Currently on the longarm...

....is my mystery quilt that I made in 2010 with the Arkansas Quilters Guild.  It was made with fabrics from the Old Primrose Inn collection by Blackbird Designs.  I'm doing a pantograph pattern on it which is basically a lot of swirls and ornate looking. 

Vintage quilt top #8 done

Below are pics of another vintage quilt top that I recently made into a quilt. The top was made (all hand-pieced) by Mary Susan (Weathers) Senter, and she was born in 1843 and died in 1937 at age 93. She married Robert Winthrop Senter in 1861 when she was 18. So the top predates at least 1937.

This is one of about a dozen tops that belonged to a couple that I'm good friends with (he's the grandson of Mary Susan Senter). It measures 68" x 80".

I quilted this on my longarm just doing a meandering quilting.

More quilts done....Polyester!

Here are some pics of the last 3 of 7 quilts that I just finished for someone. The first two shown below were made from all polyester fabrics and were HEAVY. And STETCHY! It was like trying to quilt Jell-o. But I made it through it. They were all 3 pieced long ago by her grandmother and she wanted them quilted to give as Christmas presents.

Cleaned up the studio!

I spent the last couple of days doing some dedicated cleaning up of the studio, so I thought I would post pics of it while it's still clean. Hopefully, it'll stay this way a while. In the second pic, you can see the edge of a loveseat in the room for sitting, and behind it (out of camera range) are bookshelves with all the quilting books I've collected. At the far end of the room is the "pit" where I piece tops, and my wife and daughter have their machines down there as well. The whole studio area is about 11' x 25'. Wish I had more, but this works!

A "manly" quilt....

This quilt is one that I made for a customer's father for Christmas. It was made using homespun woven fabrics, and measures 56" x 66". The one posted below it is the one that I made for his mother.

quilt using Kansas Trouble's "Garden Inspirations"

Here's a quilt that I made for my boss's mother for Christmas. It was made using fabrics from the "Garden Inspiration" collection by the Kansas Troubles designer, and measures 56" x 66". I have another one in progress for his father using the same pattern but using homespun wovens fabrics instead for a more "manly" looking quilt.

Rag quilt that I made for a friend's daughter

Here's a couple of pics of a rag quilt that I made for a friend's daughter for Christmas. It's made from all flannels and is full size, measuring 80" x 88". A very warm, cozy quilt!

Another vintage quilt top quilted....Circles!

Here's a pic of a quilt top that I finished quilting and binding for someone. The top was hand pieced by her grandmother years ago and measures 62" x 74". The circles are all pieced (not appliqued). A very unusual looking quilt, I really like it!

Another vintage quilt top quilted....

Here's the third of seven quilt tops that I'm currently quilting for someone. The top was pieced decades ago by her grandmother and it measures 62" x 72". Beautiful colors.

Nine-patch in yellow and pink...

Here's the second of seven quilt tops that I'm currently quilting for someone. It is of course the simple nine-patch, but I think the piecer did an excellent job in color selection for this one. The top was pieced decades ago by the customer's grandmother and it measures 58" x 72". Sometimes simple patterns make the most striking quilts.

New life for another quilt top...

I finished quilting and binding this quilt for someone the other day.  It is one of 7 tops that she brought me to have quilted, all old vintage tops pieced years ago by her grandmother and mother.

I won ribbons in the AQG's quilt show. :)

I entered two quilts in the Arkansas Quilters Guild's bi-annual quilt show which is being held today and tomorrow. My wife and I went to view the show today and I found that I won two ribbons.   I won First place for one and Third place for the other one. I was very pleased and honored! Especially since I really wasn't expecting to win anything since I knew there were a lot of entries.  The show was held at the Laman Library in North Little Rock. This was a big boost for my confidence, since I started not to enter anything at all.

New vintage quilt just finished....

Here's some pics of a quilt that I have just finished quilting and binding for someone.  It measures 73" x 82".  The top was pieced years ago by her relative and was done in a "Robbing Peter To Pay Paul" block pattern.  The scalloped binding was a challenge, but not too bad.

"Fall Leaves" is done!

Here are some pics of my "Fall Leaves" quilt that I finished today. It is done in all batik fabrics and measures 56" x 70". The leaves are machine appliqued in place after I fused them to the top. I then quilted it on my longarm using a swirling pattern for the background to give it some movement. I've been working on this one for several months, glad to finally get it through!

