Just a few for June..and custom quilting

The month of June brought in more beautiful quilts for me to work with.  I am continually amazed with all of the wonderful quilts that come my way.  Each month is like my own personal quilt show, only better, I get to touch the quilts!!  June was an amazing month, hope you enjoy the show and the stories.....

Rebecca in NC....sigh.  Custom quilting...sigh....WOW, what a great quilt!!  

Okay, so Rebecca called and was telling me about her quilt and how it really needed a little more than edge to edge quilting.  She is a well seasoned quilter on a somewhat limited budget and wanted to know if I could help her out with this one.  It was a block of the month and she explained that she thought she could handle the quilting on her domestic machine, because she knew once it was finished edge to edge was not going to be an option.  But once the quilt was finished she realized that it might be a bit more than she could handle.  And wondered why she even started that BOM in the first place, but she told me "it was so pretty".  Haven't we all been there?

Now if you could just hear Rebecca talk in that super sweet, sugary NC accent you would understand why I couldn't tell her "no".  I've been quilting for Rebecca for a number of years and ALWAYS enjoy talking with her on the phone.  I'm telling you the minute I hear her voice I just know I'm going to do what-ever she's wanting me to do!

But!!  When she called it was (I think) fall of 2015 and I explained that I would do this quilt for her, but it wouldn't be until March, which is usually my slow month.  Well March came and went, April came and went, May came and went and I didn't slow down a bit!   All the time I'm still looking at Rebecca's beautiful quilt trying to figure out how I'm going to quilt it and when I'm going to have the time.

June hit and I was DETERMINED to get that quilt done!!  BUT I'm telling you it made me sweat bullets!!  The quilt needed to be finished but done with loving care.  I wanted this quilt (as I try with all of the quilts) not to be over quilted so the quilt remains the focus and not the quilting.  I wanted Rebecca's work to show, not mine.

I had the quilt loaded and ready to go, but still couldn't seem to put any stitches on it.  What was I going to to, how was I going to get this thing done....ugh!!  I was lucky enough to have had Renie dropping off one of her quilts and I asked what she thought about the stitching. She told me do a little of this, a little of that and it all started coming together.  Renie got me moving forward, thank goodness!!

This was the only quilt I got finished that week.  Normally I'm cranking out 5-7 quilts depending on many factors, but ONE quilt the entire week!  I used matching thread on all of the basket bodies and was continually changing the thread.  There are 12 different colors of thread on this quilt!!!  THIS is why custom cost so much....good custom quilting is going to cost you more and it should! 

Personally I am not a fan of custom quilting. Never have been, but think all in all this one turned out pretty well.  In my opinion and yes, we all have opinions, way, way too often a quilt is over quilted.  When a quilt is over quilted you lose the quilt design and the quilting becomes the focus of the quilt. OR you have quilting that does not "match" the quilt style and the quilting simply becomes thread  with design on a quilt.  

Ready to see the quilt??   

Here it is......don't forget you can click on the photo's for a closer look and you will find a link at the bottom of this post to more photos of all the fabulous quilts...

Next quilt comes from Bonnie, lovely batiks are always a perfect match when put with whites.  We used the Diamonds are Forever quilting design and it finished up perfectly.

Here's a quilt from new quilter Donna, and new Grandma too!!  Donna really wanted to turn this little quilt into something fun for her new grandson.  We went with a perfect little design which any little boy would love.

Elizabeth here in NH totally raised her quilting bar with this stunning quilt!!  The soft black was a great match for the lime green fabric.  Going with a rectangle and circle design quilting - a winner!!  Elizabeth is now putting her labels on the quilt before the quilting so it will be stitched right into the  backing.  GREAT IDEA!!

Here's another great baby quilt to welcome a precious one!  Katherine did a good job selecting the fabrics on this one.  So soft and sweet!!  

WOW! WOW! WOW!!!  Penny did an amazing job on these two wall hangings! They are super cool and I'm sure just spectacular hanging somewhere in her house!  The second one took FOREVER for me to quilt, but it's pretty darn cool!!

Martina kept me busy for a couple of days with all of her wonderful quilts!  I loved the one I was currently working on the best....yes, I loved them all.  They are so different and each one is better than the next!  From the colors, the fabrics or the quilt design all are fantastic!

Renie, she always turns out amazing quilts!!  This one will be auctioned for some charity near and dear to Renie's heart.  She has a great big heart and an amazing talent for quilting and teaching!!  Love getting those quilts from Renie's gals, always perfect!!

When I received this quilt it was for Grandma to be, who is now officially a new Grandma!  Congrats, Terry!!!   How cute is this little hippo quilt with hearts?  I am positive that baby Ava will love this quilt dearly until Grandma Terry makes her a new one!

Next is Judi from VT...she finished this great quilt and it was/is a wedding gift for a lucky couple who was getting hitch this month!  Yay, Judi!!  Way ahead of schedule!!  Can honestly say I don't think that happens very often!

This fun quilt was made by Pat in VT.  She's one of Renie's students and as mentioned above I can always count on a fantastic quilt coming from these ladies.  The colors on this quilt are so bright and colorful!  Reminds me of the tropics!  We used a bright orange thread and circles for the quilting, good job Pat!

PRECIOUS!!  This amazing quilt was put together by Bambi in VT.  It's a truly special quilt for her new granddaughter.  Fabrics from clothing that Bambi had made for her daughter growing up was used for the center flowers.  Framing them in the beautiful colors really makes the quilt!  What a fantastic idea!!

Alex, Alex, Alex.  

Love seeing all of fun fabrics and mostly modern quilts that come my  direction from Alex.  I've been quilting for Alex for a couple of years now and I love having her stop in to drop off and pickup her quilts.  Always eager to learn and she is continually growing in her quilting skills.  Here's a wedding gift she made with a PERFECTLY pieced backing!  Although, I believe this backing was made by Mike (Alex's man) who is such a good sport when it comes to quilting!

Whew...another month documented!  All these and a week off!  Yep, we, hubbie and I hit the road for about a week in June so that cut into my quilting time and put me a little behind.  

More photos of all these great quilts are posted on my other blog:

SplittingStitches Longarm Quilting

You all have a wonderful day, 

thanks for checking on me,

hugs,

joanne

love to hear what you've got to say......