Summer Break

I only have a few more quilts to finish for clients before i take my summer break. Here is a picture of a client's quilt i just took off the frame. When i started this venture i'm really glad i decided to not take in quilts over the summer, i don't want to burn out. This will be my time to quilt my quilts and do some piecing on rainy days. I only have my Mystery quilt that is ready to go on the frame but I want to really play on that one. I have to finish collecting fabric for another quilt on my wish list...summer fabric shopping...and maybe i'll get that one quilted too.

I just realized i have quilted 52 quilts since January and NO carpel tunnel attacks!!! YAH!

Oh, here is some news for my local guild members. I have just purchased a bolt of WonderUnder. It is a very thin fusible web that i haven't been able to find in a long time. Hope it is as good as i remember! I will cut it up in metre rolls and sell it for $4.50/per roll. I'm sure you can get it cheaper elsewhere but that covers my cost of shipping and includes taxes. Give me a call or email if you would like some.

Yup....Another Contest!

The Kickass Quilting Shop in Plumas, MB is sponsering a contest that will be displayed at the Neepawa Lily Festival in July. So of coarse Lori sees these kits in there store when she was there this spring and buys one for us to do. The kit was 36 charm squares of christmas fabric and the rule was you had to have a piece of each square in the wall hanging. We pretty much stuck to Lori's first idea of a word being the center of the hanging and then i came up with the idea of miniature Magic Tiles for the border. Little did we know that it was take 4 afternoons to just piece the magic tiles! And if we (okay I) had read all of the instructions i wouldn't of developed the problem of 'why do i keep getting 2 of the same fabrics in one block...AAHHH!'

Once it was pieced i quilted it on my longarm and if you look at the Y in the close up picture you will see it is different than the final wall hanging...Lori made me pick out the bottom of the design in that block....it didn't balance with the rest of the quilting! So being the good friend that i am i picked it out and redid it. And yes it did look better after!

Lori is already looking for our next contest....i wonder what she will find!

Sunflower Mystery Quilt

Here is another Mystery Quilt from our local guild. My client choose sunflower fabric for her focus and i love the orange she used, it just gives the quilt so much life. For guild member trying to figure out why it looks different than the other mystery quilts, my client used two background fabrics to give it a new effect. I quilted free-hand sunflowers and leaves all across the quilt.

Fireside Fabric

A client brought me this quilt and i was worried that if i quilted it using the longarm i would ruin it. The backing fabric is Fireside, a very soft fuzzy fabric, and the top is a mix if cotton, chenelle and fireside. My concern was the back of the fireside is very slippery and with no batting (that would make it too heavy) how would it react to quilting? I shared my concerns with my client and she assured me that whatever i do will be fine. She even had the store she purchased the quilt kit from call me to let me know that their samples were quilted on a longarm. So with this information i gained some confidence to start quilting it....my biggest fear is ruining someone's quilt!! I used a dark red thread and realized as i was quilting i couldn't see where i had just quilted....the thread just disappeared into the fireside fabric...even the white blocks! So i was quilting this one blind. I just did a row at a time so i knew where i had been and that seemed to help. Once i finished and took it off the frame i was happy to see that i didn't cross over any of my stitching, but i did come very close in a few spots!

Thimbleberry Deja Vu

This is the second one of these Thimbleberry quilt i've done on the longarm for a client. I have two more waiting there turn in the Shack. I have challenge myself to quilt them differently and try new patterns on each one. But there is a few areas that really call for a particular designs, like the green and beige checkers really look great with Continous Curves so they will all be done like that. And of coarse all the chimneys will be brick!

I'm wondering if my client noticed the special 'goodie' i quilted in it to personalize it...she is an excellent baker!!

Bali Apron

When I was at the Quilt Show in Saskatoon i found this cute apron pattern. I'm not much of a cook so it not for the kitchen but what i did need it for was when i'm working at the longarm machine. I'm ALWAYS covered in batting fluff when i'm quilting since i lean on the batting at the front of the machine. My black velour lounge suit that i love to quilt in is never black for long! ( I don't always quilt in my PJ's!). So here is my new solution and i love it! I have made a few and they might make great christmas gifts this year too.

I also have a new addition to my Shack, it is this cute boat bookshelf. It was too perfect to pass up at my neighbours garage sale and i was so happy it fit in my small space.

