I stayed up late last night adding more quilting to an applique wallhanging I made for my friend in Nebraska (see my earlier December post about our crafty exchange). I decided I wanted to enter it as the final quilt for my quilt show next weekend but it needed a little more quilting before I considered it “show quality”.

Here’s the “before” picture showing the echo quilting around the flowers. Where the blocks joined, there was an area of unquilted puffy space that I didn’t like.

So I decided to fill in the open areas with more echo quilting. (This picture’s not as good but you get the general idea!!)

The extra quilting made  the quilt lie flatter and blended the quilting lines so that you couldn’t see where the echo designs didn’t match up perfectly.  Now, it’s ready for the show!

For my guild’s quilt show next month we will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the guild, Desert Quilters of Nevada.  A sewing circle I belong to exchanged these blocks to commemorate the occasion.

Each of us made the same block for everyone else, so that we ended up with a variety of same sized blocks in return. We had to use silver fabric somewhere in the block.

I want to make a quilt using 15 blocks since that is how long I’ve been a member of the guild. In order to do this, I combined a few pieces together to get the right amount. (Notice my new design wall I bought when I went to Road to California last month!)

Who says you can’t improvise? If I can manage to get these blocks sewn into a quilt by Monday, I’ll enter it into the quilt show. Wish me luck!

I am in the midst of making quilt number 3 out of 5 for my guild’s show in March. (Quilt 4 is started and quilt 5 is just about finished so hopefully I’ll get them done in time.)

Here are some before and after photos showing how quilting enhances the overall design. First I marked the quilt design in blue washout pen and then quilted on the lines.

Here’s a closeup of the wreath quilting before I added some background stippling. The picture below right is the pieced portion before quilting. Both blocks need something more.

Finally, the two blocks are quilted how I like them – lots of detail with designs to fill the space. Quilting really does make a difference. Now, on to the next quilt!

(And yes, I will post pictures of all 5 quilts when they are completely finished!)

Let me introduce you to Geraldene from Canada and her beautiful City Girl Quilt! She used the stylish Blue/Espresso colorway from this popular line by Kitty Yoshida for Benartex.

It only took about 1/2 yard of a dozen different fabrics plus some border material to make this stunning quilt.  She used a free pattern from Benartex for the design and enlarged it to be queen size. (You can get a copy of this pattern, called “Prince Street” from my website).  It was quilted allover with a meandering flower design and she backed it with a warm and cozy flannel fabric.

I just love to see what my fellow quilters are making with the material they get from me. Way to quilt, Geraldene!!

I just finished the second of five quilts that I’m entering in my local guild’s quilt show next month. It’s one I made for my oldest son a couple of years ago but it wasn’t quite “finished” – it needed more quilting!

Here are some photos I took making a quilt stencil and adding the stitching.

First, I drew the design on graph paper so I knew exactly the size of the space I needed to fill. Next, I made a template out of plastic which I traced around with a blue marking pen to transfer the quilting design.

Finally, I added the quilting using glow in the dark thread. Too bad I can’t take pictures in the dark! It turned out really cool.

Ok, so I’ve fallen in love with thread. I ordered one  of every single cotton thread that Superior Threads carries. I wanted to “test drive” them first to see if they are worth stocking in my store.

The verdict – yes they are! (But it will probably be a couple of weeks before I actually have them for sale on-line.)

Look at all these luscious colors! I toured their factory last year when I was in the area and was impressed with their organization and what they had to offer. I even studied up on what type of thread to use to make my quilts stand out and how to eliminate tension problems. It basically boils down to good quality thread from a reputable company.

I also splurged and bought a pack of silk threads that are just heavenly. They are so smooth and pretty!

The pictures below show some detail quilting that I added to a quilt I made for a friend last year. I’ll be entering it in my guild’s quilt show next month and wanted to jazz it up a bit. The silk thread really shines!

I just received a bunch of fun new notions that I’m going to try out. I love to cut and piece but I also enjoy machine applique and quilting, too. I recently read about some of the extra notions and supplies I should be collecting to help my work go more smoothly.

For starters, I got a brand new rotary mat, ruler and some sharp new blades. I also bought a bunch of other stuff I’m going to try like tweezer scissors, water soluble marking pencils, iron-off to clean my iron of any fusible residue and an applique pressing sheet to keep my work clean.  If I like these notions, I’ll think about carrying them in my shop!

One of my favorite new tools I’ve been using lately is machine quilting gloves. These help me grip the quilt better so there’s less drag and tension on the quilt.

I also bought a “Supreme Slider”, a piece of slick material that goes on the bed of the machine. It reduces the friction on the quilt and will allow for more even quilting. I’m off to quilt now!

Esterita Austin visited my local guild meeting last week and she was quite enjoyable. Her focus is on creating beautiful artistic landscapes and portraits working from photos. She gave a slide show presentation to our guild and brought along several pieces for us to see in person.

I don’t know which I liked better – listening to her presentation, or viewing her quilts. She was a very entertaining speaker and her quilts were some of the best I’ve ever seen. With her permission, here are a couple of photos of quilts she showed us at the meeting:

On the left is a quilt in progress using overlays to add a bit of sparkle.

On the right is “Stone Portal”. Isn’t it gorgeous? I simply had to by the pattern for that one!

Be sure to visit esteritaaustin.com.

A sewing friend of mine who recently moved away (yes – another one!)  started this quilt at a retreat we both went to some years ago. Alissa wanted to make a quilt completely out of bandanas so she came up with this design herself.

She started out with red, white and blue bandanas and I helped her tea-dye the white ones tan. I also helped her machine applique the stars on the backgrounds. She did all the sewing and I finished the quilting for her, sadly, just in time for her to leave.

Here’s a closeup of the quilting showing a red star outline in the blue blocks. The backgrounds were stippled using clear monofilament thread. She used red bandanas for the backing and it turned out to be a pretty warm quilt!

Here’s a quilt I recently finished that will be donated to a local Susan G. Komen cancer survivor’s group.

The blocks were donated by local quilters and I put them together in a quilt and quilted them. With my recent machine quilting classes, this really gave me a chance to practice my skills. It’s kind of sad to give away but I know it will go to a good cause.

Here’s a closeup of some of the quilting: