Three quilts.....................

Hello readers, if you have been watching on Quiltmekiwi's Facebook page you will have seen some sneak peeks of three different quilts. I am happy to now share them with you.
First is Juliet's stunning Zebra Quilt..........................

Juliet is a pattern designer from right here in New Zealand, this is another one of her original dynamic creations that I have been most fortunate to have the fun of quilting it for her.
I have quilted a few of Juliet's designs and enjoy them each time, there is a lot of ditch stitching that needs to take place, but once that tedious necessary job is over it's onto the fun stuff!!

I chose three different variegated threads for the three 'colour lots' for the eclectic mix of background fills. I used Superiors Fantastico, Madeira and Gunold 40 weight threads. Juliet chose cotton batting. This quilt measures 81" x 64", all foundation paper pieced.

 Because I had used rather 'organic' background fills I kept that flowing out to the border with an 'organic' piano key border. (my definition of organic is "not perfect, not even and very carefree"  quilting....I don't think that's the dictionaries definition :-)

                           
                              Juliet's backing was this beauty, quite a silky piece but lovely.

                                       
                                        Here it is trotting back home to Christchurch!

Thanks for letting me loose on another of your quilts Juliet! Please checkout Juliet's blog *here*.

Next is Jacki's Turning Twenty beauty. Jacki has been with me from my very beginning quilting days and trusts and knows I know she doesn't like "frilly dilly quilting" (her words!).

A simple loose stipple, ditch stitching that mustard sashing then piano keys on the border (straight this time no 'organics')

          Bamboo/cotton batting, Signature & Perma-core threads, the quilt measures 68" x 78".

Next is a rather pretty scrappy mostly hand pieced quilt made by Sue for her daughter's mother-in-law who lives in Ireland.

Soft flowing florals, the applique is hand done and pretty much most of the piecing is also completed by hand! It was intended to be hand quilted also but Sue ran out of steam and flushed me out to finish it off for her.

No dense background fills this time, much softer on the quilt and the wallet! I added to the vase of flowers with feathers, tendrils and leaves.

It slipped my mind to take final photo's of the appliqued hearts and vases as I did add some quilting to these at the very end of the quilting process. As my usual order I ditch stitched around the applique's and other places in need of this treatment before the fun artistic stuff starts, it's a bit like when you were a kid, if you ate your veges first then you were left with the best bits for last!

This quilt measures 55" x 55" and the batting is Sue's (cotton I think?) I used Glide threads in the yummy colours of "Linen" and "Peacock".
The central area and pieced border was treated with orange peel and cross-hatching.

The backing was Sue's own, a pretty floral. Thanks so much Sue, I hope this is well loved and cuddled in Ireland!

With those three out of studio what's next? Thanks for stopping by, always appreciated.

Swimming ribbons and a jelly roll race

The first quilt I have to share with you today is the quilt Sheryl-Anne made her 17 year old daughter. Stitched with love, made from her daughters swimming ribbons!

Such a different quilt, but ever so special. Sheryl-Anne asked for ditch stitching between each ribbon length then a swirl on the sashings and borders.

Sheryl-Anne had stitched each ribbon on the a calico foundation using a loose zig zag stitch. Her choice of backing was denim and the batting was wool.

Next a quilt made by Raewyn for her 17 year old grandson. Raewyn participated in a Jelly Roll race!

 Raewyn asked for an all over quilting design and left it up to me to choose the design. I chose "Gossamer". I used a Signature thread in autumn tones.

I'm sure these two teenagers will enjoy their quilts!

Next is a sneak peek of a Sue Spargo quilt I am working on, and just between us I have fallen in love with it!

Until next time be kind to each other and enjoy each day........................................

In memory of my Mum whom I said goodbye to after a battle with cancer.

Gift giving

Christmas time seems as good a time as any to give a quilt as a gift, it seems many of my customers are doing this very deed this year.

Penny gave me two quilts she is intending to give to her grandchildren this Christmas, first is this fun and funky 'Monster/spaceship' quilt.

