More Quilting

Have you ever looked at a quilt that you had thought you were finished with and it just didn't look as good as you hoped? Well that is what I've done recently. My "Red & White Wedding" quilt has very nice feathers all over it. With SID around the pieced blocks. But the feathers didn't quite fill in the plain areas and just didn't pop the way I had hoped. The original quilting had been done 2 years ago.

So I put it back on the frame and began quilting again. I added "sprigs" of feathers in the plain areas and put veins in each feather. Also added some curliques where needed. Now, I'm pleased. Now I can say "this quilt is finished". My eye moves around the quilt wanting to look at more. It makes me smile. I can say I'm happy with this quilt. Moral of the story is, that it's never too late to add more to a quilt to make it zing.

One of my favorite quilts will be on display in January at the new Walnut Creek Library. Along with 15 other members of Diablo Valley Quilters. You can check out my quilt on their website: http://www.bedfordgallery.org/cag_schedule.htm.

I encourage everyone to show their quilts as often as possible. Joining your local guild (and we have so many in the bay area)and participating in local shows is very rewarding. It helps promote the art of quilt making. And you don't have to be an experienced quilters to show your stuff.

Happy News

It's been a busy time. My daughter was married to a wonderful man in April. They had a great wedding in southern California and honeymooned in Hawaii. We dog-sat while they were away. Now life has returned to normal.

Been enjoying quilts my clients have brought to me lately. Such a variety of fabrics and patterns. Still have time to take on new clients. I really enjoy helping beginner quilters get their first quilts quilted. There are so many quilting "tricks" that I've learned in my 35 years of quilting, and I love passing them along to newbies!

For those of you who have not visited my website (www.thequiltingco.com), please check out the calendar of events. Seems like there are quilt shows somewhere each month. If you miss one, there's always another to check out.

So Many Quilts So Little Time

Isn't that what all quilters think? Right now, it's how most of us longarm quilters feel. Need to get all those client quilts done for the holidays...not to mention our own.

Just finished two small scale double wedding ring quilts for my great-niece and nephew. I'll post

pictures as soon as I can. They are both hand appliqued and hand quilted. Each measures 7 X 5 and are mounted in the shadow box frame. My husband teased me about putting them on the longarm machine. The first time I made one of these was back in 1994 as part of the Diablo Valley Quilters Quilt Show challenge. The small double wedding ring along with an Ohio star quilt where part of a whole quilt. They were actually being hung on a clothesline three dimensionally. I won my first First Place Ribbon for that quilt. It hands in my living room.

My daughter is getting married in April. She has always wanted a king size double wedding ring quilt. I actually started piecing the rings a few years ago. Need to find time to get it out and finish it. The question is how to quilt it. More than likely it will be partially quilt by machine and part by hand. I let you know how the progress goes.

Too Hot to Quilt

Don't know about the rest of the States, but here in Northern California, we're having 100* + weather.

Even though I run a Long Arm Machine quilting business, I've always loved to hand quilt. A tip for you hand quilters for summer time quilting. If you are using a lap frame or a hoop on a stand; work in front of a table. Place the bulk of the quilt on the table and place a fan under the table. Keeps most of the weight of your quilt off your lap. And cool air on you.

Pictures

I've uploaded pictures of the before and after of the Sun Bonnet Sue quilt I repaired and enlarged for a client. She wanted her baby quilt that her mother made for her enlarged to a queen size quilt. I was able to find reproduction fabrics that tied in with the fabrics from on the Sue's dresses. Also, I had a friend that had just inherited her mother-in-laws embroidery thread, so I was able to match the faded blanket stitches with the same aged thread.

Also here is a picture of the "Turtle" quilt that I am making for another client. It's all paper pieced. Each turtle takes an hour to do. There are a lot of little pieces. They will be laid out with print squares of fish blocks. When it's finished and quilted, I will post the picture.

Thanks to my daugher, Alissa, I can now upload pictures!

My First Blog...

My daughter set this blog up for me so I would have an outlet to share the current projects I am working on with friends, family, clients and potential clients.

The greater portion of my business is just doing the quilting for clients. Though, at the moment I have several clients that I'm piecing the quilt tops for them. One of the quilts is a "Turtle Quilt". My client and her mother purchased fabric in Hawaii, but unfortunately the mother passed away before piecing the quilt. So I am making the quilt top for the daughter.

The second project is a "string" quilt top. Again, it was a daughter bringing me pieces that her mother had stared back in 1940 but never finished. There are 20 blocks that I'll piece together and then quilt. The blocks where strip pieced on newspaper. One of them was the front page of a Texas newspaper dated March, 1940. My client, managed to remove the newspaper in tack and is hoping to get an archive of the full headline. All she has is "Italy takes Greece"....

It is fascinating to see all the old fabrics and hear the stories of these older quilts. Which brings be to a very important subject.... All you quilters out there need to label your quilts. Someday someone will look at your beautiful work of art and wonder who was this person that made it; where did she live, when did she make it, what's the story behind it. If you do nothing else, put your name (plus maiden name), city and state, and the date it was completed. I find the easiest way to make a label is to iron a piece of freezer paper on to the back of a piece of fabric (it stabilizes the fabric). If you are like me and can't write in a straight line, draw lines on the paper, heavy enough to see through to the fabric side. Write your information with a permanent pen, i.e. a fine Sharpie. Peel off the freezer paper, press the fabric to set the writing. Turn under the raw edges of the "label" and whip stitch to the back of your quilt. If you plan ahead, you can piece the label into the backing fabric; then it's permanently attached and quilted into the quilt. If you are taking your quilt top to a Professional quilter, make sure the label is positioned well into the backing fabric.