Maybe next Christmas?

Some time ago, our local quilt shop asked me to help one of the staff with CorelDraw so she could improve their newsletters. What fun! She was an eager learner, a delight to work with. 

The shop paid me in gift certificates. I bought a new book, but then pondered what to do with the rest of it. Then, a couple weeks ago I was looking for a pattern for someone else and found one called "Splendid Stars" that I liked myself. 

The LQS had a Christmas quilt on display with a lovely wintery border by Jayson Yenter (In the Beginning, no link. I may have bought the last yards left on the planet)... so putting the two together, I have a king-size in mind... and used the remaining certificates for the fabrics below. Maybe it will be done for next year?

Progress on Kali's quilt...

The top is pieced so I'm working on the Japanese crests. There will be seven of them, one red on black and the rest are black on red. I'm using Steam a Seam II to lay down the pieces, then going around them with a tiny blacked stitch. This isn't as 'soft' as hand applique, but it will be much sturdier for this bed quilt.

The top one is finished and ready to sew on the background. The bottom one has more leaves and some cherries to stick down. Then I'll do the blanket stitch, then put a freezer paper circle on the back, trim and turn under the edges.
 
I still don't have a name for this quilt. One suggestion was nice, but since the cherry tree on the right side of this page is also for this dear GD, cannot call it that. Maybe the GD will have an idea.
 

Japanese Queen-Size

Finally, this top is nearly done. It needs two borders and some appliqued Japanese family crests, then will be ready for quilting. 

Here are a few of the crests. If you search "Japanese Family Crests" you will find hundreds of them.
 
It was a special order for my GD who at first wanted the cherry tree (at the right). After the tree was finished, we decided it should go on the wall and this queen-size would look great with a kimono. She has never been to Japan but has studied the language and culture.

I don't have a name for it yet. Any suggestions?

Splash go the Flowers

This one took forever to quilt, but I'm so happy with the results. Again, it is a top that Wanda made, and now will have a place in my dining room. Every time I eat there, I will think of this lovely lady who keeps so many of us encouraged on her blog, Exuberant Color. It is about 32" square. 

Splash go the Flowers

Detail of Splash go the Flowers

 The bottom detail shows how easy it is to use up a few hundred yards of thread in even a small quilt!

 

 

So what is a sandwich?

We are still on holidays and I could not bring any sewing (didn't want to start another project in hand sewing just to have something to do), but I have been working on something. I've had several non-quilters ask me to make them a quilt. However, most of them have no idea what they want. So I've started a booklet on "Selecting Your Quilt" (or some such title) with sections about the options, such as size, use, color, fabrics, style (traditional, modern, art) and so on, with sample pictures. 

I first wanted to do it so I would remember what questions to ask these folks, but it began to grow into a pictorial options document. I can save it to .pdf or print out hard copies to help customers think about their choices. While some just want to pick one from my pile of finished quilts, others have a "quilt in their head" and I cannot see their vision without a clear explanation. Non-quilters often do not know the "lingo" to use as they try explain their ideas.

My question for anyone reading this today is: Would you even bother with a vague custom order (like a pink quilt for my daughter's twin bed, or a landscape to remind me of my dad's fishing trips)? Or would you politely decline? Of course, when they add up the price list, they might gasp and say "no thanks" anyway! LOL.

Center section is quilted

This top (from Wanda) is being quilted day-by-day using Glide thread that I purchased locally (from the Man-Quilter, Matt Sparrow). This thread is lovely to work with... no tension problems and no breakage. I've just started the corners using a different background stipple to go around the floral motifs.
 

If you double-click, you can see this better. The darker squares are about 5" x 5" so gives an idea of the scale. While this is taking lots of time, I like the way it looks!

Splash go the Flowers

Some time ago I purchased a quilt top from Wanda. She is such a nice lady and I just had to have something she created! 

Anyway, it became time to sandwich and quilt it. I'd taken a class from Claudia Pfeil and saw her quilts live and up close. Wow. I might never do one as large as some of hers, but micro quilting is calling, at least on a smaller scale. I decided it would be perfect for this top. 

 After selecting a design, marking it became a puzzle. Light markers show on the dark fabric and dark markers shows on the light fabric, but that made my head ache. I decided to try Press 'n Seal... again. 

When it first came out, quilters were all excited, but we discovered that the marks from whatever pen was used often transferred to the quilt top as the sewing machine needle punctured this sticky stuff. Also, it was a pain to remove and it gummed up the needle.

For me, it was not available in Canada at first, so one of my daughter's friends went to the USA and brought me about 8 rolls! I tried it as above, and then left the boxes in a cupboard. 

However, this seemed my only solution to marking an intricate pattern on a quilt with contrasting values. So out it came, and lo and behold, sitting in the cupboard for a few years lessened the glue factor so no build up on my sewing machine needle! 

Also, I'd learned before that the permanent marker will not transfer if left to dry for a few days before sewing. So I did that and am putting the main design on the top. I also found out that sitting in the cupboard made this sticky product easier to remove! 

This photo shows the product on a corner, with the stitching done. If you double-click, you might be able to see the stitching in the lighter center. Lots more to do, but the main areas are ready.

As for the name of this quilt, the floral design on those blocks reminds me of tossing a flower in the water and watching the ripples. This is already fun, and I'm not tossing out all those boxes of Press 'n Seal!