30 Block Sampler

This quilt took me most of last week to quilt. I wondered why it was taking so long, and then realized there were 30 blocks in it! Some of the quilting isn't showing up as well as I'd like - maybe if you click on the picture to enlarge it the stitching will show up better?

OK- I'm quitting - I tried to put these pictures back in line with each other and managed to delete some- and I don't know which blocks I'm missing now. I think I'll quit while I'm ahead!

Quilts

Here are 3 quilts that I've worked on the past 2 weeks. The first two are polyester ones from the collection from the one family I'm still working on.

People always seem really intrigued with the quilting on the back when it shows up as well as these have. I'm asked how I come up with the unique designs. Well, I don't! The quilt top kind of tells me what to do (within the boundaries that the quilt owner gives me), and the back is always a surprise - I never know what it's going to look like until I'm finished, take it off the machine, and turn it over and look!

This 3rd quilt is a top that was just given to a woman who doesn't sew. She asked me to take it and turn it into a quilt for her. So I had to go buy the backing fabric, sew it to fit, quilt, make and attach the binding. She had simple tastes for the quilting design, so it isn't what I would have really chosen to do - but the customer is boss.

Quilts

Here's yet another of the quilts from the family that found a stash made by their great grandmother (11 down, 9 to go.)

The back - turned out pretty.

Two quilts by another customer. She asked me to envelope this one for her before quilting. The next quilt pictured she already had enveloped. Quilts that are finished off this way previous to quilting are a tad tricky since you have to pin and clamp onto the longarm right on the quilt, no excess bottom fabric to use- it's difficult if not a bit impossible to stitch right to the edge. The quilter has to be a little creative and very careful.

This one had no batting in it, and the top was so busy and the bottom so furry that you can't even see the quilting :)

Quilts

My niece, Janssen, just helped me figure out how to label my blog posts - really very easy, but could I figure it out - nope. (Look on my side bar and you'll notice how all my posts are now organized!) Anyway, in the process of doing that I realized that when I started posting my monthly decorations I started last Feb, and hadn't put my January ones on here. So here they are - I still haven't made table decorations for June, hopefully that will happen before I go into a nursing home!

Here's the customer quilt I've worked on this week - another large custom, so it's the only one I was able to finish this week.

Quilt

For anyone who has wondered if I'm still quilting - yes I am. I actually worked all week on this beauty. It's been a few months since I've had a large, higher-end custom job and I've really enjoyed it. This was pieced by Louise, and as usual - it's a very pretty, well made top. Pretend like you don't notice that my Christmas tree is STILL up.

Quilts

Here starts the quilting for the new year. After taking 2 weeks off (one to get those fabric play houses made, and then one when we were in Idaho) I'm eager to get back to my longarm. I was surprised last year that January was a busy month for customer quilts - I would have thought it would be slow after Christmas and all, but it wasn't. I'm already starting off with a pile of quilts that some of my wonderful customers said I could set aside until after Christmas because they weren't in a hurry for them (which let me finish quilts for those who needed them for Christmas!) I do have the best customers - people really are so nice. I had two new quilts delivered to me yesterday, so things are starting off well :) Here is another from that family heirloom collection I've been working on since Fall. I was told this one is called "Sunshine and Shadows". Out of 19 of those quilts this is the 9th one, so I'm half way through. I'm glad they've been willing to just let me slowly work through them, which makes it possible to bounce back and forth between their quilts and other customer's quilts - thus keeping everyone happy!

Used the panto "Surf's Up" on it.

This next one is another heirloom quilt - polyester, so I had to custom it with a guide again to keep it from moving on me under the needle.

Here is a cute little baby quilt for a first time quilter. I've probably had 8 or so people in the past year who have said the quilt they brought me was their first one. Many of these were young gals in their 20s, so it's nice to see that the art doesn't appear to be dying out!

She asked me to sew the baby's name "Tate" in the center bottom block. Fun when quilts are personalized like this. I did a loopy meander with stars.

Quilt: Grandma's Dream

This is the only quilt I'll get done this week - took me 3 long days to quilt it. It's huge, 108" x 103", and all those little squares are 1 1/2 inches! Louise was commissioned to piece this for someone and then it was brought to me to quilt it. (Louise said it should have been named "Grandma's Nightmare"!) She told me how many hours it took her to put it together and I can't remember now what it was, but tons and tons of hours. It is a beautiful quilt though, a real keepsake.