lovely rita

My Favorite Quilt Binding Tutorials and Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 13:10:00 +0000

I find that binding a quilt gives me a great deal of joy. The feeling of actually finishing a project to completion is almost indescribable. Last week I bound three quilts. Two for a client, and one of my own, Yay!

When I first learned to quilt, my mom would have me fold the backing fabric over and hand stitch it down. While I love the simplicity and economy of that method, I much prefer attaching my own binding now.

There are loads of great tutorials out there for quilt binding! I most recently discovered glue baste binding and it is now my go to method. While I really enjoy how relaxing hand binding can be, I rarely have the hours it requires to finish a quilt by that method these days. I have switched to machine binding with glue basting!

Below are some great binding tutorials, covering several methods. These are the ones I have loved and tried, and even one I want to try next!

Jay Bird Quilts: Perfect Binding Tutorial (I love her explanation of how to join the ends continuously.)
SwimBikeQuilt: She has a method for corners I haven't tried. She also sews her binding to the BACK side, which I now want to try.
Trends and Traditions: Awesome tips for hand binding! This will save you tons of time!
Craftsy: Glue baste binding. They use bias tape in the tutorial, but you can easily apply the glue method to traditional binding.
My Sweet Prarie: If you have a hard time with corners, try her stitch off method.

Gift Card Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 16:01:00 +0000

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED! THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED!

Do you follow me on Instagram? I am hosting an awesome giveaway over there. Check it out!

My username is @mollylovelythreads.

Customer Quilts October 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 16:24:00 +0000

October is always a fabulous month for quilting! This year was no exception!

My mom made this fantastic baby quilt! The pattern is Fit to be Tied by Karie Patch Designs. My mom did a great job pulling fabrics from different lines for this quilt. I really love the colors. If you are local, there are patterns available at Gracie Lou's.

You may have seen this soccer quilt on Instagram. I fell completely in love with it! The fabrics Jennylynn chose to go with her daughter's school colors are perfect. And those soccer balls....she made those using her commercial embroidery machine and they are SOFT! I need to have her make me up some labels, and I am still planning and plotting a quilt with those soccer balls! You can contact Jennylynn at Crazy 4 Embroidery
.

I have never met a person who does not like the Swoon quilt. And for that matter, I have never met a Swoon quilt that I didn't like. This Christmas version by Karly is no exception. She didn't want it quilted too much, so I went with a snowflake design in the center star. It turned out better than I imagined!

You know what is super cool? When I get new customers from other states, who dare send me their projects. I loved quilting these quilts for Adrienne's twin daughters. The Heather Ross prints are unique and fun. They kept me entertained.

And who doesn't love a sprial fill design? It always turns out great and adds fun movement and texture to quilts. I kept the block quilting in order to not detract from the cute fabrics.

Carolyn mentioned that this quilt belonged to her grandmother. What a privilege it was for me to quilt it for her. A true scrappy quilt!

I have quilted a few of these Touchdown quilts, and overtime I do I have to explain to my boys why they can't keep it. Then they take a closer look and realize that is isn't their favorite team anyway. This quilt is definitely on my bucket list to make.

I love, love, love all of Kristin's Cute Quilt Patterns. It is such an honor to quilt for her. I was lucky to quilt for her book. Cute Quilts for Kids, and continue to by lucky enough to quilt new things for her frequently. This pattern is Flutterby Butterfly and you can buy it from her shop!

I knew I wanted to mix straight and curved lines on this nine patch quilt. It turned out just how I imagined. The colors are great too, don't you think?

This Halloween quilt for Barb has it's own post. You can read more and see more here.

The fabrics, the trees, the birds, the textures are all awesome in this quilt.

As I was quilting this Christmas quilt I realized what a great tree skirt it would make! Love those snowmen and christmas trees!

Simple designs are always fun to quilt. I have a hard time narrowing down my quilting options. This one turned out great!

This chevron quilt is going to need it's own post! It was Heidi's granddaughter's first quilt. She did an amazing job selecting fabrics in yellow, gray and turquoise.

