Mary's Turquoise Stars Quilt, Preeti's Syzygy Quilt + December Quilting Goals

Good morning, quilting friends!  I have a folder on my computer desktop containing a huge backlog of gorgeous clients' quilts waiting to be shared with you, and every time I open that folder I waste at least 45 minutes trying to decide which quilts deserve to be chosen for their moment in the spotlight.  When I started long arm quilting for clients I was really good about posting each finish right away, but either I quilt too fast (not!) or I write too slow (more likely!) and at this points I have photos of at least 150 quilts in that folder and more photos of more quilts get getting added every week...

The quilts I'm sharing today were both quilted quite awhile ago and I can't believe I never wrote about them because I LOVE them so much.  Without further ado:

Mary's Turquoise Stars

Mary is one of my favorite clients to quilt for -- she ships her quilt tops to me all the way from New Mexico even though there must be a thousand long arm quilters closer to her, she chooses striking, modern patterns and beautiful fabrics, and she often reinterprets the pattern creatively to create something fresh and unique, as she did with her Turquoise Stars quilt, shown below.  Mary used the star block from the Chevron Star Quilt pattern by Lee Heinrich Designs (formerly known as Freshly Pieced, available here on Etsy (this pot contains affiliate links).  

Mary's 67 x 87 Turquoise Stars Quilt with Billowy Combo E2E Quilting

One reason I didn't share this quilt immediately is that I was frustrated with my inability to get accurate color representation in my photos -- I was probably taking these shots late at night and trying to color correct in software, with limited success.  Mary's fabrics for this quilt are Art Gallery PURE Solids, and her background fabric is a deep, muted navy blue with a gray undertone called Night Sea.  The color is a little better in the photo below, but it's still too vivid and royal blue looking: 

Billowy Combo Custom Layout E2E Quilting

More to love about Mary: She lets me do fun things with the quilting!  Instead of just picking one allover E2E ("edge-to-edge") quilting design for Turquoise Stars, I combined nine different design motifs from Karlee Porter's "Billowy" collection, setting them up to alternate in three separate rows.  It took a lot longer to set that up in the computer, but it essentially created a larger scale design repeat, exceeding the depth of the throat of my long arm machine even, that creates more interest in the vast negative space of Mary's quilt than we would have if we'd chosen just one of these motifs to repeat over and over again across the entire surface of the quilt.

Graffiti Quilting on Jan's Bear Tracks Quilt + DIY Bernina Mastery Classes

HAPPY FALL, everyone!  Time to get snuggly with this wool-batted bear paw quilt made with beautiful jewel-toned batik fabrics!

Graffiti 13 E2E on Jan's 69 x 69 Bear Tracks Quilt

Jan used the Bear Tracks Quilt pattern from Island Batik Ambassador Jackie O'Brien, available as a FREE PDF download on her web site here.  When Jan brought this quilt top to me for quilting, she had seen pictures of the bear paw quilt "Color Outside the Lines" I made a couple years ago that I quilted with one of Karlee Porters digital Graffiti edge-to-edge designs, and Jan requested something similar for her quilt.

Graffiti 13 E2E with Fantastico Variegated Thread, Color Molokini

For an even bolder impact on Jan's quilt, we chose Superior's Fantastico variegated trilobal polyester thread in color Molokini (this post contains affiliate links).  On my own bear paw quilt, I'd used a very thin, 60 weight thread in a pale silvery color that blended and disappeared into my fabrics.  One isn't better than the other, but they give very different looks.

Mary's Lumen Quilt, Jingle Binding + A Little Red Hen Named Zojirushi

Happy New Year, Y'all!  I can't believe I haven't posted anything since before Christmas.  Meanwhile, my camera roll has been filling up with quilt photos and my brain has been cluttering up with everything I wanted to say about all of those quilts, so here we are.  I considered writing a big reflection post rehashing the highs and lows of 2022.  I thought about doing a New Year's Resolution post, or one that plans out all the quilts I'll work on this year...  Remember the three Sarah Fielke BOM projects I was going to make in 2022?  👀   Hah!  Still haven't started any of them!  

So instead of dour reflecting on goals not accomplished or fantasizing about plans soon abandoned, I'm going to just plant myself here in this moment of this day and see what happens next.

And now, without further ado, the quilt I've selected to share with you to kick off the new year:

Mary's Spectacular Lumen Quilt

Mary's 60 x 60 Lumen Quilt with Celestial Spark Clam E2E Quilting

This quilt was made by my client Mary whom many of you know via her blog, Quilting is In My Blood.  I chose to share it today for several reasons: It reminds me of fireworks exploding in the night sky to welcome the New Year.  It's gorgeous.  And finally, Mary is on my mind right now because I've got her three temperature quilts scheduled for quilting this week!  Can't wait!

Mary used the Lumen Quilt foundation paper piecing pattern by Nydia Kehnle and Alison Glass, which you can find on Etsy here (this post contains affiliate links).  This is such a gorgeous minimalist design, and IF I was making a grand list of quilts to make this year, I would probably put this one on the list.  The pattern is for a throw sized quilt, but it could easily be enlarged to bed size by making more blocks.  Another interesting thing about this quilt is that this is the second Lumen quilt Mary has made, using the same fabrics as her first one!  In 2019, Mary made a Lumen quilt as a gift for her stepdaughter and she liked the quilt so much that she decided to make another one to keep for herself.

Mary's Murmuration + Knockout Nene Quilts

Last night, I finished up quilting two gorgeous quilts for my client Mary.  😍. I keep pulling out my phone to look at and drool over the photos -- I am dying to share these quilts with you!  But it will take about a week for the big, brown UPS truck to get these quilts from my studio in North Carolina back to Mary in New Mexico, and then Mary will understandably want to bind both quilts and share them on her own blog, Quilting Is In My Blood, before I share the quilting photos here.    So you don't get to see those quilts today.

But then I realized that somehow I neglected to share two earlier projects that I quilted for Mary several months ago.  How did THAT happen?!  I know how it happened.  I loaded someone else's beautiful quilt on my frame and got totally engrossed and distracted!  

Without further ado...

Mary's Murmuration Quilt with Contour Cocoon E2E

Murmuration is an improvisation pieced quilt pattern from Bryan House Quilts, available for sale here.  The watery blues and greens of Mary's fabrics inspired the quilting design, Contour Cocoon by one of my favorite digital designers, Karlee Porter.

Mary's 62 x 72 Murmuration Quilt with Contour Cocoon E2E Quilting

In order to get that cascading waterfall effect with the quilting design, I loaded Murmuration sideways on my longarm frame -- like Landscape instead of Portrait mode, in photography terminology.  This is what Contour Cocoon looks like the way it's designed to stitch out:

Detail of Contour Cocoon E2E, Upright Orientation

Among quilters shopping for their first longarm quilting machines, a frequent discussion topic in social media forums is how big of a frame is needed.  Usually people think about this in terms of how many King size quilts they are likely to quilt for themselves, and how many King size quilts they think their potential customers might bring if they are wanting to start a business.  However, my 13' frame isn't only useful for King quilts.  

Betty's Woven Radiance Quilt in Tula Pink True Colors + A Shout Out to Samwise for National Dog Day

Hey there, Quiltfolk!  Today I'm sharing a quilt made by my client Betty for her young granddaughter, who was personally involved in selecting the Tula Pink True Colors fabrics for her quilt.  (This post contains affiliate links).

Quilting Whirligig on Betty's Woven Radiance Quilt

With a quilt like this one, it's all about those dazzling print fabrics -- the quilting design needs to be secondary and subtle.  We chose Karlee Porter's Whirligig quilting design because I felt like Karlee's mod flowers channeled a similar vibe as the Tula Pink fabrics, and I liked the movement of the wavy horizontal lines connecting the quilted flowers and bubbles.  Thread is Glide in a pale blue-green called Mint Julep and the batting is Quilters Dream Cotton. 

Betty's 77 x 94 Woven Radiance Quilt with Whirligig E2E

By the way, Woven Radiance was designed by Stacey Day for Free Spirit Fabrics to promote the Tula Pink True Colors fabric collection.  The pattern for Woven Radiance is available as a FREE download from the pattern designer here.  I love the color placement in this quilt -- it just shimmers!

Keepin' It Real: Everything Breaks in February, But the Quilting Must Go On

Um, GOOD MORNING!  How was YOUR February?  I haven't written anything in so long that I don't know where to begin.  Do I just pick one or two things to share with you, or do I just dump a hundred and fifty photos in this post without explaining any of them?

Nothing terrible has happened to me over the past month, just lots of compounded nuisances on top of everyday concerns and I've been focusing on trying to stay on top of customer quilting while putting out fires left and right.  Here's the short version of my adventures over the last few weeks: car battery was completely dead the morning I had a dentist appointment for a routine cleaning, could not be jumped, had to reschedule my appointment and replace the car battery.  Then when I went to the dentist a few days later, instead of just complementing me on my excellent home care and giving me a free toothbrush, they told me I needed FIVE old fillings replaced.  The novocaine from all those new fillings had barely worn off when the garage door opener died and needed to be replaced.  Let's see -- next disaster was a cracked hopping foot on my longarm machine and then I stripped my needle set screw, neither of which was a big deal besides sucking up time.  Then we woke up to find water dripping down through the ceiling in the second floor hallway and discovered that our hot water heater in the attic had blown and flooded its drip pan.  Lovely.  Hot water heater replaced, but now there were water stains on the ceiling and if you've tried to hire anyone to do work in your home over the past year or so, you know that everyone is booked so far out into the future that you don't know which will come first -- availability on the painter's schedule or the Armageddon.  So my husband has been on ladders painting ceilings himself and I've been contemplating paint swatches for walls and cabinets when I'm not upstairs quilting, because (like everyone else) I've been spending way more time in my house over the past two years and I am sick of looking at these walls everyday.  Oh, and my espresso machine has blown a gasket and started spewing water all over the place, just to taunt me.  The way this month has been going, I wouldn't be surprised if the roof caved in before the end of the month!

