Gingko leaves are falling

Here is the beautiful table topper made by a client of mine.

I used an all over meandering of gingko leaves to show off the sophisticated fabrics she 

utilized in the top.

The top itself was made during a

 workshop with our quilt guild. 

 

I want to put in a plug here for quilt guilds.  If you are a member of one you'll know what a wealth of knowledge can be gleaned from the workshops, speakers and seminars that are put on by guilds all over the country.  

My local guild is called Nimble Thimbles and the women there are so incredibly welcoming and supportive.  I'm blessed to have them.

Are you looking for a guild?  Ask at your local quilt shop for names and contact numbers of guilds in your area.  

Get out and meet some fellow quilters- you'll be so glad you did.

I especially like her treatment of the backing.  

She used some of the scraps from the top in the back.  I always love this way of finishing a quilt.  It gives the back character and provides an opportunity to use up the fabrics so your stash is ready to take on the next project!

Ginkgos in the air

I've come up with two approaches to the sophisticated table topper I'm working on for a client.

The first version is an all over, edge to edge design of meandering ginkgo leaves to keep with the upscale Asian fabrics in the quilt top.

The second approach is a leaf branch growing up through each diagonal space with a separate design in the border.

The client has chosen the all over Ginkgo leaf approach and I think it is going to be beautiful!

Quilt for the Cure

I picked up two quilt tops from Among Friends Quilt Shop. They are participating in the national Quilt for the Cure program.

Their customers made quilt blocks and then had a workshop day to piece them into tops. I volunteered to quilt them on my machine and the quilts will be auctioned off to raise money for Breast Cancer Research.

I find it amazing how many women I know who have been touched by this cancer. I feel so honored to have an opportunity to lend my services towards helping improve the care and treatment available.

Up Next!

Up next, this table topper quilt was done by a woman in my local quilt guild.

She made it during a workshop class offered through my guild. She did a great job and the fabrics in it are beautiful.

She used some Japanese style fabrics that look very sophisticated.

She stated that she didn't want it over quilted so I want to make sure that the quilting is very open and flowing.

The diagonal spaces scream out for attention so I'll need to think over those areas carefully.

Time to plan and play with the quilting design!

Double Plum Pantograph

I pulled this beauty off the frame.






The quilt is for a teen in foster care. Isn't it fan and bright and happy?










I know it will bring joy and comfort to that teen.











Whenever I quilt a top I like to know something about the recipient.







I hope it makes her smile as much as it made me smile.

This quilt was made with a Double Plum Pantograph. It was quilted edge to edge at a $.02/sq. inch rate.

Baby Nines is done!

I finished the Baby Nines quilt today.









I'm really happy with it and I hope my client will love it as well.










The quilt is for a lucky expectant mom whose having a baby shower this weekend.













What a wonderful gift she will receive!

Quilted Sampler

I put together this Amish style quilt and used it as a sampler to demonstrate different ways to quilt borders and blocks.

I still need to get the binding on it but then I'll be taking it to local quilt shops to show them my "wares" in hopes that they will agree to hand out my business cards.

Isn't interesting how different each block can look with different designs? Gotta love eye candy.

Feathers take flight

The last time we looked at this quilt top, I hadn't decided on the sashing. I wanted to keep it simple and so a double arch in each of the green rectangles allows the quilting motifs to breathe a bit.

As for the large interior white space, I've put some feathers in to get an idea of how they would hug the interior of the quilt.

I'm still not convinced about the feathers. They are fancy though, aren't they? Of course, that would still leave the outside white space...

Hmmmmm......

Heart motif for baby

Here's the motif I'm leaning towards for the baby nines quilt. I like the hearts that echo through the petals. It fits nicely with the vines meandering through the quilt top.

I want to keep the vines simple and then there's all that wonderful white space!

I still haven't decided what should go in that white space. I do, however, have an idea for the sashing.

Baby Nines Audition part 1

Today I'm playing around with the baby nines quilt. As a reminder, here is the quilt top. I've already finalized what I'm going to do on the top but I wanted you to see the progression of the design process.

I love fluid lines layered on top of very geometrical shapes. With that in mind, I drew some curly windmills that would spin through the open white space. I like the movement but I don't think it elevates those nine patches that are on point. Plus, those white spaces are just crying out for a specific treatment to stand proudly in those open areas.


Here's another idea. I've drawn tear drop petals in the white spaces. It works and looks very nice. However, the next question is what to do with those nine patches. This pattern is a bit complicated to try to put on the nine patches too. It might get too busy.


Let's try it.

Well, it doesn't look like it would get too busy. At this point I've finalized that I want to use one block design in the white spaces with a smaller version over the nine patches. I don't know that this teardrop petal block is the best motif, however. This is a baby quilt so I'd like to incorporate some heart motifs

Maybe a block design repeated throughout but with the petals forming a heart instead. Yeah, that sounds right.

The sashing needs some work and then there is that massive white space dancing around the center of the quilt top.

That will be the next idea to work through.