Thread Tales From A Scrappy Quilter

It's almost back to school time and I'm ready for a little more uninterrupted time in my schedule.  Here's a few favorites I quilted recently:   Quilters Dream Puff Poly batting used in the quilt above.             July was 4 weeks of Driver's Ed for my 15 year old, taking him there and 1.5 hrs later picking him back up.  Plus about 17 Doctor visits between myself, 2 boys, 2 cats and a dog!  I knew it was coming, most appointments were scheduled months ago and I scheduled my quilting accordingly.  No customs for July.   On top of that, I'm an officer in 2 clubs plus I am on the planning committee for our upcoming quilt show which is taking way too much of my time.  Oh, I also am trying to set up a .com website for my business and I also bought the quilter's software, The Machine Quilter's Business Manager but... I have not had the time to get them fully operational....

Here are 2 very different quilts, both quilted with the same, hand guided, pantograph pattern, Clematis.  All over designs really look very nice on many quilts.   Some fabrics do all the talking in some quilts, other times an all over design is just a better choice for the budget.  I've seen applique quilts that have been quilted with all over designs and they were still gorgeous.   Some quilts beg to be custom quilted but many times an all over design is just what the quilt needs.       These were all fabrics that I could use a light lavender thread that showed on the white as well as all the med/dark fabrics used.   Often the biggest obstacle is choosing thread when you have a range of light, medium and dark fabrics and many colors.   Somewhere the thread is going to blend.   This particular quilt also needs careful consideration when choosing a design because you don't want the background fabric t...