in the Quilting Studio, no. 33
The new year has brought a new batch of beautiful patchwork creations into my longarm quilting studio. I am so honored to collaborate with you on finishing your most special projects. Thank you for entrusting me with your quilts!
I’m all caught up now with longarm quilting work. That means my turn-around is currently lightning fast - just a week! Send me your unfinished project, and I’ll promptly return it to you with a beautiful new texture, ready to be bound and snuggled. My services are available via post to those living throughout Europe.
Tribal Feather Quilt by Bénédicte
Some of our best quilts are created for people we love. Bénédicte made this quilt for her daughter, who wanted a tribal vibe. That was not necessarily Bénédicte’s style, so she looked for inspiration from our online quilting communities. Just look at what she created!
Such a beautiful and dynamic design! The feathers were made with the free pattern at Play-crafts, while the circular layout was inspired by this quilt and the border from designs by Meg Callahan. It’s a brilliant use of creamy negative space, which gives the quilt a lightness, despite the tribal style.
All that negative space also begs for custom quilting! The spirograph quilting design emphasizes the wheel center. To keep things spicy, we substituted the flowers that normally fall in the spirograph corners for open-density fire quilting.
Bénédicte’s borders are finished with Pine Needles quilting. This slightly denser quilting design is well-chosen to reinforce the smaller-scale border piecing.
Overall, the quilting plan is uncomplicated, yet still bold and splashy like the patchwork. We’re both quite happy with the outcome!
Frame Quilt by Donna
I was perfectly delighted to unpack this color palette, when Donna’s quilt arrived. It’s an unusual combination, but so lovely!
Next I noticed how Donna’s choice of patchwork shows off her fabrics so well. Her quilt top is composed of a variety of block styles, which she calls frames, each centering on a large printed square.
Beautiful, don’t you think?
Donna requested an all-over quilting design for the quilt center, combined with a border quilting treatment. I suggested the Whisper quilting pattern for the center. It’s soft and dreamy, much like the Art Gallery Fabrics she’s used.
Flower Chain makes the perfect border finish! I might not have thought myself to quilt the border separately from the center of the quilt, in this case. I’m so glad that Donna @FilVolantPatchwork had the insight here. The separate border treatment is the cherry on top, which those beautiful blocks deserved.
La Passacaglia by Christine
I bet you were waiting to see more of this one! When Christine of @Lopolokko first contacted me about quilting her La Passacaglia quilt, I started hopping with excitement. La Passacaglia is a legendary English Paper Pieced quilt, always spectacular. I was certainly in for a treat!
This is the kind of quilt that is amazing from any perspective. Getting to enjoy it up-close was a privilege. It takes a ton of time to sew, as it’s all hand-pieced. Plus, quilters who sew La Passacaglia often fussy cut many aspects of the quilt to make the most of its kaleidoscope potential.
You can find the pattern for La Passacaglia in the book Millefiori Quilts by Willyne Hammerstein. Paper pieces and cutting templates are available in the small size, as per the book, or in enlarged sizes too (available here in Canada). Keep in mind that this is an advanced English Paper Piecing project. My friend Jodi at Tales of Cloth has a smaller-scale pattern inspired by La Passacaglia, which is called Pirouette. That’s a wise place to start if you’re newer to EPP.
So, with such a very special quilt, are you surprised that Christine opted for all-over quilting? I was at first, but after some thought I could see it was a reasonable choice. The quilt is already so special, so truly fantastic. There’s no need for fussy, complicated quilting to “add more interest.” Christine’s La Passacaglia illustrates the fact that custom quilting is not the default for every special project.
Here, all over Irish Swirl quilting compliments the swirling, turning style of the patchwork and thoroughly reinforces all those tiny seams, while not stealing any of the spotlight from Christine’s incredible patchwork masterpiece!
Would you like help finishing your project? New orders will be quilted right away. Please be in touch if you have any questions or start the process off by placing your order. I can’t wait to see YOUR quilt!
