Thanksgiving Table Quilt Update...

Brynwood Needleworks - Thanksgiving Quilt

 

Last week, I told you I was going to Kathy D.'s home to work on my Thanksgiving quilt. This piece began life as a vintage tablecloth. I found two of them, so one was for our table, and I gave the other one to Kathy.

 

We made plans to get together to put them on her longarm machine and quilt them. I showed you the fabrics I chose for the backing, and was happy that I had enough of the the caramel-colored fabric, as that was my first choice.

 

Whole Cloth Thanksgiving Quilt

I worked on the quilt one day last week, and I went back again yesterday, intending to complete it. Fortunately, I did finish the quilting. This tablecloth was much larger once I started working on it, than it initially appeared.

Detail - Whole Cloth Thanksgiving Quilt

This was my first time using Kathy's longarm machine, so I got off to a tentative start. I decided to use a pattern that I've doodled in pen/pencil/marker since I was in junior high school (more than a few decades ago). I have muscle memory for drawing it over and over, so it was the perfect design for me to stitch in freehand (by machine).

Whole Cloth Thanksgiving Quilt

 

Kathy zeroed out the "odometer" on the machine before I started sewing, so that it would keep track of the total time I spent on the design. When we finally took it off the machine last night, the timer registered 6 hours, 15 minutes (and 33 seconds). 

 

We laughed because, to tell the truth, that was just the time the machine was running. I was at Kathy's house much longer than the initial 2 hours that registered on the machine. Yesterday, I arrived at 10:30 in the morning, and left some time around 6:45 in the evening. Did I say I was gassed by the end of the day? I was...but in a good way.

I love how my doodles translated to fabric and thread. All I have left to do is cut off the excess fabric and batting, and bind the edge. I'll do that over the next few days. I think I'll take a little break and just admire my first real exposure to the longarm. 

By the way, I'd like to give a shout-out to my longarm "expert" friends, Susan Slaton, Pat Alderman, Rhonda King, Melinda Sword, and, of course, my hands-on tutor, Kathy D. I have a new found appreciation for just how much practice, attention, skill, and talent it takes to do the work they seem to do so effortlessly. Kathy doesn't hire out her longarm work, but for all the quilters who do, you don't charge nearly enough!

New Chairs For The Studio...

I received a wonderful surprise from a friend at our guild meeting on Tuesday night. I'm always tickled when someone notices something about me and what I like. I'm not surprised when it's one of my blog readers. After all, I frequently come right out and tell you!

Lynn Anderson, a member who also has a long-arm quilting business, came up to me before the meeting with a full shopping bag, and said she thought I might like to have the contents. I'm not sure whether she reads my blog or not, but she has learned about some of the things I like, and these gifts delighted me.

She gifted me some beautiful wool fabrics and wool jackets that I can repurpose for my wool embroideries (or wallets!). Then, tucked inside the wools were these three, sweet Mary Engelbreit chair pincushions.

The little one is weighted, so it's perfect for holding my needle when I'm doing my ribbonwork! The other two chairs are classic ME style. One is the "chair of bowlies" chair and the other is sunny yellow with Mary's cherry fabric.

I think I'll make one of my newest pincushions to give Lynn as a little thank you. I'll present it to her the next time I see her.

Speaking of my pincushions...I was at Nifty 50s yesterday. I took along my latest creations to show the gals, and sold the BFF - Snowbirds set. My client asked me to add a little bling to it for her and her sister (who will be gifted with the second one). We agreed that I'd bring it back in two weeks for her.

I brought them home, chose the embellishments and then added them to each one. They're all finished and wrapped, so I'll just set them aside for safekeeping until our next get-together. Life really is a happy "bowl of cherries"!

Meet Pat Alderman...

All my photos today were taken on my iPhone.

 Yesterday was a beautiful day, filled with beautiful quilts.

I drove to Parrish, FL to take two of my quilts to a long-arm quilter that

I've been hearing quite a bit about. My friend, Loreen was the first to sing

her praises, and then I heard more about her from friends, Lunetta and Andy.

I really couldn't wait to meet her, and I was so glad I made the drive!

She lives in a lovely community within Parrish and I was taken with her

home as soon as I saw it. Inside was a real treat for the senses. Not only

were her quilts stunning, but her home is as warm and inviting as she is.

 We started our visit when she invited me into her studio. Look at her

New York Beauty quilt!!! (Remember one of my goals for 2014 is to

create a quilt with circles, and a New York Beauty is #1 on the list.)

Now I have a color and design in my mind to aim for.

 Pat took me into her long-arm room to show me her award-winning

quilt. This stunning quilt was created by her and her daughter. It uses

multiple techniques and is a sampler of her many quilting techniques. My

jaw actually dropped when I first saw it. It's large and truly impressive.

 When I turned around in her long-arm room, Pat pointed out her Dresden 

plate quilt. Rather than stitch down all the points, Pat machine quilted about 

1/2" away from the points, leaving them free at the edge. It gave the plates

more dimension. It's such a pretty quilt - sweet color choices and layout.

 Pat has a large basket in the living room, filled with the most scrumptious 

quilts. This one is machine appliqued' and then machine quilted. It's Pat's 

own design! She used whole-cloth Minke fabric on the back for the softest 

girly quilt imaginable. I'd make this quilt in a heartbeat, but I'll have to wait

because Pat hasn't done a pattern yet. (She said she's thinking about it.)

 This was a kit from Keepsake Quilting. (I want one!)

Pat backed it with flannel, creating another cuddly masterpiece.

 This is the last quilt I photographed and it hangs in Pat's dining room. 

She said that it was designed for wools, but she appliqued' the design 

in cotton fabrics with embroidery. I don't know the name of the quilt,

but it could be "Smitten", because I surely was when I looked at it. 

I loved everything about it.

I am so excited to have Pat quilting my latest completed pieces.

"Over The River" and "Princeton Plates" are in good hands.

I know that she will leave her special artistry on them and they'll

be better than they were. I'm so glad that she could take them in.

Thank you for making time for me, Pat.

I already feel like we're friends because of our mutual acquaintances.

I'm looking forward to forging our own friendship, and sharing more

of our love of fabrics, fibers, patterns and all things quilting.

It was a beautiful day, indeed.