I finished my hand embroidered Seasons quilt during our 2009 winter get-away and have been stymied as to how to quilt it without sacrificing the beauty of the embroidery.  I took the top to a guild meeting and received some very good suggestions.  I was going to add some more embroidery to the white spaces, but now have decided that I would fill them in with quilting instead.    I needed some quilting options.

Seasons Quilt Top

After putting it up on my design wall, I checked online and got a few ideas then went into the EQ5 program and found some perfect quilt stencils to compliment this quilt.

Quilt options

Quilting Pattern for Blocks

Seasons Quilt Stencils for Borders:

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

My next step is to make some quilt sandwiches to practice quilting these designs.  I normally cut muslin and backing squares 12″x12″ to use as practice pieces.

A new baby is reason enough to make a new quilt.  My on-in-law has a brand new nephew and since I haven’t made a baby quilt in some time, I figured that this was the perfect opportunity.

I’ve made this pattern a number of times for Kid Comfort Quilts and figured that it would be a perfect quilt to welcome in a new member of the family.

I asked for some pictures of Gabriel with family members, printed them on fabric and added a few borders.

To complete the quilt, I put Gabriel’s birth information to the front of the quilt.

Every year at our Watson quilting retreat, we have a mini quilters’ exchange.  Last year our group exchanged 5 fat quarters and some background fabric.  Like fabric could be added to finish the project.

I’ve wanted to try my hand at making a miniature quilt for some time now and thought that this was the perfect opportunity.  I decided on a pattern from Lynette Jensen’s  Pint Size Traditions.   Now to quilt it.  I’ve actually had the piece finished for a couple of months now – but wasn’t sure just how best to quilt it.

Finally I pulled out my notes from a machine quilting class by Jan WIldman that I took at Quilt Camp and decided to use the quilting pattern ‘Hearts’  for my miniature.  It’s been awhile since I’ve done any machine quilting, so I put together some quilt sandwiches (Making a Quilt Sandwich video link) and made some practice pieces.

I’ve finished the quilting my exchange piece.  Some of the hearts are a bit “fractured’ unfortunately.  I definitely need more practice!

I’m just hoping that my fellow quilter remembers that the best way to look at a quilt is ‘from a galloping horse’.

UFO’s - We all have them.  We laugh about them, move them from one place to another in our storage area and vow that “one” day we will finish them.  Instead we continue to buy new fabric and kits whenever we are in a quilt store – and – never seem to get to the UFO’s.  I’ve decided that it finally time to put a dent in my collection!

I’ve chosen two projects to start on – both are table runners that are ready for quilting.

I haven’t done any machine quilting in a while, so I decided some practice was needed before I began the final pieces.

I made two 15 x 15 quilt sandwiches and filled them with some meander and outline quilting.  It’s not hard – just takes a bit of practice and patience.  Using Sortkwick moistener makes it easier to control the fabric as it’s guided under the needle.  I always keep a container handy, on top of my machine, when quilting.  Using the moistener is more convenient to use than quilting gloves or rubber finger tips.   I also like to raise my chair a little higher than I normally have it when I sew, so that my arms can rest comfortabley on the top of my sewing table.

Next I put on some of my favorite CD’s  and I’m ready to roll.  I finished quilting about half of the Rainforest Rings table runner today.

My goal was to spend at least 15 minutes at a time working on a project, but I find that I get caught up in what I’m dong and an hour quickly goes by.  That’s really not a bad thing though – I am enjoying myself while accomplishing something.

There’s always time to quilt!

I’m on a mission – to finish up two of my UFO’s before the year is out!  I’m hoping that by focusing on one or two pieces and spending 15 minutes a day, I’ll actually get something done.   Both of the pieces are table runners that are ready for quilting.

The first is a pattern I found on our 40th Anniversary trip to Alaska in 2005.

Rainforest Rings

The colors reminds me of  the mountains and ocean waters of  Juno.  It has already been sandwiched and pin-basted and I am ready to machine quilt it.

The second is the Mystery Quilt from one of our Quilters’ Retreat at the Watson Homestead.  The top still needs to be prepared for quilting.

Red and Green

Let’s see how I do.

There’s Always Time to Quilt!