Cow Pony Rust Quilt....Border Treatment

Click Images to Enlarge:

Removing The Miracle Chalk Grid Lines

All the cross hatching grid work has been stitched.

A quick pressing with the iron removes the chalk lines

No More Chalk

The stitching does not distract or compete with the rusted motifs.

That is just what I was aiming for...

I just now noticed that I stitched thru 2 of the feathers...fooey.

I guess I have some un-stitching to do.

Freezer Paper Templates

2 layers of freezer paper ironed together makes a sturdy template.

I drew a wavy line along the edge to create a scallop border design.

Auditioning Freezer Paper Template.

The quilt needs a curve along the edge.

I placed the freezer paper (shiny side up) on top of the border fabric.

Then I ironed the snipped edge of the fabric down to the shiny side of the freezer paper.

The fabric sticks to the paper and forms a smooth scalloped edge.

A fast way to create a curve with a turned edge.

I flipped it over and you can see the finished side of the curvy border.

Then peel off the freezer paper.

Curvy Border Basted in Place

I like Roxanne's Baste it Glue for this process.

Just use very tiny pin dots of glue.

Final border basted in place.

The next step is to applique the border down.

Then decide just how wide the border needs to be?

I am thinking a bit narrower than this...

Today I am taking down the tree and making stew & biscuits.

I am hoping to get out to the Thread Shed tomorrow for more stitching.

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

Raffle Quilt......Workshop

4th of July Quilt

Quiltmaker: Jan Bressler of JanniLou Creations Quilt Shop, Philomath, Oregon

Pattern Designed by: Judy Niemeyer of Montana

Click Images to Enlarge:

I spent Saturday with the members of the Mary's River Quilt Guild. We participated in a paper piecing class to create the 4th of July quilt pictured above. This quilt will be our 2010 raffle quilt.

After a thorough paper piecing lesson, lead by instructor Jan Bressler, the volunteer quilters were paper piecing units like the ones above. The gorgeous batik fabrics worked well with this design.

Earlier in May a group of volunteers gathered to cut all of the fabrics needed for this quilt.

This is Jan Tallis, who completed the very first paper pieced unit of the day!

Jan is responsible for producing the MRQG Newsletter.

Volunteer quilters began arriving at 9:30 am ready for a full day of paper piecing.

Linda, Marcia & Kelly kept things lively in the back of the room

Paper Piecing is all about sewing on the lines

This is one of the main paper pieced units with a curved arc unit added to the top

By the end of the day there were piles of completed units all over the classroom.

This is a HUGE help to our raffle quilt committee.

Please see Debbie van der Sommen to check out a packet of blocks to paper piece.

The block packets will be at the next Mary's River Quilt Guild Meeting, May 28, 2009, 7pm, Benton County Museum, Philomath Oregon

When I arrived home Saturday evening, I pulled down the driveway.....Dancer & Freckles were there to greet me with a view of Mary's Peak in the background.

I had a fun day with the quilters and it was good to be home.

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

Pepper Dish is Quilted

I spent 12 hours yesterday free-motion quilting the Pepper Dish Quilt. I am leaving next week on a road trip, and I want to take this along to do the handwork while I am traveling. Most of my bindings, hanging sleeves and labels are sewn on while we are traveling along at 55 mph.

Click Images to Enlarge:

After the machine quilting was complete, I blocked the quilt top and hung it up on the design wall too cool off a bit. I will square up the edges later. This was a good time for a photo session.

Unfortunately, I had a piece of thread jam between my tension discs and I tried to remove it but it broke off.......I was not happy.......and neither was my machine. The tension was never quite right after that and I was having a lot of thread breakage, which I never have with my Bernina. It is off to the repair shop this week.

Overall I am happy with the machine quilting. The feather was a good choice for the curvy border. I kept the thread colors low contrast so they would blend and not draw too much attention away from the quilt top itself. There are a lot of different fabrics in this quilt, and I didn't want the thread colors competing with them.

If you look closely, you can see where Judy Neimeyer, the pattern designer, has signed my quilt. I made this quilt top in a 3 day workshop with Judy in Idaho in 2006.

