Machine Quilting: Super Duper Large Glacier Star

Doris is this absolutely adorable woman who originally is from the Ohio area but now resides in Florida. When she was home visiting relatives earlier this year she stopped out to Cottonpickers and wanted to make the Glacier Star quilt with extensions. Since she was visiting, she was short on time so she asked Mom to pick out a kit for her with blues and greens. This was how it turned out:

 Disclaimer: This pattern with the extensions is large enough, but Doris decided it needed to be a bit bigger to fit her bed, so she added borders around the whole quilt.

 When I asked Doris what she wanted, I was told to keep it youthful and fun and she liked feathers, so with that in mind, I went to town.

 I love this center. Judy's snowflake center allows for some pretty awesome quilting results.

 Most of the designs I used combine a mixture of curves and points so if it wasn't a feather, it felt like a feather and they all played well together in the grand scheme of the quilt.

Doris called me after she got the quilt and I loved her message on my phone so much I saved it! Thanks, Doris, this quilt was wonderful and I can't wait to see what you come up with next!

If there's a Judy Niemeyer pattern you would like a kit of, but don't have the time or energy to pick out the fabrics, contact Cottonpickers as Doris did and we can help you out! Just let us know which pattern and what colors you'd like and we can get it done.

Machine Quilting: Mariner's Compass #3

I'm so excited to see many of the ladies in the area getting ready to finish up their Mariner's Compass designed by Judy Niemeyer. This pattern is a Technique of the Month that began earlier this year and they're rounding third and heading for home. Everyone has chosen very different colors from one quilt to the next and it's interesting to see how it makes areas of the quilt stand out or act more subtle depending on how it's colored. Take Paulette's for instance:

 She chose OSU colors, Scarlet & Gray! O-H! I-O! Anywho, I knew she was choosing these and I wasn't sure how the quilt would turn out with a limited palette, but it's amazing! Can you believe she only used 7 fabrics?!

 Since it is a Mariner's Compass, I did blend in some nautical quilting motifs, it's a must!

 The center is always my favorite part to quilt, it has to have some personality.

 This time around, I blended a mixture of organic shapes with some straight modern lines since this quilt lent itself so well to the idea.

 All in all I think it turned out well.

Now, busy backs are best. Ask any long-arm quilter. But this one was over the top. Can you see the quilting? Yeah, neither can I!

Thanks, Paulette! You did an amazing job and I had such a blast working on your quilt. It was vastly different than the original Mariner I quilted!

This pattern is available only through Judy Niemeyer Certified Shops and Teachers, but you can purchase both a pattern and a kit by visiting Cottonpickers Quilt Shop! For more information visit their website by clicking here or by calling them at 440-279-0610!

Machine Quilting: Summer Solstice

Mom just completed her Summer Solstice designed by Judy Niemeyer (Quiltworx) and I had so much fun quilting it!

We had so much fun picking out the colors and the fabrics from Timeless Treasures. This quilt has a big future ahead of it and I'll share more on that later!

 I've learned with many of the quilts we use and stow and bring out to hang at our various shows that the quilts with the most dense quilting hang the best when they are needed on demand. So I took that theory to heart and went a little crazy on this one.

 I only used a few thread colors and kept the quilting fairly simple in plan (yes it's dense, that I know) but I kept the same design in the same colors since this pattern is truly simple in construction.

 I thought long and hard about the center and I'm happy with how it turned out. I know I've said this before, but the center is the focus. It's where you have to sum up all of the personality of the rest of the quilt into a small area.

This quilt was so much fun and I will hopefully be quilting another version Mom is doing out of this pattern in the near future. Her new version is a color opposite since it features tans and cool blues with this awesome batik that has pine cones in it! It'll be neat to see the differences! She already has the Lonestar done, now it's just to choose the right colors for the New York Beauties and the borders!

Machine Quilting: Small Mariner's Compass

Marge opted to make the smaller Mariner's Compass Technique of the Month by Judy Niemeyer (Quiltworx) and she did an amazing job with it!

 She kept the colors simple with mainly blues and just a pop of rust or green here and there and the results are spectacular!

 The hardest thing for me was trying to fulfill Marge's request to keep the quilting on the lighter side. It was hard to restrain myself with this pattern as it has so much going on and it's easier to "over-quilt" it like the last one I did. 

 I love the intricate pieces and shapes that you won't find in other patterns.

 Like with the fabrics, I chose a few designs and fit them in different areas so it didn't overwhelm the top.

All in all it worked out quite well and I'm happy with how it turned out. Marge liked it too and last I saw her she was feverishly putting on the binding so she could hang it up! Thanks, Marge!

New York Travel Time

Over the weekend, Mom and I packed up the car and headed to the Jamestown, NY area (near Chautauqua). We were invited to come and do a couple workshops with one of the local guilds and have a little trunk show too!

 On the first day, we started with Mom teaching the Cactus Flower Tablerunner by Judy Niemeyer. The girls did an amazing job learning the paper piecing technique!

You can see the evidence by the organized piles and the intent concentration. :)

Progress was being made by all!

It was a nice sized group and everyone was using completely different fabrics. 

 Here's a little more evidence to prove how much work was accomplished!

 And here's some sample blocks that were made at the end of the day. This one was bright batiks...

 There were some primitive Civil War type prints.

And even a Christmas version!

 Kim was our wonderful host and at the meeting that night she showed off her blocks and the pattern that we made.

  The girls that made it to the meeting after class showed off their blocks too!

It was so neat to see them all come together and how different all of the fabrics were.

This is a great group and we had a fun time. Later that night we headed over to the B&B to crash before my class the next day. I'll be back tomorrow to post pictures!

Machine Quilting: Mom's Glacier Star

So, early last week I worked on Mom's sample of the Glacier Star pattern by Judy Niemeyer. Mom's been busy teaching these classes and starting on two more versions of this quilt (I think that's all she's started). I honestly don't know how the other versions are going to top the looks of this first one...

This quilt is gorgeous and the colors are simply amazing. The crazy thing is... these are NOT Mom's normal colors. She's never played with these before really. She's more of an earth tone kinda gal, but we love the results!!!

With some of Mom's quilts, I really get to try out new ideas and patterns. I played with an adaptation of an oldie-but-goodie pattern and used it for some of the darker areas and the center. 

I used several types of either pointy or swirly designs and used them in a way to break up areas of the quilt. 

 It's hard to see the quilting in certain areas due to the thread choices and pattern of the fabrics themselves, but this outer fabric was a huge inspiration for the quilting designs.

 Here you can see a little better how I changed it up from pointy to swirly designs and back.

 With the centers of many Judy patterns, I spend a ton of time thinking about how to quilt them as they are complex and similar from one pattern to the next. This is the area I try to link many of the other designs going on in the quilt and tie them all together, even if it's just a loop or small detail.

 One of my favorite moments after finished a quilt is flipping it over and if the light is just right, you can really see the quilting details. The lighting on this particular day was just right!

 Here you can see the center and how the quilting looks on the backside.

 It's funny with this backing, we chose it due to it's busy texture (busy backs are best if you ask me!) and looking straight on, you can't see any of the quilting, but turn just a bit and the details come to life.

Mom's currently making other versions of this quilt as I mentioned before and if you sign up for one of her classes, I'm sure you'll see those in progress too. Oh, and if you're in Big Rapids, MI this weekend for the One Stop Shop Hop, we'll be there with this quilt and many others too! Stop by and see us!