Thread Tales From A Scrappy Quilter

It finally happened!  A prolific quilter said, let's try this.   We chose an edge to edge design for her beautiful Paradise in Blooms, complete with needle turn applique.  I must say I am completely happy with this and would not hesitate to recommend doing this again.   Surf digital edge to edge design by Anne Bright,  Quilters Dream Wool, Glide thread in Warm Gray #4.         Thank you Alice for such a lovely quilt and being brave enough to try this.   We both think it turned out awesome!

This is my 6th time to quilt a Paradise in Blooms quilt, a Quiltworx, Judy Niemeyer pattern!  This one will become a bed quilt and originally was to be lighter custom but Suzie saw the one I quilted for Lou Ellen in a similar colorway and really liked the quilting dimension she saw in the photos.  We changed a few things around, different feathers, double batting.  It really pops!  I used Quilters Dream 70/30 with Quilters Dream Wool on top for nice dimension and a variety of Glide, Isacord and Superior threads.   Suzie took it straight from the box and had to see in in the bedroom it will grace once binding is complete.  Beautiful! What an awesome embroidered label she made directly onto one of the backing fabric panels. even with busy fabrics you still see a good deal of detail from the back I added a little geometric design to the bottom corners.     What a lovely quilt to sleep under...

Wow!   Another beautiful Paradise In Blooms entrusted to me.   This one was a little difficult, I knew she wanted detailed quilting but the fabrics really did not want to let the quilting outshine their own beauty.   I went with a darker thread for some of the details and then back to a more blending thread for fill work.     Lou Ellen originally called me after seeing Lou Ann's PIB at the Conroe show where it won a 1st and... Best of Show!   She now is someone that I call a friend.   We sew together at our WWIT (What Was I Thinking Bee) and have attended 2 retreats together since that phone call in March of this year.  I look forward to many more years of sewing fun with her!   Quilters are the BEST! Photo overload!   I'm sorry.   I can't help myself.  Some are similar but show just a little different.  So I'll include lots of them.    Thank you Lou Ellen ...

Another beautiful Paradise in Blooms, a Judy Niemeyer pattern, done in a classic colorway, pieced by Greg Murphy and custom quilted by me.  Greg had seen the one I had quilted for Lou Ann and wanted his quilted in a similar style.   I did stick with what I knew worked well for this one, using a couple of designs straight from one  quilted by Karen McTavish, those tiny feathers in the outer pointy border and scrolls in the dark outer border.  So traditional, so beautiful!    Picture overload here.         Everything stitched in the ditch with Monolon, Glide threads used top and bottom for quilting with exception of that black scroll and that was So Fine because that's what I had that was slightly off black to give better detail to the quilting.     These backing photos were taken on the display stand with the light showing through the colors.     this one ...

I just love the fall colors in this quilt.   This is my 3rd to quilt and each has been so different.   Sandy  chose to break up her background area creating a petal effect.   I like it!  I should have taken the time to load on my hanging display stand, instead I tossed over the side of my loft wall to get a better view of how the top looks.   I fully intended to take a photo when Sandy picked it up but I forgot!