Winter Wonderland

The exquisite quilt belongs to Gail.  The pattern is "Winter Wonderland" by Crabapple Hill Studio.  Gail's mom did the embroidery in green rather than the red of the original pattern and Gail pieced the border blocks and put the top together.   

I must say the embroidery was impeccably done and it was truly an honor to get to work on this one!  I looked online for other examples of how this quilt was quilted, and found most to be densely custom quilted.  When I shared these with Gail, they didn't mesh with her vision for the quilt.  We discussed many options, but in the end, a simple pantograph called "Bora Bora" was Gail's choice.  I can see a cold north wind blowing across the quilt, and it lets the embroidery be the star.

I used Superior's Microquilter thread which a fine, but strong 100 wt. thread to quilt across embroidery and all.  I am very pleased with the results.  

 This is definitely a quilt that will remain a family treasure!

Pineapple Quilt

It has been over two months since I have added anything new to this blog!  I have been quilting (among other things) and I hope this quilt makes up for the long silence.

Reneta made this wonderful quilt top from a tutorial by Jackie Padesky .  (Reneta did change the pineapple tops slightly.)  Reneta loved this quilt top and decided it deserved some "super dense over the top fabulous quilting".  No pressure! How to handle the pineapples came fairly easily, but it took me a long time to decide what to do as the background spaces in the quilt were not symmetrical.  Once I had the idea to include the "hibiscus like" flowers the rest fell into place. 

I used two layers of batting to make the quilting really pop.  A layer of Quilter's Dream Blend on the bottom, followed by a layer of Quilter's Dream Puff on top.

Reneta had a pieced backing, and although things turned out fine, I wouldn't recommend this much piecing on a back with dense quilting on the top, as the risks for a pleat or a messy looking back are high in my opinion.

I have quilted many quilts for Reneta and she always has a vision and often challenges my creativity.  This time she challenged me to step outside my box to complete her vision and I am really glad that I did.  I think I might need one of these for myself!

Bold Lug Nuts

I made this version of  the Lug Nuts pattern for my nephew's high school graduation.  I originally thought I might make a woodsy colored quilt as he likes the outdoors, but when I asked my nephew what colors he liked, his response was "yellow- the brighter, the better." Yellow?!? He liked yellow as a toddler and still does at 17.   Not usually my go to color, but when I thought about our Lug Nuts pattern and adding some grounding black and grey it seemed like it might be fun.

I have to thank Shari at Road 17 N in Winkler for selecting these fabrics with just a few words of direction.  She sent a few photos for me to pick from and quickly popped the fabric in the mail, and I had it two days later.

For the quilting I went with the Fascination panto and a grey thread.  The fabrics and layout are the stars of this quilt and I just wanted a nice even texture to hold it all together.

I used a wide Stonehenge backing fabric but decided to make it a little more interesting by adding a couple of the extra hexagons to the back.  I turned the edges under 1/4" and appliqued them to the backing before I loaded it on to my frame.

 

This is the first time I made a full size Lug Nuts quilt and it goes together quite quickly.  I was a little concerned about binding all the extra points, but with the bias binding it really was a simple process.  A little more time consuming than a straight edge, but not nearly as hard as I imagined it would be.

Lug Nuts is available in both paper via snail mail or and instant PDF download in our Highway 10 Designs Etsy Store.  Wholesale patterns are available through Checker Distributors or Quilt Source Canada or contact us directly at highway10designs@mymts.net.

 Thanks for making to the end of my picture heavy post.  I am quite pleased with how this one turned out!

Floral Pedal to the Metal

This wonderful quilt was made by Janice.  It is one of the versions included in our Highway 10 Designs Pedal to the Metal pattern and I haven't had the opportunity to quilt one like this before.

 

I really love the floral fabric that Janice used in the border and body of the quilt.  I am not usually drawn to florals, but there is something special about this one.

Janice selected the Wildflower pantograph and it provides a nice even all over texture that completes the quilt.

 Pedal to the Metal is available in paper or digital download in our Etsy store, or ask your local quilt store about bringing the pattern in for you.  Wholesale inquiries can be directed to highway10designs@mymts.net

Amy's Cross Stitch Heart 2.0

This is the second heart quilt that I have had the pleasure of quilting for Amy.  You can see 1.0 here    The base pattern that Amy used is "Cross Stitch Heart Quilt" by Pile o' Fabric.  Amy changed up the layout, but I was able to repeat many of the past quilting designs which made this one a little easier on me.  As this is a wedding gift she again requested that I personalize it with the couple's last name and year of their wedding.  

Here is a close up of the thread painting I did with a purple Magnifico thread.

For the borders I did wavy lines in the cross stitches, curly hearts and the ombre border got some flowing hook feathers.  Those were so fun to add!

The heart in the centre is quilted with more hook feathers and filled in with some branching curls.

One lucky couple received this gift on the weekend and I'm sure it will be cherished!  Great job Amy.

Drinks By the Pool in Vegas

This quilt was made by Reneta.  Reneta chose some fun and cheerful flamingo fabric for the focus of her Stack n Whack project.  Reneta often has a vision for her quilts that I need to extract from her brain so I know that we are on the same page.  I thought a panto might look nice, but Reneta has a different idea....

I did continuous curves in the kaleidoscope blocks.  I love how it looks on the back!

Now for where the title of this blog post comes in....  Reneta said the flamingos made her think of Las Vegas, and she likes to enjoy a drink by the pool while she is there, so martini glass were the order of the day.  I filled in with some stars and bubbles around them, and added a water meander to the outer border.

Day Break

This beautiful quilt was made by Connie.  It was a kit from Keepsake Quilting and the pattern is Day Break by Wendy Sheppard.  Hoffman fabrics has a slightly different version on this pattern as a free download.

We chose the Mimosa pantograph for a nice all over texture.  The pictures of this quilt do not do the fabrics justice.  These are some of the prettiest batiks with the most interesting patterns that I have seen in awhile.

It really is a stunning quilt and it is entirely made up of half square triangles!