Red and green

Personally,  I love red and green quilts.  One last little quilt for 2015.  This clients' quilt is for a fund raiser and she wanted something  simple. 

 

Hand guided pantograph "Undulate" by Denise Shillinger.

 

I really like this quilt.   So many ways this could be quilted.   I'm always thinking... what if I did this or that!  I toyed with doing light custom and not billing as a contribution to her charity.  It's hard to leave some designs, but we can't support everyone's charity and it IS just a few days before Christmas.   I knew it would be pretty with an allover.  Often, for busy prints, I like to choose a tight, one motif type design.  This quilt with all the sashings, I felt like something flowing over the surface, feathery  would be better.  A one motif design might really stand out stronger against the blocks.  The client is not fond of feathers so I choose a curling, swirling design  and  used  Glide thread "Shell" which is a light gold color on top and in the bobbin (the paisley has a gold thread running through it).   It turned out so pretty!

 

 

I had this top draped over the side of the longarm and out of the corner of my eye, I notice a slightly different pattern.   Upon closer inspection, I see a unit that is turned the wrong way.   Easy fix before it goes on the frame.  Some repairs are much more difficult or time consuming that might require you to pick up and repair but most of the time I can work those into my schedule for you for a small fee.

 

 

Another problem I struggled with, I really love that red paisley focus fabric that was also used as the backing.  She had included plenty of backing and I knew she said she had 3 more yards of that fabric.   I draped the top over the backing to see what large plain borders would look like.   I liked it!  I was in the middle of texting her to see if she wanted to add a border to this when it hit me and I stopped.  It's almost Christmas, with holiday schedules, company etc.  We both were scrambling to do our parts so that she could have early next week for a fund raiser.   She knew she had the extra fabric.  We both were on tight schedules.   And... it's adorable with the small border.   Let's quilt it and call her done!   You wouldn't think those ideas would run through the longarm quilter's head... but I worry over so many things!  

 

 

So, not only the act of quilting and good tension etc, but I worry about the quilting design, what if we did this instead of that... the backing and whatever is going on with that, the piecing, the perfect thread and in this case even if it should have an additional border!   That's a lot of worrying and work not included in the base price but I don't know any other way to do this.   It's my passion,  it provides much needed income for my family.... but it's way more than just a "job".  A lot of thought and care goes into every quilt whether its a basic utility quilt or your over the top show quilt. We always hope we make the right choices and in the end, I think this one turned out great!