also planning to finish up these cuties today for Monica - woohoo!  She sent me a box full of adorable quilts that I'm going to have a good time working on.  My two favorite holidays all in one!

She was also generous enough to send me the pattern for this quilt that I quilted for her some time back...

Isn't it SO SO SO cute?!  It's totally my taste too - I am excited to start putting fabrics together for it.  :)  Thank you for sharing Monica!

Customer Quilt and It's My Birthday!

I'm not ashamed.  I'm gonna brag.  It's my birthday!!!  Lol*  I don't know if I like the number so much, eep! Today I turn 32...wheeeew how'd that happen?  The Husband gave me a really awesome long arm gadget that I'll save for tomorrow to share.  Today I wanted to post some long awaited pictures of a customer quilt I recently finished.

Kimberly of My Brown Bag Studio was brave and kind and sent me a beautiful quilt of hers to quilt for her!  I have admired Kimberly's craft skills for years and I gotta say I felt super special that she would allow me to work on her quilt.  Thank you again Kimberly, you're a great blogging pal and a wonderful quilter!  Now for some pictures...

Hope everyone is getting some quilting done in blogland!  I know I am!

Kathy B's Yellow Brick Road

Finished quilting a yellow brick road made by a guild member.  This is her first quilt - I think she did a nice job!  I love those fabrics!  SO my taste.  :)  I did a medium density edge to edge paisley for her.

Still having a great time with my long arm!  Not feeling very good today - I think the lack of sleep and eating poorly is really catching up with me.  Today and tomorrow are cleaning days, and then I'm going to do some fun sewing.  Hope all is well and sewing is happening out there in blogland!  :)