Thread Tales From A Scrappy Quilter

I am so happy to report that we finally have a separate website set up for my business.  My blog will continue at blogger as I don't want to learn a new system but my blog will post at my .com so you can access the blog from the site.   All the digital designs can be found there as well as lots of other info and photos. Check out my new website here ! I also want to take this time to wish you all a very       What else is new?   I  have a new logo!    I was so thrilled working with Mr. Hop.   After meeting with me for an hour, looking at some of my client's quilts and my quilting, he came up with this design.  I love it.    I received approval from Quiltworx   the pattern designer to use this as my logo and also from Lou Ellen Hassold whose Paradise in Blooms quilt was the inspiration source for the logo.    Mr. Hop was right on target as so much of my custom work is on  Judy Niemeyer Quiltworx paper piece patterns.  I could not be more pleased. Thank you all f

"Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.   Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!" - Dr. Suess.    Merry Christmas from our home to yours.           I thought this was cute since we are at my inlaws in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ.   May Peace and Joy be with you and yours this Christmas season.   

Another lovely quilt by Robin, this is a large bed quilt.    Computer guided design "Abigail" by Sarah Ann Myers   

Alice does amazing handwork.   She also loves paper piecing .  We first met a few years back at a Denise Green (CI for Judy Niemeyer) retreat.    Alice always has a beautiful project in the works, she does not do simple.  Alice made a variety of blocks that she loved, set with a half pineapple paper pieced border.        Photo skills lacking, I don't have my sewing studio photo area set up perfected yet.  Thanks Alice for allowing me to custom quilt your beautiful creation!   Alice requested no feathers in the outer border and to maybe use a free flowing vine design similar to the blue fabric used in the sashing and borders.   We also were going to do a scroll in the sashing but as soon as I made my first stitches in the border, I realized it was not going to show well and I couldn't even really see where I had stitched.   I decided to use a tried and true simple sashing treatment.  In a few photos,  the dimension really shows but for the mos

Another lovely bed quilt for Sally.  This was large!   If you count the blocks, there are 50.... FIFTY large blocks used counting the star blocks, alternate blocks, setting triangles and corner setting triangle units.       unquilted back     I was seeking fast alternatives for this quilt,  if you average 1 hour per block that's 50 hours - plus borders.  Sally does not like feathers so that eliminated most time saving one stop/start designs from my standard bag of tricks.  Continuous curves would be great in the star blocks but the more open blocks screamed ruler work to me but that gets costly too.  I have a hard time keeping things on the light side of custom!  I am not proficient at custom on my computerized system yet, in fact no formal training for custom at all was given.  I am working through screens now but not still working on scrap projects.   This would have been a perfect quilt for computerized quilting, to drop in a gorgeous block over each

Robin's big bed sized quilt with a pretty framed backing.   Computer guided quilting using Espresso pantograph by Patricia Ritter.  

Our Love Story was made by a client showcasing important dates and events in their family up to current day.  I love the blue and white color theme.      This is a challenging piece to create for beginners or experienced quilters and this was made by a fairly new quilter.  I encourage people to carry on!  While this top did have some issues, in the grand scheme of things it is a beautiful quilt.  We had 3 main requests, Feathers, no stitching over the embroidery and of course the dreaded budget!   I did try to sell that this quilt would not be a problem stitching over the embroidery but I did not convince.   That So Fine #402 and these embroidery colors... you never would have seen it!  So Fine 402, working from memory maybe 434 in the rings?.   Cotton batting. I like traditional designs on these and I was faced with 2 main challenges.   I needed a design that did not follow the ditch.   Easy!   Many traditional designs do not, a feather spray starts from one corner

Here is one of my new favorite designs, stitched out on Sally's fun quilt.   I do not know the fabric line, fun modern fabrics that screamed for some type of geometric quilting.  This design is called Bubbles b2b (border to border) by Anne Bright.    It is awesome!   Well to me anyway.   I've already used this one on another quilt and look forward to using it on your quilt.   The really nice thing about using a digitized design, is that it can be resized smaller or larger to fit the scale of your project.   I could not do that with hand guided pantos.    Of course I could not do backtracking circles with hand guilded either!   So naturally, this one is a favorite of mine.   Not too dense, good coverage and very interesting across solids or busy fabrics. One small enough I could hang!   Lately I've had a run of really large quilts.   Thanks Sally for sending me your lovely quilts!

More computerized edge to edge quilting by Pamela and Pat.   This first one is a really big 120" scrappy quilt by Pamela that I did not even try to get all in the photos!  Thimbleberries patterns come to mind but I don't know if this was a specific pattern or blocks she put together herself.   I used" bd 2010 pano 001"  by Sweet Dreams Quilt Studio.    Before quilting, on the frame Back view.   I love this design but it is a monster to stitch out at this large size of quilt.   The pattern was sized at 18" and stitched up and down until it completed one row.  Because of this stitch pattern and large quilt, I could not complete one pass on one bobbin of thread.   It took TWO bobbins per pass to complete.    I don't think I have ever run a panto that used 14 bobbins of thread before.   I'll maybe try this on a smaller quilt with pre-wound 60 wt bobbins, otherwise I'll have to move this one to a more expensive rate edge to edge des

A couple more recent finishes for Sally.  Hand guided and computer designs.  The hex quilt is from a jelly roll pattern and is so cute.  I custom quilted with a variety of fills in the strips.             This one isalso really cute, I loved the bold design of the frames.   I chose "Bubble Big Small" by Kraker Quilting, computerized quilting for this one.  It turned out pretty cute!   Quilt was not yellow - something with the lighting there.   Nice Blue/gray batik backing.