Fall Leaves is on the longarm....

I've got my Fall Leaves quilt on the longarm now and am starting to quilt it.  Going good so far, I think it's going to turn out really nice.

Whirlygig quilt that I just finished quilting...

Here are some pics of a whirlygig quilt that I just finished quilting and binding for someone. I don't know who the maker of the top was, other than that it was someone in her family. It measures 62" x 84". I choose to do a simple medium sized meandering pattern on it since I thought a repeating pantograph pattern would detract from the splendid piecing that the maker did. I like how it turned out, and love giving new life to old tops like this.

On the road to India....Land of Silks and Batiks

As I write this, I'm sitting in the airport in Atlanta, GA, waiting to board a flight to Paris which will then continue on to Bangalore, India.  I'm going there on business for a couple of weeks, but I have plans to hit some fabric stores while I'm there to see what I can bring back with me.  Should be quite an adventure!

The Steroids quilt is done...

I finished the log cabin on steroids quilt.  I did a curvy ivy leaves and vines pattern on it to soften up the strong lines of it some.  It measures 60" x 80".  Very easy pattern to do!

New quilt on the longarm - "Log Cabin On Steroids"

I've got a new quilt on the longarm and ready to start quilting on it.  I made this top in one day at the quilting retreat that my wife and I went to this past weekend.  It's made from two honeybuns (1.5" strips) of a fabric collection called "Kansas Winter" by the Kansas Troubles designers.  It's a very easy pattern - basically you just sew the strips together end to end and then start sewing them in an ever increasingly larger rectangle.  I'm going to quilt it using a pantograph design that is some vines and ivy leaves.

"Eternal" is done!

I finished up the wallhanging that I was working on.  It measures 40" x 48".  I decided to name it "Eternal" since that's what the universe makes me think of. 

My new longarm side leaders...

I had been using some side canvas leaders based on the ones Sharon Schamber has on her quilting site.  The only thing that I didn't like about those is that they have to be pinned, unpinned, repinned, etc.  when advancing the quilt and rolling it back.  So I had a thought (see pic).  I just took a couple of paint stir sticks and put one on bottom, one on top, and then clamped it using the two side clamps as well as an additional quick release clamp in the middle.  It works great and keeps the side of the quilt from distorting and is very quick to undo and redo.  Love it!

Borders on and it's on the longarm...

But now, how to quilt it?  Hmmm....going to have to think on this awhile...

The Cosmos....

 Here's a couple of pics of the wall hanging that I'm working on. If you've seen some of my previous projects, you know that this is really quite a departure for me from the traditional things I've done. It's done in the batiks and is based on a quilt in the book "Strips 'n Curves" by Louisa L. Smith. When finished, it will measure about 50" x 42". This has been a LOT of fun working on and I'm enjoying the "artsy" aspect of it. I used to paint years ago, so this is a lot like using fabrics to paint. I still need to add the borders and will then start quilting it. I've decided that I really like piecing curves. 

Started on the batik Strips_N_Curves

I started sewing some strips sets together of the batiks for the strips-n-curves quilt that I'm going to make.  I'm very pleased with these batiks from Connecting Threads.  They sew together easily and have very little fraying to them.  The colors are rich, and patterns are nice.  Really enjoying working with these.

Some of my other art from the past...

Someone asked me the other day if I had done other art besides quilting, so I thought I'd post a few pics of that.  I used to paint (oils and watercolor) years ago.  I haven't done any in probably close to 15-20 years now.  But here's a few of what I did.

Hoping that Fall will be here soon

I'm hoping that Fall will be here soon, and I'm working on this quilt in anticipation of that.  It's all done in batiks and I'm using raw edge applique on it, fusing the leaves on with Steam-a-Seam and then using a buttonhole stitch around the edges.  I've got lots more leaves to do, and then will quilt some veins into the leaves when I get to the quilting part. 

Last of the batiks...

That sounds kind of like a movie title, doesn't it?  ("The Last of the Batiks")  I ordered some batik fabrics from Connecting Threads this past week and they arrived today.  They have just recently started carrying batiks, so I was a bit wary, but am very pleasantly surprised.  These are beautiful fabrics.  They have a nice feel to them and the colors and patterns are just spectacular (the pic doesn't do them justice). I was concentrating on the blues, greens, reds, and purples, but I can tell now that I've seen them that I'm going to HAVE to go back for more. Love them!!!