Quilting the Quilt - Simply. . .

My posting has been sporadic, I know.  Being a quilt shop owner has become what I've always heard:  once you own a shop you no longer quilt.  It's proving to be true and I have not been getting any personal creative time.  I have, however, begun quilting for customers again.  So I thought I would share my longarm machine quilting endeavors.

This is Maureen's table topper.  The linear complexity of the quilt lends itself to stitch-in-the-ditch.  I did, however, want to create some movement. 

So I took a liberal view to following the line with this.

As a quilter, my style is to enhance the quilt top's pattern and fabric.  This simple quilting design adds to the quilt yet maintains the quilt's pieced style (and is easier than stitch-in-the-ditch:).  The next time you quilt, consider the quilt's piecing design.  What, if anything, do you want to call attention to.  Then select the simplest stitching design that will enhance it.  Quilting does not have to be complicated to produce good results.  

Enjoy, don't fret about, your next quilting project.  Start simply and with practice, practice, practice you WILL find the ideas and skill will come.

Until next time,

Sharing my longarm quilting. . .

Today I finished quilting this on my longarm.  Although I've been quilting for almost eight years, I have not spent much time perfecting feathers.  To tell the truth, I didn't have much interest.  But perspectives and experiences change and I've felt challenged to improve my feather designs.

These are the feathers I put in the border.  For me, the hardest part of feathers has been finding a style that works:  my style. 

I purchased two books last year that have assisted me in working through developing my feather style:  "Freemotion Quilting" by Judy Woodworth and, "Feather Adventures!" by Patsy Thompson.  So what do you think?  Do you think I have found my style?  I would love to know your thoughts about feathers.

This is the quilt center, using the flame and line quilting that I am partial to.

 It is my preference to add some type of line quilting to create structure and bring balance to the curved quilting, in this case feathers.

 Until next time,