Pretty Batiks!

 

 

Here's the next quilt to go on the Long Arm!

 

 

 

Time to pick out thread color and a quilting pattern!  Isn't this really a beautiful quilt?

 

I'll post more pictures as soon as it's quilted.

 

 

Happy Quilting!

Perfect Points Tutorial!

Getting points to match on the Hour Glass Block can sometimes be very difficult.  Here are step by step directions on how to get your "Points" to perfectly line up!

 

The Hour Glass Block looks the best when it is made with two contrasting fabrics. In this tutorial the block is being made from two 10" square pieces of fabric, when finished you will have two 9" blocks. Place these blocks with the rights sides together.

 

 

 

I use Pilot's Frixion pen to mark my blocks, Frixion's marks disappear when ironed.  These pens are available at most quilt shops, if you have difficulty finding them please contact me.  Draw a line diagonally from the top left to the bottom right of the block using a ruler. Once you have drawn your line, pin the two pieces of fabric and sew a "scant" quarter of an inch on both sides of the drawn line.

 

 

Once you have sewing a scant quarter seam on both sides of the drawn line using a ruler and a rotary cutter, cut the block in half using the drawn line as your cutting guide.

 

This step is really important!  Take your two blocks to the ironing board and "set" your seams by pressing both blocks.

 

With your seams "set" now press your blocks open by pressing your seam to the darker side of your block.

 

Place your ironed blocks right sides together making certain that you seams are as close together as possible.  Draw a line diagonally from the top left to the bottom right of the block using a ruler. Once you have drawn your line, pin the two pieces of fabric and sew a "scant" quarter of an inch on both sides of the drawn line.

 

 

Back to the ironing board and "set" your seams.

 

 

 

With your seams "set" now press your blocks open.

 

You will have two blocks!  Your final step is to take these back to your cutting table and square them up!

 

The video tutorial of this is available on You Tube!

 

 

Stay tuned for a tutorial on how I quilt this block on my

 

Gammill Statler Stitcher Long Arm Quilting Maching!!

 

Happy Quilting!

 

Perfect Points!

Have you ever wondered how to get perfect points when making an hour glass block?  I’m currently working on a tutorial on how to easily accomplish this!! I hope to have it up by Wednesday! 

Old Gold Finished!

I finished the binding on this quilt today!  I LOVE it when the quilt is completely done!!  This quilt is one that I'm using as an example of the work that I do and I believe it is going to be used for a class this January, stay tuned for more information on the class.

This would be a perfect quilt for a college student or for a young girl's bedroom.  The name of the pattern is "Old Gold" and is from Pam & Nicky Lintott's book Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts.

This was such a quick and easy quilt to make, it took 1 Layer Cake and 1 Jelly Roll.  The pattern didn't call for the wide border all around the quilt but I wanted one so I purchased an additional 2 1/2 yards of fabric for the border and the binding.

Here's a close up of the quilting:

Time to get working on the binding for the Whole Cloth Quilt and to get another customer's quilt on my Gammill Statler Longarm.  The next one is a really pretty White, Tan and Black quilt with pieced blocks and applique!!

Whole Cloth Quilt!

I have read a few blogs lately about using two layers of batting (one wool and one cotton) and I wanted to give it a try and see what all the blogging was about. This past weekend I had a little extra time to give this a try! I was a little concerned that it would be heavy but surprisingly it really isn’t. The double layer of batting really makes the quilting pattern POP!

 

 

Here are three pictures of the same quilt without the flash so that you can really see the detail of the quilting pattern. 

 

This picture shows the feather border!

 

If I’m ever in a quandary over what to give someone for a wedding present I no longer am! I really like the way it turned out, isn’t it pretty? I think it would make the most beautiful wedding present! I also think it would be beautiful as a baby quilt to match the colors of the baby’s nursery! 

New Thread Colors!!

Look at what arrived in my mail box today......Two new thread colors!!!

 

The solid is Barley Sugar and the variegated is Autumn Days!  Aren’t they absolutely gorgeous!

 

I really like both of these new colors.  The solid (Barley Sugar) will be beautiful on a fall quilt and I think it will also look wonderful on a Christmas quilt.  The variegated (Autumn Days) is really pretty, I’m in love with this one!  I can just imagine how beautiful it would be done up in one of these leaf patterns designed by Kim Diamond:

                                                                          

Do you or do you know of someone who has a “fall colored” quilt top that is sitting in their sewing room and needs to be quilted?  If so, email me at missmarker@rochester.rr.com, I’ve got the PERFECT color thread and the PERFECT pattern to finish your quilts! 

Double Layer of Batting

I’ve been reading a lot lately about quilters using double layers of batting. When loading their quilts onto the Long Arm they are layering it in this order; backing, layer of cotton batting, layer of wool batting, quilt top. This process...

makes the quilting on the top really stand out and because wool batting is very light it appears that it doesn’t add a lot of weight to the quilt.

I recently designed a whole cloth quilt that I intend to quilt on white fabric with Linen White thread. I’ve always liked the look of a whole cloth quilt and the fact that the quilting is what stands out. As I read more and more about this two layer batting I believe that this design will be a perfect test for this layering of batting. I’m hoping to get it on my Gammill Statler as soon as I can! Here’s a sneak peak of the quilting design!