Advent Parade of the Christmas Quilts, 2023!

Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends and Happy Final Week of Advent to my Christian friends!  Have you finished your shopping yet?  I've shopped, wrapped, packed, and shipped all the gifts that need shipping, but still have some shopping left to do for my husband my sons.  I've finished the client quilts in my queue that had holiday deadlines so now I can officially switch gears into Santa Mode!  Meanwhile, in keeping with the holiday spirit, I thought everyone might like to see a few of the Christmas quilts I've worked on this year.

Anna's Frosted Pines Tree Skirt

Up first is a Christmas tree skirt that I quilted for my client Anna.  Anna used the Frosted Pines Tree Skirt pattern by Stacey Day for Windham Fabrics, available as a FREE PDF download here.  I just love her fabric choices!

Anna's 48" Frosted Pines Christmas Tree Skirt

Quilting something round on a long arm frame is a little trickier than doing a square or rectangular quilt.  This was one of the rare times that I "floated" the quilt top, since there is no straight edge along the bottom to pin to my leader canvas.  A lot more extra backing and batting are needed, the same amounts as if the quilt top had been a 48" square instead of a circle, and it took a little longer to trim each row of the quilting design at an angle each time I advanced the quilt on the frame to ensure that the quilting fully covered the circular quilt top without wasting too much time and thread quilting beyond the edges of the skirt and onto the batting.  I used the Angle Trim feature that had just been released with an update to my Bernina QMatic software a few weeks before this quilt went on my frame.

You can see the quilting better in the next photo.  The quilting design is called Snowflake 2013 E2E and I used Glide thread in color Linen with Quilters Dream 80/20 Select loft batting.

Snowflake 2013 E2E in Glide thread, color Linen

I had to do some additional basting with this tree skirt as well, along the skirt opening and the center hole, to prevent those edges from flipping and getting caught in the stitching.  With the wedge construction of this particular tree skirt, it already has a hole in the center and an opening slit when the top is finished, but with a whole cloth tree skirt or any pattern that has you cut a center out for the tree trunk at the very end, it would be better to wait until after quilting to cut the hole.

One more thing: See how Anna's tree skirt top doesn't lay perfectly flat in the Before Quilting photo below?  I have never seen a tree skirt top with this wedge construction ever lay perfectly flat, and I had the exact same issue (only much, much worse) with a wedge design crazy quilted Christmas tree skirt that I made from a magazine pattern years ago.  I only mention this to reassure anyone else out there that this is normal, it doesn't mean you messed up -- and most importantly, this minor amount of fullness is something that can be quilted into flat submission like I did for Anna's quilt.  I suggest using a short stitch length of no larger than 2.0 and a matching thread color because, in order to flatten out a quilt that has a little "piecing personality" like this, I'm going to pull it fairly taut when I baste it to the backing and batting and those piecing seams will be under tension during the quilting process.  With a longer stitch length and contrasting thread, even neutral thread like gray or beige between two white patches of fabric will be visible and can look dirty in the finished quilt.  Anna used white thread and a short stitch length to piece her tree skirt wedges together and it turned out absolutely beautifully.

Anna's Christmas Tree Skirt Prior to Quilting

Nanette's Very First Pieced Quilt, Finished 9 Years Later

This next quilt is an extra-special one.  Many of you also follow Nanette's quilting blog and are familiar with her penchant for choosing challenging quilting patterns and then knocking them out of the park with her absolutely exquisite craftsmanship.  Well, I believe this Cozy Christmas quilt might be her first-ever pieced quilt that she started in 2004.  My brain is fuzzy on the details because I quilted this one over a year ago, but I feel like I remember Nanette telling me that there was a lot of frustration, seam ripping and restitching involved in the making of this quilt, not that you'd ever know it from the immaculate finished quilt with every little point precisely intact!  The name of Nanette's quilting blog is "Do It Right Quilter" and I think that sums up her attitude perfectly.  The willingness to reach for a seam ripper and try again is often what separates the mediocre from the sublime.

Nanette's 70 x 84 Cozy Christmas Quilt with Winterfest E2E Quilting

We chose Winterfest E2E for the quilting design on Cozy Christmas and I used King Tut 40 weight cotton thread in color Flax for a traditional matte thread effect that would show up nicely against the cranberry border and the forest green sashing fabrics.  Nanette prefers my heavier weight Deluxe loft Quilters Dream Cotton batting, which is 50% thicker than the midloft Select loft Quilters Dream Cotton more commonly used by longarm quilters.  It gives a little more weight to the finished quilt, like a better quality cotton blanket would have, and creates wonderful dimension to the quilting stitches.

Winterfest E2E Stitched in King Tut Cotton Thread, Color Flax

I think the quilting stitches are just beautiful with this thread and batting combination, the way the thread sinks in and out of the needle holes through the thicker cotton batting so that the stitching appears to be a dotted line rather than a continuous line of thread from a distance, more like hand quilting stitches.  I love having the flexibility to run pretty much any thread in my Bernina Q24 and know that I can easily fine-tune my tension to get beautiful stitching.  Long arm machine preferences, like domestic machine preferences, are very personal, but I am so glad I switched to a Bernina because it's definitely the best choice for me.

Here's what Nanette's Cozy Christmas quilt top looked like soon after she finished it, nearly a decade before she sent it to me for quilting:

Nanette's Cozy Christmas Quilt Prior to Quilting

Baby It's Gnomes Outside for Claudia

This next quilt is one I finished just a few weeks ago for my client Claudia.  She used fabrics from Susan Winget's Baby It's Gnomes Outside collection for Wilmington Prints.  Not sure if she used a pattern or a kit for this adorable Christmas quilt, but at the time of this writing there is still plenty of this cute gnome fabric available from Etsy sellers here.