When my repaired and freshly cleaned Bernina comes back from the shop I plan to rip out a few stitches on this and fix all the places where the tension was poor. Normally I wouldn't go to this extreme, but I plan to show this quilt and I need it to be the best it can be.

I added this photo to show you just what flash photography can do to a quilt. It completely bleaches all the color out of it and distorts the color. In this photo the green border appears blue, and the gold background looks pale grayish yellow. When photographing your quilts.....turn the flash OFF on your camera. Lighting from the sides is best when shooting indoors. On a non-windy and overcast day, outdoor photography is my favorite.

p.s. To see more Pepper Dish Click HERE

To see more Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

Pepperdish.......In Progress

Last week I pulled the pizza box labeled "Pepper Dish Quilt" off the shelf and decided I would finish up this project. You can click on the images to enlarge them:

This is a Judy Niemeyer pattern. She is my guru when it comes to paper piecing. I have taken 3 classes from her, and learn something new and valuable each time I see her.

I rarely work with a pattern anymore, preferring to design my own work, but when it comes to paper piecing you need one.........and Judy's are the best out there.

I pulled the completed top out of the pizza box and saw where Judy had signed my quilt top.........2006.........3 years ago I took that class? Time can get away from you.

As always I like to file away my works "in progress" in NEW pizza boxes. Everything for the entire project can be stored away.......pattern, fabrics, glue sticks, wipees to get the glue off my fingers during the applique process, etc.

The next time I yearn to work on this quilt......I pull the pizza box off the shelf, and everything I need is contained inside, no hunting around for supplies...........and I haven't stolen any of the fabric for another project!

I am working on the applique flowers, leaves and stems. In order to get the correct placement of the applique on the quilt, I use a piece of plastic......lay it over my paper pattern.......trace over the entire applique with a felt marker onto the plastic..........that is the shiny surface you see in the image above.

I take the traced-on plastic and place it in the correct spot on my quilt. For this pepper dish quilt, each corner of the quilt will get this same flower applique arrangement.

As I complete the applique shapes, I place them under the plastic, on top of the actual quilt, and this gives me accurate placement of each piece. The plastic will remain on the quilt until each shape has been placed where it belongs.

I have enjoyed working on this quilt again.......I hope to finish up the applique tomorrow........get all the pieces basted down with Roxanne's Baste It Glue........then I will be ready to head for the sewing machine. I plan to blind stitch with smoke invisible thread around all the applique shapes. I don't want the applique stitches to draw much attention to themselves. I plan to do a lot of free motion quilting on this piece, and I don't want the applique stitches to complete with my machine quilting work.

p.s. To see the completed quilt CLICK HERE

To see more tutorials CLICK HERE

With Sticky Fingers,

LuAnn

I'm in a New York State of Mind.......

Tablerunner made from leftover New York Beauty Blocks.  They are 4 inch paper pieced blocks.  The paper piecing makes this complicated block quite easy to put together.  The points are very pointy.  Click on each image to enlarge it and see the details.
My sister and I at a quilting retreat.  A gorgeous New York Beauty quilt hangs on the wall behind us.  
We spent the weekend making New York Beauty blocks and playing Queen for a Day!

My sister chose a 2 color theme of yellow and blue.......always a wonderful color combo.

I went with 4 colors: purple, pink, green, yellow.......very deep rich colors.

By the end of the weekend, we had a great start on a new quilt.........

My sisters blocks:

My blocks set on point.........makes for even more movement.  I think they will get set into the quilt on point like this.

I was born on the east coast, my school field trips always included a trip into New York City to tour the museums, Statue of Liberty, ride on the ferry in the New York Harbor.  I have hailed taxis, seen broadway shows, sat in Yankee Stadium and cheered, stood on the observation deck of the Twin Towers, and rode a handsome cab through Central Park.  I am tempted to include some of these icons somewhere in this quilt.  As you can see........I am in a New York State of Mind.

LuAnn

Tonight is the Lunafest fundraiser. This Gummi Dots Quilt will be on display. It is a fundraiser for the Women's Cancer Coalition. So many caring quilters volunteered countless hours to create this quilt. This is an original pattern design by Quilt Designer, Judy Neimeier of Montana.

Joann Stutzman of the Corvallis Clinic Oncology on right, I am on the left.

I hope this quilt raises lots of money for this worthwhile cause.