Phebe - Mayleen's masterpiece

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was working on a quilt that was a major SID project.  I have waited for Mayleen to finish the binding and post about the quilt on her blog first before showing it here.  You might want to check out her blog to find out more about this quilt and some of Mayleen's other wonderful quilts.

This is a reproduction of an antique quilt patterned by Di Ford and it is complicated enough to scare off all but the most courageous quilt makers.  Mayleen loves complicated so this is right up her alley.

She does such an amazing job on the fine details in the applique and embroidery. 

 

 

 

I know she made a few additions of her own like the dog and the cat.  She chose the perfect fabric for that little cat. 

I love the tiny apples on the tree.

 

Lots of embroidered details.

Mayleen wanted this quilted very traditionally, with echo quilting, feathers and NO STIPPLE.  I felt this quilt deserved careful stitch in the ditch around all the applique and
piecing.

I used 100 w silk for the background quilting with Bottom Line in the bobbin  and Hobb's wool as the batting.

This is Mayleen's masterpiece and was a joy to quilt, despite all that pesky SID!

Trudy's flamingo

This is Trudy's flamingo quilt - I think she did a wonderful job on it.  She used a picture she took at the zoo as inspiration.

 

 

 

 

She was inspired by the quilts and book of Susan Carlson,  you can see Susan's work here.  I would love to take a class from her some day.




I don't usually use variegated thread but I think it looks pretty in the border here.  I was trying to make these look like stylized leaves but they look suspiciously like feathers.

 

 

 

Trudy chose her fabrics well to show the reflection in the water.

Trudy is going to be brave and enter this quilt in our guild's judged show this year, she has never entered the judged portion of the show before.  It's about time!

Cathy's bright batik sampler

This is Cathy's batik sampler.  I really like all the bright batiks she used in the blocks - they inspired me to use Glide thread in bright colors to match and contrast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is a thin green flange around all the sampler blocks - it does look nice but what a pain to quilt around!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The quilting shows up nicely in the morning sun while still on the machine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stars on Mars

This is a quilt that I collaborated on with Gail Stepanek.  I actually finished the quilting last May or June but waited until it had been to its first show to post the pictures.  It just returned from Road to California with a big fat ribbon for Outstanding Innovative quilt and both Gail and I are thrilled!  Here is a link that shows all the winners.

I love everything about this quilt, especially the name Gail came up with: Stars on Mars.
I told Gail this quilt was telling me it didn't need lots of feathers and she agreed. 

She even agreed it needed some bling so I got to use metallic thread, lots of it!
The big scrolly vine and the triangles around the edge are all silver metallic. 

 

 

 

 

I hated to cover up all the intricate piecing on the stars, so tried to fill in the blanks with thread.

MQS is doing a charity raffle quilt again this year and I agreed to quilt it.  People donate quilts to the charity committee to be quilted and given away and Tricia, the committee chair, chose one for me to quilt and be raffled off.

 

 

 

 

 

The proceeds go to Victory in the Valley and Harry Hynes Hospice, both of which were a huge help to Peter and I while he was dealing with cancer.

 

 

 

 

 

I have to admit  I wasn't inspired by the top.  It is well pieced but made from some old kinda dingy batiks. 

I kept putting off working on it - but once I started quilting I kind of got into it.



Now I'm working on Mayleen's quilt, which is the ultimate SID quilt - wait until you see it!
I'll be quilting it today instead of watching the Super Bowl.  Actually - I would rather spend the day picking out stitches than watch football!

Yummy blue

I just finished quilting this big quilt for Annette.  She made the quilt for her lucky daughter.
It's a yummy blue - not as electric blue as in some of the photos.

I quilted it with blue and white So Fine thread and it has a white backing.  Annette requested blue thread on the back which is not my favorite for a white backing; it shows every start and stop.  It turned out looking okay but you notice I did not take a picture of the back!

As I lay the quilt on my machine to get it folded up it looked so pretty in the sun.

Two versions of pink and green

I worked on Cecelia's quilt during the 'polar vortex' and it was a pleasure to have such a cheerful, spring-like quilt to look at while it was so cold and gloomy out.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a busy quilt which makes it hard to give the quilting some impact. Luckily, Cecelia had me use my favorite  wool batting which has enough loft to give the quilting a nice definition.

 

 

I have quilted several quilts for Eddie over the past few years.  She made quilts for her grandchildren -usually  huge bed quilts, always precisely pieced and well made.  Here and here are a few of her quilts. She always had me save her a spot in December for two or more quilts.  Last summer she called to cancel her scheduled spot and not long after that died of cancer.  A few months ago her husband called and asked me to quilt the tops she had finished.  Eddie was a prolific quilter - we found five unquilted tops and I have been fitting them into my schedule.

This Dresden plate is one that her husband says she had been working on forever.  She only took it out when they traveled so it took her years to finish. They are hand pieced as well as hand appliqued. I was trying to guess when she started it; judging by the fabrics I'm guessing the early 90's - do you agree?  I remember when every hotel lobby and restaurant bathroom were decorated in that mauve and green.

I kept the quilting simple but I think the repetition of the feathers and Dresden plates is pretty.

I'm glad that her quilts will be finished and appreciated by her family.

The Pink Lady

This is the large amazing quilt I mentioned in an earlier post.  Russ made this quilt using a cross stitch pattern; he allowed a half inch finished square of fabric for each stitch.  It is machine pieced, has over 17,500 pieces and took him 2 1/2 years to finish. 

 

 

The original pattern was designed by Nancy Spruance and shows an historical Victorian house in Eureka, California called The Pink Lady.

He really did an amazing job - I think this is a case of a project that took on a life of it's own.  The finished quilt is 83 X111 inches, that is before trimming and binding.  It is so large that it drags on the floor below my design wall.

The black details are done with what must be miles of embroidery .

 

 

 

It was fun to quilt.  I designed a border inspired by Victorian fretwork.

 

Quilting over a million seams took it's toll.  I had to switch to an 18 needle and even then went through 3 or 4 before I finished the quilt.



It is quilted with mostly So Fine thread and I used a poly batting because it seemed the lightest choice.  This is one heavy quilt!