CUSTOM QUILTING IN JULY

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1 SQUARE + 1 SQUARE = A STAR

How can that be? How can 1 dark square in a square plus 1 light square in a square equal a star?

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LYNN'S SAMPLER QUILT

Isn't this the prettiest sampler quilt? I love the fabrics Lynn chose for her blocks and the center medallion being set off with the jewel points of gold is perfect. Check out those multi-colored corner triangles. How absolutely perfect to pull everthing help each of the fabrics pop. And Lynn made the perfect choice when she picked the border and "plain" block dark batik fabric to complement the primary color tone on tones.

We discussed possible options for custom quilting but I was afraid if weren't careful when making design and thread color choices we could easily have a "war" happening between the piecing and the quilting.

I designed a panto, an edge-to-edge quilting design for this quilt called 1485 RIBBONS AND LEAVES. I want the quilting to be fairly open and full of motion. The swirling of the ribbons and the tumbling leaves captured in the ribbons enhances the patchwork without distracting from the Lynn's skill as a piecer. Nice work Lynn!

A close-up of her center medallion ...

I used a King Tut varigated thread called Sheaves which has several shades of yellow to gold for the top thread and a Signature 100% cotton thread in a medium yellow shade for the bobbin. Batting is the 80/20 from The Warm Company (Warm Bond) so this quilt will wash up nice and soft with wonderful antique puffiness around the stitching lines.

1485 RIBBONS AND LEAVES is available in the store formatted for both Statler and Intelliquilter and marked down for one week only at an introductory discounted price of only $12. Pop on over to the store and add this great pattern to your library while the price is marked down.

... know your craft ... practice your craft ...

... and ... be innovative with your craft ...

BABY SHOWER QUILT

Sindy and her friends wanted to make a quilt - a grandma quilt - for a new baby due to arrive in May. They gathered their scraps and yardage and set to work.

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CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES

Susan's quilt ... a scrappy 9-Patch using all different shades of red and brown. Part of what makes this quilt so effective is the way Susan used so many different textures, so many different shades, and varied the scale of print. What really pops is the fabric that is a paisley with reds and browns and just one little spark of blue.

Light red is always a shade that is hard to grasp when on a search through your stash because we have labeled that tint "pink" so we breeze right on by the pink fabric basket. But look how well the pinks work in with the reds keeping a good flow of value across the quilt top.

Susan's plans are to use this quilt on her bed during the month of February. How perfect is that since this quilt looks to me just like chocolate covered cherries or strawberries dipped in chocolate. I would never have thought to use this color combination which just goes to show there is inspiration no matter where you look (or taste LOL).

I used an edge-to-edge quilting pattern called 1458 HEARTS AND VINES FLIPPED E2E for Susan's quilt and got to hone my "relocate to two points" while working on the quilt.

First I set up my rows with alternating plus and created a CSQ file of just two rows sized specifically for Susan's quilt top. I was pushing the limit of throat space as I rolled - the two row pass is about 17.5" but with the start/top point in the middle I actually needed 22" of sewing space. I ended up going back in and dividing my CSQ two row file into two separate rows when I got the the bottom half of the quilt. There is nothing worse than to be quilting along and get the "abort" message due to an obstacle in the sewing path! That is when you take time out, regroup, breath ... and have another chocolate covered cherry. LOL

I mentioned earlier that I used "relocate to two points" with each roll to set up the next two (or one) row. Because of quilt shrinkage I couldn't just use the start/end points. I used the points of the hearts in the quilting pattern and my crosshairs to check to make sure I kept the pattern lining up correctly as I stitched my way down the quilt. It took a little bit to get used to seeing the quilt design not line up on the screen but knowing that it was lining up on the quilt. I also drew a "throat space-quilt edge" pattern boundary for each pass so I could check to make sure the rows were going to fit in the stitching space. That little trick helped me know when to switch to a single row pass.

