Completing 8 Years!

Amazing!! Eight years ago my Gammill Optimum + long-arm quilting machine arrived and my professional quilting journey began.

Here are a few stats and memorable happenings over the past twelve months.

This year: 80 customer quilts. 65% Pantos; 35% custom
So far: 559 customer quilts in total.

Pantographs - 52 (just more than 4/month)
Custom - 28 --ranges from 'lite' to moderately high level of custom  --lots more this year than last. (just more than 2/month)

Includes several quilted for charitable causes or in collaboration with someone else for a shop sample:

Quilted-in-Honor/Quilts of Valor designs and tests from Facebook group, Quilts of Valor Stars. These designs are all available in the Dangling Diamonds pattern as 'bonus' designs on Craftsy as a PDF download. I have the Boondoggle Rulers in stock and some kits still available. There is a 4th, but the 'tester' has not sent it back yet.

(Soaring) Flag, Memorial Garden or In Memory, Flyover

The special part is we were able to present two of them to veterans (one recently) and one today on Veteran's Day.

Here is another quilt I made this last week, adapting Krista Moser's Hollow Star to use a jelly roll of Tim Holtz's Electic Elements line, moda grunge and some Northcott Land of the Free Blue with light stars.

All 3 of the recipients are in their 80's and I'm so glad we got to share these treasures with them so they can truly feel loved.






Coulee Creators collaborative effort for Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce Fundraiser to be held the first Sat. night in December.

Bags of Love, Apache Junction, AZ

Shop Samples: Lights! Camera! Qu-action!; Baby Bubbles (and several more in the form of 'tops' right now in need of quilting! -- (I'll report more on those at the end of the calendar year)

My local, Lincoln County, WA show included several of my own quilts, joint projects and customer quilts. Of note, Dangling Diamonds received the INMQ Quilting 1st Place award. This quilt was also selected for inclusion in the 2018 AQS QuiltArt Calendar. While supplies last or Nov. 15 whichever is first, buy two and get 10% off and I'll cover the shipping--just mention this post!

 

One commission this year which will be finished by the client's daughter with an unquilted 'skirt' on three sides. Several more commissions are queued up to get done in the next month or so.















Proud of my clients who were willing to submit their quilts to various shows and help to inspire others to create beautiful treasures, regardless of getting the best of show ribbon or any other ribbon.
If your quilt, quilted by me, won something, please let me know!

We got brave and entered Nancy Goddard and my collaborative effort on 'Jewels' to AQS - Des Moines and it got juried in! What an honor!!

My Rondure-Seaglass was also accepted. This led to a very interesting conversation with one of the judges. Hopefully you'll see the results next year.

Besides having quilts in the show, I was also an instructor (Woven Braid, Geese on the Run and Beginning Paper Piecing) and lecturer (edge to edge without a panto, use the piecing of the quilt top as registration marks and find a continuous path). A first for me at such a large venue and national show.





















Rondure Retreat happened in March (vs. April as previously announced) Great to see the progress through the week --I had about 3 instagram postings a day of progress. 

In September I participated in the Christmas Caroling Row-along and I chose the Ornament Song to be my inspiration (ok, I had to find a song to work with my idea ;-)) Pattern available at Craftsy.

In October I hosted a 'do your own thing' retreat at Camp MiVoden on Hayden Lake, ID. It was the camp's first time hosting quilters, so I focused on logistics to make it a workable space for the attendees. Special activities included access to the indoor pool, outdoor hot tub, a bonfire on the beach and a massage therapist. Vegetarian meals including options for dairy and gluten sensitivities were provided for breakfast and dinner. We snacked, grazed and shared food at lunch time. We'll be doing a retreat again next year, Oct 21-26, 2018. Mark it on your calendar now and watch for details to sign up.

Do you still pick up a Country Register and catch my articles? If so, you've seen several of my Island Batik designs and there are more to come!  This year I had 3 released with Island Batik: Sea Bubbles, Fall Festival and Alpine Nights.

bottom quilt is Fall Festival                                         This Row quilt is Alpine Nights

At Fall Market was also the reveal of the Hosta BOM by Bella Nonna Design Studio that uses Island Batik fabrics. I had the privilege of quilting it for her!

Row by Row saw more discerning purchasing this summer. I still have a few kits from 2015, 2016 and 2017. FabricPlates from 2016 and 2017. Purchase here.

An exciting part of my journey was the selection of Winter Bright to be carried at Hancock's of Paducah and also in Keepsake Quilting's Holiday catalog that is online now and will ship soon. They both created fabric kits using the original Island Batik fabrics. Get them while they last! I also continued this year as an Island Batik Ambassador.

