Thursday, December 31, 2020

Colleen's Santa Panel Quilt

Though I have a few more customer quilts completed to show you, this will be the last post of 2020.  Considering how difficult these past 9+ months has been overall for everyone, I just want to end this year on a sweet note. 
 
My customer Colleen made this sweet Santa panel quilt for herself and asked me to add the finishing touch to it for her.
 
The vintage scene reminds me of many of the images of Santa that I remember from my childhood. She also added a couple of simple borders on the panel to make it a nice lap size. This is the "before" photo. 
 
Here it is in process on the frame.  You can see the difference the quilting makes. Glide thread in Military Gold suited the colors in then panel and border fabrics perfectly.
Colleen chose the Mittens and Ice Skates panto for this one.  Here you can see the ice skates part of the design well.
In this area you can see the mittens and the funky stars that are also part of the stitch pattern.
This is a close up of the effect of the stitching.  It truly brings this panel quilt to life.
I love, love love the cute skiing reindeer print she brought for the back. White thread was used in the bobbin instead of Red to show a bit and not just blend in.
The quilting gives the back nice texture while at the same time not taking anything away from the cute motif.
I'm glad that Colleen finally made a quilt to keep for herself.  It turned out very sweet.
I know that she's working on something new to quilt and I can't wait to see what it is.  Stay tuned.

 


Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Colleen's Vintage Truck Panel Quilt


Between shopping, decorating, preparing for the holidays and celebrating the birthdays of both of my kids, the month of December is always extra crazy for me so now that the largest extent of the tasks are over, I can catch up with the last of the customer orders that I've quilted recently.

This is Colleen's vintage truck panel quilt.  Vintage trucks seems to be a popular theme this year.  I've seen lots of new holiday decorations with the motif.
I don't remember who she was gifting it to, but I'm sure the person is going to love it.
Before quilting.  Colleen added 2 simple borders on the panel to make it bigger.
The panel itself includes so many adorable holiday images, like the snowman and the puppy in the truck bed, helping to deliver the gifts.
Here's the on the frame, in process pic.  Isn't the little bunny so cute?  Glide thread in Candy Apple was her choice for the top thread.
Colleen chose the Snow Winds panto which showcases pretty snowflakes and point swirls.
The backing fabric is the same print as the outer border on the front.  In this photo, you can see how nicely the stitching shows on the back.  Glide thread in White was used in the bobbin.
It's great that the fabric companies are producing really wonderful panels that make it so easy for a piecer to stitch up a beautiful quilt to gift to a friend.
I just might have to search around the web to see if there are any panels that catch my eye.
 


Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Colleen's Blue Boxed Diamonds Quilt

 This is Colleen's Blue quilt for the other nephew that I mentioned in the previous post but she used a totally different pattern. I can't say which I like better.  They're both great. 

In process. The top thread is Omni Teal and although that sounds like it would look very Green-ish, it's actually a really pretty shade of Blue which worked perfectly for this one.

I truly love how the stitching takes a pretty quilt top.....

.....and transforms it into something fabulous. Whether the stitching is simpler edge to edge designs or intense custom work, once a top is quilted, it really shines.  The panto is Calder.
     
You'll chuckle at this.....I know for a fact that I took outside final pictures of this quilt because I did it at the same time as I took the pics for the other Blue quilt...but for the life of me I can't find where I saved those pics on my desktop.  So I can't share with you the "glamour" shots.
Oh well, I'll find them eventually.  When Colleen picked up the 2 Blue quilts, she brought me 2 more tops to stitch so I'll be sharing those with you next.





Friday, December 11, 2020

Colleen's Blue Quilt

To say that I've got a lot going on these days is a huge understatement. Between shopping for gifts, decorating the house (the tree's not done but everything else is), both kids' birthdays this month, my own quilt projects with deadlines, a few customer quilts and Girl Scouts....there's a lot on my plate. This morning I'm taking a few minutes before I get back into it to share another beauty recently completed for a customer.
 
Colleen brought me this pretty blue quilt to stitch up for her.  It's a gift for one of her nephews.  
I don't know what pattern she used (I might just have to ask her) but I like the way it turned out.  It has plenty of visual interest and the bits of dark tan give it the right amount of pop.
Here it is in process.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a "before" photo. She chose a pretty Glide Tar Heel thread for the front that shows just enough.  Glide in Mocha was used for the back.
Colleen chose the Modernish panto and we were both really happy with the way it helped soften the straight lines just a bit while also being a little masculine feeling.
For the backing she brought a nice subtle blue and black print that coordinated nicely with the front and was just "solid" enough that the quilting showed up somewhat.
I'm sure her nephew will love this quilt and will treasure it because she made it just for him.
Colleen brought me another quilt for another nephew to stitch so stay tuned for that reveal.