Diamonds & Rust

Diamonds and Rust QuiltDiamonds & Rust might seem familiar to some of you; I designed it when I was a finalist in the 2012 McCall’s Quilt Design Star contest. I was intent on quilting it myself for the upcoming show and that’s exactly what I did.

I always get a bit nervous when I sit down to quilt a piece. It’s almost like I forget that I know how to quilt on my home machine (a fantastic Janome 7700!). I’ve done it many times before and once I start quilting I always enjoy it. I just have to get beyond my initial jitters.

I used a combination of stitch in the ditch, gentle curves with my walking foot (my Janome has an open toe Accufeed foot which gives great visibility) and free motion quilting. I tried not to overdo the free motion quilting, because there’s a lot going on with the design of the quilt. I used it in the yellow background in the center, the lightest blue backgrounds and the teal in the middle border. I did a simple stipple and I’m really pleased with how it came out.

In the next few days I should have photos of it hanging in the show, as well as the quilt I featured in my last blog entry.

I dropped off both quilts today and I’m looking forward to seeing them hanging with the other 400 quilts on Tuesday when the show opens! Several friends are showing quilts and I hope to post photos of their lovely work too, if they give me the okey dokey.

Enjoy your week!

Where have I been? Getting ready for a quilt show and a giveaway, of course!

stonehengeIt’s true; the Sauder Village Quilt Show will start next Tuesday, April 30th, and I’ve been working to get my two entries ready for the show. The show features about 400 quilts from the very talented quilters from our region and beyond. It’s always a treat to see what everyone is working on and, of course, to see my own quilts hanging in the show. If you are anywhere near northwest Ohio I’d encourage you to come see the show! It’s set in an historic village, which will open for the season on the first day of the show. For full information, see the Sauder Village website. If you’re inclined to make it an overnight visit, there is a lovely inn right on the premises!

I can share one of my entries with you; I’m still finishing up the other entry. This is an original design that I’ve been wanting to make for quite some time. I finally tackled it a last fall’s quilt retreat, sent it out to Charisma’s Corner for longarming and finished up the binding in the last week or two.

I was so fortunate to have Charisma quilt it for me. stonehenge-sideShe does incredible work and I felt strongly that this quilt needed top-notch custom quilted. She really did my top justice and I’m so pleased to enter it in the show.

My favorite part of the quilting is the gorgeous feathers along the sides and the way they wrap around the corners. I took great pains with the design to make sure that I had blank spaces for quilting and I’m so glad I did.

The quilt is 85″ square and I used Northcott’s Stonehenge fabrics and Aurifil 50 wt. thread for piecing. This was my first time using Aurifil and I’m so glad I did. It helped me to keep my seams as accurate as I could, and it’s now my thread of choice.

I hope to release a pattern of the quilt sometime after the show. It was fairly easy to make, suitable for a confident beginner, with lots of chain piecing and not too much fuss matching seams. It would be lovely in other colorways and especially in a scrappy version. The only ruler I used other than my standard one is the Tri-Recs Tool. I’m hooked on it!

Here are a few other views:

stonehenge-sideThis quilt needs a name! I could do what I always do and ask my husband to name it but I thought it would be much more fun if you all gave me your suggestions by leaving a comment below.stonehenge-center I’ll choose two winners from among all the submissions – one whose name I like and one at random – and you’ll each win a set of ten fat quarters from my way too vast collection. Let’s hear those ideas! Want an extra entry? Share this blog post on Facebook and let me know in your comment.