Dragonfly Party 2 AKA The Colorado Quilt.....

So, it's time for the big reveal of Lynette's Dragonfly Party 2. This is a special quilt to Lynette, it's one of two twin quilts, I'm sure in due course that Lynette will explain the sentimental value of this pair of quilts to you herself.

I felt honoured that Lynette would think to send this quilt top from Colorado to Scotland for me to quilt it for her. I hope I have done the quilt justice and that the quilting comes up to Lynette's expectations.

The twin of this quilt has been quilted in the USA by Judi Madsen AKA 'The Green Fairy' ..... so I have a lot to live up to in that respect!

This top has been patiently waiting in line since January, it arrived like this....

All freemotion hand guided and ruler work quilted on my APQS Millennium longarm quilting machine.

First off I have to say it was a pleasure to quilt such a beautifully pieced quilt....just look at those 1/4 inch sashings, they were perfect and I felt duty bound to keep them that way so stitched in the ditch either side with Superior Monolon Thread..sorry not shown in the photo but definitely used....I chose trilobal polyester threads from Filtec Glide, Metro and Isacord to match the fabrics on the top of the quilt with a golden yellow for the background and a creamy So Fine in the bobbin on all of the backing fabric.

I used a variety of rulers, I've no affiliation to any one company I use what I like and what is suitable for the job in hand, it's important to find rulers that fit in your hand comfortably when there is as much ruler work as in this quilt. I used Deloa's Castle ruler for the straight lines, Renae's 12" arc for the curves in the large blocks, A curved ruler from Accents in Design for the continuous curves in the pieced blocks and 2 circle rulers to draw guides for the feathered wreaths....I used a purple marker to place dots where necessary as guides for the quilting designs.

But come on in and see it for yourself....

Lynette requested a double batting of wool over cotton which always gives great definition to the quilting.... so lets just carry on with a few photos of the quilt shown on a twin bed...

My Favourite block

Looks wonderful in this room....there's just one problem, Lynette wants me to send it back?????

A new customer...

A new customer, Ray is a gentleman quilter, I completed custom quilting on his oriental panels. The 3 dimensional flying geese borders made economical use of fabrics as the fabrics were reversed, Ray is a brave man to enter into the realm of female quilters, lots of leg pulling, not least by his wife.







I love this fresh looking quilt, Doreen worked really hard with these bias cut pieces in modern fabrics and turned them into a lovely quilt, Bush Berries panto with bright white Metro thread





On another bright note, the Colorado quilt is finished, just need to take a few more photos to blog with!

Coming up for air???

It's not necessarily customer imposed deadlines that are keeping me busy just yet more so the the 'British Quilt and Stitch Village' at Uttoxeter Racecourse at the end of April, Friday 26th, Saturdays 27th and Sunday 28th to be exact......
The UK demonstrator team for APQS, that's American Professional Quilting Systems will be having timed demos on the stand so if you are headed to the show look us out and come try out our longarm quilting machines.

I'll be away most of that week so need to play catch up now.....I've made up a couple of easy quilt tops for demo purposes at the show, so that's one item crossed of the list.....




It's lovely when you return a quilt to a customer who truly appreciates the simple fact that you have transformed their quilt top into a quilt.
This quilt is to go to America for Elizabeth's Granddaughter, Nora. It was a first quilt, all hand pieced and has been a true labour of love, it's so special that it will travel in the suitcases to be personally given in the summer.....it was a pleasure for me to quilt it!





Quilted with the Daisies and Loops panto with piano keys to frame the beautiful fabrics.


I've had my head down for the past few days (hence the coming up for air), with this beautiful quilt brightening up my studio.....it's a perfectly pieced top. It's the 'Colorado Quilt', Lynette calls it 'Dragonfly Party 2'.....I always knew there were two of these quilts!

Here's a sneak peak of it on my APQS Millenium....



You didn't think I was going to show you too much did you? You'll have to wait a little for the big reveal!

It was that time of the month again...

Time to visit Borderland Fabrics at Jedburgh for my 'drop off and pick up' service. Its getting to be a busy afternoon, it's wonderful to see the anticipation on the face of the Ladies (and Gents), waiting for their quilts. I'll update with some finished quilts in a couple of days.

There is always lots of chatting but also a pit of patching ....well, you can hardly call Anne's handwork patching....it stunning 3D applique from a class at the Abbey Quilters group in Kelso, wish I had time to go along and see how it's all done, it's fantastic Anne, I covert it!

Catch up....

Thought I'd better catch up before moving on to April....

I had a couple of panto quilts, one from a new customer, a lovely delicate log cabin quilt in pastel colours, Patricia chose Primrose which looks wonderful on the creamy yellow fabrics.....





Patricia also chose the option of having me machine stitch the binding to the front of her quilt so that she could hand stitch down the binding to the back herself.


This is a great pattern that Margaret devised for herself....and is all hand pieced, Margaret always hand pieces her quilts, perfectly, another great finish....






Margaret chose Happy Times as an open design for a soft drape, it's a cosy looking quilt.

Before Easter I was asked to quilt up three large hangings for a country kirk at Hutton. Some of the Kirk Ladies had made up the hangings to brighten up a dark corner, I hope they managed to get them finished, bound and hung in time for the Easter Service....






These are all the same colour, I took the photos at different times of day, but they will look all the same when hung, I'm sure the congregation will appreciate all of the hard work the Ladies put into making these large hangings....90" x 55" each.

I 've been trying to quilt up a big quilt of my own, it's a good job I have zippers, the number of times it's been on and off the frame, I've already lost count!

Last week I was invited to give a talk to the Souter Quilters, one of the small local quilt groups in my area where I'm a member. It was a small turn out as the weather was a bit temperamental, there was another covering of snow when we came out to pack everything back into the car. I think all of my quilts, slides and videos were well received, we certainly had plenty of quilts to keep us warm if we were snowed in.