8.29.2014

Aviatrix Medallion Quilt

Gwen made this fabulous version of the popular Avitrix Medallion quilt!
I'm not much of a scrappy quilt person, but Gwen did a such a fabulous job with the prints on this quilt I'd love to keep it for myself!
Gwen sent me this quilt and asked me to custom machine quilt it for her. She gave me free range to quilt it as I pleased. I decided to go with a lot of ruler work, straight line quilting. I really wanted to keep the crisp, clean look.  I really love how it turned out!
I did machine quilt a few curves, in the first two borders, I thought they could handle curves without taking away from the rest of the quilt. And, of course...I had to take a lot of pictures!




Thanks for letting me machine quilt this beautiful quilt Gwen!

Pattern is by Elizabeth Hartman, you can find pattern details over on her blog.

8.27.2014

Cross - Odds & Ends Quilt

Yesterday I finished up the machine quilting on this cool quilt for Jamie. When Jamie sent me this quilt she told me I could machine quilt it however I wanted, she just thought it needed something custom. I agreed, so I had my way with this. 
I decided to machine quilt flowers in the yellow cross, then fill in the background with pebbles and swirls and then free-motion quilt four other designs alternating in the strips. 
I love how it turned out, alternating patterns can really create some cool textures, and don't we all love texture!
I used Quilters Dream Poly Deluxe Batting in this quilt, I love the way that the Quilter Dream Batting quilts.
I teach how-to free-motion quilt these patterns in my book; Beginner's Guide to Free-Motion Quilting.

8.26.2014

Johnny Applebeads - Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks

A few months back I was honored to have one of my quilt block designs featured in Quiltmaker Magazine's 100 Blocks issue. The block is a fun simple applique block called Quilt Seeds, #802 featured in Volume 9.
The original block, shown in the upper right hand corner of this photo, was originally made in plum and mustard, one of the color combinations that I'm crushing on right now. 
After I made that block I began playing around with color options and layouts and came up with a few fun designs using just this one block.
My very favorite layout using this block is featured in the Fall 2014 issue of Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, called Johnny Applebeads, and I love it!
I did play around with a few other color schemes, I always think it's fun to see what quilts can look like in a variety of color palates.

The original version was made using Designer Elements Solids by Free Spirit Fabrics, I machine quilted it using our Straight Line pattern, So Fine! thread by Superior Threads and Quilters Dream Poly Deluxe Batting.

8.25.2014

Zig Zags and Flowers - A Girly Quilt

I've shared several of Paula's darling quilts before, it's always so much fun to machine quilt her quilts, Paula has been busy the last couple years, making quilts for every single one of her grand-children. Each grand-child picks out the pattern and fabric and then Paula has been making them each their own quilt. How cool is that!
When Paula brought me this quilt she asked me to machine quilt flowers in the large open areas. She wanted something to keep it really girly.
So, I machine quilted swirls in the the zig-zags and flowers in the white, negative areas. I love how it turned out!
Check out some of Paula's other adorable quilts that I've machine quilted for her, here, here and here.

8.22.2014

Cursor Quilt - American Quilter Magazine

I've officially become a mailman stalker again, my husband thinks it's hilarious, but it's always so exciting when new quilt magazines arrive. 
Yesterday was one of those exciting days. Kathleen and I designed this fun Cursor quilt and the pattern is featured in the September 2014 issue of American Quilter magazine. Seeing our designs in print never gets old, it's just as exciting each time as it was the first. :)
The quilt is a pretty simple quilt, with just one block repeating, making the finished quilt 90"x90". 
I love Birch Fabrics so for this quilt we used the adorable Charley Harper prints, I just love it! If you haven't had a chance to work with the organic fabrics before I highly recommend you give them a try, they are amazing!
I wanted to the quilt to have a really clean and crisp feel so I machine quilted it with our Zigs digital pattern.
And, of course a little peek of the pattern in the magazine!

8.21.2014

Mesmerize Quilt

Susan made this fabulous version of our Mesmerize quilt. I'm pretty sure that this has been one of the most popular quilts that we've designed and it's so flattering each time I get to machine quilt one!
When we made the original Mesmerize quilt I machine quilted it with an all over baptist fan pattern, I loved the little bit of curvature that it added to such a geometric quilt. Susan liked the way I had machine quilted the original also, so she asked me to machine quilt hers just the same!
A couple of close up pictures! It's always fun to see the quilts close up. :)
Here are some details I blogged about this quilt when the pattern was originally released, almost a year ago, crazy!

8.20.2014

Petal Pod Quilt - Custom Machine Quilting

Kate made this fabulous Petal Pod quilt. I have loved this pattern ever since I first saw it in, Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe. It's so simple, yet so awesome!
When Kate brought me her quilt she asked me to machine quilt just straight lines through the whole quilt, like the original. However, just before I began machine quilting it I chatted with Kate again and she told me that I could do whatever I wanted to add a little bit of interest. 
Challenge accepted!
I loved the simplicity of the pods so I wanted to keep that going, just add a little bit of detail. So I grabbed my rulers and did a lot of ruler work. Notice in the top picture I machine quilted 3 little pods in the bottom right corner.
 I am in love with how it turned out!
Solid negative space like this is a long-arm quilters dream, well at least mine!
I rarely take pictures of the quilts I machine quilt before I quilt them, but I did with this one, and I think it's pretty cool to see how machine quilting can really bring a quilt to life.
Thanks for letting me machine quilt this awesome quilt Kate!