Like the way this pattern looks? Want to add it to your pattern library? It is one of 3 patterns that for one day only ... the MONDAY ONE DAY featured patterns markdown of 30%. The patterns featured for today only at only $10.50 per pattern are:

STATLER

• 1149 WOVEN HEARTS E2E
• 1457 HEARTS & VINES E2E
• 1458 HEARTS & VINES FLIPPED E2E

INTELLIQUILTER

• 1149 IQ WOVEN HEARTS E2E
• 1457 IQ HEARTS & VINES E2E
• 1458 IQ HEARTS & VINES FLIPPED E2E

... know your craft ... practice your craft ...

... be innovative with your craft ....

QUILTING FOR JILL

First ... let's take a look at those quilts I teased you with yesterday. I promised more pictures of the customer quilts I've been working on, so, here they are! Jill has been bringing her quilt tops to me for her for several years now. Jill used to be a fabric rep for a fabric company and found herself with yards and yards of samples when she retired. Jill makes the best use of a variety of fabrics in her quilts of most any one I know in the quilting world. She has a real eye for color and manages to put just the right little bit of zing in simple traditional quilt patterns.

Jill brought 3 quilts to me to finish up for her this time. She asked for simple edge to edge quilting on the first two. I put leaves on the Fall Chain and simple daisies on the purple and aqua quilt. For the life of me, I can not think of the name of this block. Any one out there able to help me?

Jill's third quilt - the red, white, and blue chain quilt features a piano key border with red frames, a 3" white inner border, and a 6" white outer border. She knew she wanted feathers in the white borders and an edge-to-edge design in the main body of the quilt. Some quilters refer to this kind of quilting as border-to-border quilting.

We decided to use a wiggly line serpentine stitching for a faux "stitch-in-the-ditch" to help define the red frames. I also used the same stitch to define the piano keys.

I used a swirling pattern for the body of the quilt and I digitized a new point-to-point feather pattern to use in the white borders. I love how easily this feather pattern sets up in the borders. I designed it to work as a dead-end border layout so I don't have to struggle with working my way around the corner.

The results is a frame of a beautiful feather design that surrounds the quilt in graceful undulating lines.

KALEIDOSCOPE QUILTING

Recently I taught a class at Pioneer Quilts based on my kaleidoscope quilt that is published as a pattern in Marti Michell's book Kaleidoscope ABC's. We had such a good time learning how to use Marti's Kaleido-Ruler making it much easier to complete the blocks.

Last week Darlene brought her quilt top in for me to finish for her. I thought you might enjoy seeing the "after class" tutorial I put together for the girls and how great Darlene's quilt looks. The "after class" tutorial is to serve as a reminder filled with those little class details, tips, and tricks we tend to forget the day after class ... but we still have more blocks to piece.

When I made my quilt, I used strips and scraps from a country red and blue exchange from a couple of summers ago. As you can see, this quilt works great as a scrappy stash buster and I love the circular motion created by the block units as your eye travels across the top of the quilt.

ALMOST THERE

The weather is a mystery to me. I posted another rose picture to remind me that we had sunshine and warmer temperatures (still way below normal) but warmer than today and certainly dryer. We got all the way up to 47 today plus rain - the Oregon drizzly kind. Our snow levels are so low the state road department got the snow plows out again. 14" of new snow in the mountains this time of year surely must be some kind of record. But, it was nice on Sunday. Should have planted my geraniums and tomatoes then instead of quilting! But, onto other more pleasant things.

ALMOST THERE #1 ... I can't believe it isn't midnight yet and I'm all packed and ready to head for the airport. Usually when I have an early morning flight across country I will just stay up all night. Helps me throw my body clock off and I don't suffer from from jet lag. I'm usually asleep before we even lift off the runway! Crossword puzzles saved up from the last few days are packed; ipod is loaded with books, grandbaby photos, and a tune or two; got my Starbucks card loaded and ready to be whipped out on my stop in Phoenix; got everything we need to make the baby quilt for Eryn's friend; what am I forgetting? Hmmmm, scary thought when I think everything of any real importance is all ready to go in the bags.

