Mary's Mardi Gras Log Cabin

This quilt looks like it should be called Mardi Gras. It is full of greens and vibrant purples with spirals and scroll work. It has black with curls to add a touch of drama. Mary likes the sparkle in Rainbows thread by Superior; I used Rainbows #848 Buncha Violets. I put a Signature #555 Berry Wine thread in the self-wound bobbins.

This is my second quilt for Mary. She knows what she wants. Her fabric is always quality cotton in the most vibrant colors. Her piecing is exact and those borders ...well, she should teach a class on borders. They are perfect. She wanted tight curly-qs in the black and harlequins in the green on this quilt and she wanted heavy quilting.


At first, I tried using my Circle Lord to make the Harlequins. I love the CL for cross-hatch work. But these harlequins have a different angle. I had to reach way back to Geometry class (1964) to define the angle as 60 degrees. That was a real tweak for the Circle Lord. I had to draw the lines on anyway in order to ensure that I got the correct angle. Then, using the crosshatch template with those wonderful long straight lines, I lined the CL up with the chalk line on the quilt. I worked a bit. It took a while to set the first line up and then I could just move it to the next chalk line keeping the same angle. But I kept running into the front carriage wheels. Grrrr.

So I decided to try using a ruler. This was my first time trying any ruler work on a customer quilt. I had the heavy hopping foot installed a couple months ago. And then I got the RulerMate expanded plate for Christmas. It was back-ordered so I didn't actually get it until January. A RulerMate replaces the needle plate so it stays installed all the time.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Megan Best ruler
was the exact width that I wanted for the harlequins so I used that ruler to draw the lines and then used the other side of the ruler to guide the hopping foot as I quilted. OK, now that was easy. Why didn't I try this before? I had to concentrate about keeping a firm but not deathgrip on the ruler. The hopping foot snugged up to the ruler and off it went. I zipped through those chalked lines very quickly. It is still a lot of work but I am about one-third done so far.

Lauren's Crazy 9 Patch

This is the second quilt that I have done for this customer. This one is for her 4 year old grand-daughter's birthday. It is very bright and cheerful. I love it. The only instruction that Lauren got from her daughter (the mother of the 4 year old) was "No more orange, Mom". Oops, too late.

Both the front and back are pretty busy so I just wanted to add some texture that the child could feel. I really wanted to use a pale yellow thread and put circles all over it based on the circles in the backing. But Lauren wanted white thread. I used PermaCore white thread on the top and Superior Bottom Line prewounds in the bobbin.

She nixed the circles, too and opted for the Butterfly Charm panto by Hermione Agee for Lorien. It came out great. Lauren is a great piecer. Trouble-free quilting. I used a stencil on the border. It was alternating hearts and snall circles.

Mary has a monkey wrench

Don't you just love the colors in this quilt. (Ignore the chalk) It reminds me of sunshine or sherbet. It is so light and sunny. This is my first quilt for Mary. She is very new to quilting. But she knows what she wants. She takes her time with fabric selection. She always chooses quality fabrics with vibrant colors. And she likes a little sizzle in the thread for the quilting, too. Mary pieced this Monkey Wrench (or Snail's Trail) quilt in a Susan Baker class at the Crazy 9 Patch in Ramona, CA. With a monkey wrench quilt, it's all about the contrast. If you don't have the contrast, then you won't be able to see the wrench in the quilt.

I first met Mary one Saturday morning as I stopped by the Crazy 9 Patch. She and the instructor, Susan Baker from San Bernadino, were laboring over her choices for backing. She must have pulled 8 or 9 bolts off the shelf to lay across her quilt. She wanted a certain look. I knew which one I would have picked, it was this sherbet color with reds, corals and oranges in a cool wash on batik fabric. But I didn't say anything. Several quilters got into the cluster looking at the choices. And when it was done, Mary had chosen the sherbet batik.

She heard that I did longarm quilting and asked for a business card. The shop had my cards and brochures. You never know whether you'll hear from folks just because they accept your business card. There are a lot of people who quilt for money. There are quilters who quilt to supplement their income. And there are professional quilters with the required state license and an investment in quilting supplies. They have a zest to continue learning new techniques by attending classes and quilt shows. Passing on the state tax they assess their customers (in California, that is for fabrication labor) is just part of the business. Quilting, whether on a longarm or a domestic sewing machine, is work. It can be artistic work or it can be as simple as nailing the quilt down. Some of that work depends on the talent of the quilter but the amount of work done on a quilt is ultimately the choice of the quilt owner. Afterall, the quilt owner is the one paying for the quilter's service. So it was a nice surprise when the quilt shop called to tell me that Mary had dropped off a bag with a quilt in it for me.

After witnessing the backing selection process firsthand, I was not surprised what was waiting for me in the bag at the quilt shop. Mary had found a picture of a Monkey Wrench with the quilting that she wanted done. There were tight curls in the setting triangles and undulating lines that follow the swirl of the monkey wrench. She wants curls in the orange border, too. Yeah, I can do that.

I had a class with Mary a few days later and took the bag with the unquilted quilt in it. Also in the bag were 14 cones of thread. I wanted her to choose the thread that she wanted for the front and the back. Not surprising, she chose a thread with some pop. It is Superior's Rainbows thread Mango Mango. She wants it in the top and bobbin. I've never run Rainbows in the bobbin before. This will be something new for me.

I mentioned earlier that Mary is a new quilter. You would not know that from her piecing. Her 1/4 inch seams are consistent and her borders are flat, no waviness at all. I hope she likes what I did with her quilt and I hope she brings me another one.


Update: Feb 19th Mary picked up her quilt today. She "love, love, love"d it. That makes all the hassle worthwhile.