A Few More Appliqué Blocks

I finished a few more appliqué blocks on Darlene's floral appliqué quilt yesterday.  This quilt really is a joy to work on.  I have had a lot of questions about the pattern - it's called "Feels Like Spring" by Smith Street Designs.  It's an embroidery pattern - meaning you'll need to have an embroidery machine to create it...and after seeing all of the beautiful flower details that can be created I have to say an embroidery machine is on my Christmas list already!  The lily of the valley block below is my favorite of the entire quilt...

I have Darlene's quilt scheduled through the end of April and although I've been a madwoman getting quilts completed these past few weeks, I'm certainly feeling almost 9 months pregnant and am taking my time with this one.

I had a bit of a long and exhausting weekend and yet another coming up this weekend.  Baby Dr. appointments are now two weeks apart now and honestly, though I know they are good for baby and me both, they are a total inconvenience!  LOL  We have a busy schedule as it is and I'm so grateful I have a Husband who likes to come with me.  So we go on his days off but it is out of town and right now they mainly just measure my tummy and check her heartbeat.  I think my appointment coming up this week I will have another ultrasound to get an idea for how much she weighs - so that I am really looking forward to.

Just a few more weeks - I have a scheduled cesarean planned for the end of May, so a few more quilting posts and then hopefully I'll be able to share some photos of our newest little addition!  :)

Dahlia Progress

If you follow me on Facebook you have likely seen these already, but I wanted to share on the blog some of my dahlia quilting process.  As I go along I'm getting more ideas for finishing - and really enjoying the process of this one...

A Little Progress on My Dahlia Quilt

I have two or three days in between my last client and next client quilt - so I decided to get as much done on my dahlia quilt as possible.  Yesterday my goal was to stabilize it enough I could take it on and off the frame without distortion...today was just play.  Get as much filling in as I could...without getting sloppy.  Gosh that is harder to do than say!

I started using blue metallic but it just looks so thick and heavy and got sloppy looking quick.  (No sloppy allowed, remember?)  So I ripped and started over with blue Bottom Line.  The black is all Invisifil.  I bought silk for work in the actual dahlia, which if I can muster up enough energy after dinner I might begin working on tonight.  I don't think I'll be able to get too much done over my "weekend" when all the kids and Hubby are home.  We need a good family day all together though so I'm ok with that.  :)

I did finish quite a bit more than I'm showing here but it's hard to get a full on photo...well that and I'm hiding in the computer room for a few minutes of peace.  :)

Hope all in blogland are having a good weekend so far!

- Valerie

Barbara's Ribbon Winner

Last fall I finished "the monster" - and I shared the progress with all of you here on the blog.  Quilting this quilt just about killed me.  It was the most detailed quilt and most difficult quilting plan I have carried out to date - not to mention it was also the largest at 120" x 120".  I did my very very best at the time - but I'll admit by the end I learned a LOT and there are some things I will never do again that I didn't know when starting this project.  I'm thrilled - OVER THE MOON - to learn that she won 3rd place in Group Quilts at the 2015 Tuscon Quilt Fiesta.  Woohoo!

Because I am "the quilter" working for hire, I often don't get acknowledgement when quilts win.  There are some shows that also present a ribbon to the quilter - but I'm really ok with it when they do not.  However - I do LOVE to have a photo!  Seeing a quilt that I put my blood sweat and tears into quilting win something, well like when a sports team wins a trophy - I feel like I was part of a winning team!  So I live for the photo so I can share and brag a little.  This girl has only been long arm quilting for two years, so to know that I can be a part of ribbon winning quilts - well I am awfully awfully proud of that.

Here are some photos of the finished quilting...in true Valerie fashion after pulling it off the frame I found a few unquilted spots I missed.  I could start a page just for "oops".  :)  Rest assured if you spot one of those areas - I did quilt it before sending home.  These were my pictures fresh off the frame...

One thing I will say about quilting such a large piece like this - nothing has seemed to take very long or be very difficult afterwards!  LOL

Disney Swap 2015

Yesterday I took a break from scheduled quilts to finish my Disney Quilts Swap quilt!  Despite not being perfect and having a few hiccups - I am still very pleased with how it turned out.

I wish I could say it was my very best quilting but I have learned something about myself - I work better with a plan.  I winged it with this one and if I were to do it over again I would defnitely do some things differently.  I do try to do my best with everything I make - and I tried to make this little quilt something pretty - so I really hope my swap partner likes it!

Of course I quilted a wrinkle in the back (you can bet I'll be putting the label there) and some gunk came flying off my quilting foot and I can't get the darn spot out so - I'm going to use a really professional method called "stick something over it".  LOL  I thought I had seen some really pretty 3d butterfly appliqués at one of the craft stores...I think with this being so frilly and girly it will look nice.

