A necessary evil

This is Patty's cute sampler quilt, appropriate with Valentine's Day coming up.

In the blocks I tried a something like the feathered medallion I saw in an article by Sue Heinz from the January/February issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited .

This is something I will try again.  It's a good article and I will probably end up ordering her Circleliner Tool.
http://sueheinz.com/sues-circleliner/.  This issue has several good articles including one by Margaret Solomon Gunn on 'Stitching in the Ditch'.  It's something many quilters avoid but I see it as a necessary evil.

Bright and cheerful

 

 

 

This bright cheerful quilt was fun to work on when it's cold and wintry out. 

Jan's piecing is excellent, which made my job easier.

Because it has more of a modern look to it, I avoided traditional feathers.

Betty made this double wedding ring for her son.  She wanted custom but not heavy custom since it will be
used on a bed.

 

Even though she used pink in the piecing, with the gray background it still looks pretty manly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for all the congratulations on Gail and my quilts!  In answer to your question, My Brunette Whig took about 2 months of full time quilting to finish.

My Brunette Whig

This is the third collaborative quilt Gail Stepanek and I have finished.  We actually  finished  it last October but waited until the  first show to post pictures.  I love the names Gail comes up with for her quilts.  This one is made of Whig Rose blocks on a brown background so she named it, 'My Brunette Whig'.

 

 

 

 

 

I like the way the red piping in the binding and the red thread used in the quilting stand out against the dark background.

This was quilted with several colors of Wonderfil metallic thread; dark brown, copper and red. I also used  Superior So Fine and Aurifil.  I'm an equal opportunity thread user!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used 2 batts; Hobbs 80/20 and Hobbs wool.

 We were trying to meet the deadline for the Road to California show entry and we were down to the wire. When I got to the border quilting, I was using the dark brown metallic thread and had just one cone of it. Half way across the top border I looked at the cone on the machine and panicked - I was SURE I didn't have enough to do the whole quilt and I was afraid we would miss the deadline.  So I got on the phone and ordered more to be shipped ASAP.  How many cones would I need?  I didn't want to come up short again so I would get 2 plus one more for insurance.  The thread arrived quickly and I got the quilt finished and shipped to Gail FedEx Next Day Air in time for Gail to bind it and photograph it for the entry deadline.  How many cones of brown metallic thread did I end up using?  ONE CONE.  Luckily Gail likes brown backgrounds so I will eventually find a use for 3 cones of dark brown metallic thread!



The happy ending to this story is that 'My Brunette Whig' just won Best Traditional Quilt at Road to California!

Catherine's applique quilts

 

 

Catherine sent me two applique tops to quilt for her.  I enjoy quilting these Bunny Hill patterns, this one is "I Believe in Angels"

Lots of cute details and a lot of handwork included by Catherine.

I like the batiks Catherine chose for the iris on this small wallhanging. 

She said she may frame it to hang in her house.  I used pretty shiny Glide thread for all the background
quilting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gail and I are excited by the news that our quilt, 'Stars on Mars' won Best of Show at the AQS show in Albuquerque this week.  It's a real honor especially considering all the amazing quilts entered there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nancy's version of Aunt Millie

This is Nancy's version of Aunt Millie's Garden by Piece o' Cake designs.  She didn't like the way the border vines ran off the edge of the borders in the pattern  so she redesigned them to connect. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like Nancy's bold use of color.  She used up a lot of scraps up in this quilt.

This was quilted with So Fine using Hobb's wool as batting.

 

 

I quilted this for Betty a while back.  It just won Best of Show at the Oklahoma City Winter Quilt Show - congratulations Betty!

Ann's monster

 

This is Ann's monster of a quilt.  She considers it a monster because it was demanding to piece and took her several years to get around to finishing it.  I consider it a monster because it is HUGE. 

Ann wanted custom but because it will be used on a bed, didn't want heavy quilting.  I find it hard to NOT do SID on a well pieced quilt - I ended up doing more than I planned.

 

 

 

 

 

I remembered that I had quilted this pattern before - another monster!  June chose very different fabrics for her version - Japanese taupes and florals.  Ann used reproduction Civil War era fabrics in keeping with Judy Rothermel's pattern.  They both work!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're in for some cold, icy snowy weather here in Kansas.  I have a pile of quilts to quilt my way through and a pile of cats to keep me warm at night!