Free Motion Friday - Lloyd and Lola Part 2

I keep working away.  Here's the final Llama blanket on Lloyd and Lola.  I had fun with the feathers. 

There are half octagons at the edges of the quilt.  This is how I chose to quilt it to give it the same texture as the full octagons.

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Peculiar Posies Part 4

It's been a while since I posted about this particular quilt!  Here are links to part 1, part 2, and part 3.  Today's journey is all about the vase the flowers wit in.  I started out with a piece of paper to help me gauge how big I wanted the pot to be.

I then laid the paper on the quilt to see if it would be a good scale.  I was happy with it.

I was debating a lot about what fabric and/or how to decorate the pot and I was sitting and debating this.  Then my son says, "Mom!  Why don't you use the black burnout fabric?"  Duh.  He was so right.  It's taffeta with a nice burnout on it and it adds something of interest to the pot without taking away from the flowers themselves.

Gotta love my foot in the photo.

Read for layering!

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Field Trip Quilting and an Upcoming Class!

I had a blast yesterday teaching my first class at Field Trip Quilting in St. Paul.  I am teaching another class on Free Motion Quilting on Saturday, March 16 from noon-4.  Come join me!

Yesterday we did my Flower in a Pot applique class.  Here are the fantastic results:

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Free Motion Friday - Lloyd and Lola Part 1

This quilt is so darn cute!  I love the llamas!  It's Lloyd and Lola by Violet Craft and it was stitched by my friend Ann.  I'm quilting it for her and will be showing you a series of posts about it over the next month or two!  Happy Free Motion Friday!

For the octagons I decided on this simple, but fun pattern.

I did some feathers on the saddle blanket.

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Island Batik Ambassadors Mini Challenge Quilt 3 - Part 2

I love to Free Motion Quilt!  It's one of my favorite parts.  Here's the back of my Island Batik Ambassador Magnificent Mini about half way through.  Be sure to read all the way through to find out WHY it was finished in the hospital...

The finished quilt.

Picking out quilting thread...Aurifil of course!  The batting I chose is Hobbs Tuscany Silk.  I love the draping help it gives my minis so they're not too stiff.

Look how well the black hides.

A close up of the black pattern is my favorite Webster Clams.

I love how the arches in the center make it look like a snowflake!

Auditioning border ideas...

I decided to go bold and stitch the feathers swags in red.

The finished back!  Time to bind.

I've been working with 1/8 inch binding on these minis and I continue to do so.  It's a bias binding of course.

I sew it on with my trusty Bernina zipper foot.  It works amazingly well for small seam allowances and as a bonus I can use my even feed system on the foot!  Perfect.

All sewn on and ready to hand stitch.

Binding clips are amazing.

The binding's done.  BUT there's a story behind it...

You see I had a very VERY sick child who had to go to Children's Hospital and get fluids.  I knew I would need something to keep my hands busy so I took the binding along.  Once he was settled and comfortable I was able to calm down too and bind.

All done!

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Island Batik Ambassadors Mini Challenge Quilt 3 - Hand Piecing?!

I drafted a pattern for a mini quilt that ended up needing to be hand pieced.  I think that it must have been 20 years since I last hand pieced.  However, in this case, it was easier for me.

I started with pulling out some of my gorgeous Island Batik fabrics.

Next, I drew my paper piecing designs on a stabilizer that I was going to use to piece on so I didn't have to rip paper later.  I was glad I was only doing one block!

Here you can see the drawing before I cut it apart into pieces.

Here's what the pieces looked like when the paper piecing was done.

This is the back.

Here's another finished section.

A progression on the hand piecing.  It's getting better!

Done!  All the hand piecing is complete!

Here's a picture with a pencil for scale.

A close up of the center.  I steamed the top and it made it lay really flat!

I added some black around the edge to make the quilt square. 

Come back Wednesday to see the quilting!

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

Free Motion Friday - Feather Fun

I'm quilting away on Peculiar Posies.  More on that next week, but I thought I'd give you a peek at two of my newest feathers!

The first is Toothed Feathers.  It's like someone took a bite out of each feather.

The second is Cloud Feathers.  There are clouds inside!

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy