Zen Garden

I made this zigzag quilt last year.  The fabric line has Asian writing on it and feels very organic, so I am calling it "Zen Garden."  I wanted to do more than straight line quilting to give it some energy and a "zen" feeling.  I repeated three quilting patterns of vines, stepping stones, and a simple feather.  I love how it turned out :0) !

Urban Cowboy and Western 'Turning 30'

I have finally finished two belated Christmas gifts.  My son asked for a western quilt over a year ago, and I am sad it took so long to finish, but I am thrilled it is now done and that he loves it!  The other quilt is for my brother.  I also quilted it this week and will put it in the mail in a couple of days.

I used the panto 'Spiral Square' and put a nice warm flannel on the back.  Because the flannel is so heavy I used low loft 100% polyester batting which keeps the quilt from being too heavy.

I am calling this pebbling 'River Rock'.  It looks very organic and manly and goes well with the western prints.  The larger blocks have a ribbon candy/swirl quilted in them and the sashing was meant to resemble wood.  I like the overall effect!

Urban Cowboy

I have a late Christmas gift that I am finishing for my brother and his family.  My brother, Lowell, is the true 'cowboy' in the family.  He loves horses, farming, ranching, all sorts of ourdoorsy stuff.  He lives in a rural community in central Utah.  I had 15 different western print fat quarters I wanted to use to make him a quilt.  I decided to modify Urban Abacus and use it as the pattern.  I cut each fat quarter into (4) 9x10 inch pieces and made the basic curve shape with Jenny's Quick Curve Ruler.  I then squared up the blocks and added sashing.  I love how it turned out and how it showcases the western prints.  Now I just need to quilt it and get it in the mail before his birthday in March.  :0)

Paisley Panto

I love paisleys! I always have.  Recently I found a new panto that has a beautiful paisley.  I have used it a few times. :0)

This panto was an obvious choice on Sharlott's beautiful quilt!

This was a whole cloth bed cover for a king size bed.  It turned out beautiful!

Freehand Straight Line Quilting

Kristi made these two quilts to go on a set of antique twin beds.  I love how traditional and scrappy they are, but with the freehand straight line quilting they now have a contemporary feel!  I also finished the binding so when Kristi gets them they are 100% finished.

I especially love the dark and very scrappy fabrics in this quilt.  It looks like it could have been pieced 60 years ago.

When doing straight line quilting I use the seams on the quilt as guide lines.  Kristi wanted it freehand so even though it takes a while to quilt the freehand element gave me some flexibility.

I resolve to be a better blogger!

I have not been a good blogger for about 2 months.  The holidays came and instead of blogging I spent my time quilting, shopping, eating, vacationing and traveling.  I have had a great time, but I am looking forward to some consistent time at home.  In the past two months I have traveled to Mexico, Utah, Phoenix, Dallas (twice) and Hawaii.  I am not complaining I am just a little worn out.  Whew! So I resolve to be a better blogger and travel less in 2012!

Here are a few quilting pictures and projects:

 This is one of two of Kristi's quilts that she requested freehand straight-line quilting on.  This type of quilting takes traditional quilts and gives them a modern/contemporary feel.  I love how it turned out!

These were some left-over blocks from the quilt below.  I threw them together really fast and I did not think they looked interesting until they were quilted.  Now I love them!

This pattern is from my sister, Jenny, of Sew Kind of Wonderful.  This is Urban Birthday.  It is from French General's FaLaLa christmas line.  The quilting was an experiment of different free-hand elements.  I think it turned out ok but after I did this I finished the small table runners above and I actually like the quilting on the table runners better.  After the fact, I would have loaded this quilt the other direction and quilted a definite design in the solids and an all-over in the prints.  I still love this quilt and my husband REALLY liked it.  Which in itself is weird because he usually just nods and says nice but this time he was really into this pattern.