Quilting Voila!

I have two client quilts I'd like to share. First off, the following quilt is a true beauty! Made by Alice.



I didn't really know what it would look like, since it came to me like this:



What a beautiful, colorful surprise in that package! I did an edge-to-edge design on it, called Pretty Paisley.



She told me it was a BOM kit from a quilt shop in Texas.



And next up is a flannel baby quilt made by Jenny. We sell this as a kit at the quilt shop I work at, Quilt Cove in Eagan, MN. It's a fast, fun quilt to make.



She requested a heart motif in the quilting, so I used "Heart Strings".



The pattern is called "Mingle" by Cluck, Cluck, Sew.



Grace and peace!!!

Grace & Peace Quilting Goes to the Fair 2016

Having grown up in 4-H, I've always found the county fair and state fair exciting! I entered my quilts in three fairs this summer, with various degrees of success!?!

The first was the Washington County fair, my hometown fairgrounds that I'm most familiar with. I entered 7 quilts this year. My best success there was my Bob and Weave quilt, which got a blue ribbon, plus recognition from Bear Patch Quilting. The reason for recognition wasn't stated! But I did get a $10 gift certificate for their shop, which was appreciated.



Next came the Dakota County Fair, our current resident fair. I entered 7 different quilts from the Washington County Fair entries, as the 2 county fairs overlapped. I was thrilled to get Reserve Grand Champion on my Tsukubai quilt!



My Bible Story quilt also received an award of excellence ribbon, along with a blue ribbon!



I brought 3 quilts to the Minnesota State Fair, the day after I picked up my quilts from the Dakota County Fair. My Bob and Weave quilt received 2nd place in the "large pieced quilt, machine quilted by entrant" category.



They put all Creative Arts entries in displays together, so my quilt was on display with a couple of wild colored dresses!



My ZigZag wallhanging received 5th place in the "wall quilt, pieced, quilted by entrant" category, right after my guild friend, Susan Klein, who got 4th place.





And my third entry at the Minnesota State Fair was my Japanese Lone Star quilt. It did not receive a ribbon, although it was noted on my evaluation that it was in 6th place in it's category. It took us quite a bit of hunting to find it! It was used as a tablecloth for several Star Wars items.



I'm just sharing my best successes here. I did get some lower ribbons. But as my dear husband says, cast your nets wide and see what you come up with!

Grace and peace!

Mystery Quilt Along

I'm participating in a row-by-row quilt along with one of my quilt groups--Upper Midwest Machine Quilters. We're mainly longarm quilters, some with a business, like me, and some who only quilt their own quilts. Plus, there are some domestic machine quilters in the group. We meet 4 times a year, in St. Louis Park, MN, at Just Sew Studio.

There are 6 of us working on each quilt, with several quilts circulating. We're to add a 9"-12" row of fabric and "Quilt as desired"--that classic, daunting phrase that means "figure it out yourself"!



I'm the 4th person working on Team 1. The first three rows are rather floral and garden themed, so I took my cue from them.



My quilting is influence by classes with Judi Madsen. She gave two days of classes to our UMMQ guild last year in October, 2015.



I love what the other quilters did--birds, butterflies, flowers. Great background filler on the pink row, also!



I'll get it in the mail to the next quilter. The last one to work on it will also bind it and bring the finished quilt to our October 8th meeting. Should be fun to see them all finished!!!

Grace and peace!!!

American Swedish Institute and Row By Row 2016, Finished!

Thank you to all who came to the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis to see my trunk show!!! I'm honored that so many came out. I had 24 quilts with me that day. This year Minnesota Quilters is joining with the American Swedish Institute to have a summer of quilting from June through mid October. My trunk show, along with a number of others, is part of this.

My talk included my experience of being a quilter in Japan for 24 years. This is a Lone Star quilt I finished last year, made of Japanese fabrics:

And I have a finish!!! This is my Row By Row Experience 2016. I quilted it with the edge-to-edge pantograph called "Egg Cartons":



Here's a list of the quilt shops each of the 8 rows are from:



I picked 5 of them up on our road trip to California the end of June/beginning of July. We took the northern route out, and the southern route back home:



I brought my finished quilt in to Pine Needles Quilt & Sew in Rochester, MN, to be their shop winner. Their row is the third one down, with the pine trees between houses. The theme this year is "Home sweet home."



I was awarded this 25 fat quarter bundle--oranges, yellows, reds, greens and greys. Very modern! And a charm packet for having their row in my quilt.



