A Couple Moe Customer Quilts

I finished a couple more customer quilts that were very nice.  Now I'm taking a break from customer quilts and finally quilting my brown quilt.  It has been waiting for over 2 years to be quilted.  I took pictures of the quilt in black and white, drew different design ideas on the photo and now it's on the machine and ready to start in the morning.  I'll post pictures along the way if I remember.

Customer Quilt

Quilt is done.  I had a hard time getting a good photo of the quilt.  It's such a dark dreary day that even with a lot of lights on the quilt, the quilting barely shows.  The thread used on the quilt was several shades darker than the fabric.  I tend to use that as a rule of thumb on most quilts.  A little darker stands out but doesn't overpower the quilt with a thread look. 

I'm already on to the next customer quilt and really scratching my head about this one.  It's black and gold and even though it's a classic pattern the fabrics are not.  I have already looked through hundreds of photos and several books trying to decide on a quilting design.  Sometimes the most frustrating part of the quilting is the decision making process of what to do.  I often think it's best to start with one idea, quilt it, and then see where it leads.  So I'm off to the studio with my one idea :)

Customer Quilt

Sometimes I get carried away with the quilting.  This is one of those quilts.  It's beautiful and with so much 'plain read' areas there was a lot of beautiful quilting that could be done.  I decided to try a new border design.  I'm using curved crosshatching in a chocolate kiss shape!  My hope is when the quilt is taken off and looked at as a whole you'll see the extension of each block into the border with the quilting.  I'll post pictures when it's all done

Free Hand Designs

All of my quilting is done freehand.  The example below is a freehand design though I am using markings and I use the circle tool that you see in the photograph to get me from one heart to the next.  Doing freehand work and making it look good requires a lot of practice, Trace out the design on paper that also has your markings.  As you see where the design intersects with your markings you'll also get familiar with how the design 'feels'.  There are often places in a design where you need the help of a ruler to get your line perfect.  In the design below, I needed a circle ruler to go from the center of one heart to the next.  If I were to freehand that part, chances are the irregularities would be really noticeable.  Sometimes I'll put the first design on a quilt and realize I need a ruler in a particular spot to get my stitching line correct.  Probably the other factor in executing a good freehand design is finding the correct speed to move your machine at.  That will vary from person to person.  I tend to run my machine at a fast enough speed to that my lines look smooth but slow enough that I can maintain good control over the pattern.  I don't have a stitch regulated machine (when I've quilted with them I feel like they impede my ability to get smooth looking lines) so my speed is usually set around 50.  Hopefully this will help some you machine quilters out there who read my blog!

Double Wedding Ring Quilt

I'm working this week on a Double Wedding Ring quilt. It's unique in the color choices; dark colors and lots of plaids.  The customer wanted to keep the quilting simple and no feathers.  This was the pattern we chose, a heart with some petal designs in the center of each heart.  It requires marking each space with 4 diagonal lines and then tracing a circle in the center so I have my points to keep the pattern on track.  I practiced a bunch of times on paper so that I would have the 'feel' of the design.  It's turning out very well and I think the customer will be pleased. 

Some recent customer quilts

Here's photos of a few customer quilts I have done recently.  I was really pleased with how the one with the cube design turned out.  The customer wanted a design that would bring out the 'box' look so I ended up outline stitching around each cube.  It did make it look 3 dimensional. 

3 Customer Quilts

These quilts belong to 2 sisters.  I do quite a bit of quilting for them and always love their work.  I love the black house quilt.  The quilting doesn't show up but I used a leaf vine around the houses.  The pastel quilt with the little girls around the border turned out beautifully.  I decided to do curved cross-hatching in the girl's dresses.  It was a time consuming process but the finished look 'made' the quilt in my view.

Enjoy the pics.

Time to get back to quilting

I have had almost a month off from quilting.  In that month there has been more overnight guests, more events than I can ever remember.  We had a lot of family here for the Thanksgiving holiday.  And that was just the beginning.  There were holiday parties, birthdays, a wedding and great family times.  The last event happened today -- our 2nd grandson was born at 11:47 this morning.  It was so exciting to finally meet him.  I will post a picture soon.  We still have one more grandson to come in March.  Three grandsons in 3 months -- how amazing.
Tonight I feel worn out.  Tomorrow I hope to be back in my studio quilting with lots of energy.  Though it may take me a few days to get up to speed.
I have been thinking about setting one goal for my business for 2012.  It's to get better organized in my studio especially with my own sewing projects.  So to that end, I'm going to come up with a plan, steps to take and hopefully make some real progress in that area. 
Happy New Year to all my followers and fellow quilters!

Christmas Open House

It's time again for the annual open house here at my home.  You're all invited to come.  It's Thursday, December 15 from 10 - 2.  My address is 20578 SW Colville Ct, Tualatin.  My studio is open, lots of quilts are on display and lots of goodies to eat.  Come for lunch or just drop in for a quick visit.  Anyone bringing a quilt to the open house will receive a 20% discount off the quilting (but it won't be quilted until January or February).  I'm looking forward to seeing many of you.

Been too busy to blog

Life has been so busy lately.  The best thing that has kept me busy is my new grandson, Shaphan.  He is now almost 6 weeks old and absolutely adorable.  Such a good baby.  Because we live so close I've been around him a lot.  This grandma stuff is just the best role -- I love it!
I have also been busy quilting.  I'm in the thick of fall/Christmas quilting.  I've expanded my quilting hours so now I'm in the studio about 20 - 30 hours a week.  It's always busy in September, October and November.  I try to finish up by the first week of December so I can take about a month break.  It's good to have some time to work on my own stuff too during that break. 

My other preoccupation is my winter garden.  Rick, my wonderful husband, made me a raised bed and put it right in the center of the front yard.  Then he built a plastic greenhouse cover on a hinge so I can access it easily.  I have lettuce, spinach, chard, beets, radishes and carrots growing in it.  It's fun and I hope it works all winter long.  I'm posting a picture of it.