Jan's lovelies....

My friend, Jan, from Florida, creates the most beautiful, soothing quilts. 

I've been quilting for Jan since I first purchased my own Gammill quilting machine 8 years ago.

I believe she was one of my first customers and we've become "virtual" friends ever since.

Here are two of her most recent quilts.

This one is based on a wilderness theme and is going to some family members who also love the outdoors.  

It's perfect!

It has a "bear" theme - LOVE this cute bear print.

I quilted an all-over wood grain design.

Then Jan adds this adorable panel on the back!

Jan's next quilt is this beauty.
I wish I had space large enough to photograph the entire quilt.

It has the most wonderful prints surrounded by a darling ity bity mushroom background print.

I quilted horizontal straight lines about 1" apart.  

Such a fun quilting design and adds just enough texture without distracting from the piecing.

The back is gorgeous birds.  

I'm crazy in love with birds! 

Thank you Jan, for sending pretty quilts my way and sharing their beauty with me.

Bonnie's Modern Geese

My friend, Bonnie, from Montana recently made this beautiful Flying Geese quilt.

I love everything about it!

It has such a modern feel using a very traditional 

flying geese block.

I also love the simplicity of it.

The colors and placement of the geese are perfect.

I outline quilted the geese and added a triangle inside each one to allow them to stand out on their own.

I swirl/pebbled the background - this pattern gives it a 

lot of texture.

Bonnie added that small green border just to frame the pretty center of her quilt.

The backing is this nice almost solid cream and really 

shows off the quilting.

It's a beauty, Bonnie.

Thank you for letting me quilt it for you.

broken heart quilt

A dear friend of mine recently lost her son.  

My heart hurts so badly for her.

We have sons' the same age so as a mom I have been at a loss for words.

I wanted to comfort her, but I didn't know how.

I would bring her a casserole, but we live 2,500 miles apart.

I wanted to go for a long walk with her, but couldn't.

I wanted to sit with her and let her scream and cry and pound her fists and throw things, but again, I couldn't.

But what I can do is make her a quilt. 

That's what we, as quilt makers, do to comfort 

the people we love.

I made her a heart quilt.

She calls it her "Broken Heart" quilt - because her heart is broken.

She can snuggle with it when she feels the need for a hug.

She can scream into it when she feels the 

anger enveloping her.

She can throw it when she wishes she could 

toss the pain away.

She can punch it when she feels like hurting something.

But, it will always be there to comfort her 

when she needs love.

I hugged the quilt before I sent it - and I might have 
shed a few tears on this quilt, too.

I love you, my friend.....

The pattern is from the Buggy Barn book, "Gone Crazy", called, "Heather".

Keep it Simple

My friend, Sherri - from Alaska, keeps her quilts simple.

I love simple.

I need to make more simple quilts instead of thinking I need to make every quilt with a certain degree of difficulty in order to make it count for something......

I don't even know what that "something" is!

Here are some of her quilts I quilted recently.

Quarter Square triangles are always so striking to me.

Simplicity shows off the fabrics, too.

Sherri used some of her Denyse Schmidt prints 

for this beauty.

How about a simple half square triangle quilt?

I quilted single waves - edge to edge.

I absolutely LOVE this egg cup backing print. 

 Sixty degree triangle quilts are at the top of 

my "favorites" list - always.

I quilted a stipple design on this beauty.

I could live with an entire bolt of this

 Kaffe Fassett backing fabric.  

It's so bright and makes me happy.

Two of Sherri's Kaffe Fassett quilts.

You always make the best use of your beautiful fabrics.  

Thank you for the inspiration.

Merry Christmas....

I just finished my last customer Christmas quilt and sent it off.

I have the best customers.

(my Christmas Scrappy Trees)

You send me such beautiful quilts to work on.

(my simple Christmas table runner)

You are all so passionate about this wonderful craft and I feel privileged that you would ask me to add my "magic" to these works of art.

(my Christmas Scrappy Trip)

I absolutely love what I get to do every day.

(my Christmas Fig Tree Metro Rings)

You inspire me. 

(my Grinch)

At times is causes me to go shopping for MORE quilt projects, which isn't necessarily a bad thing!

(my Swell Christmas Metro Rings)

My stockings are finally hung and I'm ready for family to come.

(stockings I made for my daughters family)

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and get to spend some relaxing time with friends and family.

xxoo

Sarah's Golden Days

I am such a fan of anything Jen Kingwell creates.  

I have loads of her patterns and loads of her fabrics......all just waiting for me to dive in and create beautiful quilts.

My friend, Sarah - from Idaho, follows through with her love of everything Jen Kingwell and finishes beautiful quilts so she can sleep under them and snuggle under them.  

I don't know how she does it - she works as a nurse and has two rambunctious little boys at home.

I seem to be the dreamer and she seems to be the doer!

Here is her "Golden Days" quilt that I was fortunate enough to custom quilt for her.

Her workmanship is incredibly beautiful.  

I only dream (see - dreamer) of being able to 

applique like Sarah.

These blocks are all so different from each other and yet they pair together beautifully.

Sarah used a variety of Jen's fabrics with a few Kaffe's in there as well.

Her backing is one of my favorite pieces - so bright and cheerful.  

Sarah added a few left-over blocks down the center of her backing - I love that!

I don't have space enough to take a photo of the entire quilt.  It's stunning!

You can find the pattern and templates several places - here's a link to Amazon.

For now, I live vicariously through Sarah's beautiful piecework.

And my basket-o-Jen's-fabrics will still be waiting patiently for my attention.

Metro Rings class....

Recently I was asked to teach a class at an adorable quilt shop in Lewisville, Idaho, out in the country, away from the crowds with cows watching through the fencing. 

A destination shop where people come to gather and chit chat and touch fabric and choose their next quilt project.

It was at "Olie and Evie's" shop.....owned and operated by Rhonda Walker.

The classroom is sunny, warm, inviting and a very happy place to hang out and create.

Thank you, Rhonda, for creating this space for us.

Rhonda and I settled on the "Metro Rings" quilt 

by "Sew Kind of Wonderful".

You can find this pattern and more here on their website.

We started from here:

And eventually got to this point:

There were a total of 24 students over the course of two 

days - it was busy!

They came from Utah, Washington, Oregon, Montana 

and Idaho.

Every single set of blocks reflected the personalities 

of the ladies.

We had fabric themes ranging from Halloween and Christmas to camping, farming, vintage, modern, batik and everything in between.  

 Thank you, Rhonda, for having design walls for us to play with our blocks. 

So many options on the block settings - this one has a modern feel with the one direction.

This setting is an "X".

The traditional "circle" setting with modern fabrics:

(I love Shanna's sewing shirt)

This is a masculine color way with grey's and blacks.

This student is experimenting with color placement. 

Half of her rings are red and the other half are blues - they will interlock. 

Happy blocks...

Our goal was to construct four complete blocks.

These are halves.

You all know how I feel about a cute pin cushion - absolutely darling beehive!

Basic Grey always works with a traditional block.

Happy students! 

Very classy colors, Debbie.

Most of the corner triangles were two different prints.

   

Some corner triangles are the same print.  Lovely.

Hmmmmm - my sister trying to decide on her block setting....she used a linen background.

 Four blocks - DONE!  

This will be a Halloween quilt, by my niece, Ally.

 Blue Feed Sack prints.....sweet.

 Such a happy, bright block.

Love the calming blues & coral colors on this one.

Here is my Downton Abby Metro Rings.

I started it 5 years ago and this class gave me the 

push to finish it.

 

I can't believe I found this perfect backing - 

the Downton Abby castle.

My finished "Swell Christmas" by Zen Chick quilt. 

(There should be snow on the ground...)

 This photo was taken in my yard......

...with the local long horns girls watching.....across the street.

I love Montana.

Thank you, Rhonda, Olie and Evie and beautiful ladies for spending the day with me sewing, giggling, chatting 

and just having fun.

I had a great time.....hope to see you all again soon.

On a side note.....if you were asking for the popcorn recipe Marjean brought to class....here you go:

one bag of microwave popcorn, popped

Melt some white chocolate melts and poor over the popcorn.

Spread the popcorn on parchment paper and lightly sprinkle with some kosher salt - let cool and eat!