Square Dance Quilt

by | Nov 11, 2014 | Completed Longarm Quilting

This next quilt is one of my favorite quilts I have ever done!  It is the Square Dance quilt that I made using my own blocks and those of my group in Stash Bee, Hive 12. I love loading a fresh quilt onto the machine because each quilt is so full of potential. Then, as I quilt, the design begins to show itself.  I used grey thread to make the feathers in the grey section. Then I switched to aqua thread for the star centers.  I liked the contrast between the feathers and the angular, geometric design in the stars. One afternoon, as I was under the machine to double-check the tension, the sunlight was reflecting off my machine onto the back of the quilt making a lovely design. On a custom quilt like this that took 25-30 hours to quilt, seeing the end of the quilt is a welcome sight! This photo was immediately after I pulled the quilt off my machine.  I love how this quilting turned out! I entered the large Square Dance Quilt (8″ blocks) into the North Carolina State fair, and earned 2nd place in the Group category.  My mini square dance quilt is the same block design, but with 3″ blocks and a small border.  It earned 2nd place in the Miniature Category at the Quilting in the Pines Quilt Show, and the Floral Fantasy Quilt Show.  It’s amazing how different the same design can look with different quilting, colors, sizes, and borders! One last shot of the back of the quilt.  I’m so happy I used a solid grey for the majority...

Square Dance Mini Quilt

by | Sep 17, 2014 | Completed Longarm Quilting

This is the miniature quilt version of my Square Dance quilt pattern (8 inch finished version currently available on Craftsy).  I’m working on expanding the sizes available, and these blocks are 2.5 inches finished. Below is a closeup of the Square Dance mini quilt top prior to quilting. This quilt measures 17″ by 20″, so it actually fit on my machine between the rollers.  It required no advancing to finish.  You may think that long arm machine quilting is only for your biggest quilts, but I can do any size.  If you send several small projects at the same time and use the same backing, machine quilting can be worth it even for small projects. Here is a closeup of the design – I used the Bread Basket panto for the center of the mini quilt and did piano keys in the outside border. You can really see the texture on the back.  I used one leftover block and centered it with tan linen.  I really love how the linen as the backing turned out, and it was no issue to quilt. Here is another angle showing the quilting a little more. Please let me know if I can assist you to finish your quilt top of any size – even if it is only 17″x 20″ like this one! Also, this is the tutorial to make the blocks used in this quilt. – Heather...

Spinnaker Quilt

by | Jan 11, 2014 | Completed Longarm Quilting

This is the last quilt I had on the machine before Christmas, a Christmas gift for my dad.   The design is a rounded rectangle edge to edge panto.   I quilted it with putty (beige) So Fine #50 thread.  It was a good neutral color for a quilt with so many colors.   I also machine sewed the binding on to the front of this quilt – saving tons of time!   This is the back of this quilt.  The back was pieced, and there is linen in both the back and front, but it quilted up very nicely.   Here is the completed quilt – so pretty!   It was wonderful to end the year on this note 🙂...

Out to Sea Quilt

by | Dec 14, 2013 | Completed Longarm Quilting

This quilt is an oversized baby quilt meant to transition from baby to toddlerhood in both size and motif.   It is centered around the pirate girls from the “Out to Sea” fabric collection, and is a fun quilt both front and back. This shows a closeup of the pieced back.  The map is also a panel from the “Out to Sea” fabric collection. This shot of the back really shows off the nautical quilting design.  I used light grey thread on this quilt to blend in. Here is a closeup of what the design looks like on the front. Now, some action shots of the quilting in progress.  My Millennium is center stage in this one. I love how you can see the design on the light back as I rolled the completed portion up. Closeup action shot of my machine at...

Blue and Brown Pandora’s Box

by | Aug 26, 2013 | Completed Longarm Quilting

This quilt is from “Jelly Roll Quilts” by Pam & Nicky Lintott.  It is a sweet blue and brown baby version.  I quilted it with interlocking squares in a geometric pattern to make it a little more masculine and to help it survive lots of use.   Here it is loaded on the long arm.     A closeup of the quilting design.  I used light blue thread that blended nicely into the blue portions, but didn’t stand out too much in the cream and brown sections.       This is a true color version of this quilt.   This one shows the design a little better.  ...

Pink and Brown Quilt

by | Aug 4, 2013 | Completed Longarm Quilting

This is a special quilt that was a long work in progress!  I started this quilt in early 2011 while I was in Afghanistan.  More of the story of this quilt can be found here.       I quilted it with an allover heart pantograph to help keep the quilt feminine and soft.  The closeup below shows the design better than the overall views.  I used a very light pink that blended well into the multitude of shades of pink and cream.         The back shows the design as well.   This is the pieced back.  The bottom pink portion is flannel, so this will be a soft and warm quilt....