CraZy 9 Patch with Challenge

I took on this quilt from a new quilter only because I happened to be in the quilt shop when the piecer brought it in looking for a quilter. Normally I would steer clear of a quilt with ultrasuede borders and fleece backing. YIKES! The fleece is so stretchy and the ultrasuede, well, it's ultrasuede. But I got "TAGGED" so I took on the job.

The piecer made the quilt for her parents to use on the sofa of the family room. So she wanted it to be warm and snuggly. The fleece backing is a deep rich chocolate brown.

The quilt field is a Crazy 9 Patch, the shops signature quilt, and it was done in a class at the shop. She used several shades of browns. There were some wonderful circles in the fabric so we discussed using circles in the quilt. The ultrasuede was also brown.

I chose a Signature cotton thread Java to use on the top and bobbin. I figured out the the stretchy part was on the sides so I was careful to stabilize those so I don't pull them out of shape. I also used a Warm & White batting mostly to stabilize it and separate the layers.




I knew better than to try and mark the ultrasuede with anything such as chalk or Mark-B-Gone. So I just free-handed the feathers being sure to take the feather all the way to the pressed outside seam so I could stitch thru it. I will SID that on my Juki later. I did not want to try to hold the machine still enought to hit the ditch with the fleece on the bottom. I was pleased at how well the ultrasuede took the stitching and it did not budge or stretch. Before I started, I thought about echoing the feathers but then I thought that would be pushing my luck. If the ultrasuede started wiggling, I would certainly regret having to echo the feather just to get that seam allowance quilted down.


I used the Circle Lord Swirlz template in the field. It really looks good on those Crazy 9 Patch blocks. But the real star is the back with those swirls. I am very pleased. I guess you can't always tell the difficulty rate from looking in the bag at the quilt pieces.

I am still working on it but am about 2/3 done. I confess that I did keep my eye on the Quilter's Eye camera to make sure that I was not getting any puckers. It looked great on the screen so I kept going. I will finish this up tonight. The ultrasuede unravels so badly, I might offer to serge the edges of the quilt for her just so it stays together until she gets the binding on.

Shabby Chic Finished

Well, I finished the Robyn Pandolph (Sumptuous Living collection) in a Yellow Brick Road quilt for the CraZy 9 Patch shop sample. The San Diego Cruisin' Quilt Run is next month and Martha, the owner of the C9P is busy getting kits made, extra shelves constructed by the master carpenter, Patty and making up a bunch of sample to decorate the shop.

This quilt was pieced by Debbie who also works and teaches at the shop. Debbie is an impeccable piecer. If you read this blog regularly you will know that she pieces all my show quilts. The judges love her piecing. So it was not surprise that this quilt was a dream to quilt. I had originally planned to panto it with a wonderful new design from Lisa Calle called Oh My Feathers. But I had a hard day at work and did not want to follow the red laser light. OK, but let's get it done. So freemtion was my choice.
I sprinkled some no-start roses across the field of the quilt and then filled in around them with lots of soft swirls and ribbons, some feathers and a new technique I just saw by Rebecca Segura called 3s and Es. It is so cool and adds a love of movement and texture. I'm sure that I will be using that technique again. Thanks, Rebecca.

The border is interface heart feathers with lots of 3s and Es micro-stipple. I used Superior So Fine top and bobbin for the microfill.The rest of the quilt is Signature cotton Parchment thread top and bobbin. Debbie likes to see the thread. Here is th border




And here is one of the roses.


This is where I got the hang of the 3s and Es. I really like it.


The back was Robyn Pandolph in the blue colorway.

Shabby Chic Shop Sample

This is another shop sample in time for the March San Diego Cruisin' Shop Hop. It is a Yellow Brick Road with some yummy Robyn Pandolph fabrics. I had planned to do a panto but decided to do it freemotion with some rose. Very Girly. I hope you like it. I used bamboo/cotton blend and Signature cotton Parchment top and bobbin. I used Superior So Fine #402 for the micro-stipple. I tried to do a 3's and E's designed my Rebecca Segura (aka zeffie) that I saw on Machine Quilter's Resource. It is harder to stitch than it looks.

BooHoo - Lost some blog buddies

As of this morning, I can no longer get to WordPress blogs. Yup, my company has put them on a block list for "social networking". Some of my Favorites were:

Terri Watson's Thread Tales

Kay Peterson's My Olive Branch

Carla Barrett's Feathered Fibers

Gayle's Gallery

So when I take a break, I will not be checking in on these bloggers. That makes me sad. I love to see what new things people are trying. Because of blogs:

--I have made a Red Zinger selvage edge wall-hanging
--I am almost done with a Strip and Twist quilt
--I have the best recipe for Cream of Potato soups
--Learned that Madeira thread is better than MonoPoly and I just ordered Madeira thread.
--Signed up for a class in Sacramento given by Carla Barrett
--Working on a 9-patch plus a cute red flowered alternating block quilt seen on
Suzanne Earley's blog which is going thru some changes....hope she does not move
to wordpress. too.

I will try to check these blogs at night when I get home from work but it won't be the same. I guess that I will have to read a book during my lunch hour. Bummer.

Look at the Charmer

Danielle made this sweet quilt out of charms and put borders on it. Then she quilted it up in no time. You can see the Gammill Optimum Plus on a 12 foot table behind Danielle. She is working her way toward a show quilt.

Danielle Does It Again

Danielle is on fire now. She just started learning longarm quilting a short time ago. She is a natural and learns quickly.

Kaffe Fassett Snowball For Friendship Quilters Guild

My guild, Friendship Quilters of San Diego, had a philanthropy day in January in which we put together a snowball blocks using Kaffe Fassett charm packs. Then Lee and Jean, the Philanthropy chairs for the guild, decided to set the blocks into a black sashed settings with tiny corner stones and a black border.

I volunteered to quilt without any idea of how to quilt it. I got some ideas from the pros on MQ Resource. I used Superior Rainbows thread #814 Gypsy (RED-MAGENTA-ORANGE-DK.RED) plus Superior So Fine black thread in the bobbin and in the border.




I didn' want the border thread to detract from the snowballs; I just wanted it to ruffle the 1-2-3s design in the border. I quilted a feathery flower in each block with the feathers peaking out a bit so the color shows in the black sashings and so the sashing is stabilitzed. I considered SIDing all the rows but it idn't work with my continueous feather flower.

The guild plans to use the quilt in the auction coming up in April. I hope it makes a ton of money for the guild.