Thread Tales From A Scrappy Quilter

I have been invited to participate in  Benita Skinner's online bloggers Meet and Greet .  You may want to meet other quilters and check out the fab prizes that Benita is offering  from her website.   You will find the links below. If you are not familiar with me, I am a professional longarm quilter specializing in custom heirloom quilting primarily for Judy Niemeyer / Quiltworx pp quilts and applique quilts but I am not taking new clients at this time.   I also offer computerized edge to edge quilting to compliment your quilt tops and usually have approximately a 2 week turn around time.  There are so many beautiful designs available to day. Here are few  recent custom  quilts: Suzie's Paradise In Blooms Lou Ellen's Glacier Star Lou Ann's Vintage Rose Sally's Lancaster  And some fun edge to edge designs: HMQG My 2 Fabric Bargello Jo Ann's Prairie Star QOV If you ar...

19 weeks.   4.5 months.  I'm not giving up.  Who would have ever thought this is where any of us would be after an elective surgery that everyone you talk to says how much better they are afterwards.  Knee Replacement.  My family has been very supportive helping around the house, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning.  Bob has been out of state so much and leaves again this week which does make it harder for me and for Mickey.  Mick starts back with college classes next week too. I can stand longer before I have to sit and elevate.  I am able to turn around edge to edge faster than the prior months.  It's still very painful.  Not sure I should even be doing it but I have to do something.  Doesn't matter what I do, food prep, shopping, sitting in a chair, or sewing machine or standing to try to do computer longarm designs or cutting fabric.  It all sets off pain.   I just can't stand very long or try to walk ...

This is my friend Bernie's beautiful quilt she created in the hoop with embroidery designs by Claudias Creations.   The pattern is called 'Tis the Season.   I love this quilt!  It had stabilizer and was embroidered over 2 layers of fabrics plus all the threads making this piece very stiff.   I used  2 layers of batting, QD Puff  over a layer of QD white poly select.   I wasn't sure if we would get dimension even using 2 battings but to my surprise it quilted up beautifully.   I chose Puff because it is white compared to my wool and because I have heard it does not hold a crease.  This wallhanging will be stored approximately 10 months every year.   I am interested to find out how true that claim is.   I found a lovely version of thi sonline,  quilted by Karen Marchetti  that I thought had good symmetry that I based my quilting on.  Of course I did not even...

Here is version # 5 of a  Vintage Rose  pattern that I have now quilted.  All so different!   I love that this quilt is so versatile.  Kathryn did an amazing job as usual with her version.  I went a little dense in some areas, light custom in other areas but did use double batting with wool on top to get a stronger take on the dimension since quilting itself can be so hard to see on these gorgeous Kafe fabrics. Isn't that a fun version?!   I used a hot pink thread for most of the quilting.

Pat was referred to me by Sandra Kollath in Minnesota.  We met several years ago at one of Denise Green's Judy Niemeyer retreats.   Sandra became a certified instructor for Judy Niemeyer as well and Pat was one of her students.  Pat's quilt is really special because she told me it was her 97th bed sized quilt and she was 87 when she pieced it!  I choose to accent her beautiful 2 color Vintage Rose with some digital quilting designs.  Most are by Carrie Barone of Peak to Prairie Quilting, some are by Nancy  at Wasatch Quilting and ditching and some designs are my own hand guided designs. Such a pretty quilt!  What an accomplishment to be able to work on complex designs like these in your 80's. This was Vintage Rose #4 that I have custom longarm quilted.   #5 has already been quilted and shipped as well.   I have a few more in my line up for this year, each very different from all t...

What a Joy to work on this one!   These DeJonge patterns and fabric colors really speak loud and clear.  I also enjoyed working on the smaller size of around 60".   Most of the Judy Niemeyer patterns I  quilt are about 100" so this really was a Joy to custom quilt! In progress shot across the frame In progress from underneath frame A few of these were in progress shots.  I somehow managed to skip taking a photo of the completed back also.    This quilt was a long time in the planning.   I think I had on my books for 2 years, it was rescheduled 2X by the owner, then rescheduled by Huricane Harvey and other events by me!   I am so happy to finally have this one completed.   Some quilts are like that in our lives, they just get waylayed for various reasons.  But she is gorgeous now and I'm told already bound ready to hang. If you are interested in custom longarm quilting by ...

Belinda's gorgeous Fire Island Hosta that she requested to be longarm custom quilted very lightly. The quilt will be used as a bed quilt. They did not want dense quilting or thread build up.  Light and airy but not an edge to edge.              I struggle with light custom, I find it a very difficult task for a quilt with lots of skinny points, triangles and wedges. Areas are too small for light and airy designs and pointy areas need structure.  Blender fabrics like these are very hard to get quilting details to show without lots of quilting.  I hope I succeeded with her request!