Pattern Winner Is......

Thank you to everyone that participated in our Terri Stegmiller Blog Hop and to those of you that left such kind comments about my "Oh....to be a Cat!" Art Quilt.

My 'random number generator' a.k.a. husband has picked  post number 17, which happens to be Denny1600, to be today's winner of your choice of Terri's digital pattern.  The pattern will be provided to you in PDF document format, which you download and print yourself.  It will be delivered to your email address.

As a bonus...  I will also mail you a fat quarter of my hand-dyed fabric as a thank you!  You just need to email me your mailing address at   quilts4you  at  Q dot com


Thanks again!!

Oh, and don't forget my Grand Opening Sale at my new Etsy Shop:  RainBird Quilting 20% Off all purchases over $25 through December 18th.  Just enter the coupon code 20NEWSTORE at checkout to receive your discount.  Rainbird Quilting will be my new name after we have moved to Alaska in January!

If you are close to my studio and wish to pick up your purchase just send me a message through Etsy.

Oh... to be a Cat!

Good morning everyone... I know that most everyone is busy preparing for Christmas and the holidays but it's always nice to take some time for yourself.  This year I carved out a bit of time when given the opportunity to test a very cute pattern for one of my favorite artists, Terri Stegmiller.

"Oh.. to be a Cat!" by Margie Kraft

I chose to test her pattern "Paws in the Garden", using my own hand-dyed cotton fabrics.  I couldn't resist adding the black & white polka dot commercial fabric for that little pop.  My quilt is constructed with fusible applique using Misty Fuse; I really prefer hand applique but with the artsy-look I wanted to achieve (and due to time constraints) I'm very happy with the results.  I used black King Tut cotton thread to zigzag the raw edges to give the applique the similar look that Terri has in her artwork.

 The hand-dyed green background fabric that I used was a verrry bright green and needed to be toned down a bit.  I knew that quilting would do that some, but decided that adding additional texture ahead of time with my Shiva Oil Paintstiks and rubbing plates would do the trick.  The  oil paintstik textures were added after all the applique work was done but prior to quilting.

When I was ready to quilt my little art piece I used 2 layers of batting:  Quilters Dream Wool over Blend.  This allows the applique work to really pop and gives wonderful dimension to the quilting.  I used clear thread to stitch-in-the-ditch all of my applique and Glide thread for all other quilting.

Details were added to my cat's faces using my Inktense Watercolor Pencils.  These wonderful pencils allowed me to add colored shading to their eyes, legs and whiskers after quilting.  I'm thinking that I may add some clear heavy duty mono-filament whiskers to the cats too.

The background and applique details were all freehand quilted ....  I wanted to add as much texture and interest as I could.  I thought about my own three cats;  Cleopatra, Midnight and Tiger Lily as they prowled around our property.........................  What did they think of in their imaginary garden as they snuck upon their prey or slept dreamily in the sunshine?    Oh... to be a Cat!

Please leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of one of Terri's patterns.  You get to choose which pattern you'd like, either Paws in the Garden or Butterfly Moments.

The pattern will be provided to you in PDF document format, which you download and print yourself.  It will be delivered to your email address.  Please be sure you provide contact information when you comment.

A winner will be randomly drawn the morning of Friday, December 13.

Please visit all of the following blogs for more chances to win (each blog will have a winner):

Terri Stegmiller

SewCalGal

Jill Buckley - The Quilt Rat

Teresa Raleigh - A Quilt and a Prayer

Marsha Leith - Cool Quilting

Snoodles - Lily Pad Quilting

Judy Applegarth - ScampAlot

Margie Kraft - Margie Quilts

Joy Manoleros - Bjoyful Studio


Well, if you've read this far I also wanted to invite you to help me celebrate the Grand Opening of my new Etsy Shop:  RainBird Quilting  by offering  20% off all purchases over $25.  Just enter the coupon code 20NEWSTORE at checkout to receive your discount.  Rainbird Quilting will be my new name after we have moved to Alaska in January!

Sometimes simple is the best......

Goodmorning! Just wanted to share my latest customer quilt off my table last night.... all needle turn hand-applique'd. My customer requested freehand stitch-in-the-ditch and a large stippled background with some detail quilting added to some of the larger applique. Simple quilting, but it really added a lot to this beautiful top. I'm not sure if you can tell, but the background fabrics are all different in each block, so the meander really pulls everything together. I used Quilters Dream Wool batting and SoFine threads.

Dixie's Twisted Bargello....

Well, here is the companion piece to Dixie's Moonglow.  This Twisted Bargello wallhanging  was made by Dixie to compliment her quilt and will hang in the same bedroom.  I have a tremendous amount of admiration for anyone that will piece one of these beautiful quilts.  It just about makes my head explode just thinking about piecing one!  Although, I do have to say that I love quilting them, especially when I can feather it to death.....thanks Dixie!

Dixie's Moonglow.....