ALMOST THERE #2 ... what's been on the machine? I've been working on Ruth's Double Wedding Ring quilt. First, I must say, Ruth, you did a great job with the piecing. Your quilt top just rested on the batting so nice and flat and square. Not easy to do with all those bias and curved edges. I worked out some great tips to streamline the quilting process with a Double Wedding Ring. I'll be doing a short workshop with the gals in Sisters, Oregon during our retreat this summer in July. Creative Studio, our new software update for our Statlers, makes the project much easier and much more accurate that it has been in the past.

Here's a tip for "toppers/piecers" and longarmers when you have a Double Wedding Ring quilt project:

Have the quilter baste down the edges of the outside bands and drop the quilting motifs in the melons and center areas. This should keep the costs for the quilting at a reasonable rate because no quilting has been added to the bands. I charge at a medium custom rate for this service. If I had added the ditch quilting to the bill, the pricing would have gone to the high end or heirloom quilting rates.

The piecer can then do the quilting in the ring areas. Many times they are quilted with stitch in the ditch to define those boundaries. Whether quilting is added in each of the little ring patches is up to the piecer. This kind of ditch quilting is done much more easily on the domestic sewing machine than on the longarm and can easily save the piecer quite a bit of money on the quilting bill.

ALMOST THERE #3 ... my list of "chores" to finish up before I leave are almost finished. Just a few things to finish cleaning up in the kitchen. Let the dogs out one last time for the night. Last thing to take care of ... a couple of reminders for you readers.

If you're a Statler quilter you'll want to be sure and "get your name in the hat" the the drawing for a free edge-to-edge design at the end of this month. It's easy - click on "post a comment" at the end of any post to enter the drawing. You don't even have to comment on the post - you can just say, "Put my name in the hat!" Right now, if no one else posts a comment you have a 50/50 chance of winning. Pretty good odds.

Also, remember to post your vote regarding the poll for this month regarding music playlist widgets on blogs. You'll find the poll at the top of the sidebar.

Have a great week from now until next Wednesday. I have no idea how my posting time will be. I will have my laptop with me and I usually work and keep up with my emails during Eryn's practice time. She as to keep her lip up and her fingers agile for her bassoon performances. I do remember her making reference to some trim in the guest room that needed finishing. Oh dear, sounds like another ALMOST THERE.

ROCKY RAILROAD BED

And, now ... for the rest of the story ... Plots of Rocks.

Walter is a longarm customer of mine and always brings me interesting quilt tops with interesting ideas and suggestions for quilting designs. This last winter he brought me a Railroad quilt. I couldn't believe the care he took in piecing the fussy-cut rails and the actual pattern he picked to go with all of these railroad fabrics was perfect. And, now to the quilting.

We talked about a lot of different possibilities included the use of the traditional railroad crossing signs and signals. But it true what they say about quilts talking to you. As Walter's quilt hung on the design wall waiting patiently for it's turn to loaded onto the machine, it kept saying,

"Keep it simple. Let my fabrics shine through on this one."

"Remember the young man who will be sleeping or napping under me. He doesn't want something all fancied up. He wants a peaceful rest and to stay warm."

"He just wants to appreciate Walter for knowing how much he likes trains."

And, so, after much careful listening to the quilt top, a plot of rocks was born. The collection consists of a Rock Block, a Rock Triangle, and a design called Rocks Fill P2P. I stitched straight lines in following the path of the rails, did a quarter inch echo in the blue triangle blocks, and a simple crosshatch block in the railway company logo blocks. The borders were filled with rocks with the set-up made easy using the point-to-point rock design.

And Walter sent me the nicest note of appreciation for the design choices I worked out for his quilt telling me how much the young man liked his new quilt. Thank you Walter, for sending me the challenges that help me to grow in new directions and to see the design possibilities with new eyes.

PATTERNS & PLOTS OF ROCKS

Today was a day of cutting, piecing, and computers.

First, the cutting ... my red and white sample of TWISTING RIBBONS is hanging in my trunk show at Fabric Depot and this means I need to have another sample on hand for booth hangings in the area and regional retail shows.

