Modern Quilt for Pat - Lines and Geometric Shapes

I have finally finished my quilting friend Pat's quilt for her son Chris.  I cannot even begin to tell you how "full circle" quilting this was for me.  Chris was a close friend of mine who I spent quite a lot of time with in the years right after highschool graduation.  As life does with so many, we were pulled in different directions as he focused on schooling and a career while I was newly married and beginning a family and a new life with my Husband.  I have always been the type to hold on to those old feelings of friendship and when I see an old friend after many years, I still feel I know them as well as I did the last time we spoke!  So, I remember to this day the wonderful times Chris and I and our group of friends spent together, and what a great person he was when we were young.

I never in a million years would have guessed 15 years ago that I would be passionate about quilting let alone running a long arm quilting business!  These days I see Pat monthly at the local quilt guild we both belong to - and it just seems to me to be such a funny twist of life - I never would have guessed!  :)  In any case, Pat is a fantastic quilter and I really felt special to be given the opportunity to quilt this very cool, very special modern quilt for her...and I suppose I'll stop gushing and mushing all over the place and share the pictures!

 

This is one layer of Hobbs 80/20 - Glide Thread in a deep chocolate brown color and yellow.

I think it just turned out really cool and textural!  I tend to be a traditional quilter who dabbles in modern quilting and art quilting...so this was just a ton of fun!  I think my eyes did start to go a little funny about 2/3 of the way through however...but I really do think the straight lines compliment the design.

I hope you are all getting some quilting done this weekend in blogland!  It is starting to warm up and behave like spring a little more in my neck of the woods - though I have been reading that some of you have been epxeriencing severe weather - so many prayers and be safe!

Happy Quilting!

- Valerie :)

Pat's Quilt in Progress and Juki TL 2010Q Overview Video

Good morning!

It is April 2nd and I can hardly believe it!  Spring has creeped up in Northeast Ohio and while this time last week we had several inches of snow on the ground, I woke up this morning to the sounds of birds chirping and sunshine.  Finally!  It is supposed to reach 60 degrees today - so long as the rain says away I might make time to work out in the garden.  Fingers crossed!

 

If you follow me on Facebook you have likely seen a few shots of this quilt - it was made by the mother of my highschool friend Chris for a Christmas gift this past year - he is an artist these days and works with fine art as well as collects it - so can you tell I might feel a little pressure to meet his super high and knowledgeable standards?!  LOL  Not to mention you always want to ooh and ahh your friends.  :)

The quilt is ultra modern but not so modern that it couldn't be appreciated by a traditional quilter.  I am actually really in love with it!  He liked the idea of straight line quilting with the lines going in different directions creating a lot of movement and textural interest.  So this is what we have come up with so far - I got to working late into the night last night, or I should probably say early into this morning!  I will spend the majority of today and tomorrow finishing it up and then it is on to Lara's quilt.  :)

I also wanted to toss in another quick video here today!  I took this video yesterday but didn't get around to finishing up the editing until this morning.  I receive a lot of questions about my Juki TL 2010Q - so here is a brief overview of the machine and its functions!  :)  I hope this is helpful to those of you out there who are curious about my domestic machine.  I do have several machines - but I did not want a full on sit down long arm so this was my choice.  I can use it for piecing, free motion quilting, garment sewing, or I can frame it and use it as a stand up machine.

Keep watch as next week I will be announcing a GIVE AWAY!  :)

Happy Quilting!

- Valerie :)