A Baltimore Christmas

For all you applique'rs out there, 

A Baltimore Christmas Quilt

I know it's only March, but as a quilter, I receive Christmas quilts all year long, and I just had to share this one! Since this is a Baltimore, you know there is lots of detail with lots of little pieces, and I commend anyone who actually finishes one of these quilts.  

On most appliques, I try not to quilt on the applique itself, but the Santa center block in the one was too large not to. This client also did not mind a little quilting on her work, so I did quilt veins in the border and holly leave, and just a few areas where I felt it was needed in the actual blocks themselves. 

This quilt is mainly a lot of background work, and I have included a few of the blocks for you to check out. It was indeed a privilege to have been given the opportunity to quilt this one!

Border 

Christmas Boot block

Wreath block

Gingerbread wreath block

Partridge in a pear tree

The large center Santa block

April Pantographs

Isn't it wonderful to see Spring has finally arrived, along with some much needed rain?!! I have been out doing some planting and tending to the needs of my perennial garden. It seems all my bulbs were in need of dividing, and fortunately, I have friends who need some! Well, onto those quilts.....

First, a couple of quilts with feather edge to edge patterns. The first one is a black floral pinwheel, that works really well with an overall feather design.
















Next is a log cabin variety, which always seems to look good with feathers.



























































Then an applique with an all over pattern stitched into it. I have not done this before, typically doing custom work for applique, but edge to edge seems to work on this one. I think it's because the applique patterns are fairly large. Since it has Hawaiian floral applique, a simple floral pattern was used.

This last one is also a type of log cabin, but with a musical theme, so a musical note pattern was chosen.

















































The back of the quilt was also pieced, and the notes stitched in may be better seen here.








That's it for now. I currently am working on a cowboy theme quilt, so I hope to let you see that one soon! Until then, happy quilting!
Cathy

Verse for the day: "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." (Psalm 119:18)

Appliqued Farm Animals

Creativity!

This wonderful grandmother did all she could to document what was important to her granddaughter as a wedding gift. She grew up in Colorado, is marrying a your man from Arkansas, was raised on a farm, and has won many 4H blue ribbons.

She told me some of these animals she had no idea how to find patterns for, so she found pictures and created appliques from them. I think she did a wonderful job, don't you?



Basic stippling was done around the appliques, continuous curve in the triangular areas, and a border/sashing to fit the theme.

Thank you, Linda for sharing this with us!

Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy

Winter Snow Friends

Merry Christmas!

I am happy to say that my last "must be done for Christmas" quilt went out the door last week - I definitely breathed a sigh of relief! However, since then, my husband and I have had a visit from that nasty flu virus that is being passed around - would have preferred he did not share this one with me! Oh well, we are on the mend, and are thankful that our bodies are so wonderfully made that they have the ability to fight such awful stuff!

I have a number of quilts that need to get put on this blog, but for now, I will settle on this cute little winter appliqued wall hanging called "Winter Snow Friends".

The many 1/2 sq. triangles were quilted with continuous curve and holly leaves. The appliqued portions were mainly stitched around, but a few of the figures required additional stitching to make them lay flat.

I used a variety of backgrounds -  feathers, swirls, snowflakes, loops, and stipple - to add interest and to flow with the pattern. This is just a happy quilt, and it brings a smile to my face!

That's it for today - I just wanted to make sure you had a Christmas quilt to check out. (If  you want to check out another Christmas applique, Dec. 2013 has AJ's stunning Merry Christmas quilt.) I will be adding more quilts very shortly, but company is coming - I must get some baking done!

May each of you enjoy a very blessed Christmas, and may you enjoy, blessed, and be challenged by all He has in store for you in the coming year!

Cathy

Verse for the day: "Your adornment must not be merely external - braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God." (1 Peter 3:3-4)

Woodland Christmas Applique

outer border

Fall Greetings!

It is hard to believe that summer is over and our busiest season about to approach, but yes, it is coming quickly! Already, my schedule is quickly filling with holiday requests, and I love seeing them - it sets my anticipation for all the season has to offer.



Regretfully, I somehow did not manage to take a picture of the whole quilt for you -  I am so sorry, for it really was a wonderful detailed applique and you will miss the full appreciation for the work that went into it. The woodland creatures included bears, foxes, raccoon, hedgehogs, bunnies, and birds among a mix of houses, trees, and stars, which allowed opportunity for a variety of fills and detail work. It has a winter-y looking swirled outer border, leafy corner blocks,  and a holly leaf  pattern for the inner.

One of the house blocks - hmm,
 bears protecting the town hall?

corner detail

Bunnies, fox, and bear admiring
the tree decorations.

All the woodland animals
pitching in to help.

Santa has a new helper!

Hedgehogs preparing for the celebration.

Somehow, these raccoons look
a bit mischievous.

And Merry Christmas to all!

As you can see, this is just a fun quilt and I really enjoyed working on it - thank you, Barb! If you were able to attend Quilt-a-Fair in Longmont, you may have seen it hanging at the Laughing Ladies booth. We have been in New Mexico, so were unable to attend, but hope you were able to enjoy all the variety offered there!

Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy
Verse for the day: "Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness." (Psalm 30:4)

Soft Applique

Another Applique Technique

"Soft Applique" was a term I was unfamiliar with until recently. From this quilt, my understanding is that it implies taking a pattern from the printed fabric and turning it into an applique on the quilt.

The fussy cut area is appliqued onto the
background, then pieced into the blocks.

In this case, instead of piecing the print into the quilt, a pattern was chosen, fussy cut leaving about 1/8 to 1/4" around, and then carefully turned under and basted around. There is no freezer paper or glue used, so the applique is "soft." The applique pieces are then sewn onto the background. This is a Jinny Beyer pattern and technique, for any of you Jinny fans out there.

A more extended view to allow you to see how
 the quilting in each block compliments
the center block.

My challenge for this quilt was what to do with that background area that would enhance the pattern and not take away from it. This is one of those where I had to get out my sketch pad and play with all kinds of ideas, and it wasn't until I started looping from the compass points that I came up with something that satisfied me. To make the appliqued areas stand out, a micro stipple was used around them.









Simple continuous curve was used in the small red blocks, and the larger red blocks had a star points quilted into them.

Border detail

The borders were a very busy pattern, so quilting was simply done using the patterns. The inner red border was given a simple pattern that complimented the theme of the quilt. Between those busy patterns, a simple pattern is best so the eye has a place to rest!


This quilt was a great challenge for me - I learned a lot in the process.

That's it for now - until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy

Verse for the day: "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)

Floral Applique

An Indoor Garden Wall Hanging.

There are various methods for applique, and this quilt demonstrates the traditional applique technique. The pattern is called "Jan and Jenny's Garden". For those of us without a green thumb, this would make a cheerful indoor garden with no weeds to pull!

Quilted vine on border blocks.

To help keep the garden theme, the colorful squares around the appliqued flowers was quilted with a vine, and a couple of butterflies were quilted into the background "sky".

Some of the flower and bird detail
 with a butterfly and stipple area
 quilted in the background.

The flowers, leaves, stems, and birds were given a little more detail to enhance them as well as put some quilting into the large spaces. Some appliquers so not like stitched done on there work, but for larger pieces, this may be necessary. I always ask before I stitch!

Pinwheel, leaf, and stem details with McTavishing
in the background.

On the background area, I did a loose stipple to resemble clouds in the upper area, and some McTavishing in the lower area to appear as a hill that the flowers are blooming on.

Just a note: The birds will have beads added for the eyes. This is done AFTER the quilting - make sure to NOT do any embellishing prior to quilting - your quilter will not be happy with you!












Perhaps this will inspire you to create your own indoor garden quilt!

Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy

Verse for the day: "But grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen."   (2 Peter 3:18)

A Grand Champion

Congratulations!

For all of you who contributed entries to the county fair, thank you! We so enjoy going to see all the beautiful quilts hanging - so diverse and inspiring - and what an opportunity to show off all the work and effort you put into your quilt. I also think it is worth entering to obtain the suggestions for improvement from the judges - they do a wonderful job of encouraging and stretches us to improve our skills.

Congratulations to AJ, who won the Grand Champion award for her beautiful Christmas quilt! I have an overall picture here, but you can view her quilt in my December 2013 blog - it is amazing and worth your visit.

Not all of us can be grand champions, but it is very satisfying to win any award, and also to know that you were courageous enough to try!

Love to all of you, and again, congratulations to our fair contributors!

Cathy

A Mansion and a Bear Claw Cabin Quilt

Summer's Finally Here!

I am just returning from a visit with my Aunt in New York. My sister comes up from the Phoenix area, and then we travel on together to Rochester. Our Aunt lives in Bath, which we both affectionately call the town that time forgot. We always plan on doing whatever she needs - she is in her 80's and does not get around very well - as well as getting her out to do some exploring. Bath is in the Finger Lakes region of NY, and is an incredibly beautiful area with rolling hills, lots of gardens, old Victorian homes, and scenic winding roads.

The Sonnenberg Mansion

This year, we made it up to the Sonnenberg Gardens, where you can enjoy a garden and home tour for only $10! The original mansion was built by New York City bank financier Frederick Ferris Thompson and his wife, Mary Clark Thompson, the daughter of New York State governor Myron Holley Clark. We spent a whole day visiting, and because our Aunt was in a wheel chair, received a royal tour which included lots of history and tidbits. There are a variety of gardens, all worth exploring. The many and various trees on the property are attributed to the fact that Mrs. Thompson had every visiting dignitary plant one! (Well, to me this was a fascinating fact.) Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit, even if we didn't get to plant a tree.

So, my little vacation is over and I am back to work. Here is one of my latest quilts - which will reside at the owners cabin once she gets the binding on- the perfect place for this quilt.

A view of the whole quilt.

The Bear  Claw blocks with a maple leaf quilted pattern.

The inner border with squiggles in the log cabin blocks
and oak leaf motifs in the triangles.

Outer border with appliques details,some oak leaves quilted in, and
all echoed around.

Quilted detail in the flying geese with leafy
bracketing borders.

I have a lot of catching up to do, so until next time - Happy Quilting!

Cathy

Verse for the week: "Many nations will come and say, "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths." (Ps. 4:2)