I like the swirling twirly motion in the blue and white mock-up. So, today I started the blue and white sample ... a day of cutting and piecing blocks. I need a total of 48 blocks for a twin size quilt. Sometimes I don't like knowing I need 96 two inch squares with lines drawn on the diagonal ready to complete sew-n-fold corners. I sorted the patches and blocks in sets of twelve blocks so the numbers wouldn't be quite so overwhelming. I have 20 blocks more than half finished so there is hope, but I still have a lot of triangles to prep before I can sew!

The second thing I did to help manage the "numbers I don't want to know, was to break up the cutting/piecing tasks by working on other projects. The other project of the day was to update my online web store with all the new Statler patterns I've been digitizing over the last 2 months.

NOTE TO SELF: Never, ever wait this long to add the new patterns to the catalog! Oh my, I think I would rather be drawing diagonal lines on squares in preparation for piecing face-to-face half square triangles!

But, enough of the whining. Statler users, you'll want to be sure and get yourself over to the Mountaintop "store" and check out the new designs. I have half of them loaded and ready for your shopping. I will be getting the rest of them uploaded tomorrow. Click on the "What's New" bar under each category to see the new patterns. Overall you will find 14 new blocks, 3 new border/sashing patterns (Grab a martini and check out the Olive Eye Sashing!), 8 new edge-to-edge designs including a great Sock Monkey design for Eryn's Monkey Business quilt and all of you Northwest quilters won't want to miss Cloudy Cascades (both to be added tomorrow), and 4 new triangle designs.

The sale for this month features a design called Ripples and Stars. The Ripples edge-to-edge we've all loved to use so far has morphed into a new pattern with the addition of stars scattered randomly through the ripples. The new Ripples and Star pattern is on sale for the next week until June 15th for half price to celebrate Flag Day.

I used this pattern on an American Hero quilt I finished back in March. American Hero quilts are presented to the parents of soldiers who have lost their lives in combat. A very worthy cause to support those who serve and sacrifice with honor and courage.

But, what about the "plots of rocks" you ask? You'll have to come back tomorrow to read about their story.

BABY QUILTS & A FRENCH BRAID

I am always amazed at what a difference fabric choices make when we piece our quilts. Simple changes in color, value, and scale can make a quilt look completely different. My husband contends we could just make the same pattern over and over with different fabrics ad noone would be the wiser. I don't think I would go quite that far. I can barely stand to make more than two samples of each pattern I design. But I will confess to being pretty tired of a pattern by the time I've gone through all the steps getting it print ready.


Two of my friends used the free baby size Bebe Bears quilt recently for new babies soon to arrive in their family/neighborhood. I wanted to share their pictures with you today so you could see what I talking about.


What a difference the fabric makes! I love the softness of Ann's quilt. And Juanita chose to use just two fabrics and add two columns and two rows to her version because she wanted a larger crawling floor mat size baby quilt for her new great grandson. By the way, adding two rows/columns makes the quilt finish at about 45"x45".

Ann's expectan friends are lovers of horses and are using a "horse theme" in the nursery so I didgitized a rocking horse pattern to go on her quilt. Isn't this simple little rocking horse just the cutest pattern to go on a baby quilt! Rocking Horse is a new edge-to- edge pattern now available at the Mntop webstore.

What else has been on the machine? Sunday was a quilting day. I love it when I have time to devote to the quilting machine with no interuptions and Sunday just happened to be that day this week. Marilyn brought in her newly completed French Braid quilt. I used an elegant falling leaf pattern as an all-over pattern with a mustard colored thread. What a rich combinaton - the combination of the rich colors with this fabric line, her great piecing, and a beautiful quilting pattern in a wonderful thread. GREAT JOB MARILYN!

TREASURED MEMORIES

Yes, she's lived in all of these houses. Sue is one of my longarm customers and I can always count on her to give a challenge with every quilt. Sue definitely qualifies for the TIF (Take It Further) challenges I read about in so many other quilting blogs.

(Note: you can click on any image for a larger more detailed view.)

One time she used all of her husband's silk ties to create a quilt/wall hanging that was all circles. I've seen other tie quilts, but Sue took it a step further and used raw silk for the background fabric. Another wall hanging was done using up more of the ties but adding coins from all of the different countries where her husband had worked as an embellishing element.

