Oh, have I got eye candy for you today! I spent last week working on some fun custom quilts, and even managed to work in a couple edge-to-edge tops. I also taught three classes at the quilt shop so I had a very productive week!

First up is Kit’s quilt made with Kaffe Fassett prints and shot cotton for the background.

Kit told me to have fun with the quilting, so that’s what I did. For the diamonds in the star I stitched an easy continuous curve design. Combining that simple quilting with wool batting made those diamonds really pop.

I wish you could feel the texture of those diamonds. I wanted to just stand and rub my hands all over it….then I figured someone might think that was a bit creepy so I worked really hard to control myself. 🙂 But I still managed to cop a feel here and there….

Here’s a close-up of the quilting in the background.

This quilt is the largest one I’ve ever done this type of free-flow quilting on. (It measured 73″ square.) You might think it would be liberating to quilt the background like this, but I haven’t quite found my flow with it yet. I did a lot of stopping, looking, and thinking about the next motif I would add. I tried really hard to keep the design consistent, making sure to have a nice mix of different motifs and spacing them evenly over the quilt. The key is to choose four or five motifs and a couple of fillers that all work together. I’ve got another quilt coming up in a few weeks that will have me doing more quilting like this so I’ll be getting a lot more practice. I’m really pleased with the finish of this one and am excited for the next one.

Kit gave me a second top to quilt for her. She called it a baby quilt but I’m thinking I would like to call this quilt my own. Hmmm, does that make me a big baby? If it does, I’m okay with that! This quilt was on the big size too – 73″ square.

I quilted lots of straight lines – piano keys in the border, crosshatch in the patchwork points and center, and straight lines in the center background. The blue and pink triangles got a fill treatment of baby swirls. I don’t really know what the fill motif is called or if there’s even a name for it, but I really like using it. Here’s a close-up pic:

I used the same swirl fill in the background of the applique blocks on Shirley’s adorable baby quilt.

Just look at that cat & mouse block! All the blocks were so adorable in this quilt. I’m going to have to ask Shirley about the pattern. It looks like it might have been a laser cut kit. It is super cute.

This quilt was a fast finish, with no marking or ruler work. Well, there was stitch in the ditch around the blocks and sashing but that was all I used my ruler for. Everything else was free hand and I really enjoyed getting back to the quilting I used to do all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I love having my computer to aid in my custom work and rulers make my heart sing. But I really enjoy the projects that allow me to use my free motion skills. I don’t want to get out of practice!

Speaking of computer-aided quilting, Deena’s quilt is a beautiful finish. She calls this, and I quote, ‘the quilt from hell‘. LOL Apparently there were a lot of construction issues. But I didn’t notice them – her quilt was pretty straight and square with just the smallest bit of fullness in a couple of the blocks. After she saw it quilted, I think she changed her opinion of the quilt. She was so pleased with the finish, and that made me really happy. Hopefully she won’t think of it as the quilt from hell now.

Isn’t it so pretty? We used Glide Cleopatra on both the top and back and the thread really made the quilting design pop. I used Eleanora from My Creative Stitches and this was the first time I used it. I will definitely be using it again. It is the prettiest design! You can see it better on the back in the pic below. It looks a bit old-fashioned but has a modern feel to it. It was the perfect choice for Deena’s quilt.

There’s a layer cake at the quilt shop that is calling my name. I usually don’t buy layer cakes, but if I had one I could use it to make a quilt like Deena’s. That’s the problem with my job. I see so many beautiful quilts, and then I want to make them. You totally understand, right?

On the personal side, I started working with the fat quarter scraps from the scrappy version of Razzleberry. I don’t have a plan or design yet, so I started by cutting all the leftover pieces into 2-1/2″ strips. I used my Accuquilt Go cutter and 2-1/2″ strip die which made fast work of all that strip cutting. I had 180 strips cut in about 10 minutes.

I’ve had that Accuquilt cutter for a couple of years and haven’t really used it much at all. I can certainly see the advantages of having precisely cut pieces. I just have to work out how to keep the waste at a minimum. Although there wasn’t any waste at all with the strips. Anyway, my plan now is to sew the strips together by color and then make four patches. After that, I’ll have to see where they take me.

That’s it for me today – I hope you enjoyed seeing all these fun quilts. Now it’s your turn to share your beauties. What projects are you working on that has you excited to be in your sewing space? You can link up any blog post Instagram or Flickr pic – here’s how: