www.myquilter.blogspot.com

2012-01-23T17:34:00.001-06:00

This Snail's Trail wallhanging received a custom design. I followed the piecing using a hand-guided swirly pattern.

A view from the back:

Animal Stripes design

2012-01-23T17:31:00.000-06:00

This t-shirt quilt was quilted using the Animal Stripes design- it went perfectly with the zebra design in the sashing fabrics.

Table runner

2012-01-23T17:28:00.000-06:00

Here is a table runner with custom treatment. I used a scroll design in the open areas around the pieced lillies, and did some 1/4" echo around the piecing. I think the curvy scroll design is a nice contrast to the sharp points of the pieced flowers.

A view from the back:

Carpet Scrolls design

2012-01-23T17:25:00.000-06:00

I used the new Carpet Scrolls design on this quilt. The borders have some pretty applique, and the center has paper pieced stars. I used a white thread, so that it would blend well with the white background fabric.

Here you can see the design a little better on the back:

Freehand water meander

2011-11-30T22:28:00.000-06:00

This quilt had such pretty blue/green batiks, and I thought of water right away when I saw it. This was quilted with a freehand water meander pattern.

New patterns November 2011

2011-11-30T22:13:00.000-06:00

One more day left in November for this year- can you believe it? The months really fly by.

Here are 3 new patterns that I've gotten this month to use on customer quilts. The first 2 are holiday patterns- Holly Berries, and Lynne's Ornaments. The ornament pattern has quite a bit of small details, and so it needs to be sewn out more slowly than some of the other patterns (and also the price per square inch is a bit higher than most of the other all-over patterns.)

This other one, called Animal Stripes, I just used on a t-shirt quilt that had zebra striped fabric as sashing between the shirts. This pattern was just perfect to go with that.

2 Christmas quilts

2011-11-28T08:15:00.000-06:00

Isn't this a fun quilt? I used the "Oodles of Doodles" for this quilt, I thought it looked like curly ribbon on presents. The customer thought it looked like swirling snow. :-)

And this quilt is done using "Holly Berries" pattern. This pattern is new, so I don't have it up on the pattern page yet, I will try & do that soon.

Autumn table runner

2011-11-28T08:02:00.000-06:00

Here is an Autumn table runner- the customer requested custom quilting on this one, so here are some pictures of what I did. This is a picture of the runner before I started:

...and this is after. I did some block & border designs, and then I was stumped on what to do in those lighter triangle areas. I finally came up with the idea to do some freehand designs that echo the leaves in the print of the other fabrics. Since these are freehand, each on is similar, but just a little bit different. I quilted over each line 3 times, to give it almost an "embroidered" look. I usually use a matching thread for most quilting, but here I used a couple shades darker than the fabric to really make it stand out & look like embroidery.

custom quilt

2011-10-08T12:57:00.000-05:00

This sampler quilt was custom quilted- I used some freehand designs along with some Intelliquilter designs. The applique was outlined with monofilament thread.

Winter Wonderland quilt

2011-10-08T12:52:00.000-05:00

All of that embroidery is done by hand- wow! I did a swirly design in the center of the quilt, and some custom designs in the blocks around the outer border area. I added some snowflake designs in the plain white areas of the outer border- white on white stitching always looks so nice.

Embroidered baby quilt

2011-10-08T12:43:00.001-05:00

Isn't the machine embroidery on the quilt so cute? Each letter of the alphabet has a cute teddy bear with it. I used a fan pattern to accent each block, and some hearts in the border, along with some freehand wavy lines in the sashing.

Oops, this picture ended up side-ways, sorry......

A quilt of my own

2011-09-24T13:21:00.001-05:00

This scrappy quilt is going on I's bed, made from recycled shirts, ala Bonnie Hunter style of Quiltville.com. I found a soft flannel backing to use, so it should be nice & warm this winter. The block piecing pattern is called Arrowhead, and I quilted it with the Baptist Fans pattern.

A new pattern

2011-09-24T13:17:00.000-05:00

I've designed a new pattern, called "Path to my Heart"... I got to use it on this fun black/white/pink quilt. This quilt had a black Minkee backing, so it will be nice & warm & toasty this winter.

Batik French Braid quilt

2011-09-18T20:39:00.000-05:00

This batik French Braid quilt was very fun to work on. All the quilting is done freehand on this one. The customer had pictures of this quilt, I think it was hanging in a quilt shop where she bought the pattern? Anyway, she wanted it quilted similar to the one she had seen in the shop. I use the Intelliquilter for quite a few of the all-over designs that I offer, and so having the opportunity to do this freehand work was fun for a change.

The outer border has a ferny design, and some swirly lines going down each of the braid sections. The center of each braid has fern wreath design, and a fun little design in the sashing. The thread color "camel" was used throughout, and it really stands out on the sashing & adds alot of texture & pattern to the solid dark blue/purple there.

all-over pattern with custom borders

2011-09-12T08:02:00.000-05:00

This quilt was quite large, we decided on doing an all-over pattern in the body of the quilt, and 3 custom borders. The body is quilted using the "August Rain" pattern.

The colors in the next 2 pictures show the true colors of the fabrics. Aren't they pretty?

This strippy batik quilt was quilted using simplified version of Asian Leaves. It is going to be a gift for a guy, so the quilter didn't want anything flowery.

The backing was black sateen, the black is hard to photograph. The picture here shows the quilting pattern, it really was a dark, dark black fabric- you just can't tell from the picture.

McKenna Ryan quilt

2011-08-25T10:12:00.000-05:00

I've always admired McKenna Ryan quilts- such beautiful fabrics & all those tiny, tiny pieces. I'm not sure I would have the patience to actually make one myself, but I did get to quilt one lately. It was fun to work on- I added lots of fun texture with the quilting. I used clear monofilament thread throughout, otherwise changing threads for all those different areas might have taken me until my retirement years.

I'm back

2011-07-30T23:10:00.001-05:00

We recently did some travelling out to the east coast... so if you have sent me an e-mail or called & I haven't replied, it's because I was out of town. If I've missed your call or e-mail, don't think I'm ignoring you! Send me another message & I will reply.

New York City is so much fun. I loved seeing all the skyscrapers & people. It is mind boggling to think you could fit everyone from the whole state of Iowa in NYC and not even fill it up. Just amazing. It's just like you see it on TV- sirens, cars honking, and so many people. We visited the Statue of Liberty while we were there.

Washington DC is a little more subdued... less traffic & people. We put on many miles walking to all the different monuments.

Lots & lots of security around the capitol building. Like guys with M-16 machine guns. Yikes. We saw one woman try to get past security- she was headed downtown in handcuffs last we saw. We did get a tour of the capitol & also got tickets in to the House of Representatives gallery.
A tour guide said that 10,000 people visit the capitol every day.

We saw the White House, but didn't get a tour inside. Only a few people get tickets for that, and you have to get them through your rep or senator & then only about 20% of the applications are approved.

My advice if you're headed out that direction- get up early & get a head start on all the crowds! We woke up at 6 AM to get to the Statue of Liberty, and were still not the first ones there, even though tickets start selling around 8:30 AM. There is quite a bit of traffic, but it's not impossible- just don't leave home without your GPS.

Embroidered quilt

2011-07-03T14:18:00.000-05:00

Cute, cute, cute! This baby quilt is so adorable. I've never seen these particular embroidery patterns before, they have some really cute details.
I used a simple cross-hatch design in the blocks.

Two quilts done in June

2011-07-03T14:13:00.000-05:00

These beautiful quilts were pieced by Alvina R. This first one is a sampler, and I used the "Gala Vine" pattern on it. I love how this viney pattern give so much texture to the quilt, without distracting from the various pieced blocks. I love the colors in this quilt... I've always admired sampler quilts, I really should make one myself.

She also piece this strippy quilt, and I did some custom quilting on this one. I used a braid pattern in the plain strips, and a square feather wreath in the blocks. The wreath had an open section in the center, and so I filled that in with a star pattern that I made up, to mimic the pieced star section. I think it makes a fun little unexpected detail in the center. The braid pattern was repeated in the outer border.

Sampler quilt

2011-07-03T13:58:00.000-05:00

I have some pictures of a sampler quilt I worked on, pieced by Carolyn E. She has worked on this for many years, using scraps from other projects, and most of the blocks were hand-pieced. I looks like quite a complicated block to piece.
I repeated a block design that coordinated with the piecing, and a simple sashing design. We were both happy with how it turned out.

Bright baby quilt

2011-05-27T14:48:00.001-05:00

Isn't this a fun, bright baby quilt? This was quilted using variegated thread, using the Circuit Board pattern.

A close-up of the variegated thread:

Custom quilt- feather wreaths

2011-05-27T14:43:00.000-05:00

Isn't this a cheery quilt... beautiful floral prints & white background. I repeated a feather wreath in the body of the quilt- looks nice on the back, too with all the feathers.

Tulip Festival Quilt Show

2011-05-21T09:23:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had a chance to visit the Tulip Festival Quilt Show in Orange City. Every year the Sioux Prairie Quilter's Guild puts on a show- it was another beautiful group of quilts this year. The guild did workshops this year on Bargello quilts and French Braid quilts, so they had a big group of each of these showing the different quilts that were started during the workshops. It was so much fun to see how each quilts looked so different with the fabric choices of the quilter. From Christmas fabrics to black & white to brights- all so very different. And those Bargello's- some of the sections had 1/4" finished size strips- wow!

Florence pattern

2011-05-03T12:38:00.001-05:00

This French Braid quilt was done with the "Florence" pattern. It's a leafy sort of design that goes with alot of fabrics.

Batik backings- prewashing

2011-04-18T20:48:00.000-05:00

I recommend pre-washing all backings, but especially batiks, for a few reasons. Prewashing will soften up the fabric. Unwashed batiks can sometimes cause skipped stitiches, and uneven tension, because it's hard for the needle to penetrate the fabric. Prewashing really makes the batiks much easier to work with. Another reason to prewash is to remove excess dyes. Here is a great example- look at all that blue dye in the water! Wow! Without prewashing, all that dye is probably going to migrate to your top the first time the completed quilt is washed.
It only takes a few minutes to run the sink full of lukewarm water, and swish it around a few times. Repeat until the water runs clear, then spin out the water, and stick in the the dryer on low heat until the backing is dry, and you're ready to go.

April 18, 2011

2011-04-18T20:36:00.000-05:00

This is a fun scrappy quilt, done with the "Bubbles" quilting pattern. A nice whimsical pattern to go with the fun fabrics.

Here's a Christmas French Braid quilt. What a soft, warm quilt to snuggle up with on a cold winter night, with some hot chocolate. The lighting must not have been the best when I took these- they look a little washed out. The colors were very rich & deep. This was quilting using the Festive Holly pattern.

A quilt that I made

2011-04-08T16:01:00.000-05:00

I actually finished a bed size quilt of my own- it's going in J's bedroom. He moved to a bigger bed from a bunk bed, and needed something to fit. This was made with lots of red/white/blue scraps. The pattern came from Scraps & Shirttails by Bonnie Hunter.

New patterns April 2011

2011-04-08T14:16:00.002-05:00

latest quilts finished....

2011-03-31T20:49:00.001-05:00

I took some time to quilt a baby quilt that I've had pieced for a while. I used the "Double Spiral" pattern on this one. I have used this on a few customer quilts lately, too, and I really like the clean lines of this pattern. The circular lines are a nice contrast to the sharp points & straight lines of the piecing.

I don't remember the name of this pattern... I think I jotted down the notes of how to make the block from the show "Simply Quilts" when that used to be on TV years ago. Too bad they cancelled that one. Each block goes together super fast.

I found this fun boat fabric that had some of the same colors from the front to use for the backing:

And, this is a quilt using the new "Swirling Waters" pattern designed by Ellen Munnich. It seems to work on well on "Asian" type prints. Isn't this a fun swirly-looking design- sort of like a lazy pool water.

And, a custom quilt with some very small pieces in those "Tree of Life" blocks. Lots of little triangles! A simple block design was requested in the alternating plain blocks, and so I used the square feather wreath there. White-on-white quilting is always so pretty.

This is a baby quilt, the Dad is a pilot, so the quilter requested airplanes. After a little internet research, I found this pattern from The Quilter's Niche.

Also used the embroidery machine to personalize the quilt top with baby's first name.

New Pattern- All-Over Feathers

2011-03-28T19:32:00.000-05:00

This is a new design available- All-over Feathers (designed by Ellen Munich). I think this design will work great with alot of quilts- a nice companion to floral fabrics. Creates texture without overwhelming the prints.

A view from the back of the quilt:

more customer quilt

2011-03-19T16:45:00.000-05:00

One of the quilts I've recently completed- she asked for a simple border pattern, and this is what we came up with. I've never used this before, but I really like it- I think it fits this quilt.
The light florals with the white will make a nice "Spring" quilt.

This quilt called for some "texture" type of quilting- she went with a free-hand "water" meander design.

A few of my own projects

2011-02-22T10:54:00.000-06:00

Here a few of my own projects that I've been working on lately. I'm making a quilt for J's bed, using a pattern from this book:
Scraps & Shirttails by Bonnie Hunter

I'm using red, white, and blue scraps from my collection of fabrics, and also some recycled cotton shirts. I love this fabric with the words to the Pledge of Allegiance on it.

This is a really easy pattern- you start off with 2.5" strips, 18" long. I sewed 40 strips together, and then sub-cut into long 2.5" strips. So far the body of the quilt you see here measures 62" x 80". I'm going to add some borders, and I also saved 3 strips of 2.5" squares to put in the borders, too.

And, here's a table runner I put together on Saturday (just the top- it's not quilted yet).

I used some leftover blocks from the border of this quilt:

Very easy & fast since the half-square triangle blocks were already done & just waiting for a home.

Loading 2 quilts on one backing

2011-02-16T11:18:00.003-06:00

I have a $30 minimum per quilt, but sometimes when there are 2 or 3 small quilts that can be mounted on a large backing I can waive the minimum charge. This is especially true if the quilts are similar in size and can use the same thread color and pattern, like these quilts below.

If I can use one large backing piece for all the quilts, I only have to mount that once on the frame, and this saves me time. These quilts all had the same backing and thread color, so I just zipped the backings together with the serger & loaded the one large backing piece.

T-shirt quilt

2011-02-16T11:15:00.000-06:00

Some pictures of a customer's t-shirt quilt I quilted. This is done using Dave Hudson's "Stars" pattern. I haven't used this pattern often, but I really like how this turned out. With most t-shirt quilts, I go right through the logo's on the shirts. Unless there is a really thick section that may bend a needle or cause it to skip stitches. Then I will go around that area. Most of the time, I can go right through with no problems.

A few recent quilts

2011-02-04T19:21:00.000-06:00

If you're a Cyclone fan, you'll love this one! All Cyclone fabrics, and a soft red flannel backing. This was quilted using the "square spiral" quilting pattern. It looks like I didn't get a picture of the whole quilt, just a close-up of the front.

And here's a small baby quilt panel- I outlined the printed borders, and added the "puzzle piece" pattern in the middle section. One of my favorite patterns for a kids' quilt.

And this is one quilted with "Hearts Surfing". I think this is the first time I've used this pattern.

Kite quilt

2011-01-22T19:03:00.000-06:00

Isn't this a cute baby quilt? A nice change from the snow & wind outside here in Iowa! It makes me think of warm spring days. This was quilted using the "Here Comes the Sun" pattern. A neat way to use up some colorful scraps in your stash.

Oodles of Doodles pattern

2011-01-22T19:00:00.000-06:00

A few Christmas quilts, that were quilted using the "Oodles of Doodles" pattern. I think it looks like swirling snow/wind on these quilts. It's a nice all-over pattern that has even coverage & texture.

Loading a quilt on the frame

2011-01-22T18:54:00.000-06:00

I took some pictures lately, showing how a quilt was loaded on the frame... I thought this might be interesting to share here on my blog.

First the backing is pinned (wrong-side up) to the canvas leaders on the back bar & the lower front bar.... The fabric is not pulled tight, but just enough tension so it will lay flat between the 2 bars.

Then one side of the quilt top is pinned to the leader on the top front bar, and the other side is loose.

Then, the bar that holds the quilt top is raised, so that the batting can be laid in between the two layers of fabric.

I lower the bar again, and baste around the edge of the quilt top with the quilting machine. See how the batting is sandwiched in between the quilt top & the backing....

After this, I can quilt a section of quilt, and then roll up each completed section on the back bar.

Eventually, the whole quilt will be rolled up on the back bar, and will be completed. Then I can un-pin the quilt & take it off of the frame.

And, here are some pictures of the quilt that was on the frame when I took the pictures- this was made for a 4-H project, and it's her first quilt! She really did a great job with piecing a large quilt. The stars seem to dance across the quilt top, with the lighter & darker purple fabrics & the way it's pieced. Very pretty.

It was quilted with an all-over swirly design, using light purple thread.

quilt labels

2011-01-07T12:41:00.000-06:00

If you are like me, you put off making labels for your quilts, and sometimes it just doesn't get done. Now, I can make labels with my embroidery machine, and really speed things up. Here's a sample of a label. I haven't trimmed it to size yet, or added any other embroidery, you can get an idea of how the lettering would look.

If you'd like a label made for your next quilt, let me know. I could apply it to your backing before or after it's quilted. Just let me know the personalization you want.

I can also personalize the front of your quilt, too. If you'd like the recipient's name or other message. Here's a little sample on a scrap-

If you'd like this done on your quilt, let me know the color & placement of the word(s) you'd like.

Having fun with embroidery

2011-01-07T11:19:00.001-06:00

I've recently entered the world of embroidery machines. Here are some projects that I've done to get familiar with my machine.

These are two cotton tea towels for drying dishes, personalized on the corner with some fun kitchen embroidery & names. There are some really neat details on these patterns, they are about 3.5" wide in size.

And here are some zippered bags I made, it was fun to try out some designs I found on the internet. So much fun to personalize things with names & these fun patterns.

Geometric Path

2010-11-27T11:04:00.000-06:00

This is one of my own patterns, called Geometric Path- it's a good "non-flowery" pattern when you are looking for something geometric, and not too feminine. Here I used it on a flannel boy quilt.

some recent quilts....

2010-11-27T10:59:00.000-06:00

Here are some recent quilts using 2 new patterns, and 2 older ones.....

This is a new pattern, called "Oodles of Doodles" designed by Patricia Ritter. It's a swirly design- on this quilt I thought it would look like swirly snow & wind going throug the snowflakes on the fabric.

A view of the back:

And here's a pattern that I've used before, called "Along the Way"...

View of the back:

Here's a new pattern called "Trim the Tree"- looks like ornaments hanging from pine boughs....

And this one I've used before, called "Starry Nights".

View of the back:

Doggy bones pattern

2010-11-08T17:09:00.001-06:00

Here's a cute doggy quilt that I thought some dog bones would look cute on. So, I came up with this pattern. I think it turned out sweet.

Election Day!

2010-11-02T07:00:00.004-05:00

Don't forget, today's the day to cast your vote!

Let your voice be heard!

Pieced backings

2010-10-29T13:55:00.000-05:00

A few quilters have asked lately if it's ok to send along a pieced backing. As long as the backing is still 3 or more inches bigger than the top on all sides, then it's fine. Sometimes a creative backing can be a way to use up some extra blocks & add some interest to an otherwise plain backing.

If you have some leftover pieces or blocks, piece them together & insert them between two sections of yardage.

The only caution I have is that I can center the backing to a point, but not always perfectly. If you make the backing asymetrical, then it will be easier for me to work with. Here's a great example of a backing on one of my baby quilts. The inserted strip is off to the side.

When the backing needs to be perfectly centered, it can be tricky, as it's hard to tell exactly how much the top will draw up when quilted. It may end up off to one side or the other by an inch or two. So, just keep that in mind when piecing your backings.

Dresden Plate quilt

2010-10-12T13:05:00.000-05:00

I love the look of white on white quilting- white thread, white fabric.... the texture of the quilting really stands out. Here is a great example of this, with these pictures of a Dresden Plate quilt that I quilted lately.

I did the crosshatching with the Intelliquilter, and the feathers are freehand. The blades of the plates are stitched down using clear monofilament thread using a tiny serpentine stitch. I didn't want to take away from the fabrics in the plates.

2 new patterns

2010-10-12T12:59:00.001-05:00

Here are two new patterns that I've designed... The first one is called Geometric Path.

Here I've used it on this fun zig-zag quilt:

And this on is simply called "Love". It's a more dense design, and has to be stitched out quite slowly, so this one would be higher than most of the all-over designs are priced at.

Here it is used on a quilt:

Re-usable quilt bags

2010-09-30T13:30:00.000-05:00

When I return your completed quilt, you'll find it in one of these new re-useable bags. I've had good feedback on these- you can return your next quilt in them. They are a great way to carry your quilt.

These are just a small way I can say "thank you" for your business. Hope you like em!

Thread

2010-09-30T13:23:00.000-05:00

Do you ever wonder what kind of thread a longarm quilter uses? Here is my thread rack.... these are 6,000 yard cones. My most used color is Coronado- a light cream color that seems to work on a variety of quilts from tan to pink to light green or brown. (It's towards the top left corner of the rack.) I use quite a bit of Permacore thread by American & Effird, also use Sew Fine by Superior Threads, and a few cones of Signature thread, also by A&E.

I started using Permacore after well-known award winning quilter Linda Taylor recommends & uses this thread. It is strong enought to stand up to the high-speed sewing conditions of longarm quilting, and comes in hundreds of colors while being reasonably priced. When a thinner thread is needed, the I use the SewFine thread by Superior Threads. I also have gold & silver metallic thread from Superior, and have had great results using this thread. I just finished a table runner using the gold metallic, and I think this really gives it some sparkle and adds some fun to the quilt.
Unless the piecer has a strong aversion to clear monofilament, then I will use this for stitch-in-the-ditch quilting on a custom quilt. It will disappear into the ditch, and often there are so many fabric colors, it would be impossible to match them all. So, the monofilament is a great tool for this. Otherwise, I generally don't use the monofilament thread for all-over quilting, just stitching in the ditch (outlining blocks, etc.)
Thread thread is included in the quilting fee, unless a metallic is used. Then, depending on the size of the quilt, and density of the quilting pattern, there may be a small fee to cover the added cost of the metallic thread, and also the added time, since I need to stitch out the pattern at a slower speed to avoid breaking the thread.
Oh, and don't forget variegated threads. I have a few colors of these, too. I have a cone of blues, one of greens, a primary colors version, and also one called Mocha Almond Fudge- goes from dark brown to rust to tan & light tan. The added fee may also apply for variegated threads.
I generally use the same thread on the top & bottom of the quilt. Keep this in mind when choosing a thread color.

Gold metallic thread used on this quilt

What I've been working on.....

2010-09-25T20:37:00.003-05:00

Here is a custom quilt... put a feathered wreath in the on-point blocks, and lots of straight-line stitching in the green border, and also in the background. The outer border also has feathers.

Here is a McKenna Ryan quilt, all those pieces are tiny & fused down with an iron-on adhesive. I outlined all the pieces with clear monofilament thread, and then added the background textures. The camera didn't get the colors quilte right- they look a little washed out. It is really a beautiful quilt, commemorating the customer's trip to Alaska.

Bali Wedding Star quilt

2010-08-31T14:29:00.006-05:00

I was honored to be able to work on this gorgeous Bali Wedding Star quilt. The piecing pattern is a design by Judy Niemeyer, all done in beautiful batik fabrics. The pictures just don't do it justice- those batiks are so vibrant & beautiful. All that amazing paper-piecing must have taken hours & hours!

The quilt was 104" square, so I didn't have a way to get a picture of the full quilt. But here is a good size section of it.

This quilt is done with all hand-guided patterns. The Intelliquilter was not used at all for this one. Each of the little squares in the arcs are quilted with a continuous curve pattern, and the stars have a large arc pattern in those areas. The feathers are a hand-guided pattern, to fill in the light areas between the darker batiks.

For the feathers I used a finer thread, called "So Fine" by Superior Threads. Since there is a bit of back-tracking on the feathers, there is less thread build-up in those areas that have to be stitched over twice.

The edges of the quilt all follow the curved piecing, and so there will be some interesting binding techniques going on. I am hoping to see if after she has the binding complete.

A view from the back:

Recent quilts

2010-08-19T08:31:00.006-05:00

This first one is quilted with the "Bubbles" pattern. There are little fish in some of the fabrics on the quilt, and so the bubbles are cute with that.

This flying geese quilt was quilting using the "Gala Vine" pattern.

And this quilt by is done with freehand hearts.

And here's a quilt using the new "Wishing Star" pattern. I think it turned out very sweet. The customer is giving this quilt to her granddaughter who is moving into a big-girl bed. It looks like I only have a close-up of the quilt. I wish I had gotten a full image of the quilt.

New patterns

2010-08-06T17:06:00.004-05:00

Pictures of the latest patterns available with the Intelliquilter:

quilt for my parents

2010-07-18T18:50:00.003-05:00

I made this quilt a few months ago for my parents, and just realized that I haven't posted pictures here yet.

It's a queen size, a little longer than a standard one so that the pillows can be underneath & the quilt can tuck in under them a bit. The fabrics were picked to match a wall-hanging that they have, and all came from Roelofs'. They had the perfect fabric collection that coordinated together, and so that helped alot with the fabric choosing. I really made the ladies at the store get a work-out, I think there were something like 40 different fabrics in the quilt! But I like the variety & scrappy sort of look.

Mom wanted a higher-loft to the quilt, and so the quilting is light custom, trying to keep the quilting from getting too dense. The original pattern did not have the diamond border, I made that using some blocks that were left over from piecing the middle of the quilt. I was very happy with that border, and think it really adds alot to the quilt.

They're smiling.... I think they like it! :-)

E-bay quilt top

2010-07-18T18:38:00.005-05:00

I purchased this quilt top on E-bay quite a long time ago.... I've had it quilted for some time, too, and the recent quilt show in town gave me some incentive to get the binding on & get it finished.

The quilt top was listed as 100% cotton fabrics, but I'm pretty sure that the blue plaid fabric is a poly/cotton blend. Ohwell, it made a good practice quilt top, and I'm actually pretty happy with it.

Denim quilt

2010-07-18T18:21:00.007-05:00

I've been saving old jeans for quite a few years, I just throw them in a box downstairs.... Lately I ran across the box & thought I should do something with them. And after reading "Scraps & Shirttails" by Bonnie Hunter, I thought her pattern for a denim quilt would be perfect project to use some of them up. I still have enough jeans to make another, but I think I'll wait a little while to start on the next one.

It went together really fast, I think the cutting part took longer than the piecing. The red square in the middle of each 9-patch is a yard-sale shirt. Her version in the book used all blue jeans, but I think I like the little bit of color that the red squares add.

Roelof's store had an awesome 50% off sale on their already-marked-down fabric, and so I found a great piece of flannel for the backing at $2/yard. Gotta love that! So, the whole quilt will cost about $8. It measures 63 x 82- I think that will work on a twin bed. Not sure exactly what it's final destination will be, but I'm sure it will be more useable than a box of old jeans with holes in the knees.

I think I will do some simple quilting, and try to avoid all those thick seams where the blocks meet. More pics to come after it's quilted......

Double Wedding Ring

2010-06-28T12:52:00.005-05:00

I've been longarm quilting for over 7 years, and this is the first double wedding ring quilt that I've gotten to work on. These aren't exactly in the fast piecing category. Wow- no straight seams anywhere. This quilts' destination is a wedding present- I'm sure it will be loved for years to come.

I stitched in the ditch around all the pieces, and then used the Intelliquilter to set in the designs in the tan areas. There are over 300 individual motifs, and I was so glad to have the computer to help me out with that!

A wedding shower game

2010-06-21T17:06:00.003-05:00

I hosted a wedding shower here at my house a week ago, and had made these little fabric flowers for a shower game. Each flower had a question tied to it, things like, "where did you go on your honeymoon?" or "where were you when your husband proposed to you?" Each lady took a flower, and we each had a turn to answer our question. It was fun to hear everyone's answers. Some of us had been married only a few years, and others for 50 years.

I was inspired by a tutorial for the fabric flowers from a blog called Polka Dot Pineapple. She has all kinds of fun tutorials on her blog. The flowers were fun to make & a nice way to use up some smaller scraps I had on hand.

I love summer!

2010-06-21T15:53:00.005-05:00

Finally, the weather is hot today, little C & I spent some time outside picking some things out of the garden. We picked snow peas, raspberries, a green pepper, and got 3 eggs from the chicken coop. It's so much fun to see all the garden plants start to grow & develop & start picking some of the produce. We've already picked quite a bit of red & green lettuce, and tons of strawberries. Yum! Wouldn't it be great if fresh fruits & vegetables were available all year round?

quilt pictures

2010-06-05T09:21:00.003-05:00

Here is a beautiful Carpenter's Star quilt- I love the colors in this quilt, it would look right at home at my house. :-) This looks like a quilt that would go together fast, using 1/2 square triangles. We decided on the Monsera quilting pattern.

And here's a cute quilt using the Flower Power pattern, I thought this was just perfect with the daisy fabric in the quilt.

website with free patterns

2010-06-05T09:08:00.003-05:00

Have you been to http://www.quiltville.com/ yet? It's full of free quilt patterns & tons of pictures, I go there all the time for inspiration. She has all kinds of ideas for using scraps & making beautiful quilts. I've been trying to use up some of the fabric that I have already & not buy more for a while. Here are two quilts that I've made already using her free patterns:

Here's the pattern link for this one : http://quiltville.com/weedwhacker.shtml

This goes together very fast, it was a fun quilt. I just made a baby size- with the borders it measures 40" square. This is just the quilt top, I haven't quilted it yet.

And here's the link for this pattern : http://www.quiltville.com/scrappytrips.shtml

I oriented the blocks differently that her quilt- I made them all follow a big diamond shape, since the quilt is not so bit. Go to here website, and you can see all different pictures of how others have put this quilt together.

I used the "Bubbles" pattern to quilt this- I think this is such a fun pattern. Here's the back showing the quilting detail.

IQ Patterns- Novelty & kids' patterns

2010-05-12T15:55:00.009-05:00

more recent quilt pictures

2010-05-10T16:32:00.004-05:00

"Baptist Fans" on a fun panel quilt:

"Variety" pattern:

"Daisies" pattern on a fun & bright quilt:

"Mahogany" pattern on a batik quilt:

Freehand quilt

2010-05-10T16:27:00.004-05:00

This quilt called for some free-hand "wind" quilting.... It's a small wall quilt. The background was a almost solid black- kind of hard to photograph. The pictures look lighter than the actual black fabric was.
I even happened to have some black Quilter's Dream Midnight Poly batting on hand- it was perfect for this quilt with black fabrics on top & bottom.

Custom Christmas quilt

2010-05-05T08:28:00.003-05:00

Little C & I thought that this quilt should live at our house at Christmas. :-)

All of the quilting is done freehand, except the diamonds.

Pictures of quilts

2010-05-05T08:19:00.003-05:00

Some new pictures showing how the patterns look on actual quilts:

Clamshells on a panel quilt:

Criss-cross on a t-shirt quilt:

Criss-cross again:

August Rain:

Pizzazz:

Vining For You:

Baptist Fans:

More IQ patterns

2010-05-03T16:25:00.010-05:00

Here are the latest patterns available with the Intelliquilter:

Our new playhouse

2010-05-03T08:09:00.003-05:00

Just had to post some non-quilting related pictures of the new playhouse that Mr. Quilter built for the kids. It's too cute, something I would've been ga-ga for as a kid. I think I like it as much as the kids do. Yesterday I sat in there & read a book.

Last week little miss C picked out CareBear fabric for curtains, so now there is even a little decor on the inside.

Latest patterns

2010-04-06T11:18:00.002-05:00

Showing you some of the newest patterns available:

Fern pattern

2010-04-01T08:28:00.003-05:00

This is a newer pattern, I've found it is one that works well with batik quilts. The pattern is stitched using the IQ, but it looks very freehand & artsy. It's one of my favorites. It is quite a dense design, and takes a little more time to stitch out, so it's priced a little higher than the basic all-over price.

more recent quilts

2010-04-01T08:17:00.007-05:00

Have some pictures here showing some recent quilts. The first one is using "Wildflower". This is a really versatile design, that works well on alot of quilts.

The next one is a pattern called "Vining for You". I think this is very pretty, a nice swirly pattern that work well on leafy or floral quilts.

This next one was a batik quilt, and I thought something geometric would work well. It's quilted using double spirals. Very graphic & bold, like the fabrics in the quilt.

And, this last one is Puzzle Pieces by Ellen Munnich. Very fun for a kid's quilt. I can't wait to use this one a quilt that' I've pieced. Especially cute with variegated thread. It doesn't show up well in this picture, but the thread color changes from medium to light blue & to white.

Baby quilt with fan border

2010-03-28T21:57:00.002-05:00

Here's an example of using the baptist fan pattern in a border....

Speedy 1/2 square triangles trick

2010-03-28T21:44:00.006-05:00

I found this trick on the internet lately, called tube-strip piecing. I am working on a quilt that needs hundreds of half-square triangles, and this is a really neat time-saving trick.

You put together 2 strips, right sides together, and sew a 1/4" seam on both sides of the strip:

The cut at a 45 degree angle. A ruler with these markings make it easier. I am using 3" strips here, and it will yield 3.5" squares. There will be a little waste on the end with the first cut.

Keep cutting at a 45 degree angle, alternating directions. The cool part is you will be cutting off those pesky little dog-ears while you're at it.

You'll end up with thirteen 3.5" squares, from a 44" strip of 3" wide fabric.

Finger press them to the darker side, to get lots of these:

Another nice thing is that the diagonal seam is not on the bias, and will not stretch. This makes the block a little more stable.

Give this technique a try- it's really a time saver. I made hundreds of these little guys in no time. And they're much more accurate than cutting all those pesky triangles before you piece them together.

Quilt using the Peace pattern

2010-03-24T08:32:00.003-05:00

This quilt was the reason I found the "peace" pattern. It was made out of cordurouy, and it quilted up just fine.

My summer schedule & custom quilts

2010-03-18T12:57:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking about my schedule this summer... It's Chloe's last summer at home before she starts preschool, and I want to make the most of the time I have with her & the boys at home, especially with the short summers we have here in Iowa. I like to garden, and do quite a bit of canning, and enjoy evenings outside by the fire pit.

I've decided that I will only be taking a limited number of custom quilts from now until school starts again in the fall. I already have 2 large custom quilts booked (one for April and one for May), and so there will only be room for one or two more this summer.

I will still be taking quilts that require an all-over pattern as usual.

New patterns

2010-03-08T14:40:00.010-06:00

Here are the latest patterns that are available using the Intelliquilter:

Feathered Star quilt

2010-02-28T16:30:00.001-06:00

I'm starting a feathered star quilt.... I've always wanted to make a feathered star, and came across a pattern that I had saved out of an old quilting magazine quite a long time ago.

The feathered sections are paper-pieced- I wouldn't attempt this any other way. The little triangles are less than an inch wide. It really went together easier than I had expected. The magazine pattern showed a full-size quilt with 9 or 12 of these blocks (they're 18 inches square), but I think I am just going to show case the one block in a small wall-size quilt.

It was a fun challenge- lots of "Y" seams in the LeMoyne-star center block area.

I'm thinking of adding a sawtooth border with the red fabric, and another plain tan border.

Freehand swirls

2010-02-25T18:10:00.005-06:00

Here's a customer quilt that I thought would look good with some freehand swirls on it... I was happy with how it turned out. I tried to mimic that green swirly fabric in the 2nd picture.

Baby quilts

2010-02-25T16:47:00.011-06:00

I've just quilted to two of my own baby quilts lately- the first one is a fun zig-zag quilt, pieced without triangles using this technique:

http://beesquarefabrics.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-make-zig-zag-quilt-without.html

I quilted this with a new ice-cream cone pattern that I designed. After I finished the quilt, I re-designed the ice cream cone to look a little more realistic & curvy.

The backing has a fun strip of leftover pieces from the front. I think it adds a little interest to the back.

And this boy quilt is my own design, using up scraps from other projects. It's fun to look over the quilt & remember other quilts that I've worked on. I suppose it can be a sort of I-spy quilt, there are things like frogs, fish, and cars to find in the scrappy areas. I quilted this freehand, using the Circuit Path pattern.

Custom quilt- paper pieced

2010-02-10T10:17:00.005-06:00

Finished this quilt lately... the client made this beautiful paper-pieced quilt with batik fabrics. I love how the design almost looks 3-D. She had made it from a pattern in a magazine, and wanted it quilted like the example given with the pattern. All of the quilting on this one was done freehand, without the Intelliquilter. I use rulers to help guide the machine on the long, straight lines. The quilt was 50" square.

Leafy Swirl quilting

2010-02-08T14:50:00.005-06:00

This was a king-size quilt, over 110" square. She decided on one of my own patterns, a leafy swirl design. She said it took over 6 months to piece, isn't it pretty? It was fun to look at all the different fabrics in the quilt while I was working on it.

The front:

The back:

new pattern... Clamflower

2010-02-06T12:31:00.004-06:00

A new pattern is available, called Clamflower by Jodi Beamish of Willow Leaf Studios. It combines an old-faithful clamshell design with a fun flower in the middle of each one. I found this pattern for an up-coming quilt, I'll post pictures of the finished quilt when I'm done.

Embroidered quilt

2010-01-31T23:14:00.005-06:00

This is a beautifully embroidered quilt, made for a church circle. I thought the feather wreath fit so nicely inside the embroidery. The border pattern is called Dogwood by One Song Needle Arts. I love the white quilting on white fabric.

Kite quilt

2010-01-31T23:07:00.005-06:00

Isn't this a cuite quilt? It was the customer's first quilting project, can you believe it? It turned out so well with the brightly colored kites & just right blue for the background. She wanted the quilting to look like "wind", and so we decided upon doing a freehand swirly windy looking pattern. I was happy with the outcome.

It's hard to pick, but I think my favorited color combination is the yellow/gray kite.

Pillowcase gifts

2010-01-31T22:56:00.007-06:00

Wow, has it been since December 12 that I posted last? In a few hours it will be February already.

Here are two pillowcases I made last week to bring to a shower for a family that has just adopted two children. Middle-school and junior-high age. These are some of my all-time favorite fabrics. I hope they like em! I embroidered their name on the edge of the case, I love that little personalized touch. It only takes a few minutes to add a little hand embroidery, but I think it really adds something.

Isn't this print just delicious? You can almost tase the sprinkles on that ice-cream.

And this one has all the states & their capitals. I just think it's so much fun.

This car fabric might be my most favorite of all time. For sure in the top 5.

Christmas-y quilts

2009-12-12T20:09:00.009-06:00

Two wintery looking quilts that were here lately....

The first one is using the Snowflake pattern designed by Tammy Finkler. I thought it looked just like falling snow in front of the pieced trees in the quilt.

The second on is another tree quilt, this one using the Festive Holly pattern designed by Anne Bright.

The design showed up nicely on the back:

Applying borders

2009-12-02T16:37:00.003-06:00

The 2 biggest problems I see with new quilts coming in are 1) the backing is too small, and 2) the borders have fullness & don't lay flat.

The backing needs to be 3" bigger than the quilt top on all sides. So, if your quilt top is 70"x90", then your backing needs to be at least 76"x96". This way, if I need to trim a side to get a square back, then there will be enough fabric to work with.

The wavy border problem can be fixed by properly sewing them on your quilt. If you just sew on the border, and then trim off any excess, it's very likely you will end up with fullness in the border. If you measure the middle of the quilt, before applying the border, cut the border to that length, and then pin in place & sew on, you will have a much better chance of ending up with a flat & square quilt.

Follow this link to my website for a very short illustration of how to apply borders:

http://www.myquilter.com/Images/applyborderspdf.pdf

Choosing batting

2009-12-02T08:32:00.004-06:00

Here is a list of the battings I currently carry for your to purchase & use in your quilts.

Hobbs Heirloom 80% poly/20% cotton 96" wide - $7.49/yard
Hobbs 3 oz. polyester 96" wide $3.50/yard (similar to low-loft Polyfil)
Quilter's Dream Poly $7.25/yard
Quilter's Dream Cotton $9.25/yard

Many of you ask, what kind of batting should I use?

First you must decide if cost or fiber content is the bigger factor. If you are going for the lowest cost, then the 3 oz. poly is the best choice. It has a little higher than a 1/4" loft, and will have no shrink.

If you like a very flat batting, then the Quilter's Dream battings would be a good choice. Both of them them will have 1% shrink or less. Both the Quilter's Dream Poly and the Quilter's Dream Cotton are very similar in weight and loft, and will be very similar in the finished quilt.

And somewhere in the middle is the Hobbs Heirloom. It has a little higher loft than the Quilter's Dream battings, but not as high as the 3 oz. poly. The manufacturer says that it has a shrink factor of 3-5%. If you don't mind a bit of shrink, this is a nice batting. Right now this is the most popular batting, and I use quite a bit of this.

To minimize shrink in both your battings & fabrics, wash your quilts in cool water, and tumble on low or no heat for 15 minutes. Then lay flat to dry completely.

The battings that I carry are all on a 30-yard roll. I often find that packaged battings can have permanent creases in them & don't lay flat. Usually they relax & bit and once quilted it's not noticeable, but sometimes there is a visible bump in the quilt where there is an uneven spot in the batting. Just be aware of this with packaged battings.

Binding Tutorial, Part 1

2009-12-01T22:22:00.019-06:00

I've made a tutorial showing my method of doing bindings. It may be a bit different than the way you're used to doing it, or you may be new to quilting & just need some basic how-to's.

Here goes....

I start off trimming backing & batting even with the quilt top.

Then, add up the length of all 4 sides, and figure out how many strips you will need. I always cut them WOF, or width of fabric (going from one selvedge edge to the other). Most of them have at least a 40" useable width. For this baby quilt I needed 5 strips. I am cutting the strips 2.5" wide.

Join the strips with a bias seam. Take 2 strips, and ay them out as shown here, right sides together. Sew on the diagonal.

Trim off the extra triangle piece, 1/4" away from your seam. It should now look like this:

Press the seam open to reduce bulk. You can use an iron, or I just run my fingernail along the seam.

Continue adding more in the same way, until you get them all together. Now, using your iron, press the binding with wrong sides together, matching up the raw edges.

Now you will be attaching the binding to the back side of the quilt. Start in the middle of one side of the quilt, and match up the raw edges of the binding to the raw edge of the quilt. Leave about 12" of binding free behind your needle. Later you will need this free part to join to the other end. I stitch about 1/4" away from the raw edge of the binding. I don't pin, I just hold a small section in place at a time, and stop to re-adjust often.

Now, when you get to the corner, stop with your needle down when you are 1/4" away from the end of the quilt. Pivot, and sew right to the very corner, as shown. Now you can remove the quilt from your machine.

Now, a little fancy folding will give you a nice mitered corner. First, fold your binding the opposite way of the next side you'll do, like so.

Now, place your fingernail right along the red line, and fold the binding back to the left, over onto itself.

This is what it should look like. It's a little hard to see in this picture.

Maybe this video will help visualize the folding part.

Now take the quilt back to your sewing machine, and start sewing the next side down, starting right on the edge.

Continue on, doing all 4 sides, until you come within about 12 inches of the place your started.

Now on to part 2......

Binding Tutorial - Part 2

2009-11-21T21:11:00.034-06:00

Ok, now you should have 2 loose ends. You'll need about 8-12 inches (or more) free on both ends.

Bring together the pieces, and then fold them back on themselves. Leave about an 1/8" gap where the 2 binding pieces meet. I've found this is neccesary becauase the 2 pieces will be joined on the bias, and there is a tiny amount of stretch. If you leave the small gap now, the length of the joined pieces should be just right. Without the gap, the binding usually ends up a smidge too long.

Now measure 1 1/4" from the fold, and cut to that length.

Line up your ruler on the other side, and repeat.