It's hanging over my desk now, a fun memento of our summer vacay.



Grace and peace!

You're Invited To a Trunk Show at the American Swedish Institute!

It just feels great to finish a quilt! This is my latest finish, a plus sign quilt. I made it using a jelly roll, just the 3rd jelly roll I've had in my quilting life. They are really fun and fast to work with.



I quilted it using one of my new, modern edge-to-edge designs called Cinnamon. It does resemble a cinnamon roll!



The backing is part of a duvet cover I bought at IKEA. I took it apart and this is the second quilt backing it's made. It cost $15. There's a pillow that will become a tablerunner backing, also. Look for the 100% cotton duvet covers. They have very modern, unusual prints.



I've been asked to give a trunk show at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis on Sunday, July 17, at 2 PM. I'll be showing 20 or so of my quilts and talking about my quilting journey. I went there last Sunday and saw Gail Bakkom's trunk show of her antique quilts, from 1813 through 1920.

Minnesota Quilters, of which I am a member, is hosting a number of quilt exhibits and trunk shows through out the next few months at the American Swedish Institute. Super interesting and fun!

I do have some Swedish blood--my paternal great-grandparents came to Minnesota from Sweden in the 1880s. I love this next photo--a Dala horse, a folk art symbol of Sweden, done up in a children's coin ride!



And the fireplaces at the American Swedish Institute are works of art! Here are a couple of them:





And lastly, one of my teddy bears made it to a child in Africa. It is a wonder to receive a photo of the recipient from the other side of the world, holding one's handmade gift.



Hope to see you at the American Swedish Institute!

Grace and peace!

Spell It With Moda Christmas Tree Quilt

I quilted this "Spell It With Moda" quilt for Sheila this week. What a cute Christmas tree quilt!!! She used the "Spell It With Moda" letters.



It's a gift for her mom, for her 80th birthday. She chose an edge-to-edge design called "Flirtatious", which shows up great on this quilt:



I've collected 10 different rows for this year's Row By Row Experience, and have made two so far. This one is from The Quilt Shop in Chamberlain, South Dakota. The instructions were vague and there wasn't enough fabric in the kit, so I can not recommend it. But it's finished:



I also finished this row, from Quilt Connection, Etc., in Rapid City, South Dakota. This quilt pattern and kit were great! The instructions were clear and there was plenty of fabric included in the kit for everything, including extra so I could fussy cut the 3 center blocks just right. BTW, they have two different rows to choose from. Great job at Quilt Connection, Etc.!



And happy birthday to my dad, who turned 91 years young on July 8th, 2016! Yes, I really am the milkman's daughter.



A recent photo of my mom and dad, taken at their senior apartment.❤️



Grace and peace!

Back From Vacay, Plus Some UFOs

We are just back from a super fun road trip across the USA. I managed to collect 7 Row By Row Experience patterns, and will be putting them together into a wallhanging. Here's the row from The Quilt Shop, in Chamberlain, SD, where my DH's grandfather homesteaded around 1900:



One of my favorite places to visit is Yellowstone National Park. My grandparents visited there when I was young and showed me a photo of the Morning Glory Pool. This was my third time to see it. It is no longer blue, as people have thrown things into it and that has plugged it up, therefore the colors have changed. But I still love the colors:



We drove through Yosemite again, as DH's hometown is about an hour away. Here's the Half Dome:



This was our first time to stop at Scott's Bluff National Monument, in western Nebraska, along the Oregon Trail. Super interesting history, hiking trails and rock formations:



I'm in an online UFO group--we post our UFOs every quarter and motivate each other to finish them up. Last quarter I finished 4 of the 6  UFOs I listed. I have 9 this time around.

The first is my Flirty quilt--it needs to be quilted, labeled and bound:



Second is a baby quilt I am making from the leftovers of the previous quilt. I'm making the background white in this one:



Third is the friendship blocks I received from the quilters in my small group. My month was May, and I asked for this plus block pattern:



Fourth is a patriot quilt, using these strips we swapped at our guild:



Fifth is a Patience block quilt made from Japanese taupe fabrics. The backing will be a taupe Minkee:



Sixth is this quilt top that needs the applique vine and leaf border:



Seventh is a quilt that I took in a class with Sioux Falls Quilter's Guild three years ago. I intend on changing the darker charm squares to brighter charms:



Number eight is my Lego quilt blocks--I'd like to make at least 6 more blocks this quarter:



And number nine is a Judy Neimeyer Prismatic Star quilt I started in a class last November:



Here we go!

Grace and peace.