Linda's Orchids

Linda made this quilt of orchids for her daughter and asked me to quilt it.  I used a filigree design that I find to be elegant, which I thought the orchids deserved.

Batik Sampler

Noreen sent me this Batik Block of the Month sampler to quilt.

 I freehand quilted it with the always elegant filigree. 

Tranquil

This is Bobbie's quilt, which was a kit she bought from, I think, Keepsake Quilting.  I don't know what it was called, but to me it is Tranquil, so that is what I have called it here.  It is a quilt for her granddaughter.

 To me, the fabrics are so peaceful and elegant, I wanted to choose something really elegant and flowing as a quilting design.  So I stitched this open filigree design. 

 The backing is a wonderfully soft flannel.  I used Glide Pearl on top and pale gold Magnifico in the bobbin. 

Noreen's Floral quilt

Kaffe Lollipops

 This is Lisa's Kaffe Lollipop quilt. 

 

 I just love how she fussy cut all those fabrics on the appliques. 

 We kept the quilting simple--an edge to edge design to provide texture and to hold it together, but not to compete with that wonderful applique and fabrics.

 the thread is an apple green magnifico--light enough to not be obvious on the white backgrounds, but neither does it stand out on the colors of the fabrics.  Just right.

This blue one above makes me think of a butterfly.

 and she found a fabulous backing fabric too

En Provence #2

 This is Vicki's En Provence, which was 2016's Mystery Quilt at Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville.

 Vicki chose great fabrics for this quilt--we went fabric shopping together, and have two common fabrics.   Bonnie Hunter's quilts are notoriously scrappy, but Vicki went for controlled fabric choices, which I think calms it down nicely.  I love the Tula Pink fabric she chose for her pink/orange stars.

 It's so hard picking fabric for a mystery quilt--you don't know quite how anything is going to look.

 It's hard to see in the photos, but Vicki used 4 or 5 fabrics in her neutral patches, so up close that adds a lot of dimension and character to the quilt.

 A simple, curling, E2E quilting design was all that was needed on this quilt--the piecing is strong and stands on its own. 

Log Cabins x 2

Two lap quilts, the same but different

If I recall correctly some of the fabric placements are different in the two quilts.  These are quilts for the church to give, and I'm quite pleased with them....we had bought a quilt kit for a fabulous sellout price of $20.  Didn't care for the pattern, but the fabric was good.

  So then I took all the fabric amounts, and figured out a pattern whereby we could make 2 lap quilts.  One has blue binding, and one pink, of course, neither of these photos is bound, so you'll have to use your imagination on that.   And they are quilted differently. 

Quilts for the Church

As part of the Quilting Ministry at Symons Valley United Church, I quilt liturgical wallhangings, such as Covenants , and also the compassionate quilts made to give to people in the congregation as needed.

We had, at one point a few years ago, built up an inventory, combined with a few years where people stayed relatively healthy, and thus we hadn't had to make compassionate quilts for some time.  When the quilts were all gone, we had to start making again.   These two were needed and gifted almost as soon as they were finished.  So, they have found their homes, and are providing comfort to people as a tangible reminder of the love, hugs and prayers from the remainder of the congregation.

 The compassionate quilts for adults, to date, are all Yellow Brick Roads, and all batik fabrics.  For a very long time, we had leftovers from the permanent banners in the sanctuary that went into the quilts, (and scraps from the quilts that predated the banners in the banners), but we have exhausted that supply now. 

One of the quilters says her husband even recognizes the pattern now, when he sees it.  He should!  I  think we've made about 40 of these. 

 we use a very plain backing, as members of the congregation will sign their well wishes on the back before it is gifted to the recipient.

 I like to quilt these in pairs, as I can get two on the same wide backing.  The quilts usually measure about 49x50 (give or take an inner border) 

This next one is for a child or youth when needed, the last time we made one it wasn't used for 7 years, so we hope to be as lucky with this one, and it can age well in our cabinet.

 The fabrics in this are so fun, and, it  uses bits from the prior child/youth compassionate quilt, so there is that continuity. 

Periodically we gift quilts to the elders (that's a much gentler and better word than Octogenarians--which is hard to determine, since some people age so very well, and we aren't allowed to ask)  in our congregation, unsigned, but able to be signed should the occasion arise.  We want the elders to be wrapped in our love when they are well, having reached such a lofty age, they shouldn't have to wait to be ill as well.  We are working on building our supply of these as well.

and this last little quilt has gone to the Foothills hospital, as part of the quilts my other guild makes for babies in a unit at the hospital.