Migration Giraffes

This is Vicki's Giraffe Quilt and the pattern she used is called Border Rules.  The sweet giraffe fabric she used is by Michael Miller and called Migration Giraffe Double Border.  Since it has a modern feel I used the Spiral Square pantograph to give it a fun texture. 

She brought the perfect green Grunge backing to match which shows off the quilting.  Batting is Quilters Dream Blend, and the thread is a grey So Fine on top and a beige Bottom Line on the back.

The past couple of day have been above freezing temperatures so it is wonderful to see the snow start to melt and listening to the water run down the downspouts on the house again.

Glacier Star Quilt

This is Joy's Glacier Star quilt and it is a paper pieced pattern by Quiltworx. She ask it to be custom quilted and I used a variety of designs on this quilt.  The outer border is flowing feathers from the corners. I SID around the flying geese.  Add more flowing feathers in the dark background and SID in the spikes on the outer edge of the star.  The compass blocks were SID then I added a few echo straight lines and a curved line at the points of the spikes.  A feather motif finishes the remaining background in the block and curls were added in the dark spikes.

 The center is a combination of pebbles and SID as I like to design using the seam lines as much as possible.  I CC'd the diamonds in the star points.

I used 7 different colours of So Fine thread on the top and 1 colour of Bottom Line on the backing.

I used Quilters Dream Blend batting.

Finally a calm day to catch up on my quilt photos. You can see by the snow drifts in the yard it as been windy here!  

Third Round Robin - Second Round

In January I shared a post about a Round Robin I am doing with my friends Lori, Desley and Browyn, which you can read here.  This is our second round and this time our theme was Dresden Plate/Dresden Plate Variations.  We all had to have a piece of our floral focus fabric in the block. I made the block above and did a traditional plate with pointed blades. I hand appliqued the center circle and machine appliqued the outer edge of the blades.

This next block is Lori's and it is similar to mine expect she has points in the center of her block which is very cool!

Desley block is wonderfully whimsical with all the fun floral fabrics she used for the backgrounds.

And Bronwyn's block has rounded blades with two centers. I love that we all fussy cut the focus fabric in the centers.

Our next round's theme is Flying Geese which we will reveal to each other on May 1.  Wonder what we will all come up with for the next round?

Curved Nine Patch

This is Coleen's Curved Nine Patch quilt and the pattern is by Sew Kind of Wonderful.  She asked for custom quilting and I was able to quilt it with two different thread colours.  An off white So Fine thread in the background and a gold So Fine thread in the Nine patches and outer border.  Batting is Quilters Dream Blend batting.

I quilted free hand CC's in the Nine patch blocks and stitched in the ditch around all the curved piecing using my 15" Quilted Pineapple curved template.  I added pebbles in the background with a curved echo on either side.  Did wishbone loops in the melon background shape and more CC's in the sashing corner stone.  The outer border has traditional feathers..

It has been so windy here but I did manage to get a few outdoor shots to see the quilting texture better.

Catching up!

Many of you know I like to print out my blog book each year so I have a tangible product to hang onto showing my years of work. I use a company called Blog2print for this job.  This is the 10th blog book I have printed as 2019 is my 10th Anniversary for Tamarack Shack! Its amazing how time flies and it just seems like yesterday that I was unpacking and putting together my longarm for the first time. I'm so glad I took that leap as I have meet so many amazing people on this business journey.

I haven't been sharing a lot of clients quilt this winter as it has been such a cold and snow season and hard to get good outdoor pictures.  But enough excuses, time to catch up and share what I have been working on.

I was at a local quilt retreat a few weeks ago and was able to piece this fun modern version of our Highway 10 Designs City Slicker pattern. I had purchased a Tula Pink 'Zuma' Jelly Roll and thought that would make a great sample. Can't wait to quilt this one, my personal pile of quilt tops has been growing like crazy so need to find time to squeeze a few of my own quilts onto the machine.

Here are few client quilts I have finished recently too.  This is Donna's Disappearing Nine Patch and I used Bora Bora for the pantograph.

This is Meriel's Jelly Roll quilt and I used Bayside for the pantograph.

Oh Canada

Vicki made this fun Canadian themed quilt using Northcotts Oh Canada fabric collection.  I used Maple Syrup pantograph, beige So Fine thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.

The quilting shows up so nicely on the Minky backing!

Sisters Choice Presidents Blocks

 

A few months ago my friends in Flin Flon sent me a wonderful gift, my Presidents Blocks!  When I left Flin Flon I was the president of the guild so felt bad for leaving mid term and said they didn't have to make the traditional Presidents blocks for me since I didn't complete my full 2 years, but they insisted that I would be getting the blocks.   They asked what block I would like and I chose the Sisters Choice block...because these ladies have been like sisters to me for 21 year!  

I had time to piece the quilt top this month and added a blue sashing with pink corner stones that was the same pink that is in all the star points.  Can't wait to find time to quilt this one but my stack of personal quilt tops is building up so it might be a few months before I get that pleasure!

 When they sent the Sisters Choice blocks they also added four Flin Flon themed blocks that I hope to make in to a wall hanging for my quilt studio soon!

My blog has been a bit quieter than normal as the weather has been too cold and snowy to take outdoor quilt pictures!  We have beautiful hoar frost this morning now that it is warming up but last week it got down to -43'c. Brrrrr!

I was able to capture a few sun halo/sun dog pictures a few days ago.

Four Patch Variations

Vicki brought two quilts that are Four Patch variations.  The first one is my Four Patch Charm Quilt pattern that you can download for free from my blog sidebar.   You have to see how the quilt is constructed to find the four patch used in it!   Vicki used a great selection of medium to dark fabrics with a beige background, its a great quilt to use up scraps!  I picked Plush for the pantograph, beige So Fine thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.

Vicki’s second quilt is a great traditional Four Patch quilt using two sizes of four patches in the layout.  Love the addition of the piano key border for this scrappy quilt.  I used Mimosa for the pantograph, beige So Fine thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.