(If you are using a different width binding, use half of the total width for a measurement to trim each side. For example, if you start off with a 2" wide binding, now you should be cutting each end to 1" long.)

Now the ends should look like this:

Open up the ends, and lay them out as shown here. Position the right side piece on top of the left side piece, matching corner "A" to corner "B".

Pin together, and sew on the diagonal (shown in red). You may have to squish up the quilt a bit at this point to get the part you're going to sew to lay flat in the sewing machine.

Trim off the triangle, leaving a 1/4 seam.

Press the seam open. I run my fingernail along the seam, or you can use your iron.

Now you should be able to lay the quilt flat again, and it should look like this. A nearly invisible diagonal seam, that looks just like all the others. Take this back to your sewing machine, and finish up the rest of the binding.

Iron the binding away from the middle of the quilt. Here is the view from the front side now.

Starting in the middle of one side of the quilt, you are going to wrap the binding around to the front side, placing the edge of the binding just to the left of the line of stitching you just made.

Holding down a small section at a time with your hand, sew very closely to the edge of the binding. If you take your time and use matching thread, this will come out very nicely.

Continue down the side of the quilt until you get about 3" away from the corner. Leave the needle down, and trim off the tiny triangle shown here.

Here it is trimmed. Be careful to only trim the tiny point that is to the right of the stitching line. This will eliminate some bulk at the corner. If you trim too much, you will be left with a hole in your binding. It's just that tiny corner- it will be about a 1/4" size piece getting cut off.

Now, with your needle still down, position the binding past the corner, and then hold in place the binding above the corner. It should form a nice miter.

Ok, so that's little hard to explain, maybe this short video will help a little. I did say maybe.

This is how your corner should look. Continue sewing down the binding, using this method when you come to each corner.

And here is a view of the back. Your top stitching should be just past the edge of the binding on the back side of the quilt. Again, with matching thread, this is going to blend in well, and not be very noticeable at all.

A view of both sides of the completed binding.

Yeah, you're done!

Once you get the hang of it, this really does go fast. Really. It took me less time to actually put the binding on this quilt than it did to explain how to do it. I hope you'll give this method a try! I'd love to hear how it turns out for you. And, please leave a comment if there's something that's not clear & I need to explain better.

New pattern

2009-11-11T12:24:00.003-06:00

I've just designed a new pattern.... just in time for the coming winter months! I hope the snow holds off for a while! I needed a mitten pattern for a quilt that was here, and just couldn't find what I wanted. So, as they say, neccessity is the mother of invention, and so I designed my own. It works great as an all-over pattern, or a border.

Remember that all the IQ patterns can be re-sized larger or smaller. The pictures I show here are just a section of the pattern. Some quilters like a more open design, so I can stitch out the design larger. Like in the mitten pattern, the mittens would actually stitch out at about 6" high, but that can be changed.

2 new Intelliquilter patterns

2009-11-05T13:50:00.005-06:00

Here are two new Intelliquilter patterns available:

Blaze pattern

2009-11-03T19:13:00.009-06:00

I had the chance to use my own Blaze quilting pattern on a quilt recently. I think it was perfect for this little boy's quilt, since one of the fabrics was a flame design.

And, here is a custom quilt... I used the leafy swag pattern in the plain border, outlined and echoed the butterflies, and stitched-in-the-ditch around all the blocks.

More recent quilts

2009-11-03T19:00:00.014-06:00

I was challenged to work on 3 quilts pieced exactly alike, but with different custom quilting patterns. I had fun finding something different for each quilt. I'm not sure which one is my favorite.
These quilts are good examples of how I can put motifs & border patterns in a custom quilt using the Intelliquilter. The block motif can be resized to fit the quilt block, and I can stitch out much more intricate designs with the Intelliquilter than by doing it freehand. All three of the center block motifs in these quilts would have been nearly impossible working freehand.

Quilt #1

Quilt #2

Quilt #3

Chevron Feathers

2009-11-03T18:56:00.002-06:00

I took a few pictures of a quilt that I worked on recently that used the "Chevron Feathers" pattern. I think it has nice, even coverage. I really like this pattern.

And the winner is......

2009-11-02T08:47:00.004-06:00

The winner of the $100 gift certificate is...... Ellen Smit of Hull. Congratulations, Ellen.

You can see my lovely assistant picking her name here:

We also picked 2 more names, and Gayle Moret of Littleton, CO and Karen Freking of Hospers, IA are winners of free Hobbs Heirloom batting in their next quilt.

Thanks again to all you wonderful quilters out there.

baby quilt

2009-10-31T18:01:00.007-05:00

Here's the latest baby quilt for a baby shower at church. It has some fun girly fabric- they're talking on the phone & having pillow fights. It's really cute fabric.
The color in these pictures is a little off- it's a bright lime green, and a bright purple in real life.

I made up the pattern as I went- on had a little bit of the white fabric (it has teeny-tiny pink polka dots on it), so those strips ended up really skinny- only 1/2 inch wide finished. In the end I liked the effect.

coffee border

2009-10-31T17:58:00.003-05:00

Here's a cute coffee cup border that I used recently on a quilt.... I thought the variegated thread added a nice touch to the design.

Americana Quilt

2009-10-15T13:32:00.008-05:00

My sister requested an quilt to use in her guest bedroom, and she is decorating in an Americana theme. We chose the American Patriot fabric line, and I designed this quilt pattern, inspired by a customer's quilt. The size of the quilt, for a full size bed, is 85" x 78".

The color in this picture is washed out... it's really a dark navy backing.

And, to go with the quilt, I made this pillow. This amazing eagle pattern is from OneSongNeedleArts.com. I thought it would go perfectly with the quilt.

1,000th quilt giveaway!!!

2009-10-07T12:53:00.008-05:00

I just want to say a huge "THANK YOU" to all of you wonderful quilters out there that have supported me & trusted me with your quilts. Without all of you, I wouldn't have had the enjoyment of being able to work from home & see all your wonderful quilts. Your confidence in me is truly appreciated.

I can harldy believe it myself.... I'll soon have quilted 1,000 customer quilts!!! (I'm on #980 as of today). Wow. And it all started out as a little hobby in 2003. I would never have guessed back then that I would ever finish a thousand quilts.

So, to say thanks to all my customers, I've decided to have a little giveaway. If you book a quilt from now until Halloween, your name will be entered in a drawing for a $100 gift certificate for quilting services. Any quilt that is currently here waiting to be quilted, will also be entered.

Thanks!!!