Online Quilt Class

A few weeks back, I signed up for an on-line quilt class given by Carla Barrett.  Her class is call Quilt Whispering.

One of the hardest part of creating a quilt is how to quilt it.  All quilters dread the instructions at the end of a pattern that says “quilt as desired.”  As a longarm quilter, I need to be able to look at a quilt and come up with designs that will enhance the quilt and please the customer.  This can be a difficult task.

The class is in its second week. I have already learned so much.  One of  the first things Carla teaches is how to break down a quilt.  To look at it differently.  To see what opportunities there are to stray from the same old thing.  I have already put this into practice with a couple of my own quilts.

I have a quilt top I made couple of years ago.  It was a mystery quilt through a guild I belong  to.  The quilt to is 120″ square.  I have not quilted it because I couldn’t make up my mind as to how to quilt it.  I think I just may have come up with a plan or maybe two.This is only 1/4 of the quit.  But you get the idea.

Circles

or Triangles

I found after taking a picture of the quilt, I was able to see opportunities for quilting I didn’t see otherwise.  I am excited to get started on this quilt and other quilt tops I have yet to complete.

Now I just need to decide between Circles or Triangles.  Tom, my husband, likes the circles.  Which do you like? Click on the pictures to get a closer look.

I’ll post the finished product once it’s complete.  Right now I’m working on a project for my nephew Justin.  But that’s a whole other story. I’ll blog about that once it’s done.

C

Mystery Quilt

My friend Carol followed a mystery quilt in the Quilters Newsletter Magazine.  She figured it would be fun.

The first step was to make simple anvil type blocks.  Her’s remind me of a piece of cellophane wrapped candy.

Next was a modified bear paw block.

Then they upped the anti with an applique block,  eight of them.  Four going in one direction and four in another.

The last block was a center medallion,  a mariners compass.  So much for simple.  Had they reversed the order of the blocks she might not have even joined the mystery.

The quilt was finished off with some borders, half square triangle units, and a few four-patch units.  I finished quilting it for her just the other day.  It’s beautiful.  She requested I carry the floral design of the applique into the quilting.

What do you think?

I would love to see other quilts made following the Quilters Newsletter mystery.

C

Christmas Quilting Special

Now that I’m all organized, I can get to quilting.  Need a quilt quilted for Christmas? Do you just want a simple all over pattern?  Let me know.

If you can get me your quilt no later than December 15th, 2011.  You can have it back in time for Christmas 2011.

My pantograph pattern pricing starts at $0.015 per square inch.  What does that mean?  If your quilt is 45″ x 60″, it could cost you as little as $40.50 to have it quilted. (batting would be extra if supplied by me)

I’ll be waiting for your e-mail or call.

Happy Quilting
C

Pantographs Organized

As any longarm quilter knows, it can be difficult to organize your pantographs.   What’s a pantograph?  It is a long sheet of paper on which is printed a quilting design.  These designs are placed on a quilting frame and the longarm quilter follows the pattern with a laser pointer.  Thus duplicating the pattern on to the quilt.  These are generally 120″ long.

I have been struggling with how to organize my pantographs.  I know there are various ways that others have organized them, but I didn’t think they would work for me.  I like to see the designs I have all in one spot.  I also wanted to be able to take them out and put them away easily.

I got this idea from a Snap-on Tool Truck.  These are the tool guys who drive those big trucks around selling tools to various repair shops.  One of these trucks would stop a my husbands business.  They have almost any tool you would want.  They are all over the walls and ceiling of the truck.  They have pegboard with elastic shock cord threaded through the holes.  The tools are secured by these elastics.

While I did not need the amount of elastic in the tool truck, I liked the simplicity.   I kept thinking about how I could duplicate this idea.  I didn’t need a full sheet of pegboard covered with elastic.  I finally came up with the idea of using eye screws.  Those are those screws with a loop on the end.  I put up 7 screws in each row then threaded elastic through them.  I got the elastic from REI.   Now I can easily see what I have, organize them anyway I want, and easily put them back.

What do you think?  I love it.

And to the left is my thread cabinet.  This is an old family cabinet which was left in my basement.  Now it’s my thread case.

Doesn’t the thread look luscious?

Now I’m really oganized!

C

Testing Out New Designs

I have a customer who makes quilts for the Linus Project.  She is prolific in her quilt making.  It’s always a challenge to do something different on these quilts.  She usually give me 4 to 6 quilts at a time.  Some times I use a printed pantograph.  But I usually try to use these quilts to practice some new designs, at least new to me.

A couple of years ago, I took a class with Elaine Huffman  entitled ” Fabric Inspired Quilting”.  Elaine showed the class how to use elements in the quilt fabric as the quilting design.  I have tried that a few times.  In the last batch of Linus quilts, there was a particular focus fabric that sparked my imagination.  I used the flower, leave and swirl motifs to create a design.  I think it came out great.  I know my customer loved it.

Click on the pictures to get a larger view.

This is another design I was playing with.  I like the way it looks.  It’s a simple design but look very elegant.