I spent all last week quilting my 2017 Show Quilt – I have decided to name it “Falling Leaves”. The quilting is complete and the binding is ready for hand sewing. Here are a few pictures:
…on the Longarm… work in progress
Falling Leaves Quilting Detail
I have been working diligently on my 2017 Show Quilt – I now have the top completed. I will start quilting it next week – here is a picture partially finished (I now have all the borders on)
2017 Show Quilt
I have been able to use fabric from my stash for all but the blue sky for this quilt as I had been collecting autumn fabrics. There are roughly 65 different fabrics in this quilt.
Well, last year’s resolution to post more in my quilt blog tapered off as we hit mid year…. will work harder at posting in 2017.
Since my last post of the Camp Abenaki Quilt retreat I had a retreat at Jay Peak where I worked on more drunkard’s path type blocks as part of the Michael Miller challenge – this was the finished product called Sunrise / Moonrise – very different than my normal quilting style but I have been trying different things out..
Sunrise / Moonrise
After finishing the Holiday Rush of customer quilts I have been working on decreasing my UQOs (Un Quilted Objects…) I have quilted 8 of my older tops and the latest Yankee Pride Mystery – now to get the bindings on… will post pictures once they are completed with bindings.
I have also started working on my show quilt for 2017 – a bit behind schedule and will be working hard to get it completed before the end of January – here’s a sneak peak:
Very much a work in progress at this point….
Busy times! Vermont Quilt Festival starts next week and beginning Sunday I will be wrapped up in setting up the registration area and getting ready for the show. I will have two quilts there of mine and several of my clients will have quilts at the exhibit that I quilted. Looking forward to seeing all the quilts there – it’s an amazing show, if you have never been you should make it a point to go. More information about the show can be found at http://www.vqf.org
One of my quilts will be part of the “Lobby Lights” exhibit featuring red and white quilts celebrating the 40th anniversary of the show (Our Ruby Jubilee!)
Red and White Quilt
The other quilt will be judged and I named it “Red Stars in a Midnight Sky”
Red Stars in a Midnight Sky Quilt
Hope to see you at the show!
I will be in the Registration area in Blue Ribbon Pavilion at the Champlain Valley Expo Center – stop by and say Hi!
I am catching up on things this week as I spent last weekend at Camp Abanaki with the Champlain Valley Quilt Guild at a retreat last weekend and am headed for Rangeley Maine next Monday for a week long retreat with friends. This is when I get to work on piecing my own projects.
It was VERY cold in the non-heated cabins over the weekend – that little ceramic heater was no match for the cold nights – I think I have finally warmed up.
The main project I worked on over the weekend was from a pattern I had seen in a 2008 Quilting Magazine and finally over the Shop Hop this spring found fabric to make it. It is called Bohemian Charm as there are many bright and varied fabrics used. It is comprised of 4 different sized churn dash blocks (a total of 89 churn dash blocks).
I love how colorful it is with all the Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I plan on quilting it soon and having it on my bed as a summer quilt.
Bohemian charm quilt
Easter is a bit earlier that normal this year… fortunately here in Vermont it is feeling like spring!
I wanted to share a block from my next project as it sure fits the season… it is a group project and I will post a picture of the quilt when it is done.
Happy Easter and Happy Spring!
Springtime Quilt Block
I just completed a mystery quilt that was run online via Facebook page Gyleen’s Bricks, Cobblestones and Pebbles hosted by Gyleen Fitzgerald. It was a wonderful pattern using all scraps. The quilt was pieced in rounds about a center area – lots of fun and everyone is posting their quilts which all look so different! I used mostly all reproduction fabric scraps for mine. I finished quilting and binding it over the weekend and now have it on my couch – ready to watch the Oscars tonite!
Couch Quilt
Bricks Cobblestones and Pebbles Quilt
I recently joined the Vermont Modern Quilt Guild and have very much enjoyed their meetings and meeting quilters in the group. Modern quilts are very different in design from what I historically have worked on for my quilts so it is challenging to break some of my old habits from a design perspective.
This month the challenge was do do some “minimalist” work. I ended up using 4 colors including the background and trying to do a simple design – it looks simple but took a while!
I quilted the sample and made it into a pillow. I needed new pillows for my couch so also made another pillow with the same fabrics. The challenge project is the front pillow…. can’t wait to see what the challenge is for next month!
Quilted Pillows
I love doing the Yankee Pride Mystery quilts. Judy Thomas the shop owner designs two mystery quilts a year (Fall and Spring). For the latest one I used fabric purchased on my trip to Hawaii for the outer border and to accent the piecing supplemented by a green batik purchased here at Yankee Pride. I love the way it came out… in fact I will be updating my bedroom after the reunion class and have this quilt on my bed. I also made a wall hanging and pillows to go with it.
Yankee Pride Mystery 2015 Fall Quilt
Hawaiian fabric
2016 Show Quilt – “Red Stars in a Midnight Sky”
Last week I finished my show quilt, this quilt took many hours to quilt as I challenged myself to have it nearly 100% quilted using my computerized system with digitized designs.
I have completed the Quilt Show Entry forms and have named the quilt “Red Stars in a Midnight Sky”.
Custom computerized quilting is a much slower process than free-motion quilting but opens up many more possibilities for designs (who wants to free-motion hundreds of segments for a custom design.. but using the computerized system required realigning every segment to ensure very accurate placement of the designs I chose and updated for use in the quilt.
Now back to quilting for clients!
Quilting full-time is great – I have worked down my backlog and am currently able to get quilts back to customers within 2 weeks!