Northwoods Reversible

A few years ago our local quilt shop offered a BOM called Northwoods. It was a very popular quilt and this is the seventh that i have quilted for clients, the second on the longarm. So i was interested in seeing how it looked with a pantograph as all the other ones were stencils on each block. I used a Maple leaf pantograph in keeping with the woodsy theme and was very happy with the results ...and so was the client. What was really neat about this quilt was the client had 5 extra blocks so put them on the back and i think it looks great on boths sides.

Flannel Flower Quilt

My client corrected me when i referred to the stars as stars...."they're flowers!" Okay, so my challenge with this quilt was to turn stars onto flowers so others can see this too. And how do you do that ...by quilting hearts on them of coarse! I think it the heart shaped petals look great and i would have never thought of that if they were just boring stars. I like it when clients have ideas too ....instead of just ' do whatever'.

Something to note, i'm finally learning how to take pictures so you can SEE the quilting.

Finally Cutting Into My Winnings!

Last year a friend and i entered the Northcott Quest of the Cure block contest and placed third. Part of our prize was $1,000 worth of Fat Quarters which turned out to be about 330 fat quarters. We had fun spliting up the fabric and even put aside some for a quilt we will work on together and then donate to a local charity.

Yesterday i finally dug into my box of winning fabric and picked out 12 baby flannel fabrics. Using the Yellow Brick Road pattern i was able to make two baby tops. I still need to find borders and backing but since i don't need any baby gifts right now i can wait until my next trip to Winnipeg. I think i'll be using the Yellow Brick Road pattern a few more times as it used up all the fabric ...no leftovers. I hate leftovers, i usually sacrific them to the fabric gods...with a trip to Paradise (our aptly named local dump). If you've seen my quilting space you'll understand why.

2005 Block of the Month

This is the fourth 2005 Block of the Month i have quilting for clients...and i'm expecting another one soon. It gets challenging trying to quilt them differently. It is hard to see in the picture but i did a feather design in the navy setting triangles and the blocks are custom with in the ditch, free-hand and stencil work.

Race Car quilt done!

When my 9 year old son saw this quilt on the frame his eyes went wide!!

What a great kids quilt, i really enjoyed working on it...that is until i took it off the frame and saw 2 large pukers on the back. So i picked and resewed and it looks great now.

Bargello Block

Tuesday was my monthly guild meeting and usually the next day i get into a piecing mood instead of going out the longarm. I completed the two bargello blocks that were taught during the program and then donate the blocks to the guild for comfort quilts. I really enjoyed this block and could see myself making a bed size bargello quilt but i need a reason to make a quilt so until that happens it will stay on my 'one day i'll make that' list.

I was just counting how many quilts i have completed on my longarm since i got it up and running in the middle of November. So far i counted 29 and 30 is on the frame, that 's not bad for my first 2 months. I have had no major disasters and learnt to tighten the laser light on a practice free-be so no picking was necessary. Yesterday though i did try something new and that was to turn the quilt to do the side borders. It had a flannel backing and yes it did pucker a bit so i think i'll just stick to starting and stopping on the side borders. I'm sure the flannel had a lot to do with the puckers but i'm sure the client will be fine with it especially since i will give her a nice discount.

Now i have been pondering what to pay myself per hour and realized i can't afford me! What to do? I guess i'll get minimum for awhile until i figure it all out.

Open House

Welcome to Tamarack Shack. This weekend i learnt that i can snuggly fit 10 people in my quilting studio and had a total of 33 people visit my 'shack' during my open house. I never thought that i would own my own business, that was the lowest thing on my 'to do' list but it is a small home business and i think i can handle that.

Since this is my first blog entry i'll explain the name of my longarm quilting business.

Tamarack...because my yard if full of tamarack..yes they usually grow near swamps but the $$$ we spend on truck loads of sand over the years has rid us of the labrador tea.

Shack...because the 12'x 16' shed that was once full of tools is now a heated quilt studio thanks to my darling hubby. Don't worry dear i still have more renos for you to do next summer...the shack needs a bigger deck with a screened in porch!

I have wanted to own a longarm machine for a few years but no space in the house. Thank goodness for company bonuses and my husbands desire for a 2 storey garage...once that was built all i wanted was the the shed by the house to be all mine. And now there is a 2008 Millennium in there that seems to finally be cooperating with me, it gave me a lot of stress at the beginning but i'm not afraid to use a screwdriver and it knows that now.

I'll try to attach some pictures from the open house but my dial-up internet, thanks to my rural local, makes that a bit challenging. But i don't seem to be tired tonight so i'll give it a go.