New life for an old quilt...

My cousin, Amy, contacted me a few months ago and asked me if I could quilt an old quilt top that she had come across recently.   It's a double wedding ring pattern, and the top was in excellent condition and from the 1930s.  It was all hand-pieced and I could tell that the quilter who pieced it was an accomplished quilter.  The bright yellows of the top made me decide that it needed an equally cherry backing, so I backed it with a matching yellow, and bound it in that as well.  I would imagine the original quilter who pieced this top so many decades ago has gone on to her reward now, but I'd like to think that she would be pleased that her work has now been finished off with this quilt.  :)

Featured Quilter at the Jonesboro Quilt Show 2013

I was both honored and humbled when I was asked a few months ago to be one of four male featured quilters to exhibit some of my works at the 2013 Jonesboro Quilt Show, which was April 13-14.  At first I was hesitant because I thought mine wouldn't be good enough and also because of the distance (about 2.5 hours from where I live).  But after talking some more with the organizer of the show, I decided why not.  I'm really glad that I did, too, because it was a fun experience and was kind of fun being showcased like that.  :)   Below are some pics from the exhibit.

A customer's beautiful first quilt

Below are pics that a customer, Betty Howard, sent me of her beautiful quilt that she had finished binding after I quilted it for her.  And this was her FIRST QUILT!  Can you believe it?  I know that MY first quilt didn't look anywhere near this beautiful.  She did an exceptional job on the piecing, and did I mention this thing was huge?  100" x 105".  Quite ambitious for a first quilt!  But she pulled it off, and now it's been gifted to her son.  Lucky man!

(*click on a pic to see a larger view*)

A quilt that was a "challenge"...

I was the challenge chairman last year in two of the guilds that I'm in, and the challenge was a block-of-the-month using block patterns from the 1890s.  The patterns were offered in 12" and 9" sizes, and I decided to do mine in the larger 12" size.  We also offered an optional 13th block for those who wanted to set their blocks on point, which I did.  Below is my rendition of the challenge quilt.  I decided to do a pieced border on it as well, so it took some mathematics to get that to come out right.  I'm very pleased with how it all turned out, and the challenge was a big success, a lot of people participated in it.  

"Blackbirds In My Winter Garden"

Below are pics of my quilt that I recently finished.  I call it "Blackbirds In My Winter Garden".  The quilt is based on two separate patterns from the "When the Cold Wind Blows" book by Barb Adams and Alma Allen of Blackbird Designs.  The inner portion of the top is based on the "Winter Garden" pattern, and the borders are based on the "Autumn Thistle" pattern, although I changed the borders up somewhat - added the berries in the border, modified the corner treatment, as well as added the 2012 year on the bottom border.  I love the olde world look of this quilt.  The applique is all fused and machine stitched with a blanket stitch around the edges of all pieces, and I quilted it on my Gammill longarm machine.  It's king size, measuring 102" square.

(click on photo to enlarge it)

Another t-shirt quilt for Christmas...

Here's a pic of another t-shirt quilt that I did for a customer.  It's actually for her daughter and made from her t-shirts she accumulated at college (Ouachita Baptist University, hence, the purple).  The customer that I did this for is actually someone I graduated high school with, so we go back a ways!  She really liked it when she picked it up, which always makes me happy.  :)

(click on the pic for a closer view) 

Currently on the longarm...

Here's a pic of my current project.  I've been working on it for a little over a year now, and am FINALLY to the quilting stage.  Right now I am doing the background quilting, which is a very close "leafy" type of quilting, so is taking a long time.  But it looks nice and feels really good to the touch, a lot of texture.  I'm calling this one "Blackbirds In My Winter Garden", since there are blackbirds in the border around the edge of the quilt.  This quilt has an "Olde World" feel to me, I really like the subject and colors of it.  I'm hoping to have it finished sometime next week and will post a final pic of it then.

(click on the pic for a closer view)