Summer's End

The next 2 quilts belong to a PA client.  As luck would have it, I actually got to her quilts while she was still in Maine on vacation, and she is scheduled to be picking them up tomorrow! 

This is a 62" Lone Star wall hanging (but then, that is probably kind of self explanatory!).  It has a cotton 80/20 batting because she requested less dense quilting.  I feared with wool it moght be too puffy to hang well.  Hopefully I did not over-quilt it.  She really prefers less.

 I'd tell you what thread I used, but I forgot!  I think it is an Omni.  This is a design I have done 8-10 times before.  They always turn out pretty.  There is something about the 8 setting squares that bring it all together.  Another nuance request was that I don't use "skinny, Victorian-styled" feathers.  She said she likes the fat kind.  Of all things, this was probably my most challenging.  I just.don't.do fat feathers.  They don't really adhere to my aesthetic.  None the less, I tried to make 'em fat,

 The diamond part of the star is quilted with simple continuous curves.  This makes a nice soft and drapable quilt.  Hopefully, she will be ok with the few sections where I put denser ribbon-candy and some fills.  Habits of loving dense fill are very hard to break.

 Her other quilt is a large (85x92) modern-ish pieced quilt.  It may be a pattern; I am not sure.  I love the sea-tone of all the mostly solid fabrics.  She wanted this one to be simple, and chose a clamshell pattern.  These are done with my 4" clamshell template, which is honestly a PAI to work with because it is on the large side.  I quilts up pretty quickly, though, despite being all template quilted.

 Here's another look...

My kids went back to school as of today, and work on the stockpiles of client customs are starting.  I have a huge (over 100") Fire Island Hosta quilt ready to load and get ditching on.  It will probably be there for 2 weeks!

I thought I'd show some of the progress on these log cabin blocks... I have the applique going in the 5 "circles" designed and prepped.  Because it is mostly orange and pink flowers, I thought the design needed a punch of another color.  Hopefully the teal will do just that.  This is now becoming my night-time project, and then I will get the floral applique designed that is going on the borders.

 Prep for my October MQX classes is wrapping up.  There is just one left to finish a presentation for.  That trip will be upon me before I know it.  It's a good thing that quilt I have entered is 99% finished!...The Twisted Sister, as I am calling her, just has a few places where I need to "touch up" the quilting.  In other words, I discovered some form of thread crap on the backside.  The places are very minor, but I have spent over 850 hours on this, and it is not worth decreasing my chances of doing well to be lazy now.

For those curious, the name "The Twisted Sister" came to me based on the twisted rope border I put on this.  It also has many of the same fabrics as my 2015 quilt (below) "Bouquet Royale.  Both have fussy-cut hexagons, in similar but different fabrics.  One are the Lucy Boston elongated style, while the current one is made from the traditional hexagons.  I used the champagne-colored silk on both, and a gorgeous bright green silk, which I got hand-dyed.  Just like real sisters, they are similar in many ways, and equally different in others.  Hopefully this quilt will be as successful as her sister (she's just a little bit more on the wild side)!