A 1600 Quilt

I am a sucker for spirals, and I especially love this panto as it fills the gaps left by the round spirals so well.  I'm not really a fan of the 1600 quilts. But I just love the way my customer made this one with the blues and random yellow squares.  So striking!  

Sweet Freehand Hearts

This is Teri's and she will actually get to keep this one for herself.

 Since the edges are left raw, and we needed to keep the edges free so they can fray when washed, I went around each one with freehand echoed hearts. I love it!  I was inspired by Bethanne Nemish's hearts on this one. 

I used Hobbs 80/20 - my favorite batting. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

Blue and Green and Retro Revolution

This is one of Cathy's quilts.  She brought me three quilts and said do whatever you can do the quickest!  These quilts along with two more she will be sending, will go to a family member whose home and all their possessions were lost in a fire.  She wants to replace the quilts she had made them through the years.  

I just love these colors, the simplicity of the pattern, and the panto!  It's Retro Revolution by Patricia 

Ritter.  I used Glide thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting.  

Summer Sampler Series in Christmas Fabrics

Well, Sandy made this gorgeous Summer Sampler that we did as a Block of the Month.  I think it is just gorgeous.  I love white backgrounds, and her choice of Christmas fabrics just makes this one shine.  I used Sprigs of Holly pantograph on it.  

We were inspired by Fresh Lemon Quilts, Swim Bike Quilt and Freshly Pieced Blogs.  I hope to finish mine this summer.

Thanks Sandy!

Batik Summer Sampler Series - BOM

This is Carolyn's quilt, and I am honored she trusted me with it...when asked which panto she would like, she told me, Mary, you pick, your quilting is awesome!  Yes, that put a big smile on my face.  This quilt came about after my daughter, Diane, and I dreamed up a new project for our quilting group, Loose Threads, to do together, each month.  

Carolyn is a super speedy piecer and whipped hers up first, even before we completed the monthly blocks.  I used Celine Spader's panto, Commas, on it, and love this new panto!  What a gorgeous quilt.  Thanks Carolyn!  This is a king sized quilt, 104x 104, I believe.

Snack Time Finished With a Panto

I scoured the web for examples of Jaybird's pattern, Snack Time.  I think I may have found one finished with a panto, all the others were done custom.  All that white had me a bit flustered, and kept screaming at me for custom.  Custom was not in the plan, though, and for a baby quilt, I didn't think it needed custom.  I do not care for heavy quilting on baby quilts.  I believe they need to be soft and fluffy.

Speaking of soft and fluffy, what is your favorite batting for baby quilts?

I used the pantograph, Jessica's Swirls, on this and think it just the right amount of swirl and density for this pattern.  Oh, and by the way, this was Amy's very first quilt!  Whaaaa?

Retirement...More Time to Work?

It still feels a bit like vacation, maybe more like my summer vacations.  I have a list two pages long of everything that I need to do around the house.  I haven't yet made my list of pleasurable things I want to do... like design new wholecloth quilts or take classes or hikes.

I have been incredibly busy.  This is just the tip of what I have been doing.  

Tension Issues.......

First, I tackled an issue that has been plaguing me for months.  I have been having a LOT of tension issues.  I dealt with the problem by only buying Omni thread by Superior Threads.  It is the most maintenance free thread I have ever used.  I love it. However, it is thicker, and if I want to do heirloom quilting with backtrack feathers, I surely don't want a lot of thread buildup.   So for my everyday panto and e2e quilting, Omni is the best, and it is great because I don't have issues with it.

I finally had time to call during normal business hours to my Innova dealer, Teryl Loy, in St. George, Utah. She is so patient, and knowledgeable, and she talked me through an easy fix!  I just needed to loosen the entire tension assembly - not just the tension, but the assembly itself.    I loaded up some practice sandwiches and went to town with Glide, one of my favorite threads.  I must have 30 cones of Glide that I have not been able to use for months, so this was a happy day for me...

 I was not aiming for pretty stitching, just lots of stitching, fast stitching, and stitching without breaks!!  Yes, I believe (cross my fingers and knock on wood) that I have solved that issue.

Home Improvement...
Now, here is my solution for covering my brand new Skechers with memory foam and little mini trampolines on the bottom.  Duct tape!  I didn't want to spill paint on my brand new shoes.  (I read the reviews for these shoes on amazon and everyone claimed that they could wear these shoes all day long while standing).  They are great!

 This is just one of the rooms that we painted this weekend.  We painted a bath, a laundry room, two hallways and tons of doors.  Add to that the first coats of primer and paint to a bunch of cabinets.

One of the projects on my list is to do something about these really comfortable wicker chairs that have been scratched up.  Do you know how to repair the wicker so that the scratches are not noticeable?  Do I need to just buy new chairs?  

I'll be back with more results soon.... I hope!

One Week In...

Can you believe... one of life's major milestones and I haven't announced it on my blog?  A year or five ago I was thinking that I would be shouting it from the rooftops, but no!

Since this is primarily a quilting blog, first let's take a look at Diane's quilt, and this new pantograph - Flicker - I just love it, and think it's perfect for this quilt.

Now, for the announcement.......One week ago today was my official retirement date from my job as a school secretary.  I worked in that job for 20 years.  20 years seems like such a long time, but it sure went fast and other than a couple bad years, it was great.  I didn't make much money, but it was great being at the same junior and senior high schools as my daughters, having all the holidays off with them, and a lot of the summer each year.

I have been so busy this last week that my head is spinning.  I've been doing a lot of customer quilting, and hope to continue on for a long time.  I had hoped to have a good customer base when I did retire so I could enjoy a busy quilting business.

My list of tasks to accomplish in the near future is 20 items long!  That doesn't include all my long-term goals either.

Are you working at a job other than quilting?  Are you quilting as a business?  Are you quilting for fun?  I'd love to hear how this hobby obsession fits in your life...

Sprigs of Holly

This is Angi's quilt.  I just love the bright fabrics!  Since there are hints of Christmas in these fabrics, Angi asked for a Christmas themed panto.  I used Sprigs of Holly panto on this, and I think it really looks great.  I have been BUSY with customer quilts.  I'll have more panto previews in the next few days.

 A view of the back...

Freehand Flowers and Loops

This is Theresa's quilt...isn't it cute?  I love the colors!  Theresa asked for really simple quilting, so I did some...really simple quilting!  Theresa made this along with myself and a group of other women one night in February.  It was a mystery quilt night.  Of course I haven't finished mine yet.

This would be my lowest priced freehand quilting.  If you are interested in having me do something like this for you, please contact me.  I'd love to help you get your tops finished at a super reasonable rate!