Raffle Quilt - Quilters' Guild of SA Inc

This quilt is being raffled by the Quilters' Guild of SA Inc and proceeds will be going to Autism SA. If you're interested in purchasing a ticket they will be on sale during the Festival of Quilts being held here in Adelaide from November 5th - 8th 2009. If you won't be attending the show and would like a ticket/s email me and I'll organise some for you.

I used the IQ for the motifs in this quilt, they were designed by Linda Lawson (Blue Ribbon Quilt Co). The rest of the quilt was done freehand, the whole quilt was SID's including around all the applique. The piano keys, rays and x-hatch were all freehand (using rulers, of course), taking many, many hours to execute - I gave up timing at the 35 hour mark!

It was beautifully pieced and a "pleasure" to work on!

Coralie's Quilt

As I never have any time to work on my own quilts or projects I thought I'd start posting pictures of quilts that I work on for customers. All quilts are special, some more so than others which is the case with this quilt. The sticheries on this quilt are exquisite and the owner, Coralie, worked on these stitcheries during visits with her Dad who was suffering from what turned out to be a terminal illness. I was very conscious, during the quilting, of the significance of this quilt and I was very happy that Coralie allowed the stitcheries to be X-hatched. We were both pleased with the outcome and she now has a quilt that holds cherished memories.

This 2nd photo shows a close up of the centre panel. The X-hatching and CC's (continuous curves) were all done using the IQ (Intelliquilter). Tony (DH) worked out the path so there was no thread build up.

"Fabric Clamps"

I have been asked to post photos my fabric extensions that I use instead of commercial clamps to hold my quilts whilst they are on the longarm machine. I attended a workshop with Sharon Schamber earlier this year and it was after this that I made my own. This fabric works wonderfully well and has the added bonus of coming in very useful when customers don't supply enough backing fabric. Also, it alleviates the need for a "pole" to hold the straps up to ensure that the base of the machine doesn't hit the clamps. I have an IQ (Intelliquilter) and the fabric extension also prevents the motors of the IQ hitting the clamps. The first photo above shows the fabric (13"x 13") with a a thin sleeve stitched into it which holds the piece of dowel.

This second photo shows the dowel in the sleeve

This next photo shows the completed piece of fabric pinned onto the edge of the backing fabric - easy isn't it?

Last but not least shows the fabric being held by the original clamps on the machine. Using this "system" also provides a great even tension on the backing fabric. You can make them in a size to suit your particular machine - I have an A1. Cheap, easy and fabulous!

I hope you find these as helpful as I have.