January Circles

When I first bought Lolah, I attended the Lupin Quilt Fair and Sale during our summer vacation for the purpose of purchasing quilt tops to use as longarm practice pieces. I never got the chance to quilt them until we moved back to NB and obviously until this year. This one was called Dresden Circles and I loved the color and piecing of the stripes. 

Our DIL Ming's mother commissioned me to make 4 quilts, so at Christmas, I had her chose 3 tops and I promised to make the 4th one from scratch. 

I decided this one would look pretty with some ruler work and freehand designs. FilTec's Glide in Cream was used for both top and bottom threads; it has a 100% cotton batting and a 108" wide backing

The blocks weren't all precisely pieced, the centers didn't all match but besides that, the top was easy to quilt.

The backing shows the quilting better...

Here's a tip when you're applying binding if you have 2 spool pins or if you're like me and have a multiple spool holder sitting at the back of the machine. I don't like to have the roll of binding all over the floor picking up dust and loose threads. It stays clean and does not twist saving time.

We've delivered the quilts to California and they will soon make their way to Indonesia. This is Ming (DIL) and our son Jonathan. Over the next few posts, I'll show you the rest of the quilts.

Toodles,

Lorette

Baby & Me!

Two good friends of ours from California became grandmothers again: one for the 6th time and the other for the second time. Both babies are girls! Since we were headed to Los Angeles, it was time I got quilting in time to deliver these. 

I bought a baby quilt top at the Lupin Quilt Fair last summer and after close inspection, I decided it needed some alterations. I'd started to take it apart but Hollie finished that task and worked out this top for me.

I quilted it using FilTec's Glide in a light mauve (can't remember the color name now), 80/20 batting and Hearts in Bloom pantograph. 

Since I didn't want to end up with a half pattern at the end of the quilt, I quilted the top row of the design, the bottom row, then centered the third pass in between.

Then I filled in the space between these with some loops. It was a quick pattern to quilt and very pretty design for a little girl.

The quilt isn't very big which is unusual for me... I like big girl/boy bed-sized quilts.

It turned out quite lovely.

The second one started out as remnants from a small "Little Twister" quilt. I sewed the leftover pieces together to show how this special ruler worked and the design it produces.

Hollie started the process of adding borders and Marie and I continued until we were satisfied. 

 

This quilt was quilted with the same pantograph design and batting. I used FilTec's Glide in Salmon color. 

I decided to apply the binding while the quilt was still loaded on Lolah! What a novelty! This turned out to be a great time saver.

One problem I encountered was that I didn't have enough backing in the white on white fabric so I chose another fabric that matched and added some leftovers in the middle. It brings the design to the backing which is really fun!

I had Jonathan hold it up for photos outside here in Southern California before I wrap up the gifts! 

I love the backing! I think it will be very pretty in a little girl's room.

Waxwings are such pretty birds... they've been cleaning out the berries off this bush.

Perhaps they'll still be around when we return home.

Toodles!

Lorette

Tumbling with Irene...

The first time I met Irene, I knew she was special. She came to look at fabrics to make a quilt. She knew what she wanted to make but needed a pattern. I suggested she draw it out so that the next time she came, we'd be able to calculate fabrics. She vowed to return with a pattern. She didn't disappoint. 

Irene came to Spruce It Up with Odette in late January to work on her Tumbling Blocks. Funny sometimes you think you know someone but you really don't. Such is the case with Odette and Irene. They live across the street from each other but neither knew the other quilted until one husband saw the other woman's quilt. Now they share a common interest. How fun to have a quilting buddy...

Irene is dwarfed by Lolah but she is not intimidated. This petite woman is a firecracker! Watch for her at the dart tournaments too. 

I can't remember now when she came in to purchase these fabrics but they look awesome in her quilt. Filtec's Glide thread in Fool's Gold is on top and Denim is in the bobbin. 80/20 was her batting of choice.

Tickle Too panto is what she's working on here... it's a lovely open feather with a few swirls; great for adding motion to a quilt and a fairly simple design for a confident beginner.

Aqua fabrics remind me of the beach... just what we needed when winter was about to set in. Remember this was late January and the biggest storms were yet to come.

The back shows such great texture. Thank you Odette for your help that day and for introducing Irene to Lolah! :)

The front looks fabulous!!! Irene you amazed me with this quilt. It's gorgeous! Your piecing is precise and your quilting is wonderful... steady hand and speed are what get you through it successfully.

Irene looks happy don't you think?