I have discovered I ADORE quilting satin!  It's a little finicky on the domestic - this is small so I quilted it on the Juki....even with basting the slippery satin wrinkled on me and I didn't even realize I had stitched in a nice deep wrinkle until I was finished.  The deadline is Wednesday so I just literally don't have TIME to rip it...so a label it is!  :)

I used my Derwent Inktense pencils to color in Ariel - and I actually traced this image onto the white muslin (with a few changes...it's actually a Christmas coloring page and had holly with berries and other Christmas elements to it that I removed) and just colored in the areas with fabric medium and ink.  I did go back and add black to the eyes which I'm not sure if I'm happy about or not - but there's nothing I can do about it now.  I don't think it's terrible...but I might have been better off leaving them blank and open!!!  LOL

The richness and shininess of that satin quilted is unbelievable to me.  I am really anxious to try this on the long arm with an even more intricate design.  This is a scrap that was gifted to me with a big box of miscellaneous fabric a year or so ago...so it's really lovely heavy - probably expensive dressmaker's satin.  I have toyed with the idea of quilting up some dupioni silk...but holy cow is that stuff expensive.  Until I have a really great quilt in mind...satin might be a great affordable alternative for me.  Very very lovely!  It also comes in more colors!

So this was a ton of fun.  Something different but still it has my style and taste in it!  I will take a snippet of the full package to share before I send it off.  My swap partner also likes Alice in Wonderland and Lilo and Stitch.  I bought a cute pin of Stitch when we were in Disney World back in September and also brought home some other goodies for her...while out and about today I might see if I can't find something of Alice to stick in with her little package.  :)

Happy Quilting!

My Method for Piecing Batting

I wanted to share a new method I discovered for piecing batting scraps or splicing together two large hunks of batting.  This is a common request as my business is small so often I carry one or two sizes of batting on hand...so charity quilts often come to me with pieces of batting that need to be joined or sometimes a client wants to use my batting but needs several cuts to fit their quilt.  To date this has been the easiest way to join batting with the nicest flush invisible results.

To start I lay two hunks of batting right over each other - you want about two inches or so to overlap.

Next, You cut through both layers of batting with a curving line - super easy - I slide a mat under the hunks of batting and just use my rotary cutter.

Now you have this perfect line to join your batting - this is what prevents any seam line from appearing on the finished quilt.

Butt those pieces up to each other as close as you can get them - feel free to pull just a tad and stretch them into place - so long as you don't distort the batting or rip a hole.

Then just lay strips of very very light fusible interfacing over the seam line - using a pressing cloth - press to secure seams.  Because the fusible is so light and white, it is completely invisible when stitched into a quilt.  This is the same extra lite fusible I use to stabilize but prevent bulk for t-shirt quilts.

The finished result is a very flush join that cannot be seen!  I love this method!  Quick and easy and great results.  I just thought I would share as this just works so well for me!!  :)

Much has been happening here in my little world, but not much I can share on yet.  In any case big things will be happening for us in the near future - and while we have some weighty decisions that have just recently been put before us, the end result will be good no matter what we choose.  I am feeling really excited about the next ten years of our life.  I think my Husband and I have just been so used to working ourselves crazy with no sight of relief in site - the idea that there may be a payoff for all our hard work is just...amazing.  :)

While big ideas and thoughts float around the house I'm still making way on Barbara's quilt.  Birthday parties and the busyness of the early month are now over and I can just focus and finishing this up.  I say finishing - but I'm only hoping to be working on the center portion of the quilt by the end of the day!  LOL  The borders will be lovely when finished but boy - they are huge!!!  :)

 
Happy quilting!  :)

Cindy's Stunning Sampler

I just have to say - I love this quilt!!!  My quilting friend Cindy made this for her daughter - and I sure hope she is pleased with the final quilting results!  :)  It is soooo beautiful.  I love the traditional sampler blocks mixed with a very modern feeling sashing...it is just soooo my taste in color and blocks all the way around!!!  :)

Cindy is known for making large quilts - and this one did not disappoint!  88" by 110" I believe were the dimensions?  HUGE.  :)

 

I was very proud of finding a thread that looked good on the front and the back!  Both the aqua and green blended right into the backing fabric.  I used Hobbs 80/20 batting for this and Glide Thread.

 

Wheew!  I have another heavy intense custom to work on next, but in my down time I'm hoping to make some progress on my next attempt at a show quilt and Disney dresses.  I have sewing sewing and then more sewing to do!!!  :)  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  :)

Cindy's Quilt in Progress and Lara's Quilt

Happy day after Easter!  I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday and were able to spend some time with family.  :)  We had a fantastic day - the girls were up at dawn ready and excited for their Easter baskets...then an early dinner with the In Laws followed by dessert, coffee, and cards with my parents.  I have to say it was just a perfect day.

I have a stack of quilts and projects to work on - the one on the frame right now is my quilting friend Cindy's gorgeous quilt she made for her daughter.  I can't get enough of the quilting on this one!  I used my new Renae Haddadin 12/13" arc ruler to mark and stitch the curves...it is a long ruler so it took some fiddling and planning to get things to come out nicely...but I think we're doing alright!  :)  I'm really in love with how it is coming along...