Halloween Quilt: Saturday Sampler: Machine Quilting

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 13:20:00 +0000

I just quilted this amazing Halloween sampler quilt for Barb. I always feel super lucky to get to quilt something in season! I thought I would put a few more views of this quilt here on the blog so you can see how I quilted each area. Make sure you scroll to the bottom so you can see the spiderwebs in the border!

Daysail Quilts for Cotton Way: Quilt Market 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 15:37:00 +0000

Quilt Market has begun and the social media buzz is strong! I always feel at least a tinge of jealousy when I am not there to enjoy it. As I have watched other quilters post things they have done for market this year I feel admiration for them! I love watching others succeed.

Then I remembered, I have stuff at Quilt Market too! Yay! I was over the moon when I received an email from Bonnie of Cotton Way last summer asking me to quilt a couple of her Daysail Quilts! I was able to quilt her Smooth Sailing quilt and her Surfs Up quilt. While I was first a little star struck, working with Bonnie was easy and fun. She was as kind and easy to talk to as all of my clients are.

Thanks again Bonnie!

Scroll away friends, and enjoy the photos posted below!

Flutterby Butterfly Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 13:19:00 +0000

I just finished this adorable quilt for Kristin and she already has a pattern available and better yet she is giving one away on her Facebook page!

The dimensional butterfly is what makes this quilt unique! It also screams Cute Quilt Patterns!

Kristin often requests flowers quilted on her quilts, so I was sure to add one in the alternate block!

This photo gives you a great view of those fluttery butterfly wings!

I may have mentioned before, but Kristin has a fun book out! I was able to do the quilting for her, which was super exciting for me!

Flutterby Butterfly by Cute Quilt Patterns

Lucky Ducks

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 17:56:00 +0000

If you follow me on Instagram (@mollylovelythreads) then you have seen a close up of this cute Lucky Ducks quilt before! The good news is, now the pattern is available at Cute Quilt Patterns! There are also kits available and if you act fast you can receive 25% off with the code LUCKYDUCKS.

I love quilting for Kristin! Her quilts are unique in that they have 3-dimensional accents. She also has a book Cute Quilts for Kids with more adorable quilts to make for the cute kiddos in your life. I was the lucky duck that got to do the quilting for the quilts in the book, so check it out!

Customer Quilts September 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 12:00:00 +0000

I am trying something new in an effort to post more regularly on this little blog of mine. From here on out I vow to post at least once a month to give a sampling of the customer quilts that I have worked on the previous month. September was an especially nice quilting month for me. These photos will be my proof!

Love, love, love this gray and yellow Jelly Filled quilt! Another classic design by Camille at Thimbleblossoms. It quilted up better than I even imagined!

My favorite part of this quilt are the figure eights in the solid triangles!

Christmas! Yay! I loved the trees in the border of this panel quilt.

This is a shop sample for Gracie Lou's. The quilt pattern is Marmalade Sky by Abbey Lane Quilts. It will be getting a large 3-D flower in the center!

I was lucky enough to be given another Rain Check quilt. Another Thimbleblossoms favorite. I have loads of photos of a previous one I quilted here.

Kristin Roylance of Cute Quilt Patterns sends me awesome stuff to quilt all of the time. These strawberries are so cute! I may have mentioned before, but I'll tell you again about Kristin's fabulous book Cute Quilts for Kids. It is fill of quilts for kids with 3-D embellishments. Check it out!

The next three are table runners or bench pillows. I love quilting these because they are so fast!

I think these three are all Kimberbell designs.

Cute throw size quilt. I didn't get the pattern or fabric of this one.

Ghastlies meets Thimbleblossoms!

It was really cool to get this Hannah's Flower Garden quilt! I designed this quilt a few years back for my niece. I also made one for my daughter. My sister then marketed this pattern with her pattern company for a while. If you are interested in the pattern, send me an email.

Kristin Roylance Does It Again.

