Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Co-ordinated Chaos Quilt

Last week my sister Rita from Red Pepper Quilts made the Co-ordinated Chaos Quilt from the Rowan book a Colorful Journey.  When I saw Rita's quilt I realised that I had quilted a version of this quilt for my customer Isobel some time ago.

Here is Rita's version of the Chaos Quilt.

Photo courtesy of  Red Pepper Quilts

One of the many things I love about quilting is that a quilt pattern made by different quilters can result in vastly different quilts.  I love that even when quilters are making a quilt from a pattern, they are always adding a little bit of themselves.

This is Isobel's version of the Co-ordinated Chaos Quilt.


While both Rita and Isobel have used Kaffe Fassett shot cottons and checks and stripes, the colour palettes are quite different.  Rita has included blues and greens while Isobel has relied on reds, pinks, yellow and blues.

The quilting too is strikingly different between these two quilts.  Rita has quilted straight line quilting in both directions to great effect.

Photo courtesy of Red Pepper Quilts

 
I quilted Isobel's quilt with swirls and feathers quilted in alternating directions.



I have enjoyed the opportunity to compare and contrast these two beautiful quilts.  Thanks to Rita for allowing me to use the images of her quilt.  Thanks also to Isobel for allowing me to quilt her Chaos Quilt - it was a fun quilt to work on.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Rosie

The quilt I am sharing with you today has been hand pieced by my customer Ann.  It is a sampler quilt, set with sashing and smaller eight-pointed star cornerstones, made in gorgeous greens, pinks and reds.  The colour scheme put me in mind of roses and, as a result, we decided to quilt Ann's quilt with an all-over design called Rosie by Jodi Beamish.


I am sure you will agree that this pattern has quilted up beautifully with the flowers standing out particularly well on the green sashing and border fabric while still allowing the individual blocks to shine.






This has been another wonderful quilt to work on - I hope you like the final result Ann and enjoy your quilt.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Purple & Yellow Quilt

Having just quilted several custom quilts, it was a pleasure to quilt an edge-to-edge quilt again.  The quilt I am featuring today was made by my customer Liz.  She has made the quilt as a gift for someone whose favourite colour is purple.  Liz has made a beautiful quilt - she has used a beautiful range of fabrics and the combination of purple and yellow is striking.


I have used one of my favourite patterns, Splash by Jodi Beamish, on this quilt.  This pattern tends to look great on modern quilts -it has added some lovely texture and movement.




I hope your gift is well received Liz - it has certainly met the purple criteria!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Teddy Bear's Picnic Quilt

I have just had the pleasure of quilting my customer Denise's very cute Teddy Bear's Picnic Quilt.  Denise has made this quilt for her grandson's birthday.

 

Inspired by the quilting on this quilt, I quilted some whimsical detail into each of the blocks - see if you can spot the quilted leaves, flowers, butterfly, fruit, heart, sun, balloon and boat in these blocks.


The above block also shows the border which has been quilted with swags and feathers.






The following block with the little sailor and his boat is my favourite - I love how the quilted boat turned out.


Close-ups of the other blocks in this quilt are on my flickr page if you would like to see more. 

Denise picked up her quilt today and was thrilled - I hope her grandson loves the quilt as much as she does.  I certainly had a great time quilting it.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Blue Stars Quilt

My customer Peney makes the most exquisite quilts with wonderful piecing, fabric selections and colour choices.  This Blue Stars Quilt she has made is no exception.  The quilt is made up of blocks made by various piecers from Peney's quilting group which Peney has sewn together.  Many of the blocks have the name of the maker embroidered on them.  I love the golden highlights throughout the quilt:  in the corner blocks in the outer border; the corner blocks of the body of the quilt, as well as some of the carefully placed corner stones.  You really get the impact of the golden highlights when looking at the whole quilt.

I have quilted the Blue Stars Quilt with feathers in the white setting triangles of many of the blocks, continuous curves in the blue sections of the blocks, a tiny scroll through the  narrow sashing and semi-circles with feathers and piano keys in the borders.  Here are some close ups of the individual blocks.





The following is a close-up of the quilting in the border -


More photos of this quilt can be viewed on my flickr page here.

I hope you have enjoyed Peney's Blue Stars Quilt - it has been a pleasure to work on and I am thrilled with the end result.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Pick-Pocket Nurses (now Quilter's) Tool Belt

I have spent some considerable time over the last week in the emergency department of our local hospital.  My husband was the patient and he is now on the way to recovering.  While there, however, I had plenty of time to notice that many of the nursing staff were wearing a small tool belt around their waist for their scissors, tape, pens, keys etc.

As a longarm machine quilter, I am always putting down my scissors and then having to figure out exactly where I have left them, to the point of frustration.  I often find myself walking all the way around to the other side of the quilting machine to pick up my scissors.  I had considered a tool belt before but had not found anything small enough that wasn't going to get in the way while quilting, until last week.



I found the Pick-Pocket Nurses Tool Belt online at Multipoint Technologies and at $15AUD including postage thought it a bargain.  My Nurses Quilter's Tool Belt arrived in the mail today - I will now hopefully be able to put my hands on my scissors and other small tools at all times.