All red and white quilt

This quilt arrived at an extremely busy time in my life. So much is happening, and I don’t get to do as much quilting as I would like to. My youngest granddaughter, who stays with us after pre-school, now comes out earlier as the older classes are busy with exams. My mornings, therefore, are much shorter. Hubby is finally finished with the renovations inside the house and is now waterproofing the roof. 

On Wednesday, I finally had the skylights (there are three rather dark areas in the house) I so badly wanted installed. Then, we are expecting workers to fit new windows in the kitchen and replace the two wooden back doors with glass doors. When it rains, the wood swells, and we struggle to close the doors. So, the glass doors should eliminate that problem. (They never came this week...ughh!)

Furthermore, either one of us must always be on chicken duty.  House hen still threatens to kill the little frizzle, and we dare not leave them unattended. I just have too few hours in a day to do all my household chores and get a fair amount of quilting done, too.

This morning, I started quilting at 02:20 while hubby and the pets were still asleep in order to make some progress, as I’ve been working on this quilt for a whole week. The kids came over for Father’s Day as DIL made us lunch.  Needless to say, I took a well-deserved nap afterwards, but was able to take this all red and white quilt off the frame and pack it to be returned.

Wholecloth

 This was from a quilter whose friend wanted a solid white quilt, which she plans to gift along with a blue and white Peaceful Star quilt to go in the centre of the bed as a finishing touch.

I don’t design the inside of these solid-colour quilts (this is a different skill level), so I offered to do an edge-to-edge design.

Colourwash quilt

The maker of this quilt is the same lady who made the beautiful runner I so much enjoyed working on.

Because of all the different printed fabrics in the centre, I opted for an edge-to-edge design with just a little detail in the sashing and border.

Table runner

I get to see many beautiful quilts and as many pretty fabrics, but occasionally I get this one quilt that rings all my bells.  I received a parcel with two quilts, but could not get batting locally. I did not open it immediately as I had a couple of quilts already open, just waiting for batting. Being bored one weekend, I gave in to the urge to open the parcel and saw this absolutely stunning table runner.  It was small enough for me to decide to use some of my own remnant batting and get going with this.

Not being in a hurry to quilt anything else, I had time to think about the design and motifs and took my time deciding on this.  Most of the time, I feel rushed to finish a quilt to satisfy the customer, eagerly waiting for their completed product.  This little runner is a perfect example of what can be done when one is not rushed to finish.

Sadly, I finished this way too fast, due to the small size, and now have to wait for batting to do another quilt.

Group mystery in green

This is the third quilt by a member of one group who made a mystery in 2024. It is in lovely autumn colours.

Floral squares

This quilter made this quilt for her mom with soft mint-coloured fleece as the backing. I am sure it would be much appreciated and enjoyed with winter creeping up on us.

Group mystery quilt

This is the second of one group’s mystery quilts for 2024. I finished quilting the first one on 2 March of this year.

How different these two look simply because of the fabrics used. The first one is all pastels, while this one is bright and bold.

I again used my own motif, the one I doodled for the quilt done on 16 April, but added another little plume and the odd loop to travel to the next area.

Another pillow sham

 Oops! I forgot to post about this one.

This is from the same quilt maker as the previous two shams, and on this one, a simple ribbon edge-to-edge motif was done.

Protea print quilt

I met this quilter the first time just after I hatched a premature chicken whose eggshell was trampled by the hen.  This was early December, and I didn’t know if it would survive the night.

Now she is all grown, very demanding and inquisitive and a very special part of our pet family.

I finished this protea print, a gift to a co-worker of the quilt maker.

Scatter cushion shams… I think

Two smaller tops, I believe the smallest I’ve ever quilted, came my way. I can only imagine these would be used to make shams for scatter cushions. I picked up a little difference in the piecing between the two, but it is not my job to judge, and I always believed a completed project is way better than a perfect project.

Interlocking runner

There, I thought the previous quilt would be my last for a while, and then I received a couple more. I am not complaining, though.

This quilt maker made several quilts throughout her quilting time, but never got them quilted, and she seems to have decided to have them finished now.

The colours and border on this runner would be suitable for a Christmas table.  I, unfortunately, did not ask her what she intended when she made this.

Stars in pink and purple

 This grandmother made a quilt for her teenage granddaughter, and I felt so ashamed, as the last quilts I made for any of my grandkids were when they were babies or toddlers. I’ve attempted to piece a quilt again, but the mundane straight-line quarter-inch stitching got to me, and I realised that the freedom to move the machine to create motifs was far more fun. I think I should simply stick to free-motion quilting.

Got up at an ungodly hour the morning I was due to start this, and with hubby still asleep, I watched an episode of a series I started watching the previous day, but had a pencil and scrap paper on hand and doodled quilting motifs while watching.  I got to create one that I knew would work as an edge-to-edge and decided to give it a try on this quilt.

