Mom wanted it bigger.

This quilt was originally a gift to my mother for Christmas, but she told me she wanted it bigger so that it could be a comforter for her queen size bed. I guess it’s a good thing she told me she wanted it bigger before I quilted it.

I do not normally use huge borders, but that was the most expeditious way to enlarge this quilt top.  Expeditious when it came to sewing, but not finishing. The delay was caused by the matching fabric being on back order at my local quilt shop, Sew Modern. Now it’s become a late Christmas/Mother’s Day gift. This quilt is a mix of a vintage floral fabric and two solids. The border is Moda’s Cross Weave Woven Blue Blue, and there’s also hint of a Kona solid gold color. The Cross Weave looks more like a turquoise than a blue, but whatever you call it, it’s my mom’s favorite color.

Now the quilt is on my long arm, swiftly on its way to a (delayed) expeditious finish!

Digital Floral Pattern

My life as a quilter is evolving! I've mentioned that I have a new Navigator, a computerized-guided addition to my ABM Innova long arm quilting machine that allows me to do edge-to-edge all over digital designs. The great thing about this is that it offers another option for my clients, and best of all, I'm able to get back to the basics of being a quilter and do more quilt piecing!

Below is my latest, a quick thank you gift for a family that has been very helpful to me.  I pieced it with just two Alexander Henry fabrics, a brown Heath print and a turquoise Cameillia, and a brown-hued solid Kona for the back.  I used 3/4 inch strips pieced inbetween each block.  This created 1/4 inch sashing with the Cameillia fabic making the brown blocks look they're floating.

I usually custom quilt my own quilts. Yet with the addition of the Navigator, I've come to know that not every quilt needs a custom job. And sometimes an all-over quilting design is a great option, as with this quilt.  And now that the quilt has been washed, the simple digital pattern has allowed the batting to crinkle up the quilt in that perfect way that makes it a cozy, functional quilt.

I picked an all-over flower with swirls and leaves. I used this pattern because it worked perfectly with the Camellia flower print without fighting it. The Navigator also allows me to change the scale of the pattern. In this case, I made it large to go with the large print.

Soon I'll be posting a library of my digital patterns to show along with my custom work that's on my site.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

Curls and Feathers

I recently finished Karen's quilt.  With this being a traditional sampler-style quilt, the challenge was how to create differentiation between the blocks, yet find unity so it all belnds together in a singular piece. In this case, I mostly used feathers and several different curl patterns, among a few others. I especially liked how the border came out, with lines radiating out to the edges with curly cues on each side.

In the full size pic below, one can see how the feathers and curls worked together. The center panel also has curls. Yet within the center, I used two different curls, one being more dense than the other. This provided further differentiation within the block itself.

I really like when customer jobs like this come in. The opportunity presented by a creative puzzle is not only challenging, but extremely satisfying when the puzzle is solved and completed.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Who's the winner? It's me!

I was excited to find out this morning that I was awarded two ribbons for my quilting on Peggie's Little Monsters quilt at the South Bay Quilters Guild 2013 Quilt Show.

I was awarded 3rd Place overall for machine quilting, and 1st Place for machine quilting on an applique quilt. I hope this means I get to take the rest of the day off, and be treated like a queen by my husband and teenage children. Nah, that's probably not happening. But I'm thrilled with the recognition. Thanks Peggie for the opportunity!

Abstract Sea Creatures Whole Cloth Quilt

The concept of this small quilt entered my mind when I took a class with Linda Taylor last January at Road to California.  She taught us this twisty thing that really captured my attention...something about all the movement created by the shapes.  I’ve been wanting to incorporate aspects of it into a small whole cloth quilt ever since.  This is my first attempt, and after finishing it, the colors and shapes remind me of sea creatures.