Saturday, February 21, 2015

Ardyce's Glacier Star

Hey Quilters and Quilt admirers,

This beauty has been on my frame since December.  Aside from a vacation and some days off here and there, we have been constant companions. I have poured my blood, sweat and tears into it, and that is no exaggeration! Judy Neimeyer quilts surely challenge me. There is so much going on in them and everything seems to cry out for quilting.


Ardyce asked that the light blue area around the geese have a lot of quilting, so that's where I began.


From there it just made sense to continue the theme.




For the center star, I chose to follow the geese around to give it movement.


The area on either side of the outer geese gave me a challenge. With each element I completed, the closer I got to needing a design idea for this area. I thought feathers were a natural fit but also felt it would be a let down to do a plain feather. So when it came time to quilt this area, with yet no design in mind, I started drawing on my plexiglass. This is one tool I would be lost without. I finally went back to the swirl design and enclosed one side to become featherish. There was so much space in this area, I extended the curved cross-hatching out.


Lastly for the border. I had this idea from the start to bring the star points out, which I did, and to make geese fly around the border, which I also did. But my plan was to use the small swirl design as the background, to bring out the other elements. Well, as best laid plans go, I didn't like it. So onto plan B. As it was, the quilting didn't show up very well on the border fabric, so I needed something tight to accent the other designs. I decided on 1/4 inch lines. Oh my, that took days! And honestly, it looks really cool..... but from the back! ugh. Oh well, live, learn, quilt.



My main concern is always the front of the quilt, yet I still want the back to be wonderful if possible, especially when the back fabric is one that will show all the quilting. This is one of those quilts. The back fabric is navy and shows everything. I have to say, I am happy with the way the back looks also, a pleasant surprise.











I should add that I used multiple So-Fine thread colors, Medeira Monolon and Filtec magna classic bobbins. Ardyce supplied the Hobbs Heirloom Wool and I added a layer of Quilters Dream Cotton Select Batting. Here's a couple more pics of the front because after all, it's all about the front.



I am so happy to have had the opportunity to work on this beauty. It was wonderful to be able to stretch myself and see what happened. Thank you so much Ardyce for trusting me with your baby.

Thanks for looking and have fun quilting,

K

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Just a little quilt show.

Hi Quilters,

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. It sounds funny but I can't believe they have come and gone. I seem to have quite a few quilts that got completed but never got posted, so I decided to have a mini quilt show. Enjoy

Sue's quilt



Mary Helen's quilt




Quilted for guild





Marilynn's quilt





Ardyce's quilt





Hope you enjoyed them all. Keep on quilting and have a wonderful year.

K

Friday, November 21, 2014

Ardyce's Wall Hanger

Hey Everyone,

Here is a small quilt with big presence and amazing color. It was so much fun to quilt. I had planned on quilting the basket weave freehand. I chalked my marks out and started quilting. Much to my disappointment, it looked terrible. I wanted it to be perfect and had to go to plan B. I started shopping for a wave template and finally had one made. I like it so much better. Ardyce supplied the Quilters Dream Request Batt and I added 1/2 thickness of Quilters Dream Wool, also So-Fine thread.

Thanks for looking,

K

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Kathy's Judy Niemeyer Bali Bedrunner

Hey Quilt Lovers,

Hope all are well and enjoying this wonderful time of year, IMHO. I just love the fall and the upcoming holiday season. Here is a quilt I quilted up a short while ago. I really prefer simple piecing but definately see something of JN's in my future. Love her work! Kathy did a great job with the fabric choices and the piecing. Here goes..............


That's it for today. Happy Quilting!

K

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Two more Orientals

Hi Quilters,

Here we are in Fall. I love the fall but I am just not ready to let go of summer yet. Summer here in the Northeast was just perfect for my taste. We had maybe a handful of days over 90 and minimal humidity. Anyway, I don't think your here for an overview of our weather. Here are a couple more customer Oriental quilts to check out. Alas, I can't remember the names. Sorry about that. They are both done with QD Request Poly that was supplied to me



I quilted the green area to, what in my mind, would resemble a screen or window, looking out on to a scene. The scene I outlined, and on the border I added half feathers that remind me of butterfly wings referring back to the scene outside the window.



Here I outlined the big beautiful bouquet of flowers, outlined the border, then just had fun with the background.



Stay tuned for another oriental. Happy quilting everyone. K