The colour on this photo is not the best and a better picture can be seen on my Gallery page.

Teal hexagon wall hanging

This is the last of the five quilts in the same pattern I’ve done lately. As much as I ran out of ideas on motifs to quilt each one to make them look different, I also realised I love the process. I can never guess the outcome until the very last stitch and the quilt are taken off the frame.

The Bothaville quilt maker will come to the city today and fetch her 3 quilts. With this done, I can phone the quilter of this one and have her arrange for it to be fetched by courier. Then I only have one more quilt left to do.

Positive quilt

This quilter had strips left from a previous project. She decided, “Waste not, want not,” and used these in a brand-new quilt. She says the wastage from the previous quilt turned into a positive when making this one.

Hexagon wall-hanging in green

 This is number 4 of 5, and after watching videos, I hoped to do something different.  I trust the quilt-maker will be satisfied.

Hexagon wall-hanging in blue

This is number three of quilts received from the same pattern, and I still have two more left. I ran out of ideas to make them all look somewhat different, so I got up before 4 a.m. and used this time to watch some YouTube videos for inspiration, and I got just that. I am always amazed at how many tips one can find on the internet and how things you already knew can take on a whole new look in different quilts.

Here are close-ups of the border and centre of this quilt.

Chevron table runnier

I thought to myself that I should do this small(er) table runner next, thinking I needed something that would finish up fast, but alas, all that could go wrong in longarm quilting did go wrong on this little runner: thread shredding, breakage, thread nests on the back, tension problems, and horrible eyelashes, to name but a few.

I unpicked more than I quilted, and I am still not satisfied with the quilting.  After taking it off the frame, calling it a day, I had to do intense problem-solving.  Whatever I did of all the things done, one was right, as now the machine works like a charm again.

Medallion sampler

Phew! This is the last of the 3 quilts from Bothaville, and a combination of edge-to-edge and custom work was done. The reason for this was that no matter what colour thread I chose for the centre, it would look horrible on the border and the medallion sashing or even the other way around.

Grandmother’s flower garden

This is the second of the 3 quilts from Bothaville I received last Tuesday.  The piecer intends to use this as a couch blanket and only needs edge-to-edge quilting.

Squares on check

Another quilt I cheated on regarding the date and time received, but I knew I would be able to finish this one fast. The maker knew exactly what she wanted, and I had nothing to plan or think about.

The other reason for popping this one in early was that it made the pile in my guest bedroom look less, as I get nervous just opening the door to the room.

Now off to start the others, still waiting.

Radiant in red

With this one, I broke my own rule of finishing quilts in order of the dates and time (if I got more than one quilt a day) I received it.

After the intense custom quilting on the Owl sampler, I just needed a quick finish, so I popped this all-red and white quilt on the frame.  It was also the first time I got to try out my newly fitted bobbin winder, and it worked like a charm.  As a rule, I use pre-wound bobbins, but these are only available in the most basic colours (in South Africa).  When receiving a somewhat different colour quilt, I must use my winder to match the thread to the fabric.

Owl sampler

What a week this has been.  After finishing the “all squares baby quilt”, I went to Bernina to fetch the bobbin winder they ordered, and with a handy hubby, it was fitted in a jiffy.  As I stopped at the shop, I had a call from a new quilter from Bothaville who saw my work at another quilter and asked if I’d quilt for her as well.  I said yes, and she then said they would be in Bloemfontein the next day, which they were, but I only expected one quilt; I was pleasantly surprised to see she brought 3!

It's not that three quilts are all that strange, but by then, I knew I was also expecting quilts from three other ladies from out of town, and when their quilts arrived, they had four in total.

A local quilter warned me she’d finish a quilt for a friend on Thursday, which she also did and just before she came, another local quilter brought another quilt.  To say it lightly, I was somewhat overwhelmed….. actually still am.  Most of these are custom quilting, and what makes it harder is that 3 of the quilts used the same pattern as one I did a while ago.  Guess I’ll have to come up with different ideas for every quilt.

Decided I can only do my best when I can, and tackled this, the first quilt.  Surely the name is not Owl sampler, but the owl caught my attention when I opened it up, so I simply named it.

All squares baby quilt

This quilt arrived via courier on Thursday, just before our long weekend in South Africa and my sister visited me.  It had to stay on the back burner until Sunday after my guests left. Initially, I had no idea what to quilt but as with most quilts, even if you have an idea, it might change relatively fast once you get going.

In the end, I think the motifs chosen worked well.

Squares in blues

With this last quilt, after the influx of quilting, I had during February and March, I noticed my bobbin winder not working.  Having my machine for more than 7 years I suspected it not to last forever although I mostly used pre-wound bobbins.  I also knew I did plenty of quilting daily, so I thought it was time to give the machine a good full-body treatment and check if I didn’t have any thread or lint caught up in the winder.

