Picnic Lady Bug Quilt

Kathy Claes made this cute lady bug quilt for her daughter.  It was made for family picnics.  (It's almost too nice to put on the ground!)  She designed the quilt herself.  The lime green really makes it pop! 

Her husband printed out all the wording of the Lady Bug poem on a bubble jet printer. 

 

Of course I had to quilt it with a lady bug pattern...

 Great job Kathy!   This quilt will be treasured for years to come.

Autumn Splendor

This paper-pieced beauty was made by Christine Schwartz.  The orange, gold and purple batiks she chose are just beautiful!  Pattern (Autumn Splendor) is by Quiltworx; Judy Niemeyer and her son are experts at designing paper-pieced patterns.  The seams are staggered so everything lies flat.  If you ever consider making one of these pointy star patterns, Judy Niemeyer is the only way to go.

The first thing to do is have a quilting plan of action!  Decide what you want to show off - in this case the stars and flying geese.  Decide on a quilting pattern around those elements and stick to it on the rest of the quilt.  I sketched out a variety of designs until I found the right one.  Even then you are still entitled to change your mind, and start over.

The quilting is all freehand and everything has been stitched-in-the-ditch (SID). 

 

Three thread colors were used.  I started with gold colored thread and did all the quilting on all the blocks where gold/light fabrics are, then went back with purple and then one more time with a touch of monofilament to SID around the orange flying geese.

 

 

I quilted feathers in the dark fabrics and SID in the center of the star.

 I used an echo in the gold fabrics around the flying geese.  I wanted the fabric around the star to be quilted down, so it would be showcased.  I used a small stipple, swirls and SID.

The SID keeps the flying geese flat and gives it a more finished look.

teaser

A teaser....  will post all the pictures this week.

Rainbow Quilt

Pat and her husband David Cobb designed this Rainbow Quilt.  All the pieces are odd shapes.  It creates an illusion that it's rounded, doesn't it?

I chose three thread colors that matched the background and quilted freehand in each section. 
The border is quilted with a design in an aqua thread color. 

Medallion Star Sampler

This quilt was pieced by Janet K's mother.  I need to get her name because she was a very good piecer and very prolific.  These quilts are being quilted and finished in her memory.  I wish I could have met her.  She was not afraid of difficult blocks and Y-seams!  She made a feathered star for the center.  The surrounding blocks are all star sampler blocks, and not easy ones either.  She choose a few coordinating colors from a floral focus fabric, which she used in the border.

 

I followed the floral theme and quilted large flowers peaking out from each corner of the medallion center.

Feathers were quilted in the dark pink sashing.

 Small flowers were quilted in the triangle areas.  I did a small stipple in the white background areas that were smaller to make the stars pop.  I didn't quilt over the stars, only some stitch in the ditch, to keep them flat and help define the piecing.

I had planned to quilt a complicated floral design in the border and realized I wouldn't be able to see it.  So I quilted a piano key border (straight lines).  No photo, but it finished it off nicely.  

Baby Quilt

This baby quilt was pieced by Pat Cobb for her newest grandchild.  The outfits are made out of cotton and velvet.   She did an amazing job with the details.  So cute.

Batik 9-Patch

Simply and charming, this batik 9-patch gets the job done.  It's also a great scrap buster.  Pieced by Marge M., she used 2 different background fabrics - though you can't tell.

A leaf design was chosen to be quilted in the alternate plain blocks and sides.  

The 9-patch blocks are quilted with connecting arcs with a lighter color thread.  This allows the background fabric to be quilted down, it doesn't compete with the design quilted next to it and it allows the batik fabrics to POP forward. 

Because it's set on point, it really makes it more interesting to look at.  Super easy and great results!