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!

Spring has sprung..... It snowed today!

Well, like a good half of the country we're having crazy weather here in Idaho too.  Almost 70 degrees last week....snow flurries this morning.  My poor blooming plum trees are so confused.  So, I'm having my own burst of spring in my studio today preparing for this week's upcoming quilt show and thought I would share a couple of gorgeous springy quilts made by my favorite piecer Pat (you're all my favorites by the way).

First off is Pat's Wedding Ring Quilt which she made for herself.  A Judy Niemeyer pattern originally named "Flowers for my Wedding".  This quilt is paper pieced with a gorgeous applique vine loaded with flowers.
She has graciously allowed me to borrow it from her so that I may display it in my booth at the quilt show this weekend.  Be sure to drop by and see it in person.

I would love to wake up with this quilt on my bed every morning!

All of the vines and flowers were stitched in the ditch with clear thread.
The background fill was all freehand feathers and swirls.

Each melon and ring center had a custom feather motif quilted as a background fill.
The rings and center joints  and the sawtooth border were are stitched in the ditch with clear thread.

The 2nd quilt of Pat's that I wanted to share will be exhibited in the quilt show this weekend.  Hopefully you'll be able to come see it in person also!  

Pat's Garden Gate

The background hydrangea fabric is quilted with a digital round feather motif.....I thought it looked a bit like a flower.   I wanted the lattice to really look interlocking so freehand quilted a slat pattern in the lavender piecing and a feather in the blue piecing.  I was pretty happy with the results.

With a wide white border I had a lot of room to play!  I used several different digital feathered border patterns  then filled them in with freehand miniature bead board.  The overall look tied well with the lattice and gave the entire quilt a Victorian look that I was pleased with.  Pat was very pleased with the end result too!

Long view of the border

With a fairly plain back all of the quilting shows up nicely on the back!

Happy Easter and Spring has finally arrived!

First off, I want to wish everyone a Happy and Blessed Easter!  Spring seems to finally have arrived in Southern Idaho.  We have warm sunny weather (perhaps we'll hit 70 this weekend) and the wind is not blowing.  I've noticed that there are many new birds in the neighborhood and it won't be long before we have to fire up the lawn mower.  I even heard a rototiller the other day.  Hopefully it won't be snowing next week....you never know.

Nearby Shoshone Falls, First time I visited the falls was on an Easter weekend 5 years ago

  

Gay's Stars

I also want to share this delightful table quilt that my friend Gay made.  It was her first attempt at paper pieced stars.....and they are perfection!  This little piece was a delight to quilt.  It is quilted with both freehand quilting and a few CompuQuilter motifs in the cornerstones and borders.  The stars were all stitched-in-the-ditch with Fil-Tecs new clear thread (which is divine by the way).

I connected the flower motif with straight line quilting
 inside the sashing and then filled in freehand around the stars.

The borders and sashing were done using my CompuQuilter
 and added a nice coordinating touch don't you think?

All of the stars were stitched-in-the-ditch at each layer.  Whew!

Joan's Beauty......

Well, I promised you more pictures of Joan's beautiful show quilt so here are a few more sneak peaks!  This gorgeous quilt was definetely a labor of love for Joan (along with a piece of my soul added to it).  She completely hand appliqued all of of the blocks, borders, flowers and stems and as you can see in the pictures there are many places where additional dimensional flowers will be added.  The quilt has been delivered to Joan; she is now blocking and binding her quilt and will be adding her final touches before the show.

 Dimensional flowers will be added to the stems in the inner border and blocks.  The outer swag border was hand-appliqued on....amazing work!  I quilted it with a swag shape and tiny fillegree fill.  The outside cream border has been quilted with piano keys.

 The inner border has a beautiful vine climbing up two corners of the quilt .  With feathers connecting each section, the background behind the vines were filled with double crosshatching, McTavishing and Pebbling for variety and depth.

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 Each of the 9 blocks that surround the center focus block had a background fill of double cross-hatching....whew!  I was seeing double after a while.  This frog and bird with the basket turned out to be my favorite!

The entire quilt was done in batiks with the exception of these
 yummy berries, which were wool.

Freehand feathers filled all of the inner borders.

This quilt can be seen at our upcoming local quilt show (along with many other gorgeous quilts) next month. If you're in the area I hope you can join us.   If you are unable to attend I will be posting more pictures after Joan has added her final touches to her quilt.

Happy Wordwide Quilting Day!

Well, as the post says.....Happy Wordwide Quilting Day.  I'm home doing as I'm told (for once..) and quilting, quilting, quilting.  I know you haven't seen much of me lately.  That's because I'm working on a drop-dead gorgeous show quilt which should be done TONIGHT!!!  I'm so excited, and so is Joan who has been patiently waiting for it.  Soooo..........  stay tuned and we'll have more to share soon.

Joan's Sneek Peek

A Day In Giverny

Another lovely quilt pieced by my customer and friend Laura Grabow;  "A Day in Giverny" is a block of the month pattern from This and That patterns using the new Chateau Rouge fabric line from French General.  What a perfect quilt to work on around Valentine's Day.  The fabric is so warm and happy.....it turned out warm and cozy too with Quilters Dream Wool batting and Glide thread.   All of the quilting was done freehand with some ruler work to compliment Laura's piecing.

All of the setting triangles were quilted with double feathers, then outlined with a half-feather
 in the red sash.

I was really happy with how the corners turned out.

Each of the pieced blocks were quilted with a variety of designs with  a double loop filler in the red fabric to tie everything together.  This also allowed the piecing to 'pop' and show more prominently.

 

The  cream, red & grey center applique blocks were centered with a fussy cut flower which I  pebbled around to create a 'faux trapunto look.  The appliqued blossom also appear to be trapunto because of the wool batting and the McTavishing in the background of the block.

I hope you've enjoyed today's quilt.  If you'd like to see it in person I've been told that it will be hanging in the Fabric Granary in Hailey.  (I believe that they have the block of the month kits available too).