I searched long and hard to find just the perfect pieces to escort us into our New Year of 2014, and I think I've come up with the winning combo. The first is one more beautifully inspiring composition from those divinely creative Piano Guys in their recent concert at Red Butte Garden. The surprises in this piece are breath taking, and encompass my message to you for 2014 - Please Enjoy!
The second is an astounding Quilt of Valor quilt top, sent to me once again by Clairellen of the Quirky Quilters Guild in Wisconsin, correction Michigan! (Don't know WHY I keep getting their address/state wrong, but surely sooner or later I will finally get this right...Thanks Clairellen ;-) This stunning 3D QOV top will be one of the most challenging and FUN quilt tops for me to quilt, and I look forward to loading it onto my frame as one of the very first quilt tops in the New Year:
Irene's gorgeous 3D Quilt of Valor, ready to be quilted in 2014!
What better way to ring in the New Year than with a gorgeous Quilt Of Valor! This quilt top is not only impeccably pieced by Irene, but each star is a 3D work of art. Once loaded onto my frame, I will showcase close-ups of this incredible quilt top. I've mapped out most of the quilting for this creative piece, still working out a few last minute details, but should have those resolved once it's all nice and loaded and I start the SID stabilization process prior to the FUN quilting, which allows me to better 'get to know' the quilt. You can be sure, McTavishing will play a huge role in the final quilting outcome w/a few inspirational quilting twists from Professional Quilt Artists, Angela Walters, along with some template magic of Kimmy Brunner's.
This QOV (along w/a few others ;-) has been in my quilting queue for quite some time and I sooo appreciate the patience and generosity Irene has bestowed upon me in allowing a much needed quilting delay...Thank YOU, Irene!
And now, like I always say...time to get back to it!
Stay safe and have a wonderful Happy New Year!!!
~Deb
Hope You and Yours have a wonderful Christmas Eve. Here's another favorite Christmas carol for you to enjoy, which does such a supreme job of capturing that endearing Christmas spirit:
Stay Safe and don't forget toHave FUN w/Family and Friends this Christmas Eve!
~Deb
This is one of my Very favorite Christmas carols and I LOVED this rendition of it sooooo much, wanted to share it w/YOU - Hope you enjoy it half as much as I have the past few hours ;-):
I've recommended LOTS of quilting books and tools and fabrics and templates and*....BUT, I've never committed an entire blog posting to recommending anything, until now. This brand-new quilting book by Judi Madsen is different:
...and the amazingly talented author is very different, too. Judi Madsen's book is chock-FULL of the most pleasing quilting eye candy! Even though I knew I was going to have to get up early to scoop snow and ice, I stayed up well past Midnight trying to take it ALL in. It wasn't until later that I even realized not only are there some eye-popping quilting designs, but quilt patterns to ALL the gorgeous quilts themselves are included in the book w/excellent descriptive instructions and wonderful illustrations - and every quilting design outline AND quilt pattern are included on a CD with .pdf printables!
Here's one of my favorite examples:
and another:
But my very favorite (so far;-), is this gorgeous red/black/white beauty - Betty and my favorite colors:
Modern Flowers quilt in Red/White/Black - our favorite colors!
This book is genuinely 'Judi', which showcases not only her incredibly amazing quilt talent, but her beautiful spirit as well. My Christmas Wish for EVERYONE is that you will wake up to find this awe-inspiring book in your stocking on Christmas morning...don't forget to ask Santa!
*PLEASE NOTE: I am not affiliated in any way shape or form w/author, the book publisher, Amazon.com and am not being compensated to say/write any of my recommendations for this book. In fact I pre-ordered and paid for my copy months ago and would do it again in a heartbeat - I just love recommending products I use and enjoy...and hope you do, too!
Outline and McTavish quilting w/ALL-time favorite thread...clear mono-poly!
...lucky for me I've been granted a much needed extension by the intended recipient ;-)
Was having a little trouble trying to decide how to quilt the Dr. Who fabric filler blocks and decided to take a que from the pattern in the fabric itself and utilize some 'circle' quilting. Seems to be working quite well:
Adding circular quilting to enhance the circles on the fabric...perfect!
While making final quilting decisions last night and going through one of Angela Walters' books for some much-needed inspiration,
I stumbled across her 'pulley' quilting motif which will work perfectly in one of the white picture frame borders...Thanks, Angela!
For now, time to get back to the quilting FUN!
~Deb
'Chris' claims this is her very first Quilt of Valor, it's soooo stunning it's hard to believe! When I first saw it I was really overwhelmed with exactly how it should be quilted. I wanted to honor ALL the hard work Chris had put into her first QOV as well as the intended Quilt of Valor recipient, while enhancing the 'star' features of this quilt. Once I saw the backing fabric, all my worries were over - a star quilt pattern it would be ;-):
Chris's Star Quilt of Valor coming off the frame
All-over large and small star quilting pattern close-up on back
Star Pattern quilting accentuates the design of this wonderful quilt
This really neat Quilt of Valor is officially quilted/pruned/and ready to ship! I promised I would have this quilt finished by the end of the month - looks like I coasted in on fumes...whew! ;-)
Thank YOU, Chris for bestowing on me the honor of quilting your wonderful Quilt of Valor. Your quilt Star is ready to ship and should be arriving shortly.