For more information on free-motion quilting check out my book; Beginner's Guide to Free-Motion Quilting.
Pattern was designed by Jessica Kovach of Twin Fibers, and is available in Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe.

8.19.2014

Custom Machine Quilting - Red, White & Black Stars

I recently spent a few days machine quilting this awesome quilt for Miranda. Miranda made this quilt and she is donating it to a charity auction, how awesome and amazing is she?!?!
Miranda sent me this quilt and was so patient waiting for me to get it quilted, she asked me to custom machine quilt it using just one thread color though the whole quilt and gave me the freedom to quilt as I desired. I thought about it for several days or weeks, before I came up with what I thought was the perfect idea for the one.
I machine quilted some feathers in the border, yeah, I love feathers.
Then I machine quilted arcs in all of the black blocks, some point to point quilting in all of the red and then I alternated feathers, straight lines, swirls and pebbles as background fillers. I really love how this quilt turned out.
I had to take a lot of pictures, so here's some eye-candy for you!

I thought that the backing turned out pretty dang gorgeous too!

In my book; Beginner's Guide to Free-Motion Quilting I teach how to free-motion quilt most of the techniques shown on this quilt. You can pick up a signed copy here.

8.17.2014

Jelly Roll Jam 2 - A FREE Pattern

Kimberly and the creative girls over at Fat Quarter Shop have done it again, they've created another darling shortcut quilt, with a free pattern! The new pattern is called Jelly Roll Jam 2!
Kimberly and the Fat Quarter Shop girls contacted me and asked me if I'd like to make a quilt from their new pattern, I had the opportunity to make one from their first Jelly Roll Jam pattern, so of course I was excited to make one from this new pattern.
I chose to make my quilt using a Bee My Honey Jelly Roll by Mary Jane Butters for Moda Fabrics, I love how this little quilt turned out!
The quilt was very easy to make, I think it took me about 2 hours, total, to piece the top. Perfect for a quick quilt!
When it was time to choose a quilt backing I decided to use the leftover Jelly Roll strips, I never ever piece my backings, but this quilt just called for a pieced backing. So I set aside four Jelly Roll strips for the binding, and then sewed all of the rest of the strips together and added a small strip of ivory fabric to the top and bottom, and viola, a freaking adorable quilt backing!

Jelly Roll Jam2 Free Pattern is available here.
Jelly Roll Jam YouTube Video is available here.

Have a great day!

8.14.2014

The big "CHANGE"

Everyone wants to know why..... why did we decide to move? 

I shared the following on my personal facebook page, but I thought it was time to share it here as well...
"Brad and I have been talking about moving ever since we met, 13 years ago. We've both always loved St. George, southern Utah, but never had the courage to make the change. I've been working hard at my little business for the past 7 years and in the last couple of years felt like I had finally built up to the point where I could work from anywhere. Brad loved his job as an insurance agent. Early this spring, or LONG winter (yes it snowed on June 17th) we started talking about moving again, we decided that if we were ever going to do it we should do it before Chesney starts first grade. Brad received a job offer in St. George that will provide our little family with insurance and retirement, an opportunity that we felt we'd be foolish to pass up. Yes, we will miss our friends and families, but we've got a cute guest bedroom. I will miss seeing all of my local clients, yes, I did move my long arm machine with me and will continue to work, just as before."

Last weekend we did it. We moved our little family, and my business. Several have asked me where St. George is, its in Southern Utah, it's a 4 hour drive from where we lived before, and a completely different climate from the snowy mountains. Brad actually attended college here and I spent one summer here living with my sister while she was in college, we've spent almost every spring break here in St. George through our lives.
Several have also asked about how my mom, Kathleen and I will continue to work together? She actually works a full time job in a medical office, sewing has been her full time hobby for the last few years, I will greatly miss her help, but I do still plan to send her all of my quilts for bindings. We do still plan to sew together, when she comes to visit me, or when I go to visit her.
My long-arm in now in my home, it's way different to actually be "working from home" but it's a change I'm excited about.
Something I'm most excited about, I finally have one of our quilts on my bed, and I LOVE it! This is A-Maze Me, pattern is from our book, Modern One-Block Quilts.

The move went quite smooth and we're just about all settled in, coincidentally, my lap-top, that has everything on it decided that it's monitor wanted to quit working, so I've been a little slow at responding to emails and updating the blog, I hope to have it back soon and be fully functioning. :) 

8.07.2014

Eye-Spy Quilt

Terri made this adorable Eye-Spy Quilt. so much fun, I love how it's put together.
When Terri brought me this quilt she asked me to custom machine quilt it for her. So, I kinda just did my thing and had fun with it. 
I machine quilted feathers, swirls, pebbles and clams in the borders, I think the combination is always fun and adds some interest without taking away from the quilt.
I machine quilted straight lines and circles in the block sashings then in the actual blocks I machine quilted a different filler on each row, including swirls, waves, pebbles, clams and some geometric patterns.

Thanks for letting me machine quilt your adorable quilt Terri!

8.05.2014

9 Patches and Snowballs

Susan made this beautiful quilt, made from just 9-Patch and Snowball quilt blocks! I love this quilt!
You know how much Kathleen and I love solids quilts, so you know how excited I was to machine quilt this baby!
Susan wanted to keep with a traditional fee, so I machine quilted feathers in the white border and then in the center of the snowball blocks. In the 9-Patch blocks I machine quilted arcs.
I love the soft, simplicity that this quilt has. Such a beautiful quilt.
Thanks for letting me machine quilt your quilt Susan!