News from the Studio, Episode 713

A project update

Thought I’d pop on and show you some of what I’ve been working on lately. I haven’t written in a while. I also feel like I haven’t been getting anything done, but when I went to gather photos for this article, it was more than I thought!

In an effort to organize all the things I brought into my studio of my sister’s, I pulled out several of her smallest projects and quilted them up one weekend all at once.

She had these four blocks pieced up from leftovers from a larger quilt she had done a long time ago, so I turned them into this little table mat:

Years ago, Katy and I had taken a workshop together and we each started a quilt called “Ferris Wheel” from a pattern in a magazine. The quilt called for 20 blocks, which I obediently cut out, but I see that Katy was smarter than I, and stopped at only 4 blocks and pieced hers into this little wall quilt. So hers is done, and I’m still working on mine!

Among her things, I found this bright happy table runner that she had quilted on her domestic machine, and my guess is that she was not happy with the quilting she had done, so she shoved it in a pile and ignored it. I pulled it out, ripped out all of her quilting, and re-quilted it on my longarm. I think she’d like it now! The pattern is “In Bloom”, from the book The Joyful Stitcher by Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka’s Treasures.

Additionally, this hurt my heart when I found it:

She was in the process of whipping down the binding on this sweet Esmerelda Elephant quilt, and never got it quite finished. So I finished up the binding for her. (This pattern is available on Etsy if you search for “Esmerelda Elephant quilt”.)

She also had this little appliqué and embroidery piece nearly finished. It’s a pattern called “Sing” by Bonnie Sullivan of All Through the Night. There’s actually a bit more to it in the pattern, but this is where Katy stopped, so I left it like she had it, and turned it into a pillow. I thought a cushion might be a more useful item for her kids to use.

Let’s see . . . what else have I been working on?

Oh! This set of blocks was in Katy’s things as well, so I thought it might be quick to set together into a finished top, and it was. She made these from a set of templates by Victoria Findlay Wolfe called “Pavement Puzzle”. (The templates/pattern are available at vfwquilts.com) I think it turned out so cute, and while I have yet to get it quilted, I think her daughter will love it. It’s a good couch size. So what do you think — should I do pink or black binding?

Other than that, I’ve been mostly at the longarm, or running around doing random things, when I really just want to be at home quilting.

I recently quilted this lovely colorfulness for a friend and customer, Pam, who promptly entered it into a show and won a ribbon with it!

And here’s a shot of the back side of another quilt that I can’t show you the front of just yet:

And then I loaded this gorgeous backing:

So I could start quilting on this Quiltworx Paradise in Blooms quilt for Valerie. Now, Valerie is a seriously accomplished longarm quilter her ownself, so when she asked ME to quilt for HER, I gotta say it’s a bit intimidating, so I’m taking my time trying to do it justice.

I’m also plugging away at a few of my own projects. I keep telling myself that every stitch is one stitch closer to finished. One of these days, something will inch its way to the finish line, so I keep chipping away at them. What have YOU been working on??