Monster Quilt

This is Irene's fun Applique Monsters Quilt and the pattern is by Wendi Gratz.   Irene asked for pebbles in the background of this wall hanging and I think that was a great choice.  

I used a light blue So Fine thread and Irene brought a poly batting.

Irene also brought a sweet baby panel quilt and I really like the piecing she did in the border, really added to the panel. She said it was a kit she bought years ago at a local shop that is now closed.

I used Bora Bora for the pantograph design, yellow So Fine thread and she brought a cotton batting.

Minnesota Stars - Highway 10 Designs Pattern #13

Now that the Minnesota Shop Hop has been over for a month we decided to publish the pattern we wrote for the Northwest Region as we had a few requests to purchase the pattern.  It is now available in paper and PDF on our Etsy shop.

We wrote the pattern so the 1/2 yard bundles shop hoppers received after visiting all 4 shops in the region could be used for this pattern.  So it is a great stash buster pattern too.  It finished in a lap size of 60" x 74".

Here is a picture of a sample hanging at Anderson Fabrics in Blackduck, MN.

On The Bright Side Quilt

This is Gail's stunning 'On The Bright Side' Quilt which she did as a Quilt Along with All People Quilt.  The pattern can be found in February 2018 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine. I also found a link to purchases it here.

I have been watching Gail make those 256 tiny 3" stars at our Tuesday Sewing Group for quite awhile now.  I was very excited to hear she finished the quilt this summer and it was coming my way to get quilted.  I love the red and white scrappy fabric she chose to make this quilt, very different from the fabrics shown on the pattern.

Gail asked that it be lightly custom quilted so I suggested CC the red squares and have free hand flowing feathers in the white areas flowing out from the center. How to quilt the tiny stars was tricky as I couldn't think of a way to quilt these continuously.  So I ended up CC in the center so that was a lot of stops and starts but so worth it.

I quilted a feather wreath in the center and then added a still extra diamond motif to fill in that space in the center.  It was too large to leave unquilted.

  This is a very large quilt,  97" x 97" and will be the last large quilt I custom quilt for a while.  I have been have a few back/shoulder issues which seem to flare up during and after I have custom quilted a quilt. So I have been turning down custom work for now as it is this time to take it a bit easier and take care of myself.  I can still do pantographs for any size quilt and will still do some custom quilting just have to be more selective as to which ones I take on.

Metro Rings

This is Diane's Metro Rings quilt, the pattern is by Sew Kind of Wonderful. ( Edited to add - The fabric line is called Gloaming by Shelley Cavanna.)  I quilted it with a pantograph called Flourish, used white So Fine thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.

Maple Leaf Quilt

This is Vicki's King sized Maple Leaf quilt.  The pattern is called Frosted Candy by Gerri Robinson, you can find the pattern if you click here. Vicki increased the quilt pattern size from 84"x 96" to 108" x 108".  She used a lovely selection of maple leaf fabrics to create her quilt.  I used Fascination for the panto design, medium green So Fine thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.

I was hoping to get some outdoor shots of this quilt with the changing leaves but it has been quite rainy here.  In the last 48 hours we received 65mm of rain!  The next couple of days are forecast for a brief return of some summer like weather so will enjoy that before the cool falls days are here to stay.

Winter Quilt and Garden Sighting!

This is Barb's Winter Quilt and it is made with the sweetest winter themed panels .  She framed each panel in red and used a 4 patch in a 9 patch for setting blocks.  I used Bora Bora for the pantograph design and used light grey So Fine thread.

I have been having fun taking picture in my garden, more specifically the insects in the garden.  My first discovery was a Luna Moth Caterpillar which I had never seen before. I have seen a Luna Moth before but not the caterpillar stage.

Here is the caterpillar, which is about the size of my thumb, and I've added my moth pictures from 2017 to show you it moth transformation.

Caterpillar looking right at me!

Luna Moth from 2017. Look how fuzzy and fat they are!  I have read that Luna Moth sighting are getting rarer. I am really hoping to see the final moth stage so have my eye out for it now.

Then a few days ago I had just returned home from a bike ride and  noticed a Hummingbird Moth flying around my petunias. I got out my phone and took a few pictures and videos, you can see the videos on my Instagram page. I was surprised after posting these on IG how many people had never seen one!  Yes they are a moth, but the size of a hummingbird and fly like a hummingbird.  I have never seen one this colourful before so looked it up and found out it is a White-lines Sphinx moth which is part of the Hummingbird Moth family. They are usually seen at dusk which was when I saw this one.

Simply Dashing in Stonehenge

No I haven't abandoned my blog, I am now back to work after my summer break and will start posting again.  I didn't do any sewing or quilting this last month as I needed to take a break.  My back has been bothering me a bit this year and I also wanted my thumb to heal after my longarm incident in July, you can find that story here if you missed it. It is healing up nicely and the cracked nail should be grown out in another month.  I want to thank those that suggested I move my needle screw to the right side of the needle. I did that so hope it prevents another injury. 

Now onto sharing Vicki's quilt!   Vicki made our Highway 10 Designs pattern Simply Dashing using a dark brown Stonehenge fabric and a light beige blender for the dashes.  Her colour choices give the quilt a rich look and makes for a great masculine quilt.

I used Fascination for the pantograph, beige So Fine thread and Quilters Dream Blend batting.

 

There are 3 new horses in the field behind our house so I have been enjoying taking their picture.  Only took a few days for them to come up to me so I could pat them.

Minnesota Shop Hop Bus Trip

I'm back from the Shop Hop Bus Tour and we had a great time. I traveled down to Blackduck, MN with these 5 lovely ladies, we were the only Canadians on the bus. It was an early start, 7am so we drove down the day before and did a bit of shopping and spent the night in Blackduck.  Once on the bus we drove 90 minutes to International Falls to shop at Up North Quilt Shop! If you are ever traveling through Northern Minnesota and wonder if it is worth the trip to the top of the state to check out the quilt shops I can honestly say 'Yes, it is worth the trip!"  I'm kicking myself for not getting photos of the entrance to each shop.

Missy has been a great support of our Highway 10 Designs patterns and likes to display my samples in her shop. Here is my Simply Dashing double and baby size on her shop wall!  Missy also has the Shop Hop Quilt sample I shared in my last blog post in her shop, but didn't get a photo...it was pretty crowded in that area of the shop so I didn't want to get in anyone's way.

Once our time was up we headed back to Blackduck and shopped at Anderson Fabric's Quilt Shop.  I was so happy to see they had made a sample of our Shop Hop quilt too!  

 I also discovered a wonderful sample of our Not Your Mother's Rail Fence pattern  hanging in the shop.  

After they fed us lunch we hopped back into the bus and headed off to Oklee Quilting Supply in Oklee, MN.  There I found a lovely sample of our Detour table runner pattern.

The shop was bigger than I expected and the huge cutting table made for a fast moving line to get fabric cut.  All the shops were great at setting up extra cutting areas.

This was the Barn quilt that hangs on the outside of the Oklee shop.

Then back on the bus and off to Sadie Rae's Quilt Shop in Bemidji, MN.  I found a fun sample of our Quarter Sections pattern on the wall with kits made up as well.

So we were all back on the bus and in Blackduck by 7:30pm.  They were able to keep everything running on time and we didn't lose anyone along the way!