Carolyn's Storm at Sea

This quilt is so gorgeous--as are all of Carolyn's. However, when she sent this home with me back in October, she requested an allover.  An allover??? Really?????

After sending Carolyn a text message confirming that she just wanted an allover and letting her know she was killing me, she relented. Said I could do what I wanted; however, I knew she didn't want the kind of quilting I wanted to do on it. [sigh]  Maybe another time.

In keeping with her original wishes, I didn't go nuts. The outside border is stippled with a pattern through the middle of it going all the way around.  You can almost see it if you cross your eyes and stand on your head!!

I did CC's in all the triangle and diamond shapes within the top with a double CC in the squares. It made for some interesting patterns on the back and just added texture to the top.

Here's a couple of close-ups of the back. Maybe someday I'll have some good lighting that will show the quilting off a bit better. The backing fabric is actually a dark blue--not sure why it photographed as gray!

Thanks for stopping by...

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year--stay safe!

Dory

Milly's Ponies

So after hours of "building fence" and then way too much quilting for a kid's quilt, Milly's ponies were finally finished and delivered last week.

This is a Buggy Barn pattern and I just fell in love with it. The eyes were supposed to be buttons, but since Milly is not yet a year old, I felt that having Dennis embroider eyes was the better option.

The horse in the middle was a bad horse! He had no contrast and just faded into the background. However, some extra quilting and a Pigma pen and he magically reappeared!

I chose a green flannel for the backing.  

A close-up (reverse-style) of the quilting. As you can see, I went a touch overboard. This pic shows the true color of the green; I'm not sure why its so dark in the photo above.

Thanks for having a look!

Dory

Project Quilting -- Snowball

I've had my block done for over a week; it just needed binding. This afternoon, I put binding on a quilt for my granddaughter and then attached the binding to this challenge block. About halfway through, it suddenly hit me: Today is the last day!!  Yikes--I got busy. 

My block is done. I actually worked on this shortly after the disaster in Paris. I was so sad about what had happened that it was easy to choose the colors to go with the blue. I had to use red and white, the colors of their flag. The pattern is called "Round the Twist."  I'm calling my quilt simply "For France."

 And a shot of the back:

Dory

Quincy Crazy Quilters 2016 Raffle Quilt

Quincy Crazy Quilters sent their 2016 raffle quilt to me a few months ago. I had so many ideas for this one, but then realized that not much would show up. Also, since it truly is a "gender-neutral" quilt, many of my ideas, which included feathers, weren't going to work if I wanted it to stay that way.

Its big, its bright, and it would look equally as good on a man's bed as a woman's. With that in mind, I decided to do the whole thing with geometrics and straight lines.

The geometric design was in the border and the center purple block--the only consistent fabric in the whole quilt!! The outside triangles got an outline.

A shot of the back...just a hodge-podge of lines!! (If you click on the pic, it will show more detail)

Dory

Project Quilting -- Nine Patch

Whew...made it!! Just under the wire, so I think that's what I'll call this one:  Under the Wire.  Its almost 9 p.m. as I type this, so I'm not kidding. I just finished the binding.

I had my first idea for this quilt from EQ7--my go to because creativity is not in my vocabulary. But then, at a retreat this past weekend, a friend had a book called "Circle of Nine." The theory was nine specific blocks set in a quilt with different spacers.  This was my take on that theory.

And below is a close-up of the center quilting. Nothing fancy, especially since I didn't have a lot of time. No shot of the back as its a dark gray with purple thread--nothing shows...sorry!

One more challenge and that block is revealed tomorrow. I will get that one done sooner!

Thanks for looking!

Dory

Amish Quilting

This came from Barbara in Oakland...it was like getting a blank piece of paper in "quilt speak." Can you say potential????

 Barbara and I spoke "design" on this quilt for a long time. She made it for a friend of her's, a man, which to me means no frilly stuff. After much discussion, we decided all quilting should be geometric and the thread should match the background (I had briefly considered using a neutral gray).

We talked about that center diamond for a long time. Barbara sent me some photos of similar quilts with the star quilted in the center, but they were all done with hand quilting. So out came the rulers and the marking tools and I placed the same type star in the center and started quilting. (If you click on the pic, it will open in a new window so you can see the quilting better)

 The back.  Did I mention that the backing fabric was solid black??  I love solid backings--it makes the quilting its own design. 

Another design issue was what to do in the corners--the star just didn't fill it up enough. I suggested the curved crosshatch and Barb agreed. I think it turned out well...what do you think?

Next decision was the sashing. I'd just recently seen this design in a quilting magazine and loved it--luckily Barb did too! I love how it turned out and how the curves there complement the curved crosshatching.

 Another shot of the back with a bit more detail.  See those little designs in the cornerstones? Barbara's friend is a gardener and she wanted something quilted that would make the quilt more special for him. She opted for this "tulip" design. I wasn't sure about it at first, but although its a flower, its geometric and fit in perfectly.

  

Not sure what happened to the color here--the lime green is definitely not gray and the brick colored sashing is certainly not pink!!  But the quilting did show up, so I'm adding this to show you the stars quilted into the large cornerstones to coordinate with the center star.

 

  And finally, a shot of the back...in its entirety.

 This was such a fun quilt to work on. I hope I get more Amish designs in the future.

Dory

Joyce's Feathered Star

Seriously, is this not a beautiful quilt???? (My camera doesn't do it justice, not at all!)

