Recently in Quilting Category

I dropped in on Judy yesterday. The first thing I did was check out her pin holder over on her longarm quilting machine. It is exciting, isn't it? There are pins here from the quilts of Kaffe Fassett and Freddy Moran, two of my favorite quilters. This bowl is magnetic and sits on one of the braces of her machine...it is about 6" in diameter. Judy said she bought hers at an auto supply store...I think I have to have one.

There is always inspiration in Judy's studio..she was considering what color of thread to use on a quilt...

There were quilts on her design wall. This one is her friend Dana's work....

This is Judy's...

And this is me quilting on a current project...

I dropped in on Judy yesterday. The first thing I did was check out her pin holder over on her longarm quilting machine. It is exciting, isn't it? There are pins here from the quilts of Kaffe Fassett and Freddy Moran, two of my favorite quilters. This bowl is magnetic and sits on one of the braces of her machine...it is about 6" in diameter. Judy said she bought hers at an auto supply store...I think I have to have one.

There is always inspiration in Judy's studio..she was considering what color of thread to use on a quilt...

There were quilts on her design wall. This one is her friend Dana's work....

This is Judy's...

And this is me quilting on a current project...

A few days ago I visited my friend Judy in her studio. Judy is a whirlwind and swirl of creative activity and movement. Her barn studio is packed, crammed, and layered with quilts, fabric, books, and threads. It is a feast for the eyes. Just to stand there and take in the symphony of colors and line and textures makes my happy. Judy has a longarm quilting machine which takes up one end of her studio. I find it fascinating to see what she is quilting on her machine. On this day she was finishing one of her own quilts, a lone star design with an explosion of bright colors. Behind her longarm are two walls of shelves with hundreds of cones of threads. There are at least fifty oranges to choose from, and maybe twice as many blues. On one end of her machine is a large silver pin holder which is atop a stand....I always look. The pins tell a story about the quilts she has worked on. I see purple and yellow headed pins today. I look at the bin of trimmings, hoping to find bits and pieces that could maybe find their way into my fiber art.

When this quilt top arrived in the mail from Amy, I knew it would be fun to quilt. This is just a peek at the palette Amy used, one of our favorites. It is ready now to have the binding stitched on.

The machine is my industrial strength Juki 98E...the Janome is in for much needed service. If you have ever sewn with the Juki, you know that it is the race car of sewing machines...It takes my undivided concentration to keep the path of the quilting line ahead of the needle. The automatic thread cutter on the foot pedal is the best!

After two weeks away on vacation, I couldn't wait to get back in my studio. This quilt makes me smile. The sweet bird sketches from our journals are framed in lush greens and blues...and the quilting lines add a bit of whimsy and texture to the pieces. My Janome 6600 is being serviced. So I'm using my industrial strength Juki 98E...it is so fast...using it is like playing chess...I have to think two or three moves ahead of the needle...But I love how it moves on the fabric. And, that foot pedal thread cutter is amazing...

This is one of our latest projects which I quilted yesterday. Using our pattern, A's Cranes, with a pirate theme, we created a happy kid's quilt. Choosing the perfect color for the binding is next.

A raw-edged piece ready to be framed out, quilted, and frayed. This was the perfect piece to work on this week.

We are excited to announce that we've released our second Here2There original quilt pattern. Affectionately known as "Cranes," "A's Cranes" is based on a simple half log cabin block which frames a corner focal fabric. Our original was very Asian in feel, and we love the rich tones of it - and had a great time mixing and matching fabrics from our stash to build each block.

"A's Cranes" can be made with a 40-strip jelly roll (noting that you'll have to add the focal fabric and a small amount of scrap fabric for accent strips). Or, dive into your stash and put what you already have to use. (The pattern uses 2 1/2" strips.)

Here's a close up look at blocks in the original:

We are making a pirate themed version of the pattern for a show we're doing in December. As we tested the block with the swashbuckling kid-friendly fabrics, it was wonderful to see the block take on an entirely new vibe.

We also assembled a jelly-roll based kit for the pattern in a colorway that plays with both batiks and an Asian focal fabric.

A peek at a sweet baby quilt which we have been working on and is now almost finished. The quilt was commissioned, and Amy and I both wondered about the color palette, but in the end, we are quite pleased with the look of it.

Two more placemats to complete a set of four purchased at Art by the Bay. Amy pieced these, using a great fish fabric framing the focal bird houses. I love the way they turned out.