Downton Abbey Quilt - Custom Machine Quilting by Natalia Bonner + A Bonus Video

Hey quilty friends! I hope your summer is off to a great start! I guess with my kids getting older and more involved in activities around the community I just feel like summer is going to be crazy. But I love it! However, it's really eaten into my blogging time and I just haven't been able to update things here as often as I'd like to. I'm going to try and make an effort at sharing a little more frequently, because I do love this blog, and the community of friends I've made because of it.

I recently custom machine quilted this beautiful Downton Abbey quilt for Carol. I love the quilt. When Carol sent this quilt to me she asked me to hide a little message in it, I'm not sure if I even captured it in the quilting but there is a hidden message quilted into the quilting. :)

Sew Sampler Box - May 2016

On Monday I found this yummy Sew Sampler box in my mailbox. Let me just tell you, I've honestly always been a bit skeptical about these subscription type boxes. I've always wondered if they're actually worth the money, this Sew Sampler box is the first box I've ever actually received and I'm totally sold on it! I love the anticipation, the excitement and I love the fabulous surprises that are inside.

Modern Building Blocks Quilt - Custom Machine Quilting by Natalia Bonner

Jan made this gorgeous version of the popular Moda Modern Building Blocks Quilt. I love this quilt. 

I was honored two years ago to custom machine quilt the original version of this quilt. When I machine quilted that version for my friends over at Moda Fabrics they asked me to keep the quilt crisp and modern, the didn't want any curves, just straight line quilting. I've had fun machine quilting a few versions since then and I've loved making each one of them unique.

Dream Big - Custom Machine Quilting by Natalia Bonner

Over the weekend I spent some time custom machine quilting this gorgeous Dream Big quilt. Let me just tell you, I had so much fun machine quilting this quilt. There is enough negative space and solid colored fabrics that it was pretty much like candy to me. 

How to: Mini Lemon Cheesecakes - Sometimes I Cook!

Hey friends! I've never claimed to be great at cooking or baking, but, this week I volunteered to make treats for my local modern quilt guild, Red Rock Modern Quilt Guild, so I had to make some treats.

I modified this recipe from one of my mom, Kathleen Whiting's recipes and I love how it turned out. Actually I loved them so much I thought that it would be fun to share the recipe here with you!

Be Brave - Custom Machine Quilting by Natalia Bonner

My local quilt shop, Quilted Works is featured in the Spring/Summer 2016 issue of Quilt Sampler as one of the top quilt shops! With this great honor for them comes a new quilt design, and I was able to custom machine quilt their new quilt for them, "Be Brave".

I had so much fun custom machine quilting the original version, and then they made a second version, which was even more fun to custom machine quilt.

Paper Pieced Star Quilt - Custom Machine Quilting by Natalia Bonner

Jean Ann pieced this beautiful quilt for her grand-son as a graduation gift. I'm thinking this is a pretty awesome gift!

Jean Ann sent it to me and asked me to custom machine quilt it for her. Jean Ann pretty much gave me permission to quilt it however I thought would be best.

Mixing it Up - Custom Machine Quilting by Natalia Bonner

Cheryl made this darling Mixing It Up quilt and sent it to me for some custom machine quilting. I love this quilt and knew that it needed some fun quilting to really make those mixers and spatulas come to life.

Housetop Quilt - Custom Machine Quilting by Natalia Bonner

My friend Tina Lewis designed and made this beautiful Housetop quilt for Modern Patchwork magazine.

10 Things You Should Know Before Having a Quilt Machine Quilted on a Long-Arm Machine

I've thought about writing this blog post for years, actually I've typed up the whole thing several times and then deleted it. I didn't want to come across as a know-it-all, or at all offensive. However after being asked the same questions over and over I've decided that it's okay to write these thoughts, actually, I think that most will find it very helpful.

Before I became a long-arm quilter there were a lot of things I didn't know about the process, by writing this post today I hope that I can help anyone out there that is interested in having their quilts machine quilted by a long-arm quilter.