Pictured is Linda’s Sunflower quilt. This design is very dense and challenging to quilt so I’m retiring it but wanted to show how beautiful her quilt turned out. The design is Sunflower 004 by Sweet Dreams Quilting Studio. The thread was a blue jean gold, the batting was Hobbs 80/20 blend, and the backing fabric is cream muslin which shows the design nicely.

Quilted earlier this week, Judy P’s Fleur-de-lis quilt.  The quilt design is Wrought Iron by Jodi Beamish. Judy chose a white thread & Hobbs 80/20 batting. 

Martha made this quilt is for a veteran. The quilting design is Freedom designed by August Moon. The thread is blue & batting is Hobbs 80/20 blend. Martha used a soft plaid backing fabric.

Martha S. worked hard on this lovely scrappy Bonnie Hunter pattern called Hawks Nest. The backing fabric is a Thimbleberries print. She chose Tapestry B2B design by Ann Bright for the quilting and a gold/taupe thread with Hobbs 80/20 batting.  I loved looking at this quilt while it was quilting. The more I see scrappy Bonnie Hunter patterns the more I like them.

If you aren’t familiar with Bonnie Hunter and would like to check out her web page its Quiltville. I posted a link on the right side of my webpage. She offers free patterns for using up your scraps. If you get a chance to see her in person do it!  She puts on a great trunk show and is a lot of fun to spend a day with in a workshop. She also does occasional web sew-a-longs. Have fun checking out her page!

Penny finished up 5 table runners that she’s had a while. They all have Warm and Natural batting.  Giving Thanks table runner has Autumn Oaks design by Jodi Beamish. The thread is yellow gold.

The next Halloween theme table runner has Spiderweb quilting design by Jessica Schick in white thread. The backing is the skeleton fabric.

Trick or Treat table runner has Pumpkin meander by Sue Schmeiden, and orange thread. The backing is a cute pumpkin print.

The autumn blocks table runner has Falling Leaves B2B by Ann Bright, and  Yellow gold thread.

The last table runner has Pumpkin Meander design and Orange thread. The backing fabric is Halloween Greeting print.

This sweet baby quilt and tablecloth (below) belongs to Grace N. She loves baby clams and they give her quilts a nice texture. They are well quilted and should hold up well after many washings. The baby quilt has white thread & poly down batting. The tablecloth has lime green thread & poly down batting.

Here is what I have been working on today.

Donna’s wallhanging…Custom quilting, Hobbs 80/20 batting.

MaryAnn’s quilt, Flounce Feathers by Hermione Agee, with violet lavender thread & Quilters Dream wool batting.

Most days are quilting days but then there are days where life just interrupts my quilting harmony. This weekend has been one of those. It involved some seasonal yard work. Its gotten colder here and the weekends are numbered before it’s too cold for me.  I get a lot from quilting but I also need a break at times to refresh. Getting outdoors to garden helps feed the spirit. This kind of digging I would say was more the type one would need to drive out evil spirits. Lets just say the demons are now gone!

I am very happy that we got the large shrub out and moved to the back yard corner where it can grow to the size and shape it should be.  I’ve been fighting to keep it into a more compact smaller area. While it was beautiful, it would have to come out and trim back branches so people could get to my front door.  I have a much smaller variety to place in the front that wont get huge like this big guy and should be just as nice.

It can be like that with quilt piecing too. I’ve tried to fit a larger block into a space and it just won’t work until I cut it down to the size it should be. So much time and work can be saved if I just make sure to measure my blocks and make sure they are the correct size. Its easier to fix then than when I’m trying to fit all the blocks together. These are life lessons I have to remind myself and learn more than once.

Here is a new technique I was shown at AQS Grand Rapids in August. It is using a Felling Foot to put on a machine binding. The original use for this foot is french seams. To make a binding I cut a 2″ strip that will be folded in half and stitched with the raw edge to the outside edge of the quilt with the Felling foot & the machine needle all the way to the left. After its applied all the way around the quilt is turned & the folded edge is pulled over the lip on the inside of the foot. When stitched it aligns the binding so that the thread catches the edge on both sides of the binding. Here is a photo of my first try. Its a little bit narrow but was very accurate two step process. Here is a link to a tutorial I found that shows step by step how to do this. http://awomanaday.com/2013/01/17/happy-feet-quilt-binding-edition/  I believe you can find this foot for about any machine brand.

Have a great day & sew on!

I recently saw a post on FB advertising low cost quilting. Is it really less expensive? I think that depends on your price point, the density and quality of the quilting and if you must pay shipping fees. Looking further I wondered how I compared and was surprised to find that not only did I have more experience as a long-arm quilter, I also charged significantly lower prices. Not only that, but most of the quilters in my area charge less than many out of state businesses.

You may be able to get a really small placemat or table runner cheaper because they do not appear to charge a minimum fee but they do not take the time to meet with you to talk about how you would like your quilt quilted or to allow you to look over the quilt before you pay for it. The small items may also not be less expensive when you add shipping depending on size. The batting is included in their pricing but my calculations show that it would still be less expensive to pay for that separately. The bundling of the two just makes it a little harder to compare pricing to other quilters. I offer the same batting for the going rate which is determined by Hobbs costs with standard markup and I allow customers to bring their own batting of choice if they prefer something else.

I wonder if many of the quilts quilted might have had a better outcome with some input on design, thread color & batting? I find most of my customers would like help in that area. I’ve quilted hundreds of quilts & often have a pretty good idea of what designs work well. I can offer information about the batting before they decide to see what finished look they prefer.

I love some of the fun specials offered from mail order businesses but it pays to compare apples and apples. In my opinion, any local quilter would be happy to also let you choose the design, color thread & batting from a check list without spending any personal time. Using a limited checklist of colors & designs doesn’t necessarily make it less expensive for the shopper, it makes it less expensive for the long-arm quilter.   I can work the same way but I prefer to meet with customers and find out more about the quilt, lay out threads on the quilt, ask who it’s for and what kind of quilting they like. Do they like the design dense or open, do you want the thread to show up more or just give texture?

I have not even discussed supporting the local business community, quilting density or production quilting. I hope some of this information helps those that haven’t had any long-arm quilting done think more about some of the details regarding the finishing of their quilt. This is solely my opinion that while many of us that long-arm quilt do not tout lower costs, we try to keep it affordable and want to have happy returning customers. I love what I do and I want my customers to love their finished quilt as much as I do.

Here is a fun way to use up excess 2.5″ strips of fabric. This quilt was made from leftover pieces of past quilts & quilt bindings. The block in this quilt is a buzzsaw and finishes at about 8.5″. I found a pattern for this on Quilter Cache:  http://www.quilterscache.com/B/BuzzsawBlock.html. The pattern uses paper piecing but I’m sure it would be pretty easy to just figure out if traditional piecing is preferred.  Jan did a great job using up excess fabrics while making a pretty quilt for her bed.

The quilting is called Turning Leaf by Apricot Moon. This density of design falls within my 1.5 cent PSI pricing. The thread is Glide grey to go with the backing fabric. She provided Warm & White batting.

This is Maryann B’s quilt. This pretty quilt design is Flounce Feathers by Hermione Agee, thread is lime green and the batting is Quilters Dream Wool.