Snowflakes by Michael

 I am still wondering where Michael finds the time to sleep and eat.  Maybe he doesn't.  Anyway, here's his most recent project.  Fussy cut snowflake designs in the center of the blocks, and a lovely glittery snowflake patterned fabric in the background and borders.  Quilted with "Flurry" panto of snowflakes and white "Glide" thread.  Makes me long for snow and not the current deluge of rain that we are having.  Oh well, you don't have to shovel rain!

"Christmas Favorites" by Judee

I LOVE Christmas!  Warm and snuggly quilts, warm fires, cookies and hot cocoa!

Judee made this quilt for her grandkids, and it's such a great kid quilt.  The pattern is from "Art to Heart", but she has modified it slightly.  Still lots of applique, and pieced blocks.  Judee chose to use wool batting so it's got a great loft, and I quilted it with a pretty tight all over quilting design.  I left some things empty, most of the lettering, and parts of Santa.  This way they've are more dimensional from the rest of the quilt.  There's an unwritten "rule" as well that you don't quilt over applique.  Sometimes though, you have to do some quilting on the applique to keep the batting from shifting as the quilt is used.  That's why Santa has a curly beard, and some more swirls in his coat. A few strategic designs in the candy cane and the ornaments.  Wish I could be there when the kiddos see this one for the first time.

Terri's Layer Cake

More quilting terms.  A "Layer Cake" is a package of 10" squares of fabric, pre-cut and usually from a fabric line so that they all coordinate.  I believe that Terri said she won these, and how come I didn't get in on that contest?  Kind of a 1930's theme, but updated at the same time.  It's amazing to me what you can do with a 1/2 square triangle.  Take a square of fabric, cut it in 1/2 on the diagonal to make a triangle.  Sew it with another triangle to make a square again, but with two different fabrics.  Lay them out in various patterns until you are pleased with the results.  Terri also used 4-patch units in the corners of the square.  Quilted with the Swirls board and So Fine! thread.

Double Wedding Ring by Pat

 Oh my!  I dream of "someday" piecing a DWR (double wedding ring) quilt, but I haven't yet.  I so admire people who take on these amazing challenges.  Pat told me that this quilt is for "a non-traditional couple, but they want a traditional quilt."  We chose traditional quilting designs for this pattern with lots of feathers and stitching in the ditch.  I love that this quilt is even included in the pre-nup agreement.  If the relationship ends in under 5 years, the quilt reverts to Pat.  Great idea!  After all the work that she put into this, I can't believe that she's giving it away.

 Each block has been SID around all the seams, then I added feather quilting in just the cream triangle shapes.  This allows the rest of the parts of the block to pop up.  The quilt will live in Wisconsin, so a chilly climate.  Pat chose wool batting, and the higher loft of the batt really allows the quilting to show. 
When Pat and I met for her to drop off her quilt, we talked about quilting designs so that she would know what her quilt was going to look like when I was finished.  I found myself quilting along, sticking to the described plan, but then thinking "It needs something else here."  So I'd add a little bit.  "Oh!  I like that."  Quilt some more in a different section and realize that it needed more quilting in that area too.  I must admit, that I had one vision, and started to quilt it that way, but it was quickly removed.  It just didn't work.  I'm very pleased with how this turned out, and I surely hope that Pat loves it too.

 I call this block, above, a "ghost block"  Pat left several open spaces on the border of the quilt that are the same size as the pieced blocks.  I quilted these the same as the pieced blocks, but they only show the texture of the quilting since there is no piecing.  Way fun!  Except for marking where the quilting would go.  I don't like to mark quilts because then I have to get those marks out.  Sometimes though, you just have to bite the bullet and mark up someone else's handwork.  Gives me the shivers.

 These two blocks above show the traditional quilting design for this pattern.  They are frequently quilted with feathers in the center squares and the "football" shapes.  I also cross hatched the background to emphasize the angular designs in the pieced blocks.

 Here's the back of the quilt.  The fabric is actually a pretty deep burgundy, but the camera read it as red and then orange.  I was trying to show the lovely quilting though.

This shows the "ghost quilting" along the border.

Nautical Quilt by Amber

Amber purchased at least 2 jelly rolls of fabric, probably more like 3, to make this quilt for her brother.  The theme of the fabrics is "Nautical", Sailing ships, sea birds, ocean animals etc.  She chose to have it quilted with an edge to edge design of waves, all done free hand.  Turned out very pretty, but wonderfully masculine for her brother.

In fabric terms, a "Jelly Roll" is a collection of fabrics, all cut at 2.5" wide by 45" long.  Then they are all rolled up and tied with a pretty boy and resemble a jelly roll from a bakery before they are taken apart.  So fun to look at in my closet.  I have at least 2 of them right now, but if I use them, I won't have them to pet and look at anymore!  I wonder how many years before I do something with them?

Modern leftovers by me

Oh horrors.  Have I made a "modern quilt"?  This quilt was going to be a Bonnie Hunter "Celtic Solstice" mystery quilt.  I was faithfully cutting out my fabrics, and managed to keep up with most of the sewing for a good chunk of the time.  By the time the reveal of the final quilt was completed, I was through with this project and really didn't want to bother with making a honking huge green and orange quilt.  "But I've already cut up so much fabric and pieced so much of it!  Now what?"  Hmm.  If I take these bits and lay them out this way, then add white background to make the narrow strips bigger, then alternate them...  Hey that worked!  Poof!  It's a charity quilt!  Long and skinny, but it will keep someone warm.  Extra warm as I used leftover wool batting.

Quilted with a pantograph who's name escapes me at the moment, but I think it really works on the quilt.  By the way, this is only a small portion of the pieces from this mystery quilt.  There will be more charity quilts coming from it in the future.  First, a few other projects needs to be taken care of though.

Mosiac baby quilt by Xande

How did I ever get so lucky as to meet someone as much fun as Xande?  I'm out riding my bike one day, and came upon another rider who rides about the same speed as me.  We rode along together for some time, until our routes took us to different parts of town.  We exchanged e-mails and discussed meeting up to ride Rocky Butte for training.  That was about 1.5 years ago, and I can't keep track of how many miles.  Since then we've done Rocky Butte most Sundays.  If one of us can't make it, the other usually does it for the other.  We've ridden Cycle Oregon together, and other times just getting together to ride.  So I've met this really fun friend to bike with, and she quilts!  This is the first one that I've quilted for her, but I'm waiting for her "Movie Stars" quilt to be pieced.  This quilt is made up of approx. 2" squares that she puts up on her design wall until she's happy with the arrangement. 

Quilted with pink Glide thread, and a pantograph of butterflies.

I love the backing fabric!  Cats on flannel, and it's pink.  All from her stash.  Another reason to love Xande.  She collects fabric too!  If you ever want to join us for a ride, we usually meet about 9:45 am on Sundays by the entrance to City Bible Church.  We'll be the ones in bike gear, complaining about riding but talking about how much character we are building.  Personally, I think I am enough of a character, but who am I to say?

Baby quilt for Auden by Nathan

Nathan contacted me about quilting this quilt for his best friend's new baby, Auden.  A bit of a rush because he needed the quilt finished and back to him in a week.  Thankfully, when he called, my machine was between quilts, and this was small, so I squeezed it in.  I believe that this is Nathan's first quilt, but I don't think that it will be his last.  To go with the red "A", Nathan chose red "So Fine!" thread, and stars and loops.  He then asked me to bind it with satin blanket binding.  Not something I had worked with before, but I'm always up for a challenge. Nathan says that he remembers a quilt from his own childhood with this soft satin binding, and that's what he wanted for Auden.  I love the pop of red color around the outside of the quilt.

 

Add caption

Nissen's baby quilt

Lindsay contacted me about making a baby quilt for the newest member of their extended family, Nissen.  Lindsay chose the fabric, and transferred the ultrasound photo to fabric.  I then pieced the quilt and quilted it for her.  What a lucky baby!