Baby Twin Quilts

I have delivered the quilts to my sister-in-law, I really wanted her to see them in person before I posted these pictures. The first picture has both of the quilts and the appliqued diaper hanger. The baby boy quilt is really soft in person but does not look that way in pictures. She wanted two very different quilts for the twins.
She is using chocolate brown sheets and has creamy yellow walls in the nursery. Her rocker is sage green. And the colors for the quilt were taken out of the really cute artwork that they purchased for the nursery.
The Baby Boy quilt is really very traditional. In person you can change your focus and get different shapes the picture really highlights the cream diamond shapes.
My sister-in-law saw a much bigger version of this quilt in Super Simple Strips by Nancy Smith and Lynda Mulligan. She really surprised me by noticing the quilting. She keep looking at the quilt and then finally asked if I could quilt like that. I realized at that point that she had never seen anything that I have longarmed. My quilting is a little different then the books, of course, but does give the quilt the same windy movement. The challenge for me was the applique the quilting was the fun part of the quilt.

Now every needs to keep their fingers crossed that one of those twins really is a girl. We are hoping that we won't find out for sure until mid-September.

Mystery in the Mountains

I am finally getting the pictures of my mystery quilt off the camera. If you happened to see the mystery quilts on the Wish Upon a Quilt blog, mine is quilt #3. I know it is a shock, but mine is the one with the green background. (This from the girl typing on the green laptop wearing a green T-Shirt....) Even I would not have thought to use this much bright green in a quilt. That really is the beauty of mystery quilts. They work no matter what you choose. I started with the brown and green batik that I fell in love with and then used a solid brown and the famous solid lime green batik as my dark and light fabrics. I LOVE THIS QUILT! And I had a blast quilting it. I am not a huge fan of the border I did. It added tons of texture and was fun to quilt, I think it is just not me. But I would do it again if someone else wanted it. There is lots of line dancing. And a design that I learned in Sue Patten's Feather Alternatives class at MQS. I really just played on this quilt since it is mine. And as a bonus.... (drum roll please)... I have a quilt that I made on my guest room bed. Normally the quilter has no quilts of their own. So with out further ado, I would like to present my mystery quilt... Mint Chocolate Mountain Mystery

Paula's Quilt

This is a quilt that my Mom pieced for a good friend Paula. She was planning on quilting in on my DSM while she was visiting, but I did in on the longarm for her instead. I did loops with roses and leaves. It was really quick and fits this soft, sweet quilt.

Woo Hoo!!!!

The baby quilts are done! All I have left to do is deliver them to my sister-in-law and then put labels on them after the twins make their grand arrival. I will post pictures of them after they are delivered. She should get to see them first. :) The crib skirts, diaper stacker and quilts have been a joint effort. My sister-in-law poured through quilt books looking for quilts she liked and told me what colors she was thinking about for the nursery. Then my Mom came up and helped with sewing the crib skirts, diaper stacker and laying out the applique for the Baby Girl quilt. I got to actually use my domestic sewing machine. That just does not happen often since the longarm came to live here. And of course I got to quilt both of the quilts so that the longarm would not feel left out.

I love both of the quilts. The Baby Boy quilt is more traditional peicing and is definately in my comfort zone. It sort of looks like Xs and Os with the way the blocks interact. The Baby Girl quilt is more contemporary and is the first true machine applique I have ever done. It screams GIRL! It is so sweet and flowery.

In case there was ever a doubt, I have the best Mom in the world! She came up to visit and was stuck in my studio for days. We normally quilt when she is here but this was marathon sewing. She did a lot of the sewing for me so that I could quilt customer quilts. I could not have gotten this done without her. I was starting to think I would be giving the Baby Girl her quilt for college graduation.

APQS Road Show

APQS is bringing machines to Raleigh for a Road Show.

Date: August 25

Time: 1PM-4PM

Place: Holiday Inn Express Raleigh/Wakefield

11400 Common Oaks drive

Raleigh, NC 27614

To attend please contact Alison @ APQS 1.800.426.7233

This seminar is designed for quilters who do not currently own a longarm machine and want to learn all they can before investing in a quilting machines. Bring a notebook and pen, plus all your questions - we'll answer them!

If you're a current longarm owner and are looking for classes to enhance your quilting skills, visit our website at www.apqs.com and click on the "education and event" tab for more information.

Here is just a sample of what you'll learn...

• Supplier Information - Discover resources for templates, batting, patterns, freehand instuction, manuals, wholesale contacts, thread, etc.