"Dixie's Moonglow" is finally done!  This quilt was definitely a labor of love...pieced by my customer, Dixie. It's from Jinny Beyer Studio;  Dixie made it for herself and it will reside at her house in Arizona.  I quilted it with many freehand double curly feathers and much stitch-it-the-ditch.  The juxtaposition of simple lines and curly feathers turned out perfect for this quilt.  It was sure hard giving it back to her....

I couldn't resist taking the picture outside yesterday in front of our tree, as the fall color was just so beautiful.  Just a peak to add to the beauty of her quilt.

Six different colored threads were used on this quilt.  Each stacked area of logs was quilted with it's coordinating color.

I love how the curved feather created a wreath around each pieced star block. 

 This was my favorite star!  Although I should say they were all my favorites, because the piecing was perrrrfect!!!!!

The black borders were all filled with freehand curly feathers too!  

With black thread....eeek, hard on the eyes...but well worth it!

Some of you have asked what longarm machine I use...here is my A-1 Elite Longarm.

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Stay tuned for more.... I'm now working on her coordinating Bargello Wallhanging Quilt.  I'll post pics as soon as it' done.  Thanks for the visit!

Happy Fall! Handwork time...

Now that the days are getting shorter I usually have time to sit in the evening and work on my ongoing handwork projects.  Last year I started working with Inktense pencils (which I adore!)....  This year I have gotten side tracked with Crayola Crayons and Crabapple Hill Embroidery Patterns and Cosmo Embroidery Thread which I saw at spring market.  I'm sharing this with you because what usually happens when things go into my blender-brain is a combination of techniques comes popping out!

I'm still infatuated with Inktense pencils, Crabapple Hill and Cosmo!  I think the crayons are going to have to find a new home.....  The pencils give you twice the color control with half the work!  Yay...exactly my motto.

This sunflower piece is my original Inktense piece from last year.  It will be a whole cloth quilt...I'm just showing you a peek.  I finished it with water so the colors are more watercolor like with some bleeding.  At this point I was still looking for a better way to finish the pencils on the fabric without the bleeding, but I liked the watercolor effect.

This is "Autum Calls" from Crabapple Hill that I finished last night.  It is colored with crayola crayons using her technique in the pattern, then embroidered with Cosmo Embroidery thread.  The crayons are beautiful, but a lot of work. Love the thread!   This was done on cream colored Kona cotton...I still need to wash and block it...add some piecing and then quilt it as a wall hanging.  Stay tuned for a finished project!

THE new project started last night....  an Art Deco flower done with Inktense Pencils and sealed with the MAGIC Ingredient that works beautifully!  (Stay tuned for a local class that I will be holding).  Done on white cotton, the colors really pop.  I'm embroidering it with Cosmo Embroidery thread too.  This will be a Mug Rug sample for the class.  I think this size will be addictive as it is going to be finished very quickly (Instant Gratification!).  I'm going to do some Christmasy ones too, for gifts....

This is the pattern "Autumn Calls" from Crabapple Hill Studio.  If you are interested in obtaining one, email me at quilts4you@q.com.  The pattern with the corresponding Cosmo Embroidery Thread Kit would be $27.50 plus postage.  

Fall is just around the corner....

Yikes, I don't know where the time goes!  It seems like it was just late spring and we were ready for summer vacation.  I've been busy, busy this summer with all the vacationy, summery things that go on in our lives....add a family wedding and a trip to the coast (oh, and quilting) and time has just flown by!

Just wanted to share the darling wall quilt that was machine embroidered and pieced by Glenda Barlow. This quilt is made of Dupoini Silk and was like quilting on butter...very hard to give back to her. I quilted it with various freehand feathers and fills. Used Quilters Dream Blend batting and YUMMY Glide thread along with a few colors of Isacord thread. Twin Falls Sewing-Center had this quilt hanging in their booth at the fair this year.  I think if you check with them they still have the embroidery module available for the hearts!

"Infinity" is a winner!

The last few weeks have been busy, busy, busy!  With our local guild quilt show and then HMQS in Salt Lake City I have been smokin' at the heels!  I wanted to share a quilt that I quilted for my customer Joan Anderson that won ribbons at both of these quilt shows.

"Infinity" won 3rd place in Applique at HMQS, Salt Lake City and Best of Show at the Desert Sage Quilt Show!

Beautifully hand appliqued by Joan Anderson, she used batik fabrics along with ultra suede and wool.  I quilted her quilt with all free-hand quilting for the feathers,  McTavishing and pebble fill.  I used a stencil for the double cross-hatching. Yummy Glide thread made everything just shimmer and Quilters Dream Wool batting gave it the perfect loft!  The outer border swag was all hand guided and the mini-piano key was done with a ruler.  After quilting, Joan added her gorgeous hand-done dimensional flowers and beading.  A lovely sparkle runs through the entire quilt with over 1000 Swarovski crystals that Joan applied, and I have a feeling that she'll be adding more!