Next Quilt Up

The quilt I just loaded onto my longarm table is this bargello heart quilt:

I just pieced the backing- which is a medium shade of the salmon color fabric.  I’ve drawn out the quilting plan, but I want to work on it a bit before I start the quilting.  Check back and I will show you my prelim quilting plan for this particular quilt, also discuss design challenges with a bargello quilt such as this and how I overcome them. Carla note: Quilting Plan is HERE.

Been busy making all the travel details for my October Kauai trip.  Thanks to Lori and everyone else who recommended what to do and places to see.  I can’t wait to go!!

So far I like the roomba… it did miss one of two spots, so I will see if it gets those places tomorrow.  So far, so good!!

A big welcome to all the new blog readers- I had a banner traffic day yesterday with about 1700 hits!  That’s a lot of hits in one day for a smaller blog like mine.

Enjoy your day!  Carla

Quilting Day

I was working last night when my machine encoder line snapped on my quilting machine. No worries, I can run down to Walmart and replace it with 50# weight fishing line. This morning, I do just that, then realize that my encoder hex screw was stripped, too. Thank goodness this is an easy fix, too!

I really need to finish this quilt. So I quilt most of the day again. I get to the bottom border and think about what quilting design would give me a good bang for my buck?? I want to to do something different from all the other quilts I’ve quilted at this particular show.

I try to remember what quilt goes to which show so I can change the designs from quilt to quilt and not be too predictable.  My feeling is that if all my quilts look alike (at the same show), then I become too static and the viewers get bored.

Aha! I remember Molly’s quilt and the border on it. This will be at a different show, so no one will know I’m using it for inspiration, right? :

Here is a picture of my current quilt I worked on today:

So, this is my progress today. Tomorrow, I finish the borders, do my SID and applique work and color it done! Woo-hoo!

Hugs, Carla

Quilting etc.

I put in a full day of quilting today! I got as far as the block fills- here’s the middle of this quilt:

Still have the to SID the borders, blocks, applique etc… Then I need to add interest and texture to the applique as well. I’ve ended up doing this quilt 100% freehand and hand guided, which means no no computer, no machine to make it move- just good old fashioned machine quilting!

Tomorrow, I’ll show you my progress – hopefully I’ll be close to finished. Hugs, Carla

Sneak Peek Quilting

Just started a heart quilt today, here’s a small peek of this one. Here’s a “before” block where I am doing a small meander fill:

and the after block where I have filled in along the spine. I am working really small here. Some of these feathers are 1/16th of an inch:

I really like the texture of this particular fill. Of course, kudos to Suzanne for her Meandering Magic technique that I have used as my fill in the example above. Next, I have to stitch-in-the-ditch around (and on) all the appliques, plus in between the blocks. Today, I hope to get some good quilting time in.

Yesterday, I gave a private quilting lesson to Mike, who has a lot of talent and potential as a longarmer. I can’t wait to see his first show quilt when it is completed. By the way, it is nice to see more men entering the longarming world!

Regards, Carla

Works in Progress

Ok, what am I working on this lovely Thursday?? First off, I am taking yet another class from Jean Shute, a machine quilter whose work I respect. It is a class about color, but knowing Jean, she will make it more of an art quilt class. Here is my first homework:

On the quilting front, I am working on Virginia’s quilt, a cute little heart quilt made using a Buggy Barn pattern:

As you can see, I’m freehand stitching a heart sashing, quilting the heart shape a similar way, and then using a swirly fill for the background of each block. In the last border, I’m doing a freeform design incorporating hearts.

This quilt is done completely freehand- that is to say I am using no marking, no stencils, nada. My goal is to finish this today.

Enjoy your day, too! Hugs, Carla

Valentine Heart Quilt

Next up on my machine quilting table is a lovely Buggy Barn pattern quilt by a friend, Virginia:

Before I talk about my quilting plan, here are some close ups of the block pattern:

I love the whimsical feel of Buggy Barn patterns, so this will be a happy quilt to work on.

Next step is to pick the thread and also the quilting pattern. I promise to show you what I’m thinking, quilting design wise, but I first need to draw and email them to Virginia so she can have some input with her quilt. Keep watching! Hugs, Carla

PS: Ok, here’s the proposed quilting design options for this quilt- as indicated by the black lines:

Be sure to notice the numbers…any guess as to which number or elements she will chose?

Thread: I’m thinking I might go with either a lighter shade of thread for the light areas and a darker red for the dark parts. This will maintain the values and contrast in this quilt and just give it some lovely texture.