Paige's Custom Quilt

I completed my 2nd customer quilt last month for my friend, Paige. She made a queen size quilt for her friend, Phil. It had alot of pictures on it of friends that they both knew and names of the friends. This was a custom quilt due to stop annd starts plus using different patterns on it. It took about 2 weeks to do it and I used several motiffs in it. I love the design Playful which I used alot on the quilt. I will post some pictures of the quilt. It great to have my photography stand to take a picture of it. Paige did her own binding and will give it to her next week.

Maui Vacation

Last month, we went to Maui, Hawaii from Febr 11-20. We have been to Maui many times and it became our favorite island in Hawaii. We stayed at Kaanapali Beach Hotel which is right on the beach beside the Sheraton/Black Rock. It was nice to enjoy paradise for 9 nights. I will post a few pictures of our trip. I posted more about the trip on my other blog. I worked on Paige's quilt before I left for Maui. She is my 2nd customer who had a queen size quilt made for her friend, Phil. It had alot of pictures on it which made it more of a custom quilt. More on my next posting about it. Maui Pictures

My 1st Customer Quilt

I finished my 1st customer quilt on Jan 31. My neighbor, Brenda asked me in Dec if I could make a quilt for the 1st grandchild which will be born in March. She know that the baby was going to be a boy which helped in picking fabric. I looked thur several magazines and found a cute quilt in McCalls Quick Quilts Aug/Sept 2012 called Toddle Time. The pattern size was 39x39 but Brenda wanted it bigger. The pattern had 6 rows and made it 8 rows. It looked better with 8 rows than 7 rows. The quilt size is 50 1/4 x 50 1/4 which is alittle bit bigger than a baby quilt. Brenda wanted to pick the fabric with my help so went to Craftwarehouse which had a great selection of kids prints and reasonable prices. I changed the pattern to have a solid block alternate with a angle block. It was very easy to piece and then I quilted it with my edge to edge pattern design called Playful. I asked if Brenda wanted a label on it. I explained to her what the label was and the reason for having one on the quilt. She decided yes so I asked Paige to make a label. The label turned out super with Brenda words to her new grandson. I'm waiting to hear from Brenda this weekend to give it to her. It was a lot of fun to make and the quilt is so cute. I will post some pictures of the quilt and label.

Greenbaum's Winter Quilt Retreat

I went to Greenbaum's Winter Quilt Retreat with Paige which was held at the Shilo Inn in Newport on Jan 18-20. There were 76 quilters working on their projects for 3 days. We came on Thurs to enjoy the weather and to be able to set up. I enjoyed working on my projects since I have been working on a baby quilt and 2 Lent banners for church. I posted more about the retreat on my other blog. Here is a few pictures of the retreat.

Quilt Pictures

I have always taken pictures of the quilts that I have made over the years. I decided to buy a photo stand with black backdrop to be able to take better pictures of my quilts. I found one on Amazon for a reasonable price. It is called CowboyStudio Photography 6x9ft Black Muslin Backdrop with One Section Cross Bar Background Support System. I like the black background. My husband is working on a way to hold the quilts on the support. I will post some pictures of it.

Quilting Friends

Last year I made two new friends that love to quilt. I meet Cindy when I went to MQX West last Oct. She lives in Utah but has family in Keizer. We were roommates at MQX so got to know her. She is a wonderful person and has been a great teacher about how to establish a quilting business. She was in town for her grandchild christening. She called me to go out to lunch and then to a quilt store in Portland. It was great to see her and meet her family. We will keep in touch via Facebook and Emails. I meet Martha from her quilt blog. She lives in Lebanon which isn't far from Dallas. Her blog is called Quilting from the Edge. We have alot in common which will be to long to list. We meet in Oct with our husbands to see my quilt studio set-up. It was like we know each other before this meeting. The husbands had alot in common like retired teachers, fishing and riding motorbikes. I'm so lucky to be a quilter and meet wonderful new friends. Happy Quilting!!

Happy New Year 2013

This is the 1st week of the New Year which will be much better than 2012. One of my goals for 2013 was to donate a comfort quilt and do a chalenge quilt for my quilt guild. I had been working on these projects in the last 2 months and have finished them. My challenge quilt theme was "My Dream Vacation" with a red fabric that had to been in it. I made a quilt called "Come Sail Away". I picked up a comfort quilt kit at the November meeting. It is a baby quilt with fabric already cut ready to sew. I added a border and different backing because I didn't like the one supplied in the kit. I supplied the batting which the guild will supply. Both quilts were great to practice quilting on them. The Challenge quilt is due at the Febr meeting and then will be displayed at the March meeting to be voted on. I will turn my baby comfort quilt at the meeting in January. It is great to have acheived my 2 goals and will enter 2 quilts in our Quilt Show in April. I'm working on piecing and quilting a baby quilt for a customer that is my neighbor. We went Sun to Craftwarehouse to pick out fabric. It is going to be so cute. It is her 1st grandchild which will be a boy. I have another customer(Paige) that I will be doing her quilt that she made for a dear friend. Paige and I are going to the Greenbaum's Quilt Retreat next week at the Shilo Inn in Newport. We leave Thurs and the retreat start Fri-Sun. We went last year it was so much fun. I'm excited about working with Shari that owns a quilting business called Bear Creek Quilting Company in Salem. I will be doing the quilting on her quilts that she designs and makes to sell on her online business. I will post pictures of the baby comfort quilt and then of the challenge quilt.