Claudia's 60 x 73 Baby It's Gnome Outside Quilt

I bought a new quilting design specifically for Claudia's quilt, Holiday Lights.  It tied in perfectly with the much smaller scale old fashioned Christmas lights on one of the fabric prints:

Holiday Lights E2E Stitched in Glide Thread, Color White

I used Glide thread in White for Claudia's quilt, and the batting was Quilters Dream Select loft.

Holiday Lights E2E on Claudia's Gnome Quilt

A couple notes about the quilting design: There are a lot of different directions we could have taken.  We could have used a "generic" non themed design like a classic meander or stipple, or a mushroom design, or snowflakes, and there are even gnome quilting designs available from several designers.  Claudia and I agreed that the Holiday Lights design had just enough personality to be interesting without being so detailed that it would compete with her fabric prints for attention.  One of the things I do differently than most other longarm quilters is that I never ask clients to pay extra when I purchase a new E2E design to stitch on their quilt top.  I am actively involved in helping my clients pick the best quilting design for every quilt top -- I don't just send them to a web site to pick a design on their own, and I would never agree to quilt a design on someone's quilt if I have reservations about how it will turn out, especially if I think there's a good chance that my client would be disappointed by how the design they chose actually looks when it's quilted on her quilt.  I want every client to be over-the-moon delighted when they pick up their quilts and excited to start on the next one!  When I purchase a digital quilting design, I'm purchasing a license for me to quilt that design as many times as I want, on as many different clients' quilts as I want, for years and years.  The client doesn't have any rights to reuse the design, so the client shouldn't have to pay for it.  At least that's my thinking!  Adding new designs to my library to stay current is a business expense that I budget for so that I can always recommend the very best design options to my clients without having to hit them with additional charges.

Here's what Claudia's Gnome quilt looked like before I quilted it:

Claudia's Gnome Quilt Prior to Quilting

An Elegant Christmas Panel Quilt

I'm not naming the maker of this beautiful Christmas panel quilt, at her request -- this quilt is a Christmas gift and we don't want to run any risk of ruining her surprise.  I don't have any information about which fabric line this was or whether it was a kit or a pattern, but I just love the way those borders frame the center panel:

59 x 76 Christmas Tree Panel Quilt

I quilted this one with Glide thread in color Flint, knowing that where the thread would stand out -- and where we really wanted to see the quilting design -- was on the black fabric surrounding the Christmas tree.  We chose Snow Crystals B2B for the quilting design and I sized the pattern so that the quilted snowflakes looked proportional to the snowflakes printed on the panel fabric.  In the photo below, you can see that the snowflakes printed on the fabric panel are very detailed and intricate, and we chose a snowflake quilting design that has a very similar style to what's printed on the fabric.  My goal is for every finished quilt to look like a complete, coherent design with all of the different elements -- the patchwork lines, the fabric prints, and the quilting design -- to fit together into a harmonious whole, as though the entire design was planned up front rather than the quilting design being thrown onto the quilt top as an afterthought.

Detail of Snow Crystals B2B in Glide Thread, Color Flint

I used my Quilters Dream 80/20 Select loft batting for this quilt.  Here's what the quilt top looked like before I quilted it:

Christmas Panel Quilt Prior to Quilting

THANK YOU SO MUCH, to the clients whose quilts I've featured in today's post, and to all of the other quilters who have entrusted their quilts to me for longarm quilting in 2023!  I appreciate all of you!

Naples, Florida Fishing Pier, photo credit Mediterra Naples

Breaking News for 2024: We're Moving to Florida!  😬

My husband's company is moving him into a new role that requires us to make a long-distance move to Florida in a very short time frame.  We will most likely be settling in the Naples area near my father-in-law and sister-in-law.  This is happening in January, so on top of all of the usual holiday happenings we have also been meeting with realtors, signed a listing agreement with one of them, and are now in the throes of ruthlessly purging our home of unwanted personal property (a.k.a. junk!) that we have accumulated over the last 17 years.  There is so much work to do...  I had to step down from my role as President of the Charlotte Quilters' Guild without being able to give any notice, which I hated doing, but former President Deborah Whaley has swooped in like the superhero she is to save the day.  The Charlotte Quilters' Guild is in very good hands, and I am so grateful for the grace and support I have received from Board members who were thrown into turmoil by my resignation right smack in the middle of the holidays!

What does this mean for my quilting business?  Well, it means I need to take a couple months off at the very minimum!  I will let all of my existing quilting clients know once I'm settled and can accept client quilts again, most likely some time in March of 2024.  My clients who have been shipping quilts to me from all across the country can just ship them to Florida instead of to North Carolina.  My local clients in North Carolina can ship their quilts to me in Florida, but if they prefer to work with someone local I'd be glad to recommend another longarm quilter based in Charlotte, NC.

Not gonna lie -- the thought of disassembling my longarm machine and packing up all of my sewing machines and fabric in boxes where I can't get to them for who knows how long is freaking me out.  We will likely be in a temporary housing situation in between moving out of this house and settling into a permanent home in Florida, so I'm trying to think about which projects I might like to have accessible in that interim period that I could work on with my travel machine and a limited number of supplies.  Thank goodness I already know that there is an awesome quilt shop and Bernina dealer in Naples, Flash Sew & Quilt, in case I need something that got packed in a box that went into storage!  If any of you have moved recently and have any tips or suggestions for me, I would love to hear them.  Feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment!  Thank you all and Happy Holidays!

I'm linking up today's post with my favorite linky parties:

MONDAY

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

TUESDAY

To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt  

WEDNESDAY

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

THURSDAY

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation  

FRIDAY

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre

Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty

 TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday, rotates, schedule found here: TGIF Friday

SUNDAY

Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework