The Dear Jane solution

This is the first Dear Jane quilt I have quilted and although I always appreciate Betty's good workmanship,  I am not in a hurry to do another one real soon.  Betty told me she didn't want a lot of quilting - I wondered how on earth I could quilt this without doing a lot of quilting!  I remember seeing a Dear Jane quilt years ago at MQS that had been quilted with an all over large stipple. That was not my idea of a good solution to quilting a Dear Jane quilt. 

I ended up doing a lot of SID, more than I wanted to and no background quilting.  That kept it from looking heavily quilted.

This is Betty's SECOND Dear Jane quilt.  Some people are just gluttons for punishment!

 

 

It has been very windy here in Kansas lately but it looks like the weather may be nice just in time for MQS.

From Stars on Mars to Armadillos

 

 

 

 

Gail Stepanek and I were thrilled when we found out that our quilt Stars on Mars has won Best of Show at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show in Bloomington.  We both really love
this quilt and it's fun to see it recognized. 

From the sublime to the ridiculous: today on driving home from Wichita I caught sight of an armadillo digging alongside the road.  Armadillos have been slowly moving north into Kansas and up until now the only ones I have seen were squashed by the side of the road.  This guy was digging up someone's front yard with great energy.  He let me get pretty close to get a picture with my cell phone.  What weird little creatures they are!  He looks like a cross between a rabbit and a turtle, or a dinosaur.  He was not happy with me getting close - he finally grunted and scuttled off.

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.