So last week we spent a few days in the Pennsylvania countryside visiting my sister and her family. My brother, his wife, and our Mom were also there so we counted it as a mini family reunion. The highlight of the week was this guy:
As someone who doesn’t get to see this kind of wildlife up close and personal very often, or at all, I was pretty excited to see him and capture some pics with my phone. But he visited twice in one day so that was a tad unnerving. I told my Sis she better keep her bear spray close but she just laughed it off. It’s pretty common for her to have bear sightings and she thought I was being a Nervous Nelly. She would be right….
He gave us a great show, scratching his back on an electric pole in the side yard and sharpening his claws on the same pole. We checked out the pole after he wandered off and the marks were about 7′ high on the pole. He was a huge guy! If you want to see a video, check out my Instagram feed. The file was too big for me to load it here and my Internet service fusses at me when I try to do things like that.
After all the bear excitement, we enjoyed the rest of the Independence Day holiday with all my nieces and nephews and their friends. We had lots of good food, cold ice cream, play time, and topped it off with a wonderful fireworks show put on by my nephew. The show gets better every year!
After we returned home, I loaded this quilt that will be given as a wedding gift and started the quilting.
The color palette is very quiet and I love that about the quilt. The print is a very pretty gray-green, with Grunge as the background fabric and the quilt is built around the small panel. We are using Superior’s Magnifico thread, which is very similar to Glide, and Quilter’s Dream wool batting. You can see the definition the batting gives the quilting in the pic above. I am *obsessed* with that batting! It drapes and quilts beautifully and stitches up like a dream. Hmm, maybe that’s why it’s called Quilter’s Dream….
I did manage to sneak the quilt outside for a quick picture before it rained. It looked like rain all day and I was afraid of getting caught in a shower, but I needn’t have worried. It was ugly for most of the day but dry.
Here’s a close-up of the panel in the middle of the quilt:
The digital pattern we chose is called Smitten and I purchased it from Urban Elementz. It’s a great pattern that stitches out quickly and looks great. My client chose it because there are hearts and swirls – perfect for a wedding quilt. You can see the design much better in the first picture. I’ve used this pantograph before on a baby quilt where it was resized smaller. It looks good no matter what size it is stitched at. I can definitely recommend it if you are looking for a swirly, heart-filled design.
I’ll be busy this week with lots of customer quilts to get done. Top priority is a table runner that wants some custom quilting. I’ve finished the quilting plan, and I’m looking forward to loading it up. Which leads me to ask – do you guys sketch out a quilting plan before you start stitching? If you do, do you use paper/pen, or an app of some sort on your tablet or laptop? I’m considering buying a tablet for that purpose but would like to know what works for you.
And before I leave I have one last pic to share. This little guy loves to hang out in the small water hole/fountain in my sister’s garden. He enjoyed posing for pictures and I had fun snapping them. He was a great model! 🙂
So that’s it for me! Now it’s your turn to share what’s going on in your world. What has you excited to be in your sewing space this week? You can link any blog post, Instagram or Flickr pic – here’s how:
Great job on that wedding quilt! I love the scripture panel. Do you know where she got it? Spoonflower maybe?
I do a lot of quilt sketching/doodling in various iPad drawing and note taking apps. I have the 12″ iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil stylus, which is key because it’s bluetooth so it’s a lot smoother and more responsive than those old school styluses; just like writing with a felt tip pen on a sheet of glass. I always have my iPad with me because I read the newspaper and Kindle books on it, also use it for all of my choir music in rehearsals and in performance/worship service. So it’s easy to switch apps during the sermon and get some good quilt sketching done while I’m listening… SH!!! Don’t tell anyone I’m not taking notes on what the pastor is saying!! For some of my apps I can even import a photo of the entire quilt, a section of the quilt, or just a block, so I can draw out different ideas, save them, and start over again. Much safer doodling on the iPad than drawing on a vinyl overlay above the actual quilt as some like to do. I would be the girl who got dry erase marker smeared onto a white quilt top that way!
Oh I LOVE that wildlife came to see you 😉 and what a beautiful quilt!!
Pretty quilting…cute frog…great bear story! We go into the mountains a few times a year and have seen a few bear. We go in on horses (no vehicles are allowed in this particular area), so it is neat but a little scary too.
Beautiful quilting! And wow, that bear does look huge!
Beautiful quilt and quilting – glad not to have seen that bear when I was in PA! I do plan out my quilting and audition all sorts of ways – sometimes in EQ, sometimes just with photo editor and sometimes in more elaborate ways – even plastic over a piece of the quilt and drawing on it with erasable. I am no expert but thats the way I do it. EQ is on my mac and ipad for some drawing apps that I take the picture into and can scribble with.
Great choice of panto on a pretty quilt!
Hi Beth! Wow – that bear was pretty darn close. And claws sharpened at 7′ – yeah, I would definitely want to keep my distance. Nice job on the quilting – what a lovely verse and perfect for a new marriage. That quilting pattern will come in handy as I can see its use for many different applications. ~smile~ Roseanne
That bear! Neat memory. And I love the panel and quilt you quilted. When I’m doing custom, I audition the quilting with a dry erase pen on a sheet of clear plastic that I lay over the quilt after I load it. There’s blue tape around the edge so I don’t mark on the quilt!
Ohhh, yes … I’ve been wanting to tackle a quilt of calm neutrals. That one fits the bill for sure!
I hope you came back revved up from vacation. Love the quilting on the wedding quilt. Thanks for sharing the pattern name. I often get such good suggestions from other quilters. I don’t do custom so I can’t make any suggestions. But I sure enjoy your custom work.
I saw your bear picture on IG and if it were me…I’d be freaking out too! I’d be too scared to ever go outside again! He’s massive!
I rarely draw out my quilting plans because I rarely have a plan!! Quilting has always been the most difficult part of the process for me.
I would probably be a little anxious over the bear but I would enjoy. I love the wedding quilt, especially the gray. Wishing you a productive week .
I have been seeing a lot of bear photos in recent years and truly believe they are becoming more common sights in all states. We do not see them generally in our area but at the end of the school year the local school needed to do a modified lock down for a couple hours as one was sighted on the school grounds and animal control was called – in NW Arkansas one was sighted swimming in the river by my niece and she had to call all the children out of the swim area
I love your bear story! When we were in Michigan I hoped to see a bear but didn’t. However, I’d be nervous like you! The wedding quilt will be beautiful. How nice to spend time working on something so lovely.
Great photo of the bear. My son had one in their yard yesterday-northern MN. Glad you had a little vacation break. Sometimes I use my Bamboo tablet for drawing out a design. But most often I just go for it! I also have used a large clear plastic w/grid lines to draw on.
Fun wildlife photos! Sounds like you had a great July 4th holiday. Love the wedding quilt, very pretty and appropriate.
Wonderful picture of the bear! You are so lucky. I always consider it a true wonder when I have a bear sighting! Generally speaking, as long as you don’t get between a mom and her cubs, you can cohabitation quite safely. Love that wedding quilt in all its quiet simplicity.
Amazing wildlife and a beautiful quilt