Joyce chose her fabrics to resemble a poinsettia. I think she did a great job. She asked for texture, so I did an outline design in the outer border, and feathers in all but the center colored spikes. I didn't quilt the green centers until the end, as I just couldn't decide what I wanted to do. I finally opted for some basic SID to push them back and not take away from the more colorful areas.

The large outer corners were crosshatched one-inch squares and a feather design was put in those smaller triangular areas.  I also did a little feather in the outside border corners to add a little continuity to the quilting design. Pics are of the front and back so you can see a bit better.

And a couple more pics of the back to show off the quilting.  (This first one is worth clicking on for a close-up; it makes my ramblings above make sense)

 

This was such a fun quilt to work on...I really had to do some thinking. Joyce always gives me such great projects to play with--I love it!!!!  If only she'd move to the west coast, I'd quilt all her quilts, if she'd let me. 

Dory

A Couple More to Share

This one came from Paula and is filled with pinwheels!! I love pinwheels to look at, but they're tough to quilt as the centers generally have lots of bulk. On the body, I took the easy way out and did CC throughout--it allowed me to slow way down on those intersections and not break a needle!

I did a little playing in the border, although it doesn't show up real well. Same geometric that I've done before, but this time, I filled the centers with paisley's and curves.  It was fun and added some nice texture to the dark fabric.

This next one is from a new quilter in my hometown of Quincy. I haven't even met Leslie yet, but hope to when I go back for our retreat in a few days. This is an Alex Anderson pattern, not sure what its called, but its from one of her beginning books. Although Leslie is just starting to quilt, she did a great job putting it together.

And she even got brave with the back...check out the flying geese!!!

 

I think she did a great job! 

Dory

Cute Kids' Quilts

A new customer brought me these two.  Deb swore she wasn't a quilter, but I think that may change in the future.  This one was finished, but she wanted more quilting. It already had the large squares quilted in it, but she wanted to some detail added to it.  I outlined all the critters, the rainbow and cloud and stitched over the various parts of the "landscape" to add a little definition.  Unfortunately, it doesn't really show up, but Deb was happy and it is a darn cute Pooh Panel!!

She also brought this panel quilt in that she'd done for her grandson. Usually I don't quilt so densely on kid's quilts, but due to the size, custom quilting was the same cost as my minimum quilting charge. She opted for the custom.

Lots of color changes and detail work and it turned out pretty darn cute!  Here are a couple more pics.

Hope the baby appreciates it!!!!!

Dory

Project Quilting -- Flying Geese

September's block: Flying Geese.  I really wanted to make one of those dimensional quilts with the geese floating around in a banner-type configuration of graduating size.  However, since I don't have a clue where to even begin something like that, instead I opted for some Buggy Barn geese.

I had no real plan in mind when I began this. Consequently, the first time I put it together, I didn't like it. I kept telling myself that it was finished and it was good enough...NOPE! To me it looked like I'd done my geese and then just added borders, which, BTW, is exactly what I did!!  BLEH!!!!

 So I took it all apart and started again.  Although this is nothing to "write home about," its finished and on time.  In my book, that's a WIN!!

 And the back.  Not nearly as much quilting on this one.

Thanks for looking!!

Dory

Catching up...

This quilt came from Mona in Quincy. She's made this for her granddaughter and its so bright and cheery--I love it!! (This would be the perfect "garden" for me...no weeds and no work!)

I don't remember what the piecing technique is called, maybe "flip & fold"? You sew your fabric to muslin and then keep adding bits until it looks like what you want. Its hard to see the quilting, but basically it was meant to look like rain drops in the main body of the quilt. I did lines and then added circles in...sort of like "----o-----o----o" only it was vertical! I also used a shiny silver thread to add a glisten-effect, like water. (Clever???)

 In keeping with the garden theme, leaves were in the outer border and inner sashing, with narrow piano keys  on the inner border for some texture.

 And a pic of the back....you can sort of see the "rain" in this one.

Thanks for hanging in there with me!!

Dory

Project Quilting -- Pinwheel

This month its the Pinwheel Block for my Focus Through the Prism challenge. I opted for yellow...no idea why. Seemed like a good idea at the time! I chose gray (vs black)  background because I didn't want my quilt to look like a giant bumblebee!!

Once again, I have to thank EQ7 for my pattern. I did a search for pinwheels hoping for inspiration, when I came across this pattern. It immediately appealed to me because it resembled a  saw blade. Odd only if you don't know me.  My husband used to log with draft horses and he had his own mill on our property in California. We spent many hours feeding logs onto the mill and watching the blades spin as they ran down the logs, cutting them into boards.

Although today is the 31st, I actually finished this in plenty of time--in fact, I was sewing the binding on Friday night during the Seahawks game. I had DAYS to spare--two to be exact!!!

Here's a shot of the back...quilting these is always fun for me.

Think I'll call this one "Saw Wheel" -- so clever, I know!!!! (Quit laughing at me!!)

Dory

Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice

Joyce sent this Bonnie Hunter Celtic Solstice to me for quilting all the way from South Carolina!!  Its a well-traveled quilt!!

As you know, Bonnie Hunter does not do "small." This thing is huge--evidenced by the way it hangs in my studio! (Remind me next time to move some stuff out of the way to make the picture look a little better!!)

I did allover quilting on this one. It was either that or super-dense custom as nothing else would show. However, with as large as this quilt is and as much as it has going on, I think my Heatwave allover gave it movement and definition without overpowering it. Also, and this is a big plus, it didn't break the bank!!!

And a shot of the back...because you have to have a shot of the back, right??? (I gave up on hanging and just folded it over my longarm!)

Dory