Java Argyll

Colleen made this gorgeous quilt top, the pattern is Java Argyll by Jinny Beyer.  
I see when I found the link that the pattern is free.

I watched Colleen do much of the piecing on this top a few retreats ago, she took great care to pin all the seam intersections and it paid off!   I knew I wanted to CC (continuous curve) those diamonds as she was piecing, and of course feathers in that outer border.  Some quilts really do speak to you.  The only decision I had to make at time of quilting was the inner borders.   The thread is Glide Dusty Plum.

 This quilt made me so happy while I was quilting--I generally do CC freehand, and this was no exception. 

 The navy Minkee backing shows the quilting so nicely, as well as being super soft and cuddly.

 

It's a little hard to see- the blue diamonds got a double CC.

I'm pretty sure Colleen said this was going on her guest bed....I might have to go have a sleepover :)

Labyrinth Walk by Wyn

Wyn made this Labyrinth Walk quilt for her daughter for Christmas, and asked me to quilt it.  It's in my favourite blues.   E's and 3's give a nice texture to the quilt top, and the optical illusion of the piecing shines through.

Australian Shadow Box

Sandy also made a quilt for her son.  The majority of these fabrics she got on a trip to Australia, and she spotted a shadow box quilt at the Heritage Park quilt display, and decided that was a perfect way to showcase these fabrics.  She drafted a pattern on her graph paper and this is the fabulous result.

 I quilted this with a wavy spiral, it almost looks topographical.  I thought it paired well with the graphic designs on the fabrics.

Slide Show- Cat-i-tude and Harry Potter

Sandy made these two quilts for her daughters.   She had the Cat-i-tude panel, and was wondering how to create a quilt for her daughter with it, when she saw my Alaskan Slide Show.    She decided it would be a great pattern for her panel, and ordered the pattern .  She changed the sizes a bit, to best use the panel.

 The colors in these fabrics are so rich, they are beautifully designed.  I think the pattern focus blocks are 7 1/2" finished, and Sandy's cats are 10" finished. 

 Sandy brought me 3 quilts-- I think she must have bought a whole bolt of wide width black fabric.   It's perfect on these quilts, and lets the quilting show, although I was teasing that she maybe needed to include a lint roller as part of the gift--that solid black attracts every bit of lint from miles around. 

 Sandy's other daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan, so she was thrilled to find these fabrics.  

 My daughter saw the swirls over Hermione's face as I was quilting and it reminded her of the movie scenes when the apparate.   Score 1 for the quilter!!

 Sandy had these two huge queen quilts, plus another one in my queue to bind, so I suggested Susie's Magic Binding to her--doesn't it look great?  She was able to bind this in less than a day. 

Raffia Weave

This is my Raffia Weave- Violet Craft quilt.  I have had the pattern for some time, and this summer happened to buy a FQ pack of Violet Craft's Betty's Luncheonette fabric, so it was meant to happen :)   (I'm currently working on top #5 from this FQ pack, so you'll see lots of this fabric in the next year).  I LOVE how the fabrics just glow against the navy hand-dyed Osnaberg fabric.

 The pattern is written so that you can either paper piece the blocks, or piece them traditionally.  I was piecing at retreat, so I chose to piece traditionally, saves getting up and down to the iron continually.  The only rub was, when I went to lay out the blocks, I discovered that I had pieced them referring to the paper piecing template--which meant they were mirror image.   NO  problem, the layout still worked and together they went.  It wasn't until after quilting when I was squaring it up that I realised the errors of my ways--the lattice work isn't centered because of the mirror image thing. 

I could have centered it, but would have lost considerable size.  It is something that very few people would ever notice, and the quilt is still bright and colourful and warm and cozy, everything a quilt should be.

 Quilted with a design from Christina Cameli Step by Step FreeMotion Quilting book. 

I have gifted this to friends, contacted their daughter and arranged for her to pick up the box and put it under their tree.  The package is labelled as "from Santa", and of course, they will figure out it was me as soon as it's opened but in the meantime a mystery gift from Santa is fun !!

Stereo

Vicki made this Stereo quilt from a kit she bought at The Sugar Pine Company. 

 Lots of great fabrics in this quilt.   Because it was named Stereo, I thought of these waving lines as sound waves as I was quilting them.  I threw in a few u-turns and pearls here and there for interest.

 and a row of ribbon candy every once in a while also

 Vicki pieced her backing, and it shows the quilting nicely.

Hanging the Lights

My SIL gave me this cute wallhanging kit for Christmas last year, (Hanging the Lights, Sugar Pine Company)and I managed to get it hanging this year!!  I rarely do applique, so it was different for me, and I've never used the hot fix crystals before, so also a new thing.  

Merry Christmas!  

Spectacular Savanna Pillow

I made this 26" pillow for my daughter.  I used Elizabeth Hartman's Spectacular Savanna pattern.  I really like how she sets up her patterns, it's very easy to just pick and choose a few of the elements from the pattern.

Here are all 3 during piecing, and you can probably guess I added background to the zebra and the giraffe to build them up to the size I wanted for the pillow.

I did have a photo of the pieced backs--cannot find it now, but I find pressing the seams open on Elizabeth Hartman designs gives me best results.

I was very proud of myself when marking the diamond stencil on the giraffe, that it was the first time I felt very successful at lining up the stencil repeats ....and then I realized it wasn't square with the giraffe piecing....oh well, it's a rounded pillow--I left the stencil markings and proceeded to quilt.

 I had fun with the quilting...very geometric on the giraffe, freeflowing on the zebra background, and a blend of a marked grid work and freeflowing on the elephant.

 I was passing through Camrose, stopped at Quilting from the Heart, and picked up all the fabrics there.   I also got to say hello to Ardelle, and have a peek at Roger's design wall, so that was nice. 

Wildlife and Quarter Square Triangles

 Helen made this quilt for her MIL, who was celebrating a significant birthday.  I really like the effect of the sashing in the quarter log cabin blocks, and the fussy cut wildlife blocks running down the center.

 A simple meander to hold it all together and allow the wildlife to shine.