See?  Nothing catastrophic, just a lot of distractions eating up time that I might have been blogging.  But you didn't come here for any of that, did you?  You came for the quilting!

Ginny's Tree of Life Quilt

Abundance Design Stitched in Glide Thread, Color Sea Mist

My client Ginny made this scrappy Tree of Life quilt as an anniversary gift for her husband, incorporating scores of different fabric prints that she has accumulated over the decades of their marriage.  We chose the Abundance quilting design by Karlee Porter because of the way it suggests vines, brush, and forest undergrowth around her tree.  Knowing that quilting designs generally disappear against busy prints, we chose a thread color (Glide in Sea Mist, affiliate link) that would blend more against the dark greens and browns in the tree and stand out a little more against her lighter valued background fabrics.

My Suddenly-Empty Nest + My Client's Gorgeous Jason Yenter "Seasons" Quilt

I have a gorgeous client quilt to share with you today, but first -- OH MY GOSH; it's SO QUIET and empty in my house right now!!  If either of my sons was home right now instead of being away at their respective colleges, they would definitely still be asleep, but still.  The silence of the suddenly-empty nest is deafening!

My Son Anders -- and My Kaleidoscope Quilt -- Live at Furman University Now

We moved Son-the-Younger into his Freshman dorm at Furman University yesterday.  The Giverny Teleidoscope quilt I made ended up fitting the dorm bed just fine, although Anders did complain about how he's going to be too hot now and "suffocate."  Poor baby -- smothered by mama's love, even from hundreds of miles away!  😂

Anders' Quilt Blessing at Christ Lutheran in June, Photo Credit Annabelle Laine

I don't think I ever shared any photos from the quilt blessing at our church, Christ Lutheran, back in early June.  They did it outside with just a few families at a time this year due to the pandemic, and summer photography intern Annabelle Laine took this great photo for us.  

The White On White Bailee Quilt, Final Reveal!

Today's post needs to be a quickie because I have a full day ahead of me, but I just had to share pictures of how that white-on-white "pieced whole cloth quilt" turned out.  My client picked it up yesterday and she'll be surprising her mother with it when she flies out to see her tomorrow.

The "Pieced Whole Cloth" Quilt, Bound and Ready for Gifting

My client is thrilled with how this project turned out and I can't wait to hear about her mom's reaction to the quilt.  This is supposed to be the white on white quilt that she always wanted but couldn't have because of her messy kids and dogs.  I think we nailed it, don't you?

56 x 68 Finished Quilt with Bailee Quilting Design

It's so hard to get pictures that do justice to the quilting when it's white thread on a white background.  

The Pieced Whole Cloth Quilt, Part I: Q-Matic Loves Karlee Porter Designs (and So Do I)!

OH MY GOSH, you guys -- I have died and floated off to quilting heaven!!!  Look what I started quilting yesterday for one of my clients:

Karlee Porter's Bailee E2E Design, Quilted on Bernina Q24 with Q-Matic

This quilt is a gift for my client's 80-something-year-old mother, who says she "always wanted a white-on-white quilt but she could never have one because she had kids and pets."  So my client pieced a very plain quilt top from large squares of assorted white and ivory solids and textures, and told me that "the quilting needs to be the star."  Now, in case you are wondering what is the best way to become my Best Friend Forever, it is DEFINITELY by telling me that my quilting gets to be the star of your quilt!  💕

Setting the Design Up in Q-Matic

When I purchased this particular design for my collection, I didn't think I'd ever actually stitch it out as an edge-to-edge design like this.  I was thinking I'd stitch single repeats of the design motif on plain alternate blocks for custom quilting.  The level of detail in this design is insane and it would be completely lost on a print fabric or busy piecing.  

The Supreme Yumminess of the Hand Marbled Fabrics and the Graffiti Quilting

Earlier this week, since I was all caught up with customer quilts and right on-track with the kaleidoscope blocks I'm making for Anders' high school graduation quilt, I finally -- FINALLY -- got my UFO Bear Paw quilt out of the Purgatory closet and loaded it on my frame for quilting.  I am so excited to finally be finishing this quilt for myself!  I stewed over how to quilt this one for three years, but when I discovered this digital edge-to-edge quilting design, Graffiti E2E #7, by Karlee Porter,  I knew it would be perfect for this top.  

I'm Loving Graffiti E2E #7 on my Bear Paw Quilt!

I started making my 10 1/2" bear paw blocks in May of 2014 as an experiment, chopping up Anna Maria Horner's large scale LouLou Thi print and enjoying the "blobs of paint" effect that created in my blocks, with sections of butterflies or flowers recognizable in the larger patches but not in the small triangles.  Soon afterwards, I got my hands on my first hand marbled fabric assortment from Marjorie Lee Bevis (I think she was selling them through Luana Rubin's equilter.com online shop at that time, but today she sells her fabric directly through her Etsy shop here) and started making 4" sawtooth stars out of them.