I'm really enjoying seeing so many lovely quilts come through my studio for longarm quilting.  The colors, fabrics, patterns - I know you understand that joy.  The quilt I'll share with you today is one that especially caught my fancy. 

This is Diabolical Jane, a quilt by Jessie Aller copied from a nearly 200 year old quilt she saw on a museum tour with the DC Modern Quilt Guild.  The main part of the quilt makes a dramatic "X".  When Jessie asked me to longarm quilt it, I was giddy with excitement to see it in person.

Jessie asked for a square meander, which we didn't have in our pattern catalog at the time.  I was quite happy to find one that she liked and add it to our repertoire.   That's the wonder of computer-guided quilting.  We can add new patterns with ease!

I selected a tan thread for quilting, which harmonizes with the warm colors of the main quilt top.  Quilting pattern scale is also totally adjustable on our longarm quilting machine.  Here we opted for a somewhat small scale, which allows the eye to take in the meander in the quieter areas of the quilt.

When Jessie and I were planning the quilting for her quilt, we struggled initially with thread color.  Because her quilt top is medium/low value and her border is dark value, no single thread color would blend with both.  Jessie knew she wouldn't be happy with a light colored thread on her dark blue border, so she upgraded her quilting order to have a separate border treatment.  Instead of doing the square meander edge-to-edge, we quilted the square meander over the pieced quilt center only.  The wide border received a separate quilting pattern in matching blue thread.

Behold the Baptist Fan border.  Are you smitten? 

Because, I am in love.

Seriously, when can I do this again?  I must make a Diabolical Jane quilt someday!  And when I do, I think it will have a Baptist Fan border. You can find the free tutorial on Jessie's website.  

Thank you, Jessie, for the priviledge of quilting this beauty.  I hope you are perfectly delighted!