I'll do a review of my personal WIPs, all #islandbatik work and other finishes at the end of the calendar year....until then I'm grateful for the positive changes in my health this year (learning about inflammation and the new research that indicates gut health will change the way your thyroid works has been life changing!  --have your antibodies tested and see if this information can help you) Read more at thethyroidsecret.com or just google hashimotos or graves. I have so appreciated Izabella Wentz's approach and sharing of her own experience besides the over 2K cases she has documented. SO WORTH learning and not just assuming EVERY Doctor or practitioner knows EVERYTHING. There is lots of new information. Go to your next appointment armed with this NEW data! If you just don't feel good, consider doing the elimination diet (2-3 weeks) taking out all 10 typical categories of 'trigger' foods' and then begin reintroducing them one at a time for 3 days, then go to the next and see how your body reacts to each. You'll know when something has triggered a reaction in your digestive system, brain fog, increased blood pressure, etc. That is then an indication that you have identified a 'trigger' food that is causing all kinds of issues in your gut. Seriously--CONSIDER IT!!! I'm so glad I did and persevered to figure it out. I'm not considering it a life sentence yet...just an opportunity to heal my gut for now by keeping my trigger foods out of my diet and then we'll see what happens when I get to a happy place with my weight and medication levels (trying to wean myself off of one now).

Every quilt is special to the recipient and I especially enjoy being a part of that process. You can see all the photos I've posted in this year's album --click on Quilting Examples tab above and you'll see albums for each of the 8 years I've been doing this for others.

I'm looking forward to what the new year will bring, what treasures you'll entrust to me and who will come by in search of the needed notion or perfect fabric or just needing some advice on how to proceed with your project...happy sewing!

March Mini Madness

NOTE::: POSTED WAY AFTER IT WAS INTENDED ( HA!)

Maybe with the end of the World Series this past week, I remembered that I had never posted about another 'end of sporting season' event that was intended to happen in March of 2016! Well, here it is, with a few updates where needed.

With the March Basketball Madness going on --there are lots of clock stopping moments, right?

Our Island Batik March challenge in 2016 was to create a Mini! (no more than 24" x 24")

I've done a couple of mini's ...here are two that were done for a local guild challenge a couple of years ago. Each is less than 16" x 16". Use the red fabric in each 6" block (star, churn dash, log cabin, house). Fun to interpret it very differently. Yes, I made two!

Red and White (right) -- "Red Starry Night"

Picture Frame below --
"Sunshine Makes the Roses Grow"
 The idea is a house on a hill by the seashore, with a picnic blanket that an ant has found.
.

In that spirit, I've had this project on my list --an Irish Clock pattern which includes the clockworks that I picked up while in Ireland in 2012 from Nikki Foley's shop

-- The Sewing Shed in County Kerry --truly one of my most favorite areas of the entire trip. It was a fun excursion on a 'free' day (original post about the day) during a tour to the Emerald Isle, celebrating one of my tour participant's birthday. Renting a car, driving on the other side of the road and figuring out the lack of directional signs posted on the road were greatly helped by the onboard GPS.

























One piece of fabric that I received while in Ireland (right hand orange-ish with swirls piece) was always a desired part of the project, but I wasn't settled on the main fabrics. I had put several different collections together (at least the four pointy parts --including ones from Ireland), but nothing that really said, YES! MAKE ME NOW!. With the beautiful Lavish Island Batik fabric collection, I thought they went with this original piece of fabric beautifully and it tied the colors all together. Using it just in the binding seemed perfect. And with our Island Batik Ambassador March Madness Mini Challenge...it was time to do it NOW!

12 points coming together. yes!!!, but it is paper pieced and each component or pie wedge went together quite easily.













Now, get all of those seams together! Nikki had some great tips in the pattern and it worked out well.


And that is about as far as I got.

UPDATE:
In the spring of 2017 I quilted it with Thermore batting, so there is just a bit of loft. Used a 1/4" grommet tool (Thank you Sunflower Graphics!) to puncture the center and added the clockworks. Covered the back of a piece of cardboard (thanks pizza box!) with fabric so the clock will maintain its shape and can be easily hung. I used the fabric obtained in Ireland as the bias binding! A bit tricky to attach given the cardboard insert, but slow and steady got it done.

ok, so its June 2017, but its done!!

So pleased to have this off the project 'to do' list and grateful for the beautiful Lavish Island Batik fabrics and a bit of Holiday Happenings in the background (blackish fabric).

Do you try to create functional (non-quilt) pieces with your fabric? What is your favorite type of item?

Hope you enjoyed my stop during #MiniMadnessIB #islandbatik...only several months late (HA!)

Linking up at (wrong image but correct place)

30 years in the making - USC Homecoming Weekend

Ok, I'm just saying, this quilt was at least 30 years in the making. Yes, some of those t-shirts are from my senior year in college - 1987! Each one I look at, brings back a flood of memories. Glad they are back in the 'can be used' bin since I put a fleece back on it too.  I look forward to watching some football and being warm and full of team spirit with this quilt.

When I realized that this project, that had been in the works for years, coincided with 30 years since I graduated, I had to get serious! This spring at a retreat I got it pieced and this past month I pushed to get it quilted. At my retreat at Hayden Lake last month, I was able to get it bound.

Cheers to my classmates. Hope you had a great weekend at homecoming. Fight On!

Reindeer Games - #9 and an update

I've been keeping up fairly well with the I Wish you a Merry QAL. Block #9 is on right now and it is Reindeer Games. I took a bit of artistic license and this one is hiding in the woods so to speak. The background and the body are two different fabrics, but they got fairly close in color down near the bottom.

Since there have been a few blocks that I haven't blogged about, but posted on instagram or in the FB group, here is a recap of what I've got so far.

Three more blocks to go, then to come up with a fun 'setting' for them. Oh the ideas! :-)

If you'd like the pattern for this one, head over to the linkup and even get a dose of inspiration of various versions that have been made.

Ready for Christmas yet?

#islandbatik
#iwishyouamerryqal

Borders and Bindings

This month our Island Batik Ambassador challenge is borders and bindings. 

I've just returned from teaching at AQS Quilt Week in Des Moines, IA and enjoyed meeting students and sharing a couple of my Island Batik designs as well.  So, I've put together a re-cap of special borders and bindings over the last couple of years. I hope you'll enjoy the review.

When putting a pillow together, one way to finish it is to quilt the top, then put two overlapping pieces on the back and bind it like you would bind a quilt. The overlapping pieces allow the pillow form to be put inside and you're done!

Here an enlarged Circle of Geese Pillow, pattern taken from my co-authored book "You Can Quilt!" using the Sea Salt Sandy collection and Sprinkles background.







Sometimes you get 'leftovers' from the piecing of the center part of the quilt. In my "Geese on the Run" design I had extra half-square-triangles (HSTs) when piecing the scrappy flying geese blocks. I didn't use them all, but I added them as a border on two opposing corners.

Here is my cover version that I called "Desert Landscape" using the Rainforest collection. Pattern can be ordered from my online shop (http://www.kissedquilts.com/shop.html)

In this Heartfelt Holiday design (an adaptation of Heidi's from Electric Quilt), I added the 'photo corners' as a way to make it look more like a photograph in an old fashioned photo album. Designing an extra element into the border can change the effect of the whole quilt. This quilt includes several fabrics from the Holiday Happenings collection.

In this runner, I pieced the 3 blocks from Chapter 8 from my co-authored book "You Can Quilt!", I then added scrappy inchies by sewing 1 1/2" strips together and then crosscutting the 'strata' at 1 1/2". Figuring out how many you need and adding them as the 'center' of the border and sashings was easy since the finished size of each block was 12". Since I started with quite a few different scraps, I had small strata sets and just tried to keep it random in putting them together. 

Here is my "Flightline" runner using mostly fabrics from the French Roasted collection and a few additional similar and coordinating colors. 



Now for some bindings....
Many quilts get lots of use and I believe will hold up better if the binding is done completely by machine.  Here is a closeup photo of the one I did using "Glowing Embers" fabrics



Here are a couple of 'faux piped bindings'. Consider the desired size of the visible piping. Cut the piping color twice as wide as you want the piping to be plus half the size of your typical binding, plus 1/4" seam allowance. The outside color of the binding will only be half the size of your typical binding plus the 1/4" seam allowance to join the outside color and the piping color. EXAMPLE: If you like to cut 2 1/2" bindings and you'd like about a 1/8" piping, then cut the piping color 1 3/4" and the outside binding color should be 1 1/2".

Love Thistle - featuring Leah Day's block print in the center and other blenders.

Orange Blossoms using "Seas the Day" collection fabrics



When binding placemats, since you are likely making multiples, it can be quite tedious as each placemat requires the final join, etc. Using a concept shared by Poorhouse Quilt Designs in their Inside Out Mat, consider adding a 'flange' on the edge of the 'border' and sew the placemat with right sides together (backing and front border), then trim tight and turn border around to the front and top stitch in the flange ditch and top stitch about 1/4" from the edge to finish it off. Here is a recent example using this concept in my Inca Inspired placemats using "Fresh Pick'ins" Collection.