Laurel Burch Ocean Songs jacket

I spotted this new Laurel Burch print in our local quilt shop and had to have it. I decided that it would look good on a sweatshirt jacket. I am loving the way it turned out.

Folk Art Flowers from Buggy Barn

This one is mine. The book is called Perennially Crazy for Buggy Barn by two sisters named Janet Nesbitt and Pam Soliday. I took a Susan Baker class a few months ago using this book and have been waiting for the time to quilt this one for myself. The pattern is so fun, lots of different fabrics and prints. No rules. Some of the flowers have 3 segments and some have 4. I just decided to mix it up.

This is basically a stack and whack. The key to putting these Folk Art Flower quilts together is the first step, choosing fabric that complements or contrasts with it. You don't want to put a beige on top of another light color so you have to think about what fabric fat quarter goes in front of and behind of the one you are holding and stack them up so that when you shuffle, you still have a good contrast.


So now I am ready to quilt my Folk Art Flower quilt. I am going to use Gatsby Green on top and black Bottom Line in the bobbin. I am stuck on what to do in the border. I like the Funky Flower stencil (top on photo on right) but it may be too much considering that the quilt is already pretty funky. Then there is the square spirals on the left border in the same photo.

But I also like the lemon border in the photo on the left. And those big dancing leaves would be in keeping with the spirit of the quilt. I'll have to decide by tomorrow night when the quilting begins.

Lori L's Monterrey Medallions

Lori and I took a Susan Baker class on Monterrey Medallions by Atkinson Designs. This was a two-part class. Lori and I chose very similar fabrics. I have not even finished piecing mine. This one is for her son's birthday.

I used the Circle Lord to make spirals in the stars. I did continuous curves (CC) and L's in the 4-patches. Then I used the Megan Best ruler to make a secondary square around the center star. I used the Circle Lord to make a secondary square of 5 concentric lines around the center medallion.



I prefer not to accept thread from a customer. The speed of the longarm can really chew through thread. I prefer to use only thread made for the longarm. Lori had chosen a Star variegated thread #845 named Blue Clouds for the top. This was my first time with Star variegated. The thread color change is longer than Superior Threads' 1-inch color change but it was still very easy on the eye. There was less lint than I would expect from a cotton thread. That was a pleasant surprise. I have had tension issues several times because of the lint put out by cotton threads. Tension problems can lead to machine malfunctions. If my machine is not working, then I am not quilting. That is a not good. Luckily, I had no problems with the tension. I wound my own bobbins of Superior's So Fine poly thread #433 Out of the Blue.

I broke another one of my rules which was that I let Lori bring her own batting. She wanted to use a black batting. Black batts are not always readily available. I don't know where she got this one but it was awful. I had to cut off the top 8 inches because there was a perfectly straight diagonal 6 inch line cut all the way thru the batting. It looked like it had been cut by a razor or box cutter. Lori assured me that the plastic bag that the batting came in was intact. So the cut must have come from the factory. It would have been bad if it had been in the middle of the quilt. Of course, then I would have had to break the other rule, No Pieced Battings. The batting looked like it wave doubled over in a couple of places but when I tried to straighten it, it wouldn't come apart. I did notlike the feel of the batt either. It did not have a noticeable scrim but it felt like cotton candy to the touch. It stuck to my chapped hands. Ick! It was an airy loft and the doubled over parts could not be felt through the quilt.That was a relief.



Turn-around time:
In: 6 April
Out: 10 April