My customer Colleen called me to say that she had a big top to be quilted.  I couldn't wait to see what she created.  When she arrived with it, needless to say I was excited to get to stitch this one.  This is her Navy and White Hunter's Star Quilt.

Here is the "before" photo.  It's a big quilt, measuring 98" x 98".  Luckily I have a 12 foot frame so I can fit big quilts like this easily.

Colleen's piecing is always spot on and nearly perfect.  Her creations are wonderful to work on.

She again chose a new-to-me panto called Lida and I was happy with the way it was looking after the first couple of rows.

Due to the difference in lighting in my studio, it's hard to see just how beautiful the stitching design looks across the whole quilt.  This is a much better photo.  Glide White was used for the top thread and Glide Medium Gray was used in the bobbin.

The backing fabric was the same print that she used for the border.  Colleen actually had to travel a bit far to secure enough fabric to piece the backing together.  I think it was well worth the effort.

It's hard to see the stitching on the back in the above photo as the thread color she chose didn't stand out too much, which is what she wanted, but you can see it better in this picture. Sometimes customers want the backing thread to be very visible and other times not so much.  In this instance, she wanted the print of the fabric to be the focus.

When I called to tell her it was done, she rushed right over within the hour.  I guess she was excited to see it.  Again, Colleen was beyond thrilled with the result when she picked it up, as was I.  It truly is gorgeous and I know that she's super proud of her wonderful accomplishment.

Colleen's piecing group is starting back up this week so I'm betting more pretty tops are eventually going to head my way to quilt.  I look forward to seeing what's next.

 It's always fun to see what my customers bring to me to quilt for them.  Colleen's creations never disappoint.  This is her Gray and Green Star Quilt.  Isn't it beautiful?

I actually remembered this time to take a "before" picture. As I've mentioned before, her quilts are always a pleasure to work on because they are well constructed.

She picked a new-to-me panto called London Fog and once I started stitching it I definitely liked how it turning out. So Fine Silver was the thread of choice for the top.

This is the completed quilt fresh off the frame.

The panto design worked so well to provide great movement across the quilt without distracting from the piecing.

I think this new panto is going to become very popular with my customers.

I love, love, love the backing fabric she provided.  The print is so fun.  The only negative discovered after this was finished is that we both felt she should have picked a darker thread for the bobbin so the stitching would have shown a little more. This was So Fine Genoa Gray. Lesson learned.

Colleen was beyond thrilled with the final result.  This beauty is a gift for her daughter and I know that she'll love it.

Colleen also brought me the more gorgeous Navy and White Hunter's Star quilt to stitch next.  Wait until you see how it turned out. 

 Last fall, my customer Linda, had contacted me to request my basting service for 3 quilts she planned to hand quilt.  Though I don't get these types of requests often, it is another service I offer.  Two of the quilts were smaller pieces and the third was an antique quilt she purchased at the Sisters Quilt show many years ago.  I was able to complete the basting fairly quickly and she picked them up when she dropped off her  Brown and Black Diamonds quilt. 

A couple of weeks later, when I called her to tell her that the Brown and Black Diamonds quilt was finished and ready to be picked up, she asked if I'd be able to quilt the antique quilt as she was struggling to hand quilt the smaller quilts and decided that she wouldn't be able to get the larger antique quilt done.  The arthritis in her hands was giving her trouble and she just wanted to get the antique quilt done so she could use it.  I advised her that all of the basting stitches would need to be removed so that I could reload everything separately on my frame so she worked on that in the evenings and it was brought back to me when she pick up the other quilt.

Here it is all finished.

She isn't sure how old this top is but she guessed that it would be almost 100 years old.

 

The original piecer used a huge variety of fabrics and I have to tell you that, for being entirely hand pieced, her workmanship was outstanding. Quilters Dream 80/20 batting was used, So Fine 504 Silver Screen was used on the top and So Fine 411 Black was in the bobbin.

 

I'm assuming that the majority of the fabrics used for the Nine Patches came from clothing.  The White and Black polka dot print and the Blue dot print were both of thinner weights but the White was a bit more of a lighter weave.  I know very little about dating fabrics in old quilts but these were definitely thinner than the fabrics in the antique quilt that I have.

There's even a signed block.  We're guessing that Aunt Harriet was the quilt maker but who knows for sure.  The blocks actually could have been constructed by a lot of different ladies.

Here you can see more of the variety of prints used in the construction.

Linda requested a basic simple meander to keep the stitching light and simple.

It suited the quilt nicely and Linda was very happy with the result.

When she picked this one up, Linda brought me another antique quilt top that she wants quilted.  It's all Bow Tie blocks and together we're contemplating possible stitching designs to find the best one to make the piecing shine.  I can't wait to stitch it and then to share it with you.  Stay tuned.