Keyhole quilt

 Anne From Calgary commissioned me to make this wonderful Keyhole quilt for her.  It is large, about 108" x 115".

The view shown above is only a quarter of the quilt.  It used 2 Bali Pops and about 3m of blue fabric for the top.

All the squares are randomly placed and topstitched with a large meandering feather pattern.  Non computerized of course.

I just love using wide back fabric, you can match the front to the back and make the binding consistent with the rest of the quilt.

I am sure Anne is just going to love it when she comes to pick it up in May.

Grassy Creek Mystery Quilt

 Don't you just love the colors in Rose's Mystery Quilt!!

The orange and grey with a splash of bright green is a wonderful combination.

The zig-zag border finishes it brilliantly.

Large meandering feathers in sterling silver thread was the perfect topstitch pattern.

They also really matched the backing.  Beautiful quilt Rose.  

Almost too big!!

 Sandra brought in a quilt top that had been sitting in her closet for over 20 years and needed finishing.  It was huge and almost to big for the longarm at 122" wide!

It took every inch of space to load with no room left for the head.

Being Sandra's only quilt she has or will make (a direct quote) it was a little wonky in places and took a little fudging to finish.  Choosing the fan pattern I was able to move the paper copy a little this way and that with an absolute stunning finish.

Caulk pencil, a template and a ruler.

So large it had to be folded and draped to see only the center portion on the wall.  Hoping Sandy will send me a photo once it is bound and on her bed.  Now for some highlights.

The center.

The back.

Many borders.

Look at all the pretty fans.

The big January box!!

 Yes Pauline has saved the day (or month) again.  January is always the slowest month in the longarm business so Pauline's biggest box yet was perfect timing. For the next few blogs I thought I would show lots of pictures and not a lot of writing. So enjoy!

Table toppers!

Card Tricks

Log Cabin

Very cute label for the back.

Lots of small quilts.

Showing off the back.

wow

Great table runner.

Kathy's Added Quilts

 As promised last blog, Kathy's smaller quilts that were topstitch onto the bottom fabric of her Snowball Quilt.

The tulip quilt will be a hanger for her daughter who just loves her moms quilting and requested a spring quilt to hang.

Tulips all in a row!

So springy!

I really like the detail work to show off the tulips features,  echoing the leaves, detailing the petals and a springy stem.

Just in time for Valentines day... a smaller heart quilt.

Feathered hearts

Hearts and feathers always seem to go together.  Matched with a informal border of loops and hearts making this little topper perfect for any table (or hanger).

Kathy was not sure I would be able to fit this last quilt onto the bottom of her snowball quilt but there was plenty of room.

As she had said for me to do whatever to this cute little Christmas tree quilt, I did!  Little stars for the top and a back and forth topstitch that gives the trees a bit of motion.  To fill the blank spaces I had thought about another tree but went with stars just to add a little more detail and interest.  It turned out really cute.

Ironing Table Cover

 Pauline sent me a request to make a ironing table cover.  Hers has seen better days and she needed an replacement.

After thinking about it and what I needed and how to go about it, I remembered that there was a large sample/test piece of fabric that had a layer of batting and 3 layers of poly/cotton that I use to play on or use to practice on.  So I filled in a few spots with random threads ( a great way to use up half finished bobbins) and these are photos of the final pad.

It is all made and ready to go in Pauline's next box from the west coast.  I cant wait to see how it looks when she sends a photo back of the ironing pad in place.

Practice makes for to much fun!!

Here is a photo of Pauline's new ironing table.  Looks great doesn't it?!!

Mrs. Snip's #01

 Clair brought back a box of linen remanence from Mrs. Snip's in Dublin, Ireland.  With a few of the pieces she made this wonderful lap quilt.

Quite the accomplishment for a beginner quilter to patchwork linen as it has a life of its own.

It frays, moves, and is generally unruly taking a steady hand and as I suggested to Clair, a whole lot of  starch. 

We had a time thinking about what to topstitch onto the quilt with all the lines and checks.  As soon as Clair saw another quilt done with the feathered scroll, that was the one.  It also made sure that all of the seams and pieces had multiple stitching through them all.  

A lovely final look.

This helps to bind all the pieces and stop any further fraying over time.  Looks cool too!!

As an added note I wanted to show you what happens to a bobbin winder gone wrong.

What a mess!!