This time, it is the "HOUSE QUILT." Sue used old photos for creating the houses and then asked her kids about their memories from each house. Sue interpreted those memories with bead, buttons, trim, and embroidery embellishments for each block. She forgot about needing to attach the embellishments after I completed the quilting so the challenge was double as I worked around each button and bead hoping not to hit them with the needle or catch them with the hopping foot.

For me, the quilting challenge became a question of how to enhance the memories of each block. The quilting became a freehand fill sampler using ever fill I ever seen and even dreaming up a couple of new ones.

I started with completing the obvious ... the sky areas and the grass or ground areas. The houses were a little more difficult because of the beading and buttons. But the detailing on the houses was so much more defined when I did stitch in the ditch where ever I could. Sue will have a few areas to complete on her own either by hand or with her domestic machine.

Sometimes the fabric was a good guide in dictating the fill pattern to be used. After I finished all of the sky/ground areas I went back to look at the roof of each house. Sue was very careful to pick fabrics that looked like the actual roofing material of each house. I followed her lead and quilted shakes, shingles, and swirly curvy roofing tiles. It is always difficult to use a two dimensional representation look three dimensional, but Sue did a good job by using proportion and scale, piecing lines, and embroidery stitches, and floss color to help create shadows, forward projecting roof lines, and under eaves areas.

Sometimes sky fill was easy because of the embroidery Sue had done to begin with. The fireworks in the sky gave me a theme to follow continuing with swirls and "shadow" fireworks. I also created a shadow forest behind the tall evergreen tree on the left to help enhance a single lone tree.
This building has a wonderful story. It was the only time Sue had to live in an apartment building. The building is located in Chicago ... hence, Lake Michigan in the foreground. And, of course, you'll notice the absence of any green, landscaping, flowers since Sue was living in the "concrete canyons." For one who loves her yard and gardening, the single lone ornamental tree she could see from her second story window was what helped her to keep her sanity.

The other item of interest with this building is an embroidered motif. This logo wasn't really on the side of the building, but Sue added it to help remember the other building tenants and to explain interesting visitors she may have met coming and going from the building. You may have to look closely at the picture on the left side of the building to see the embroidered Play Bunny logo - their headquarters is located in this building in Chicago.

No, this is not a giant peach or orange tree with only one orange. Sue could see the town water tower from one of her windows which was painted to look like a peach. What Sue remembers most about this water tower was, if one were approaching from just the right direction ... how much the top of the water tower looked like a bare baby's bottom.

Ah, Glasgow Kentucky ... where they actually created a mosaic of the town name and the state embedded right into the street!

Such a family treasure - a unique way to capture the memories and a great conversation starter for family gatherings. Sue, how are you ever going to decide who is the keeper of such a wonderful family heirloom? Is it time to get started making one for each of your children!

TREASURES FROM THE TRUNK

We all have them; we save them; we protect them in acid free paper; we shield them from sunlight and dust. We may even bring them out every year or so just to re-adjust the folds and admire them ... and then back into hiding for another long year or two.

I'm suggesting we rescue our treasured linens, quilts, our keepsake family heirlooms from the dark recesses of our trunks, attics, and closets. Bring them out and enjoy them. Fill them with love. Honor the makers of these priceless family gems, our connections to the past, be it our personal family legacy or our community of quilters and needle workers.

Respect, honor, and treasure all that is contained within these simple pieces of cloth - the workmanship, the love, the memories, and ties across the miles that say "I will always remember you; I will always love you; you'll always be a part of my heart and a part of my life."

Karen did so with her grandmother's cross stitch tablecloth ...




A word about the "technicalities" of quilting a piece like this ... I used the very lightest weight thread I could find and quilted right through the cross stitching patterns. I recommend So Fine for the top thread and Bottom Line for the bobbin area to work with minimal thread breaks and tension issues. Both are from Superior Threads.

I find I need very little adjustment in either area when working with these threads. I do have a bobbin case that is just for my pre-wound SuperBOBS so I don't have to reset the tension when using these threads, and I find I don't have to make any adjustments in the top tension when switching from King Tut to So Fine. Each machine is different. Don't be afraid to experiment to find the best settings for tension to make your machine "sing" when using these threads.