I also wanted to share a photo of Lara's quilt that I finished up last week!  I have been so busy this is the first chance I've had to share her gorgeous twister...many compliments were paid to this Lara while it was on the frame!!  :)

I wanted to get a head start on work this evening but tomorrow I'll be getting down to business and back to work!  :)

**I will announce a winner to the give away next post!!  There were more responses than I am able to respond to - but I hope you all know it meant so much to me that so many of you went out of your way to participate!!!  Thank you for all of the kind kind words and I am excited to see who will win!!!!  :)

Linking Up with Connie!  :)

Linda's Quilt - Progress

I have made some progress on Linda's quilt but because of the location of my long arm and the lighting it will be difficult to photograph well until I pull it off the frame - until then here are a few progress photos - best I could get!  This quilt was stunning before I began working on it - and the quilting is just realling bringing it even more to life!!  Truly, this will be such an heirloom...I am so lucky to get to quilt it!

Happy New Year...and The Quilt That Never Ends!

Happy New Year!  It's hard to believe that it is already 2014!  A year ago today I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of my long arm...and I could barely do a decent stipple when it first came home.  While there are still imperfections and things I will need to improve and work on, I'm really thrilled with how my "vintage charm" or "looks like a stinkin' wedding quilt" or whatever it will be called is coming along.  A sweet quilting acquaintence asked me if I was going to enter this in the local quilt show, and while I would like to, the deadline is in four days and I have a mess of beading and embelishments that will still be added to this so I just don't think I'll make the deadline.  I have dreamed since I started machine quilting of entering something in one of the MQX shows so that's what I'm hoping for.  The deadline is February 1st and I have a slew of things left to do, plus customer quilts, so - fingers crossed!  I do really want to put this out there to share and there are lots of really great shows out there looking for entrants so when it is done it will go somewhere.  LOL!  ;)

I've got only 6" at the bottom of the quilt left that as soon as I'm finished with some other priority work I'll finish up and finally be done...

Here's the center.  I literally cried over this.  LOL!  The pressure got to me a little bit and the lack of sleep too I think.  The first time I'd marked off that center square it was TERRIBLE!  It was off cneter and wobbly and just terrible.  I marked it again and stitched it out and - wheew - it turned out really pretty.  :)  The stripes are stitched...it's looking a little like a popcorn box though so I thought beads - BEADS SOLVE ALL PROBLEMS!  LOL  I thought maybe I could do something creative in there...  :)

Up close in the sun yesterday afternoon of the bottom left corner...almost there!

Today I got brave and took a shot of the back.  There is no mercy with white thread on a mauve backing.  Every hiccup shows but, at the same time, I've learned many lessons.  :)

 

So I'm very very happy, despite the years this may have taken off my life!  :)  I am already thinking about my next project...

Late Night Progress Photos...

I'm up late quilting...pheww and boy is it time for bed.  It took me all day yesterday and today to mark and load this up...but, in my defense, our heater went and there was a leak in one of the bay windows so we've had repair men trampling in and out of the house all around my long arm and quilt!

Several hours of work...I have some flaws I need to fiddle with and see if I can straighten up but otherwise I'm pretty happy! 

Stockings Finished!!!

I hope all of you in the States had a wonderful Thanksgiving Thursday!  I know I certainly did!  Thanksgiving day we usually spend with my Husbands family and then we get together usually the following Sunday with mine.  While waiting for the family to get ready for dinner I was able to get the last of the stockings finished, and I have to say, I'm thrilled with how they turned out!!

Now, are you ready for lots and lots of photos???  LOL

Here is a shot of the backs - remember how I chose to go with an all over feather on the back?  The only thing I might do differently if I did this again would be to choose a similar pattern for all of the feathers rather than just randomly stitching them.  I like order!!!

To finish the edge of the stocking I used vintage lace for a binding.  It is a wide lace that I think may have originally be intended for lingerie...but we won't tell!!!  I hand stitched it to the front first, then fold it over and under to the reverse side.

The ruffles were made from some leftover French General jellyroll strips I had laying around.  I wanted something that added a little interest but didn't take away from the quilting...because the star is definitely the quilting!  I stitched it down on the inside, then flipped it up so that the seam would be enclosed and the ruffle would be peaking out of the stocking.  Now just imagine some pretty sparkly wrapped presents peaking out of there too!  I can't wait!

An up close shot of the back...I decided to bead only the pumpkin seed quilting.  I contemplated crystals...I love the look of crystals on all those fancy show quilts you see, and these will never be washed...but there is just something to be said about simple beading.  I love the very Victorian flavor of these stockings.

My dahlia quilt is at a standstill...mainly because I've become sick of looking at blue and black!!  All the quilting on muslin has put me back in the mood to work on this quilt...yesterday I made another twenty or so feet of bias tape to add some more fun details to this.

I ended up not using the vintage crochet'ed bits on the stockings but found a PERFECT place to incorporate them into this quilt!!!  I appliqued all the birds on last night and started adding flowers.  After that I'm going to put the crocheted lace on and I'll share with you all...I REALLY can't wait to start quilting this!!!  :)