I love the vibrancy of this quilt, it has a sense of fun about, I see this quilt having two lives, one for hut making, the other for snuggling under and reading stories by torch light!
The back is fun and funky also.

Next is a sweet quilt, so perfect for a wee girl..................what girl doesn't like fairies?

Shirley Barber has the most delightful fairy folk, I still have my girls fairy books.

Penny requested all over quilting designs for both quilts as well as the full 'Quiltme' service - that is to quilt, make and attach the binding and hand stitch in place on both quilts.

Lastly for this post at least (still three more quilts to share with you) is the quilt Pam made for her son for Christmas.

This quilt is large: 98" square, it was raining cats n' dogs so the photo's were taken inside, so difficult to get a full photo of such a large quilt inside, usually I hang the quilts up outside.

Pam requested a large stipple through the middle of the quilt, then when looking for ideas for the border she saw the background filler I did on Juliet's quilt and loved that, see this post. (minus the bubbles/pebbles)

I will be back with the final quilts of the year later, for now I will leave you with my new snowman for my collection that my sweet friend Julie gave me and a photo of Whangarei's very own Christmas tree.

custom and all over quilting, plus a couple of wins for me!

Happy Friendly Friday! Hello to all from near and far!
The first quilt I have to share with you is one my customer asked for an all over quilting design.

Slip on your sun glasses for this cheerful zippy quilt! Liz made this whack and stack quilt using batik fat quarters.

I quilted a swirl leaf for the all over quilting using a lovely YLI variegated thread in rich purples and wine reds, difficult to see I know, but trust me, it is very appealing.

Liz has donated this quilt to be raffled at her grandchildren's gala. I am sure someone will be delighted to win this lovely cheery quilt. The quilt measures 60" x 67" batting : Matilda's Own wool/poly.
For the back lovers............................

Next is another cheery quilt of a different kind. Made at one of The Country Yard's  classes called "Loose Change".

Lois is fondly know as 'The Cat Lady' simply because she cannot resist cat fabrics, so much like I cannot resist one hundred dollar bills.....................but it seems my stash is rather tiny, in fact my hundred dollar bill stash does not exist!! You win the biggest stash competition Lois!
I think Lois may have put a dent in her cat fabric stash with this quilt.

When Lois Let me Quilt  for her we went for cross hatching, as I did for my shop sample, see here. The border was given a custom quilting treatment of 'cat' words such as : "curiosity killed the cat" ~ "cat got your tongue" ~ meow ~ pussy cat ~purr like a cat..........and so on and so forth!

The quilt measures 72" square and 50%wool50%cotton batting, signature thread for the cross hatching and madeira poly neon for the border..
Lois made a fabulous backing fabric pieced with some more of those cat fabrics!

a snapshot of the back

Thank you Lois and Liz for your continued supply of quilts.

Now to share a couple of wins I have had recently. The first is from Julie over at JulieKQuilts. I thoroughly enjoy Julie's blog, she makes the loveliest scrappy quilts and her needle turn applique is stunning. As a busy nurse she sure gets many quilts started AND finished! Usually her lovely dog Rosie is on hand to give her approval of any quilts laying on the floor.

Looks like a fun quilt, I have seen a few of these quilts popping up out there in bloggy land. Thank you so much Julie.

Next is actually two wins. Primitive Gathering Magazine and one of the sisters Jeni were having separate giveaways.............................you know you leave a comment thinking someone will win this lovely prize but not me. Well I won, such a nice feeling.

On Jeni's blog we were asked to name her online sew along. I said I liked the name "A Life of Plenty". Then on the Primitive Gatherings blog I answered one of their survey's. So they bundled up my prizes and sent them all the way down to little New Zealand to me! Thank you so much ladies!. Jeni I think I have all the material's to start your sew along!

Christmas is coming along nicely so if you are wanting me to quilt for you before Christmas you still have time to send your tops to me. See "Let me Quilt for You" for tips and ideas.

Well another week on the wind down, I hope you are all planning a happy weekend! Thanks for stopping by.