I’ve had quite a lot to blog about lately, so I’m a bit behind on sharing the loveliness that’s come through my quilting studio. Unfortunately I don’t get a chance to photograph all the pretty quilts that I work with, but here are some I did catch. Enjoy!

AMH Dresdens by Nancy M.

In the morning, the sun comes slanting into my space causing a quilt on my Longarm quilting frame to positively glow. I rushed to catch this shot of color that nearly feels alive. All fabrics by Anna Maria Horner, especially her Loominous collection.

Nancy suggested Spirograph quilting, which is a type of custom block quilting. The Spirograph pattern is centered over each dresden block. It beautifully compliments these large dresdens and makes pretty clusters of spirograph flowers in the background fabric corners. I used two different thread colors on this particular quilt to best compliment the warm vs. cool palettes.

Nancy’s quilt was inspired by one she saw at Maryse Makes Things.

Scissors by Deb P.

This quilt is such an interesting sew. Deb improv-pieced a large scale shape by building it from a grid of small squares. All of those curves and angles are much more manageable when broken up into approximately 4” finished blocks. Very cool!

Prismatic quilting is ideal for the dense quilting style Deb prefers. Plus it has a sharp, slicing personality that goes so well with the subject!

Quick, Rora’s in the studio enjoying some Eric Carle! She always come running when I put a quilt on the floor.

Tula Pink Squares by Christina I.

Speaking of dense quilting, I was glad when Christina said she favored dense quilting for her niece’s bed quilt. Dense quilting really helps a bed quilt hold up to the wear and washings these endure! This particular quilt is for a teen, so I suggested the modern Pineapple Skin pattern. It brings some angularity to the squared-off patchwork design.

Given its dark navy background, I did consider navy thread for this quilt. However, a dark color shows harshly on the bright printed fabrics. Instead, I recommend olive thread, a medium-value color that’s in some of the fabrics. This color contrasts with the navy background, emphasizing the texture on the navy areas, but blends with the bright and colorful squares. Happy!

Inman Park Scrap Quilt by Eleanor S.

When I began taking quilting orders, Eleanor was my very first return customer, and I can confidently say today that I’ve quilted more quilts for her than anyone else! As soon as she heard about our plans to move abroad, she buckled down and quickly finished several quilt tops to send my way. This scrappy wonder based on the Inman Park patchwork pattern was one of them!

Oh, scraps! I love the bright clusters of color and bold blue border. The dramatic quilting pattern called Curls Allover is fantastic here, don’t you think? It gets at the playful energy of this quilt while also securing all those pieces.

I can’t believe March is already more than halfway over! I’m currently taking orders for quilting in April. If all goes as planned (i.e. we sell our house), we’ll be leaving the end of May. I still have about three weeks of quilting availability in April. Thank you for sending me your precious quilts!