I bought a longarm!

My longarm quilting class went well last July, so I decided to buy one! I've been shopping and researching the last several months, and finally decided on the right machine for me. I chose the Millie from APQS. It has electronic vertical and horizontal channel locks as well as motorized advance - two of my favorite features. My friend Ricklie helped me to set it up - and in another month I'll be taking my beginners longarm quilting classes with Angela Huffman to learn how to use it! I can't wait to see what I'll be able to do with it!

Lemoyne Stars

My Lemoyne Stars Basics quilt class was today. We learned how to use Deb Tucker's Rapid Fire Lemoyne ruler.The pattern I wanted to make (Pop Stars...watch for a future post!) didn't arrive on time, so I designed my own quilt for the class. I decided to use the Brushstrokes fabric line by Kim Schaefer for Andover Fabrics with black as the background and various blues, greens, and purples for the stars. I will make forty-two 8 inch Lemoyne stars, then will pop the corners of the blocks to add small diamonds to the background. There will be two borders: the first will be two inch squares of all the different star colors and the second will be the black background fabric. My tentative name for the pattern is "Night Sky." Here is my drawing of a mini version of the quilt:

During class I finished the first four blocks; only 38 more to go! I think this will be a good quilt to practice long arm quilting on - my introductory class on long arm quilting is July 27th!

Kari's Chicken Coop Quilt

My cousin Kari has graciously hosted me for two years in a row for a winter vacation in San Diego. After the first year, I promised her a quilt for her house as a token of my appreciation. Her favorite colors are chocolate brown and turquoise. I have found a pattern for what I hope will be a wonderful quilt in these colors, and have even bought and washed the fabrics, but unfortunately have not yet had time to start this quilt. In order to keep my promise, I chose a smaller quilt to complete for this year. As she loves all things chicken, I chose the spotty chicken quilt kit. It was a combination of machine stitching the background and hand sewing applique pieces. She loved it, and I'm looking forward to seeing it hung on her wall next year when I visit again (hopefully with her chocolate brown and turquoise quilt in tow!).



Construction Quilt: Binding and Label

Carter's construction quilt is finished! After finishing almost all the hand quilting, I added a rainbow binding. Since the quilting came right up to the edges of the quilt, I did the hand quilting for the  stripes along the top and bottom of the quilt after the binding was complete.

 I think my corners turned out pretty well, given that it was my first binding on a large quilt:

The last thing to add was the quilt label:

Construction Quilt: Quilting Construction Blocks

I've decided to use an echo quilting pattern for the construction blocks on the quilts. I am so excited about how it is looking:

 

Molly's Laundry Day Quilt - Background

My best friend in Texas, Emily, loves all things homemade. She is quite crafty herself, but has not yet ventured into quilting. So I have volunteered to make her daughter a toddler quilt, with the understanding that it might take me years to finish! We picked out the Laundry Day Quilt by Sandra Workman. It features dimensional applique and will definitely challenge/expand my skills!

 

Here is a picture of the finished design from the pattern book:

 

I'm going to try to stick with the color scheme seen above, since it works so well. The background was straight forward and came together quickly:

 

I have a construction quilt to finish, so it might be a while before I get back to this quilt, but I'm looking forward to trying the dimensional applique!

 

 

 



Construction Quilt: Quilting Underway!

I made the quilt backing using the main fabrics from the quilt top. And I put together the quilt sandwich using Quilter's Dream Angel Select Batting.

 

I decided to do a cross hatch quilt pattern on the short and long stripes:

 

It is going to take awhile, but I am already liking how it looks!