QUILTING CARTOGRAPHER

Some days you wake up and you know your job and what needs to done. Other days, you know what needs to be done; you've spent lots of time thinking about how to do it; you've rehearsed in your head a million times (especially at night when you can't sleep.) You've maybe even spent some time working it out on paper and with the computer design software exactly how to proceed with the job at hand. But when it comes right down to it, you just have to jump in with both feet ... seam ripper in one hand and one finger of the other hand hovering above the STOP button.

This was the case with Tammie's quilt. She designed the top herself as a gift for her antique map collecting husband as a gift.

Tammie: "Wouldn't it be neat if you could quilt longitude an latitude lines on it? That shouldn't be too hard."
Kay: "Well, I'll see what I can do."
Tammie: "Before Christmas?"
Kay: "Sure, why not?" Those words were no sooner out of my mouth than I was shaking my head at myself. What was I thinking? Oh well, too late now, and who doesn't love a challenge. Like they say, "Just do it!"

After a little online refresher course in geography - it's been over ten years since I taught World Geography to 7th graders, I had a good idea where and how I wanted the design to go. Next stop was an appointment with the trusty AutoSketch software design program.

I didn't need to draw the piecing part of the quilt out, I just needed the dimensions of her quilt. I was then ready to work out a reasonable spacing interval between the lines. Don't forget the curves! How will I figure out those out? Remember to add in the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, an equator, and I think I've got it covered.

The latitude lines were easy because they are straight lines. I only had to remove ("frogging")the first two longitude lines because the P2P Curve1 didn't stitch the curved line as I had expected. The Pattern Height needed to be increased by 2.5 inches at each repeat to give the increasing curved line as I moved further and further from the center. The only other glitch to deal with was at the very last longitude line for the size of her quilt ... I ran out of throat space. I did have to digitize the to end connections to fill the outer corners.

Her husband was surprised and both were pleased with the end result. In hindsight, my recommendation: to save your peace of mind and eliminate a number of stops and starts (which can over time weaken the integrity of the quilt,) use a fancy compass rose design and some nautical motifs in the four corners rather than trying to get both of the ends to line up perfectly with the lines that were already stitched.

If you're able to attend the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show this year on July 12th, be sure to look for Tammie's quilt. She will be entering her quilt in the show.

Darlene's Quilt

Darlene left a quilt with me to finish for her before Christmas. The quilt is to be a gift for her handyman and as we all know, guy quilts can present challenges in terms of design choices. Darlene looked through the catalog of my designs and made her choices ... for the blocks 1030 Vintage Lily and for the strips and the borders 1082 leaf curl border. We also decided using a wiggly line to "faux ditch" the framing border would be adequate and help keep the cost of the gift within reason.

I love the piecing pattern of the quilt and the fabrics. Darlene told me she purchased the quilt top as a kit from a magazine - not sure which one. Isn't it a great collection of fabrics and I love the simplicity of the repeating pinwheel blocks.

The blocks were easy to drop in beginning with a 45° rotation of the block and remembering to reset the block margin back to a 1/4" all the way around. When I was working with the wholecoth repeating designs I had changed the margin to 1/16" - almost touching but not quite. Too close for a block margin on a pieced quilt. Isn't it great how easily blocks can be re-sized with a computerized quilting system. The blocks in the quilt body were about 9" and the border blocks were about 6".

I'd forgotten how easy the leaf curl border was to set up using the P2P function. I designed the pattern so the start/end falls on the mid-line. This means all you have to do is establish the pattern height according the amount of breathing space you decide to leave from the edge of the quilt and/or the adjacent border and then determine the number of repeats needed to fill the space. Measuring was needed for the borders but the strips were super easy because I was able to use the block intersections as a guide for the pattern width.

Darlene loved the results - so do I. I think this would make a great QOV quilt ... great size and easy pattern that would look great in the country reds and blues.

BATTING: Warm Bond 80/20

THREAD:

Top-King Tut 954 Shifting Sands

Bobbin-Signature 100% Cotton ... Fawn