Ribbon Box Quilt - WIP

Last year I had finished this Ribbon Box Quilt top and finally decided to start quilting it.  When I picked my fabrics for this quilt I was certain that the prints and colours I had selected would work perfectly with the design of the quilt, but when I had finished piecing it, I was not entirely sure if I had made the right selections.  Because all of the fabrics are light to medium together with the white background fabric, I don't think that the ribbons 'pop' as much as I had hoped.  

In the end it is a really pretty quilt and together with some beautiful textured quilting I think it will look great!

I had decided to quilt a rather dense (small scale) stippling in the background, the idea is to have the background area lay a little 'flat' and hopefully that way once I quilt the ribbons they will pop and stand out.

With all of the stitch in the ditch complete and the background quilting done it is time to move on to the 'ribbons'.  I just love quilting swirls!!!  I think I am going to use three or four different designs within the ribbons, its hard to decide which, but so far the swirls looks great!  Maybe some large pebbles and curvy lines will work well too... I just want to have fun playing around with different textures.

So far...I think it looks great!

If you are interested in the making your own 'Ribbon Box Quilt', you can find links to the pattern in this POST I shared.

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Heathers' Quilt

Charlotte's Quilt

Last year I was invited to the Carletonville Quilters regional meeting for a 'show and tell' and during that visit I volunteered to free motion quilt 'Charlotte's Quilt' for the husband of a lady who had passed away.  

It was my very first volunteer project AND my first experience quilting for someone else.  It was a true honor and I loved to work on that quilt.  I had hoped that once others would see it, that they would call on me again to FMQ their quilts for them.  To see a lot of close up pictures of Charlotte's Quilt, click HERE.

Soon after they had shown that quilt during their next meeting, Heather contacted me saying she loved what I had quilted and that she had a little quilt she wanted me to free motion quilt for her.

I was so excited!  A few things came up that prevented me from starting right away but a couple of weeks ago, I finally got the quilt and I started right away.  Here is Heather's beautiful disappearing nine patch quilt.  I loved her fabric choices!  It screamed Look At Me!!!

She gave me some guidelines of what she wanted me to quilt, but in the end I made a few suggestions and from there I had free reign and quilted what I thought best.    

I kept to the leafy designs she initially suggested within the sashing and borders and extend that design within the block with a custom motif that I think ties in well with the rest of the quilt.

She chose not to see any progress pictures, so I was rather nervous after I was done if she would like it, but when she phoned me after getting her quilt she was over the moon and completely happy with what I have quilted.  Happy happy day!!

I offered to do everything from the basting right through to the binding, and I am so glad I did!  This way I had the chance of seeing the quilt completed.

Note to Heather, thank you so much for allowing me to work on your quilt, I had a lot of fun!  Your quilt is truly beautiful and loved every second I spent quilting it.  I look forward to quilting for you again!

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Great Granny Squared #4 - Final Touches

I am finally done quilting my Great Granny Squared table runner.  I just love this little quilt, it's fun, bright and I am very happy with the scrappy look.

The pattern is from Lori Holt's (Bee In My Bonnet) book Great Granny Squared .  I am very tempted to make a set of three quilts to hang side by side, the same way as is featured in one of the pictures.  

I used a very simple swirl design to quilt it.  I was aiming for texture instead of custom, detailed quilting.  I was scared it would distract from the granny squares blocks if I had quilted tiny different designs.  It's the first time I quilted a design at a larger scale and was pleased at how fast it got finished.  Quilting larger designs was a bit tricky on my home sewing machine, as movement is easier (for me) when quilting small designs, but this is a small quilt, so there was very little drag or limitations. 

I am however a bit undecided regarding the binding.  While I was busy making this quilt, I was so sure that the blue with red strawberries would look great, but when I folded it over the edge of the quilt to see what it would look like, I am not entirely sure it works well.  Now I have two choices, and I can't decide which looks best.... any thoughts?

   

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A Special Gift for a Special Friend

My best friend and sewing buddy has been away for a couple of months now, touring through the southern parts of Africa and South Africa, and during this time she left her sewing machine for me to use and for safe keeping while they're away.  

Looking at the picture below her Bernina B580 looks remarkably bigger than my little Artista, keeping in mind that my machine is dropped inside the table.  There is not much difference between the two machines except maybe the sleek modern design and a few technical advances.  

Anyway, I wanted to give her a little something I knew she did not have. She's been sewing and quilting most of her life so it was pointless to give her more sewing supplies. Believe me when I say that her sewing room is filled with anything and everything you'll ever need for any type of sewing.  So it got me thinking, she would always cover her machine with a towel at the end of the day when she closed up her room.  So I decided to make her something pretty instead.

To finish it off I made a pincushion and scissor pouch that matches.  If you want to make your own scissor pouch I wrote a tutorial some time ago that you can fine HERE.

It felt really good spending some time in my sewing room again after being in a bit of a lull these past few months, I guess I needed a bit of push and encouragement which is exactly what I got from all of the comments that was left during last week and this weeks' link ups.  Thanks again everyone!!! (hugs)

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Labour of Love - A Finished Quilt

A couple of weeks ago I shared my experience with you when I visited the Carltonville Country Counters' Regional meeting, and how I volunteered to quilt this quilt for them, you can read all about it here.  

Well the time has finally arrived to share the finished quilt with all of you.  

After they sent it to me I had it 'sit' for a few weeks until I finally decided what I wanted to quilt.  I really wanted the quilting to pop and to emphasize the quilt design.  So I used my all time favourite quilting designs, alternating between swirls, pebbles and some dot to dot quilting with a wiggly filler.  

I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.... 

I enjoyed every second I spent finishing this quilt for them.  It was a totally new experience quilting a quilt not pieced by myself, the fabrics used in this quilt is truly beautiful, I love the rich colours.

I am really proud of what I have done and I hope they approve and will call on me again in the future for projects like these... it was honestly 'A Labour of Love'.

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