Quilting in the Pines Show 2014

by | Sep 28, 2014 | Awards

This weekend was the biannual Quilting in the Pines Quilt Show put on by the Sandhills Quilt Guild.  They hold the show every other year in the historic 1917 Fair Barn in Pinehurst, North Carolina. I entered a few of my quilts, and had the good fortune of winning a couple prizes! I earned second place in the Miniature Category for my “Mini Square Dance Quilt“. There was a good assortment of miniature quilts this year, probably because they have been very popular in the last year or so and more and more designers are releasing mini patterns for sale. I also won third place in the “First Judged Quilt” category for my Blue and Brown Pandora’s Quilt.  This was one of my earlier quilts when I got my long arm, so I was very pleased to win an award for it 🙂 The guild also made a quilt cozy for a golf cart.  It was very appropriate because the Southern Pines and Pinehurst area are known for golfing. Overall it was a lovely show, in a great location, and I was honored to be recognized for my quilting. –...

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...