One terrific Christmas quilt

I was thrilled when this one arrived in my studio. Wonderful applique handwork. I knew it had to be quilted just so. No story here, just lots of photos.

First, the full view of the piece. It took a while to plan this, and then, it was redesigned when the first idea did not work!

More photos after it was done.

This is a closeup of the white poinsettia. This was the hardest part, as it was very hard to see how the petals overlapped when the hopping foot was hovering over them!

Finally, a look at all the tools that helped me along.

Behold the turtle...He only

makes progress when he sticks his neck out.

Ten Years!

Ten years ago I had the opportunity to turn my mad passion into a profitable business. This is quilt #1,000 and I have so many people to thank. 

John, for believing in me and saying “Go for it!” Debbie, for selling me her Gammill, the best machine in the world. Gina, thank you for your client base so you could pursue your own dream. Monika and Kris for being the most prolific quilt makers (numbers don't lie!). Willene for your early support and encouragement. 

And, all of you, my customers, my friends and my family for the best ten years. I love you all!

This is Jane's quilt, my Number 1,000!!! Woo Hoo!!!

When you reach the end of the light of the world, and you step out into the darkness, trust that one of two things will happen...you will step onto something solid, or you will be taught to fly.

Anyone love vintage tops?

I love vintage quilt tops, even when they are somewhat wonky. Sometimes their seams don't match and they will not lay flat for anything! They pose their own problems when considering the quilting plan.

Firstly, they tend to be fragile. This one has muslin you can almost read a book through! So I always do a full float on vintage tops. That is, I do not attach the top to any leaders. I load the back and backing and then lay down the top, smoothing it out and basting the edges down. That way, the top gets no undue pressure from stretching.

And often the individual blocks act independently. That yellow plaid butterfly appears to be lifting off the quilt. Luckily, tops of this era were traditionally quilted in loose, open designs. The meandering loops work perfectly here to ease in the fullness of the block. (Besides, I think it looks like the dizzying flight path of a butterfly.)

And now, here's that yellow butterfly all settled down and resting on the quilt top.

Speaking of vintage, look at some of these classic fabrics!

Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated.

You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.

David Lloyd George

The Pink Square

The focus of this quilt comes right off the focus fabric – colorful butterflies. Between pieced and appliqued blocks are bright patches of prints...and one pink square. The maker of this piece asked me to quilt a butterfly into that 6 inch pink square.

Okay, so how do we do that? I started out with a sketch I made, inspired by one in Judi Madsen's book “Quilting Wide Open Spaces.” Then, I traced it onto vellum paper. The paper is slightly transparent, so I only drew one-half of the butterfly, and then flipped the vellum to trace the other half. Whee! Instant symmetry!

Then I go to my DSM, and remove the thread and the bobbin. I set my machine for a rather long stitch length, because the design is relatively simple. More detail would require a short stitch length. Now, stitch through the paper on all the lines. When you are ready to use this as a stencil, make sure to turn the vellum over. Now, the little “bursts” from the needle holes are on the top, and they will “tickle” the chalk dust out of the Pounce Pad.

By the way, you do not “pounce” a Pounce Pad. Rather, you brush the pad across the stencil. How many times you need to brush over the stencil will depend upon how well you can see the dots. This pink fabric should take minimal brushing.

Oh, but the pattern did not show well in the photo, so I took my trusty school chalk and played Dot-to-Dot! Now, I have something that is super easy to remove with a moist scrap of fabric, and super easy to see.

He's a Humdinger!

This piece is a different Toni Whitney design than I have quilted before. Up until now, it has all been animals with fur; Elk, Bear, Wolf. I have a dog and her fur shows me how the stitches should lie around the eyes, face and body to simulate fur growth.

But, this is my first bird, and he is a stunner! The colors just ring with life!

So, the first thing I did was go to my trusted Google image search and typed in hummingbirds. Wow, a plethora of pretty birds! A closeup of a hummer's head gave me the look of the feathers as they go over the bird's forehead. I was pretty sure I could create the look of real feathers on the wings and tail.

Then, another search for flower closeups. I wanted to see how the flower's veining looked. Sigh, what did I ever do before Google search?!!!

And, of course, the background fill just had to be...wait for it...feathers!

Believe in yourself and all that you are.

Know that there is something inside you

that is greater than any obstacle.