Quilted Comforts

Since my last couple of posts have been a little hard on my soul, I thought I'd write on a much lighter subject,  my geeky LOVE of quilting! Now, I know that quilting is once again in the full swing of 'IN-ness' these days but some people still tend to harrumph at the notion... I remember (when I was laying paralyzed in the hospital) one nurse who, when reading through my information, paused to ask me "What is LongarmQuilting?" when she reached the work information part of the forms my sister had filled out for me, "Are you serious? Can you actually make an actual living calling your hobby WORK??" But there are lots of kind people who truly know and understand that art is work, too, even in fabric. And believe me, there is a LOT of work that goes into making quilts! When I first started taking on longarm machine jobs I was petrified because of the work that I know, firsthand, goes into creating quilt tops... I didn't want to disappoint anybody else's work. I agonized over every quilt until another longarm quilter here in town told me that anyone bringing me a quilt to finish for them was doing so because, for whatever reason, they were simply unable to do it on their own, so they need someone who can help them finish their artwork. Simple words that stuck with me and I realized she was right.

I had to stop taking quilting work on because of not being able to stand and manoeuvre for the long periods of time in loading the quilts and doing the actual quilting but I hope that soon I will be back to able. Even though I can't physically do much quilting right now, I thought it might be a nice change of pace to share some of my own personal quilting creations so here comes one heavily-pictured quilty post!



When I first began quilting I was a little stuck on uniformity... which is TOTALLY cool if that's what you prefer. I followed one pattern as I taught myself to quilt but following patterns, I quickly discovered, was just not my thing. So I started making up my own designs and would sit with pencil crayons and graph paper until I had exactly what I wanted set on paper. Then I would agonize over finding the perfect fabrics I would need to bring creation to life. Finally came the fun part, the actual building of what would soon be a quilt!

'There's A Fire in the Dot' ... one of my own designs using repeated block placement.

Once the top was together it reminded me of flames running through the quilt,
hence its title and also the reason for the flame quilting design.

 

We always had symmetrical-quilt picnics, too!

 

This quilt was my first attempt at queen-sized quilt and it's the only one I followed a block pattern for. I still love it and love the colours of the batiks I chose for it... always cozy for a cuddle nap!

Here is another of my repetitive block designs... Play absolutely LOVES his pool-table-quilt-naps; I don't really get how this can possibly be comfortable but for some reason it's his top-favourite napping spot. Such a silly boy, he is.....

And then came along the quilt that changed me as a quilter! I wrote a whole post on just this special quilt of which I was blessed to have played a very small part in. After this quilt had touched me I knew I would never be able to go back to symmetrics... and that's when my quilting heart really took off runnin'.

Here is the link to the 'special quilt post' for anyone interested in yet another long read:
http://greenappleclogblog.blogspot.ca/2015/09/rag-bin-hugs.html

And quilting would never be the same after this one.....

I decided I loved StringQuilts after I discovered the magic of working on my Great-Grammas gift quilt and I started seeing fabrics differently. I started allowing fabrics and textures to work together, to let them be instead of make them be. And finally, the agonizing over 'perfect' let me be.

This quilts title is Barney's Barnacled because of the whale grey with string blocks of coloured barnacles... I love
how my first attempt at just coming up with design on-the-fly freed me to be the quilter I was always meant to be.




Day loves a good barnacle nap!

Play prefers a double-quilt style... and sharing them with his stuffies.

Once in a rare while my boys decide to share Barney for a cuddle-nap.

And Day... ohhhhh sweet Day... sometimes decides that quilt nap-time instead needs to become mess-up-the-quilt-play-time!

I also love making my boys their perfect Greyhound-sized quilts which they tote around with them so they always have an easy time comfifying when the urge to nap hits. Day also loves that his quilts can double as toys and often I will walk into a room while he is joyfully tossing and catching his fun-loving blankies.

Day thinks quilted cuddle-naps with a stuffy is pretty fantastic...

Play also thinks that sharing afternoon fruit-snack on a quilt with a stuffy is fantastical!

 

Play loves afternoon summer naps in the outdoor screened room...

Day loves afternoon summer naps in the outdoor screened room, too...

Sometimes the boys decide they BOTH want the same nap-quilt... but they work
it all out, either by taking turns or sharing.

 

This one is Day's absolute FAVourite cuddle-with-Mama quilt...

...and he doesn't even mind that it has kinda girly quilting on it!

Play prefers his quilted naps solo and he so adores his cozy loft naps!

 

For my boys car quilt, I decided to make it reversible and all batiks.

My sweet PlayDay Duo... always happy to go for a car ride and always demanding a comfy-cozy setup which I am
always happy to provide them with - happy boys means one happy mama!

 

This is Glass Stained Windows I made from a huge bag of scraps
my aunt gave me and I just love how it turned out!

I normally don't love super girly fabrics and styles but when I find flowery paisley's... well.....
I just can't help myself!!! Meet Paisley Overload!



I love paisley almost as much as I love plaid!!!

 

 

There's A Monster In My Pocket... another of my FAV's made out of old and worn workshirts of Enz's...
another reversible quilt with a pocket monster on each side.
I sure wish I had known about quilting before we gave away all of my dads clothes after he died.

Monster closeup!

Clearly it's one of Day's favourites, too!



Cowgirl boots and quilting... like peas and carrots.
As soon as I can once again balance in my boots, I'll be back in my
workshop and creating up a whole new storm of quilts!

So, what is it that you love to do? Share in the comments section and show us all a little of your creative style... share a little bit of your shine!