For Adam and Marisa

Finally a quilt for my youngest son and his bride (of three+ years).  Well you know how it is, we get too busy.
Summer of 2012 I was in Washington for a Quilt Retreat at Sea cruise to the Inside Passage of Alaska.  I went a couple of days early to see the family and stayed with Marisa, Adam and Leona (granddaughter). Marisa and I went to the local quilt shop, she showed me fabric she liked and then she said, I can show you what Adam would like too.  She did, and she was right, when I went back to the shop with Adam later that day, he chose the absolute same fabric she mentioned he would like. So I bought a few yards of each of their choices.  Now let me tell you that the two choices were very opposite, Marisa chose a panel, Adam chose a large flower pattern.
They saw a French Braid quilt hanging at the shop and said that was the design they wanted me to use. 
A few months later, my sister and I went to the quilt shop where I was working and we chose 13 fabrics to put in the quilt, along with the fabric Adam had chosen.
I asked my friend and quilt mentor Jean to teach me the technique. Cutting it was the biggest deal, as it has to be very organized in cutting.
After putting one of the strips together, I realized that the two fabrics I had used from Adam's selection just wasn't working, so took it apart and went shopping again. I found that by just adding 2 of the fabrics purchase when shopping with my sister worked best.
Final result is this..... my camera doesn't always take great photos, but here it is

This next photo is a show of the large flower fabric that Adam originally chose.  I love this colorway and plan to make another French Braid design with it.

Metallic Thread Tip

I recently heard of a great way to help stop the breakage issues of using metallic threads. I believe it was from the Anita Goodesign newsletter. So here is the tip of the week.

TRICK- When you are going to sew with metallic threads make sure to:
       1.  Use a metallic needle.  They have a longer eye opening and are usually coated with teflon to reduce heat friction.
       2.  Use a new needle with each project. 
       3.  Put the metallic thread on your thread holder (not attached to your machine)

    

       4.  Now move the thread holder 3-4 feet away from the sewing machine. In this way the metallic thread will have more time to unwind and relax. Thus many of the usual knotting that takes place will not occur.
    
TIP-  Now if your embroidery thread is old and dry then it may have breakage just for that reason. So keep your threads in a cool area away from the sun (like away from the window).
I keep mine in a specially designed thread organizer, not just thrown in a pile, but standing up. Take good care of your supplies- they aren't cheap.
Should you continue to have breakage, clean your machine with your small brush, give it a drop of water in the bobbin area (if your machine requires you to add oil), check the bobbin area for loose bits of thread that could get caught on the hook system.

And now there are 3

I love to teach and share embroidery with others. I recently completed teaching a 3 month class at The Quilter's Market Shop in Tucson, AZ.  These three women were participants. This quilt is entitled 'Lady Liberty' and is a design of Eileen Roche.  This is an applique embroidered wall hanging. Every 2 weeks for 5 sessions we would meet and learn another portion of the quilt.  Between classes the students went home and worked on the project. The final result is spectacular, don't you agree?  If you would like to learn to use your sewing and embroidery machine, let me know, we can work something out.

Red Memory Quilt

I love to do Memory Quillts.  They offer the recipient many fond remembrances of times past.  This particular quilt is a commission from a Father.  He wanted to have a memory quilt done with the clothing of his Granddaughter, she is now 7 yrs old. He asked for 2 quilts- one for his Daughter and the other for the Granddaughter. I received two boxes of clothing to work from. Process began with  hours of cutting clothing into usable sizes, fusing interfacing to the back of each cut piece, then cutting the appropriate shapes for this quilt, and finally sewing all the pieces together have produced this top.  Next I will quilt the three layers together, bind it, apply a label with the stroy of the quilt and send it off to them.
I have a second one to make for him and I have done the first three steps, this weekend I will sew many of the pieces that make up each block. When the second one is completed I will share the photo on this blog.
It is awesome to be doing and sharing what I love.

My Favorite Things wins in Washington show

This is a beautiful wall hanging quilt. I entered it in the Association of Pacific West Quilters show that took place August 2013. When I got word that it had been accepted into the special event of embroidered quilts, I couldn't wait to see it hanging there in Tacoma, WA.  So I bought an airline ticket, made arrangements to stay at Adam and Marisa's place for the long weekend. I received a notification by a friend on Facebook the night before I left for WA that my quilt received a 3rd place prize. It was a wonderful experience, and I would encourage any and all of you to enter your creations in shows.