I got a rather unpleasant surprise when the machine was opened up and I noticed the cables to the winder were cut and definitely not when I owned it.  I then too remembered the heaps of problems I had after the initial purchase and several so-called ‘components’ having to be replaced.  Now those were luckily still under guarantee and, as far as I know, I purchased a new machine.  Now with the cut wires, I am seriously suspecting a refurbished machine was sold to me, with Bernina, the local distributor, hoping I’d never find out.  I am sure Grace USA is totally unaware of this and when I mentioned it to the local technician in Johannesburg, he just chuckled, not denying it, not arguing or trying to prove me wrong. I am really disappointed in Bernina South Africa.

Anyway, there is more than one way to skin a cat, and with external winders (on my Pfaff domestic machines) I am still able to wind bobbins, if needed and I finished the all squares in blue by doing just that.

I just received a quilt all the way from Nelspruit but with a long weekend coming up and me having my sister visiting, not much quilting will happen until next week.

Sampler quilt

This is an Annie du Toit, a local designer, pattern made by the daughter-in-law of a quilter who was once renowned for her quilting knowledge but sadly lost her life in a car accident in 2009.  I was however glad to see the quilting tradition continuing in the family.

The maker just wanted an edge-to-edge quilt, and it turned out to be one of the smaller quilts I did with the most unpicking ever. The quilt has 3-D blocks with points and triangles that are loose. More than once, I stitched over these. The quilter did not mind, but I am sure she would not have appreciated it when I quilted the triangle in the wrong direction.

When I told this to the maker, she replied “if you don’t learn to love unpicking, don’t start quilting".  How true is that?!

All solid printed tops

I just finished the little doll printed top and got 3 more similar ideas. The printed tops had to be layered with batting and backing and turned into quilts by adding the stitching. These went fast as they were not big and had no seams that I had to be careful with.

Doll print

This is from the same quilter in the previous post, meant for her little granddaughter and was a solid piece of fabric with little dolls printed on it.  Again, she did not want any detailed quilting so we opted for squares.

Alternating colours in squares

This was for a new customer who disliked any patterns or motifs and just wished to have something as plain as possible and not too dense.  Large scale meandering to the rescue.

Travelling fabric in autumn colours

The fabric used in this quilt has an interesting story. A friend of a quilter gifted her a jelly roll in autumn colours. She kept it for years, not really knowing what to do with it, and eventually gave it to another quilter in her group.

The latter quilter then made this interestingly pieced quilt and returned the top to the original quilter.  I then had the honour to quilt it and afterwards, the completed quilt will be gifted back to the friend who originally gave quilter number 1 the jelly roll.

 

Group mystery quilt

One of our local quilt groups worked on a mystery quilt in 2024 and one of the quilters brought her queen-sized quilt to be quilted.

The colours were perfect and so relaxing to work with. Whenever I entered the frame room, just looking at the fabric brought me calmness.

Quilt in autumn colours

The third quilt using this pattern, with the loveliest autumn colours and for this I did the echo paisley or teardrop, which I haven’t used as an edge-to-edge pattern on any previous quilt.  I have used it in smaller sections of other quilts, but never covered the whole quilt and it worked well.

Phew!  With this post my blog is finally up to date again.  I've started to share my quilts on Facebook and neglected the blog.  Now I feel much better.

Quilt with woodland animals prints

As said, the same pattern as the previous one, just with woodland animals printed on some blocks.  For this one, thinking of a forest, I chose the leaves free motion pattern with the odd loop to travel to the next space.

Quilt with fish print fabric

This specific pattern must be the all-time favourite for this quilter as she uses it frequently and in fact, the next three quilts I’ll be sharing are all the same pattern, just using different prints on fabric.

I again used the free motion water motif as I felt it suited the little fish printed on some of the fabric blocks.

Nine patch quilt

Apart from beautiful, this quilt was massive.  I tried to take a photo of the completed quilt but it hung over the queen-sized bed and touched the floor!

The colours used, however, were striking with the quiet background to tone it all down.

On the beach

In several blue batik fabrics, this was made by one of our local quilt shop owners and looking at the quality of her work, I wonder why she makes so few quilts.

She has all the best machines, stunning fabric and resources available to her, but one quilt in a year is quite a lot.  Therefore, I came to the conclusion that she is simply lazy! (sorry Marie)

Having so many printed fabrics would have been a waste of not only her money but my time to try and do custom quilting.  The motifs would have disappeared, and with the blue colour and beach name, I did an edge-to-edge water motif.

Quilt with hand embroidery

This must have been the tiniest hand-embroidered blocks I’ve ever seen on a quilt and so extremely well done; I had to touch a couple of blocks as I thought the pictures were printed on the fabric.

I really had fun doing this one.

Sampler with sparkling blue fabric

This one was sent from the city of diamonds, Kimberley and a neatly pieced sampler in shades of blue with a pop of shimmer in one of the fabrics.

The quilter only wanted an edge-to-edge and something floral, so I chose the clover flower.