I believe that's a very satisfied customer!

Readers, I'm trying to catch up... bear with me. I have the rest of January and all of February to work on. Good news though... the desktop computer is now back in operation after a new motherboard fan replacement. I can't tell you how happy that makes me!!

For now, I hope you enjoy a few more photos... check out the Show and Tell page!!

Toodles,

Lorette

  

2nd Draw WINNER for March 11th, 2015!

Congratulations Marcia!! 

Remember the 60-Incentive program is going on all year (ending Nov 12th, 2015!) 

For every $60 you spend at Spruce It Up Quilting, you get 1 chance to win (excluding Lolah Time!)

You still have 4 more chances to win...

Toodles,

Lorette

Lighting the way!

Since the last 2014 fabric shipment arrived, we've played around with panels. Marie and I both need inspiration to redesign a panel into a nice wall hanging or lap quilt. We take ideas from each other but our main resource is Hollie who has been doing this a lot longer than we have!

Marie made her own choices on this lighthouse and it is beautiful!

Any chance to quilt on Lolah is welcomed! Marie is no stranger to Lolah but she feels comfortable quilting her favorite panto (Chinese Crescents). This would not be a good choice for the lighthouse so she went with Ebb and Flow pantograph designed by Hermione Agee for Lorien Quilting, Superior Threads King Tut #904 thread which is a variegated baby blue and 80/20 batting.

In making a selection of a quilting design, one must look at the direction of that design and what effect it will give you on a quilt. This particular pattern looks soothing when quilted side to side but if you were to quilt it vertically, you'd be looking at flames! Not really what we wanted so this determined how we loaded Lolah.

One could be forgiven if they thought we quilted this in June or August! No... this was January and if she could, Marie would quilt with the window open. Off come the shoes too... anything to get comfortable.

Comes see it in the shop... it's bound and on display. Well done!!

Look at that checkerboard border! Smart idea Marie! This would make a lovely cottage wall hanging or lap quilt.

That last fabric shipment included 28+ panels: some baby, some nautical, some wilderness themes. We photographed them, packaged them individually and put some on display. The intention was to print the photographs and put them in an album for ease of browsing through them. We simply don't have the room to display them all. Since then, we've received more fabric panels which will be added to the album. I recall 12 Days of Christmas, Frozen book panel, more baby... we keep finding more!

With my computer on the fritz, it's been difficult to get tweaking of the photos and printing done. By the way, that hard drive crash in November was fatal. The company hired to recover the data was unable to get anything from it. :(

This new problem is fan related... we think! A replacement has been on order for almost a month... no sign of it yet! Keep your fingers crossed!

The panel photos are now ready to be printed. Let's hope the printer is up to snuff! 

You must come in to see our new addition to the shop! Thanks to our contractor who delivered the plywood and to my DH who built these! It's a welcome addition and a wonderful way to display some of the new fabrics. On Monday, Batik and Homespun fabrics arrived! OH MY!!! Back to boxes on the floor!!! 

Toodles,

Lorette

Donna's Surprise!

Donna came to Spruce It Up before the holidays with a colorful top she designed looking for a backing fabric. After many choices were presented, she decided on this luscious yellow gold Jo Morton print that captured the same tones and colors in the top. Then she booked time on Lolah!

The top is 78" X 88"; she chose 100% cotton batting.

It was during a busy sale week at Spruce It Up... we had quite a few gentlemen accompany their wives. They were quite interested in Lolah... men and machines!

FilTec's Glide Auburn thread matched beautifully with all the colors in the top. One cannot imagine how difficult it is sometimes to choose the right color for a quilt. So many factors come into play: shiny or matte, colorful or muted, enhancing or disappearing, variegated or solid, cotton or polyester etc... 

The pantograph Donna chose is called Tickle Too by Beanie Girl Quilts at Willow Leaf. I'm anxious to use this one on my own quilt!

Donna had excellent control... can you tell she's concentrating?

The quilt was loaded lengthwise... Donna was quite surprised when she arrived and we started loading her quilt. She didn't know what to expect but thought Lolah would be doing the quilting. She hadn't expected to be running the show! No apprehension before starting helps!

Beautiful... 

Donna did an excellent job! Great control, steady speed. 

How fun to see the backing revealed after that long day!

Here it is... how fun! I love the colors and the design. 

I think Donna looks quite happy with her quilt! Who wouldn't be? It's gorgoeus!

The backing looks terrific too. Well done!

Will see you on the bike path in spring Donna!

Toodles,

Lorette