How has it been nearly two months since I shared a longarm quilting update?  August really did get away from me!  

I've been keeping up a steady quilting pace, even as orders have slowed a bit due to everyone's travels.  As a result, I've worked through much of our backlog.  At the moment, new orders are able to be quilted in just a few weeks!  Maybe you have something to send me?  Wink.

Without further ado, here are a few of the many special quilts I've enjoyed working with this summer.

Awesome Ocean quilt

One of my customers created this quilt for a very lucky niece, using Awesome Ocean by Elizabeth Hartman.  The rainbow gradient glows with gentle color.  Combined with wave quilting, the charming creatures seem to float along in enchanted waters.

Working on this quilt was such fun.  And all those different animals, I imagine they were fun to piece.  I've never made an Elizabeth Hartman pattern, but my customer quilts are helping me see why they're such a big hit.  

I mean, seriously, this octopus?  I'll be on the lookout for an excuse to make him.

Turq-Orange Sampler by Naomi Grebe

Sometimes one's older works-in-progress start sucking the joy out of your hobby.  That's why Naomi said she decided to "delegate" the quilting on this sampler.

I was totally thrilled to see this in person!  All of the blocks are so unique and the double border really cements the composition.  I love the quarter dresden blocks at the corners, don't you?  

I recommended our Graffiti Grow quilting design for this quilt.  It has a free-wheeling personality that fits well with a sampler.  Naomi was my first customer to request dense quilting.  Fun!  I took her at her word and scaled the pattern down.  Since the scale is small, your eye can comfortably see the interesting quilting pattern, plus it really reinforces all that small piecing.  

Ombre Heart by Jane

The last quilt I'll share today makes a big impact, hehe.  It's a giant pixelated heart, made for a king size bed!  Yep, it swallows up my queen bed, but I had to take a picture anyways, to give you a sense of the size.  

This quilt has so much negative space, so the quilting design choice makes a big impact.  With the heart shape and girly color scheme, I felt like we needed something elegant, but not overly froo-froo.  I steered the customer towards this Bridges design.  It has elegance for days, but also feels clean and a bit streamlined, like the pixelated graphic style.

Don't you love the effect of ombre fabric made up in half square triangle blocks?  What a clever way to create a monochromatic color scheme without having to shop for and coordinate a variety of solids.  

Thanks to each and everyone who entrusts me with their quilts.  It's always a compliment!  I very much enjoy working my way through the process from studying the quilt, to choosing pattern and thread and finally making it happen.  Here's to the next quilt - yours and mine!