Summertime....still waiting!

This quilt really grew on me as I was quilting it. The colors are so soft, its a beautiful summer quilt. The client wanted the dragonfly panto on it and she gave me wool batting which I had never tried before. The wool batting really allows the quilting to pop and this 100"x100" quilt was so light after i took it off the frame.

I actually spent the day piecing an apron with a Bali Pop and a pattern i bought at the quilt show. Hope to have one finished tonight.

Taking the Leap!

Okay, i guess i could admit that i did get this quilt finished before i left for Saskatoon but i mean just finished, there was no time to post a picture.

It is getting more challenging to quilt all the stack and whack quilts differently but i think i rose to the challenge on this one. Lots of free hand feathers to fill in the background and setting triangles and free hand flowers in the border. These flowers are like snowflakes, no two are alike!

Quilt Saskatchewan was really good but a bit smaller than i was expecting. That's okay as i was able to spend my money at the Merchant Mall with no problem. I think the best part of the whole show was surprising a few members with the fact i was the new CQA MB Rep. I didn't realize i had kept it such a good secret. I also took a huge leap out of my comfort zone (while unaware a hovering group of guild members supervised) and i talked to the owner of Prairie Chicks about my longarm business. Self promotions is not my strong point. I have never had to do that since my work has always spoken for itself and i am also surrounded by the best cheerleading/promotions group EVER! But if i want to make a name for my business i know i should expand it beyond the borders of Flin Flon.

Quilt Saskatchewan Here I Come!

Tomorrow i'm off to Saskatoon for Quilt Saskatchewan. Yah...girls weekend!!! Shopping and a quilt show now that is true happiness. And incase you didn't know i thought i would share with you that as of July 1 i'll be the new CQA Manitoba Representative. Not sure how that happened but i guess i should start practicing my new role...."Hey Eileen, got that report ready for me, chop chop" :)

I can't have a post without a picture so here is the quilt that i'm working on right now for a client. I"m taken those Twirly Whirly feathers to the next level and i should have it done next week so more pictures then.

Scrappy Bear Paw

I really love the colors in my clients Scrappy Bear Paw quilt. I used the Maple Syrup pantograph across this one which gives the geometric piecing a softer element. I actually quilted this one in January and my client had not seen it until this week. She has just returned to Flin Flon from being down south all winter. I don't think she was expecting to see the snowfall when she returned, matter of fact i don't think any of us here would have believe we would be getting this much snow in MAY. Good thing i have my quilting to keep me sane.

Chenille Baby Quilt

A client of mine made this cute little baby quilt which has chenille strips on the front and chenille on the back. I was very pleased with how well the Daisies Galore pantograph showed on the chenille backing. I'm sure you won't be surprised when i tell you that when she showed this quilt to a friend they said 'can you make me one' and she did (and i got to quilt that one too!).

Color Blend Quilt

The Double Plume pantograph turned out beautiful on my clients color-blend quilt that was pieced with a pastel fabric collections. This definitely will be a wonderful Mother's Day gift and i'm sure she won't mind it being a week late.

Twirly Whirly

Last week i finally got to watch the DVD i ordered awhile ago in how to quilt feathers using a longarm. The DVD is called Twirly Whirly Feathers by Kim Brunner. This is an excellent DVD for anyone who wants to learn how to do feathers even on there home sewing machine. I found that Kim taught the feathers in a way i could really understand and was able to quickly produce the feathers you see above .....my first try on a quilt. I spent a day just drawing the basic feathers over and over again until i got the pattern in my head. I think i quilt them better than i draw them and black thread on black fabric is very forgiving. I can't show you this whole quilt as it is a client's quilt that will be a gift but if your a follower from my guild you will be able to see it at the meeting on Tuesday. My client was very kind in letting me show this quilt before it is sent away. I'll post the pictures of this one at the end of July.

Oriental Quilt

My client made this quilt with beautiful oriental designed fabrics. I free-motioned a water motif across the center and added a swirl in the outer border. I'm sure she will have a few family members fighting over this one :)

Mystery Quilt

The guilds Mystery Quilt project turned out to be quite successful and here is the first one that i have had on my frame. I used the Dragonfly Pantograph and i worked nicely across the quilt with a medium green thread. My pictures don't do the colors in this quilt justice.