~Deb
I lovingly refer to this one as the "Big 'Ol Beaut", and that he is!:
He spans a large part of my 12' frame - almost King Size!
Because yours truly felt he wasn't big enough when I first received him from those very busy QFC ladies, (I sometimes get a little carried away ;-), I added 3 borders, which enlarged him a bunch. It also gave me ALL kinds of quilting real estate:
Gold ribbon feathers in red border w/LAVA Diamond Head, McTavishing in flag & white borders w/Rainbows Patriotic.
Back showing feathering and McTavishing
Swirls in pinwheels, stripes in rectangles, McTavishing in red background w/Rainbows Patriotic .
LAVA Diamond Head used to McTavish and SID in the Eagle/blue blocks.
I LOVE these horse blocks and the photos just don't do them justice, but I still wanted to include them:
Ruler work, wavy lines & McTavishing quilting
Ruler work from the backside
I used several rulers throughout this awesome quilt:
Lots of great rulers for ruler work!
QFC SewFest Veteran Quilt #6 Stats:
28.75 Quilting Hours
32 bobbins - white Maxi-lock
SID - clear mono-poly, LAVA Diamond Head, and Rainbows Patriotic
This "Big 'Ol Beaut", QFC Veteran Quilt #6 is officially done and ready to report for duty:
"Big 'Ol Beaut" coming off the frame
Prior to shipping to final destination
It has truly been an honor for me to quilt ALL 6 of these Veteran quilts, and an experience I won't soon forget...Thank YOU QFC for this amazing opportunity!
I was anxious to quilt this one for a variety of reasons. Not only had I added 4 luscious borders to this already stunning Gold Star quilt created by those busy QFC ladies, who attended another one of their annual SewFest marathon quilting sessions to make quilt tops for our Veterans, giving me lots of real estate for creative quilting - like feathers, McTavishing, grid quilting, amongst others, but to showcase some yummy threads as well.
Curly-Q Ribbon feathers, McTavishing, and off-set grid quilting applications
Embellished borders w/LOTS of quilting treatments!
Originally, I 'thought' I was going to use at least 3 different colors of thread, including one of my very favorites, Rainbows Patriotic. But after auditioning a few of my choices, I opted for LAVA Diamond Head and what a great choice that was!
And as an aside, I don't give SewThankful.com nearly enough credit. I purchase about 99% of ALL my threads from them. If you LOVE exceptional service, w/amazing pricing on a plethora of not only yummy threads, but ALL kinds of sewing/quilting necessities and goodies, then you need to pop over there and check these folks out. They know what a Red Carpet is and how to roll it out for their customers! Trust me on this one - you won't regret it...AND, I am in no way affiliated, am NOT being reimbursed/paid to write this - I just know a good thing when I've experienced it over and over and over again, and wish to share ;-). You are in for a supremely splendid online shopping experience!
I knew when I first saw this quilt that the white 'snowballs' should probably be feathered out however, I did originally entertain the idea of embroidering each block w/patriotic themes. After the first failed attempt due to all the center seams of each snowball, I quickly gave that idea up and went back to the tried and true, and I'm sooo glad I did, aren't you?
My feathers still aren't as perfect as I'd like for them to be, but they are much improved. These are traditional 'bump back' feathers. As you probably noticed, I also chose to add curved cross-hatching in each center wreath and I think it adds quite a bit to each snowball.
Snowball feathered out w/curved cross-hatching
I tried several curved rulers to achieve the perfect curved dross-hatching result I was going for, but it wasn't until I decided to use one of the Steady Edge rulers by Quilts on the Corner, that I finally got it...Thanks, Renae!
Feathering in navy blue border w/Rainbows Patriotic
And continuous straight line quilting in the white borders 1/4" apart, along w/McTavishing in the patriotic borders:
White border also straight line quilted 1/4" apart w/Rainbows Patriotic
Each continuous line of quilting was achieved on the side borders after ALL the SID work was completed by rolling the quilt back and forth for each continuous line. It took awhile to complete, but the final result is well worth it!
Just coming off the frame, this stunning Quilt of Valor turned out even more gorgeous than I originally envisioned:
Stunning Quilt of Valor coming off the frame
Left side w/Blue Stars
Right side w/Stars & Stripes
QOV Back
Red & White Stripes quilted w/Wave Quilting and McTavishing
Wave quilting in red stripes
Quilt of Valor Star
Quilt of Valor Stats:
21.25 quilting hours
18.5 bobbins using Amber to match gold backing fabric
SID w/clear mono-poly
White/Tan background - LAVA Sandy Beach
Red areas - So Fine #40 Bush Fire variegated
Blue areas - LAVA Deep Sea
This Quilt of Valor is now officially quilted, pruned, boxed and ready to ship. It has been a true honor for me to continue to participate in this Quilt of Valor project, and a joy to quilt this incredible Quilt of Valor Quilt...Thank YOU!
My Best to Each and Everyone who participated in this QOV Team Effort - Well Done,