• Business Ideas - Learn business philosophies, products and services, pricing, marketing and income forecasting. (You'll even get a Sample Business Plan to get you up and running right away!)
• Machine Features - Explore the differences between each machine model including standard and optional features, table & frame designs, etc.
• Basic Machine Maintenance - See how easy it is to oil, clean, and service your machine to provide years of quilting fun!

Each session includes ample time for your questions and to test drive each machine.

These APQS models will be available for your test drive...

Millennium

Freedom SR

Lenni

Thimbleberries Home and Garden Quilt Part 3

Here are more pictures of the back of Jan's Thimbleberries quilt. Most of the picture are of the back because the quilting is easier to see. Here is the LeMoyne star block.

This is the back of the Crown of Thorn block.

Now for a couple pictures of the front of the quilt. Here is one of the hearts that I quilted with Paisleys.

And here is the house for the front.
Can you tell this is a fun quilt to quilt? I am going to try to a picture of the entire quilt to post.

Thimbleberries Home and Garden Quilt Part 2

It's done! I just took the Jan's Thimbleberries quilt off of the frame. I love looking at the back of the quilts. I did Pothos leaves in the outer boarder and line dancing in the checkerboards on the next border in. It was hard to see the design on the pictures of the front of the quilt. Here is a picture of the back of the quilt showing the outer border and the line dancing. Line dancing gives a good all over even density and makes really cool designs on the back of the quilt.

I did not get this picture turned but this is the back of the 2 hearts. I did paisleys in the hearts.

Here is a picture of the of the back of the house block and the tulip block.

Close up of the checkerboards and the corner of the checkerboard boarder.

This is what did in the border closest to the inside of the quilt. You can see the paisleys from the heart block on the left of the picture and the whimsy with leaves on the right.
Stay tuned for more pictures...

Thimbleberries Home and Garden Quilt

For all you Thimbleberries club members. Remember the Home and Garden quilt, the one with the really big house on it. Well unlike me I have a customer that has actually finished hers. I am doing custom on this quilt and have done several passes If you know the quilt I have just finished the two hearts and am getting ready to roll the quilt to start on the pass with the roof of the house. Here are some pictures of what I have done so far.

The quilts told me that it wanted leaves. So I have done pothos leaves in the outer border in groups of 3 with curly tendrils. I really want to do this as an all over design on a quilt soon. I think it would look really neat and it would give tons of texture to the quilt.

I did four leaves in the corner squares on the next boarder in. This border has corner squares and then checker board, then a print, then checkerboard and ends with a corner square.

I did a little line dancing in the checkerboard and then did a small whimsy in the solid print. I am not sure if you will be able to see the quilting on the next picture, but I am going to post it any way. It is the corner square for the 5th border which is the one right before the center of the quilt. I did a heart with curly tendrils.

So far I am having a blast quilting this quilt. I will post more pictures as I work on the quilt.

Another Michael Miller Quilt

I just finished another Perfect Ten quilt done in a new Michael Miller line. I love this quilt and was inching to get my hands on the first time I say the top. I was so excited when I got the call to quilt this top. I was even really good and took it back to my customer because I really wanted to keep this quilt.I love the colors in the quilt. The pattern is fun to do light custom quilting on.
I even got to play a new idea I had for line dancing.
It is a really fun and happy quilt. If you are local and want to see it in person it is currently hanging in Wish Upon A Quilt in Raleigh.

One busy happy girl!

I have been actually piecing the last week. My sister-in-law is expecting twins and I have been working on 2 quilts. During the planning and construction phase I am referring to them as Baby Boy quilt and Baby Girl quilt. I am about half way done piecing Baby Boy quilt. I am really hoping that I can get it done and on the frame tomorrow. I have a couple of customer quilts that will have to be done next week that will delay me getting started on Baby Girl quilt. My parents are coming for a visit and that means more quilts are on the way. Which is wonderful. I am going to have to schedule in time to finish both quilts so that they are done before the twins are in college. :)

The quilt colors are gold, beige, various shades of blue, teal and sage green. I am trying to add a brown too. The Baby girl quilt will also have some pink and purple. The quilts are very different. The boy quilt is pieced and is really pretty traditional. The girl quilt is pieced with applique over it and is more contemporary. I am using a lot of the same fabrics in both to tie the 2 quilts together. My mom is going to help me make crib skirts while she is here next week.

I flew into Pittsburgh, PA yesterday. My in-laws are moving to NC and I went to pick up one of their vehicles and drive it down for them. Other then getting lost in Pittsburgh and ending up on the turnpike instead of I-79 things went well. Round trip from my house was 14 hours. And that included being early for my flight in Raleigh. It was nice being able to help out. Matt is currently riding down in the UHaul with his cousin. I think my trip was much more enjoyable then theirs will be.