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 23:41:00 +0000

Kristin Roylance is one of my favorite people to quilt for! Her quilts are always unique and adorable. She is also a master at piecing!!! Her quilts are sewn together perfectly every time. I owe her a million thanks for letting me quilt for her and using my quilting on the quilts in her book, "Cute Quilts for Kids." Check it out, it is a must have quilt book!

If you follow me on Instagram, then you have seen these photos before. If not check out my feed @mollylovelythreads. This first quilt has dimensional petals as well as leaves. And did I mention ric arc?

These fish come to life with the dimensional fins. They might just swim off this quilt!

Lastly is my current favorite of Kristin's is this dimensional owl. The feathers are.so.cute! Plus I think the quilting turned out really fabulous on this one!

Town Square Quilt {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Mon, 12 May 2014 17:42:00 +0000

I am still dreaming about this quilt that I quilted for Lynda a couple of weeks ago. The pattern is called Town Square from Lori Holt's book, Quilty Fun. I think I need this book.

Here is a close up of the border. Here is how I quilted it from top to bottom. Outer border - scroll; star border - swirl vine; small border - inward loops; house border background - close loops; houses - stitch in ditch; trees - three leaves with squiggle up the trunk; inner most border - scroll.

The colors in this quilt were delightful to look at! Lots of scrappy prints. On the inside patchwork, I kept the quilting simple with and orange peel design.

See that cute log cabin block in the corner?

This is definitely one of my favorite quilts that I have quilted. Maybe Lynda will gift it to me when she is sick of it? ;)

Rain Check Quilt {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Fri, 09 May 2014 18:45:00 +0000

It is raining hard outside. Really hard. If it stops, I might make it to the grocery store. In the meantime I have this Rain Check quilt on my mind. I quilted it for Ashley last week. I am always thrilled when my customers bring me a Thimbleblossoms quilt. I love Camille's style and enjoy every minute of adding the final quilting touch to her quilt designs.

I decided to brush the dust off this blog to show off all of the background quilting designs I did in this quilt. I used almost every back ground design that I could think of.

Starting from the white background, and working clockwise, i used the following designs: horizontal puddle lines, crackle, daisies, and straight vertical lines.

Starting at the blue block and working clockwise: ribbon stipple, scallops (clamshells), vertical lines with curved ends, tight loops.

Starting at the upper left: horizontal scroll, vines, peacock feathers, and horizontal stripe.

Starting at the upper left and working clockwise: Greek Key, chevron, spirals, and honestly, I can't see what is on that last one. ;0)

Starting at the yellow block, and working clockwise ending in the center: ribbon stipple, crackle, spiral, vertical wavy line, echo stipple, random wavy horizontal line, spiral, wavy horizontal line, and tight circle loops.

We are going to work top to bottom, left to right on this one. Let's skip the navy block though. I don't remember what I did in that one. The next one has vertical lines with curved ends, peacock feathers. Row 2: basket weave, horizontal lines and scrolls, loops. Row 3: large pebbles, feathery spirals, horizontal lines with curved ends.

Top row: horizontal lines with curved ends, spiral, diagonal wavy lines. Row 2: I don't know what is on the flowered block, clouds, spirals and pebbles. Row 3; diagonal wavy line, waves and spirals, and stipple.

And last, my favorite shot of the q hilt. I love the scallops on that yellow block. And the chevron back there on the light blue block. Which is your favorite?

Mod Olives QAL

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 17:58:00 +0000

I am in! So excited to get out my quick curve ruler and to piece a fun throw quilt just for me and my house!

Five Ways to Quilt a Butterly

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:28:00 +0000

Lately I can't seem to commit to just one quilting motif. I find myself doing a lot of alternating designs. This fun butterfly quilt inspired me. I came up with five different ways to quilt the butterflies. I am sure you could come up with even more great ideas!

Multiple spirals.....

Inward loopies.....

Big spirals......

Half of a feather......

Stacked scallops.

Chevron Quilting

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:22:00 +0000

I have always had difficulty deciding how to perfectly quilt a stacked coins quilt. This version is quite small, but perfectly adorable. It has a boyish flair, so obviously no flowers, like on this version.

I finally decided on chevron quilting. Why didn't I think of it sooner? A little zig and zag was perfect for this quilt.

Posting this quilt got me reminiscing on all the chevron quilting I have done. Check out a few more of my quilting jobs with zig zags.

Robot Factory Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:18:00 +0000

A good boy quilt is not always easy to come by. Am I right? The fun robot fabrics in this quilt are Robot Factory from Robert Kauffman. I loved the saturated colors and how the quilter added lots of prints from other lines. With lots of patterns and colors, as well as lots of piece work, I didn't want to over do it with the quilting. However, I did want to give the customer a custom look.

Here is what I did. I did a squared stipple in the center block. This quilting always reminds me of a microchip. I only quilted a motif in the center stripe of those strip blocks. The inner and outer strips got a straight line right down the middle.

I alternated the designs between a spiral, ribbon, figure eight, and ovals. It turned out just right! Not too much quilting, but just enough for a custom look.

Rescue Vehicles {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:09:00 +0000

When I first saw this quilt, I knew I wanted to quilt spirals in it somewhere. Originally, I thought that I would quilt them in the octagon shaped blocks, but then I changed my mind and quilted them in the four patch blocks.

If there are a lot of curves in a motif, I like to do some straight lines as a contrast, especially in a boyish quilt like this one. You can see the straight line quilting in the yellow border above. It is one of my favorite ways to quilt a border.

I went through a few options in my mind for the octagonal blocks as well. I am glad I went with the diagonal lines. I used yellow thread in this quilt. I use yellow thread A LOT! It seems to blend well with most multi colored quilts .

Repeat of Happy Mochi Zig Zag

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:18:00 +0000

Last week I was lucky enough to get to quilt this Happy Mochi zig zag quilt again. It has been hanging up at Gracie Lou's for over a year, and I know they sold some kits, so I am not surprised to get to quilt it once more. I filled the white space with a feather/spiral fill just like I did in the sample. This fill design is FUN to quilt. I won't mind at all if I get sent another just like it!

For more photos of what this quilt looks like as a whole, click here.

Hourglass Baby Quilt with 3D Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:14:00 +0000

This happy baby quilt has a lot of features that I love. For starters, the polka dot border. I love those happy colorful dots. I love the yellow sashing, and the simple hourglass blocks. If we stopped there, the quilt would be cute, but a little boring. The 3D flowers finish it off perfectly.

I wish I knew the pattern and designer for this quilt. I would love to share it with you so you could make one of your own.

The orange hourglass blocks are quilted with a spiral. I love the movement it gives to the quilt.

I used what is probably my favorite motif from my Pam Clarke book. This design coordinates nicely with the 3D flowers. You can also see the spiral vine that I quilted in to the polka dot border.

The yellow sash is quilted with a wide figure eight. This design is always one of my favorites.

Log Cabin with Stars and Feather Background Fill

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:01:00 +0000

I quilted this quilt for my sweet neighbor Myrle a few weeks ago. She sewed this intensively for a few weeks. It is a gift for her daughter's bed. As you can see there are many, many small pieces in this quilt.

The portions of the quilt with patterned fabrics are quite busy, so I quilted those areas more simply. I focused the fancy quilting to the white background fabric which I filled with feathers and swirls.

Lagoona Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Not too long ago, I showed you a close up of this quilt while still on my machine. While I really enjoyed quilting it, it was pretty labor intensive, and took much longer than I usually spend on a quilt of this size.

The quilt pattern is Lagoona by Crazy Old Ladies.

If I know the pattern name, and designer of a quilt, I like to do a little googling to see if I can find a quilted version for inspiration. I did that on this quilt, but couldn't find a photo where the quilting was visible.

I used the name of the quilt for inspiration. I decided to quilt ocean waves, and foam into the white space.

It turned out fabulous, and Carrie, at Gracie Lou's loved it, which is what matters most.

Funky Monkey Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:07:00 +0000

I quilted this adorable Sock Monkey quilt last week for one of my regular quilters. It is a shop sample for Gracie Lou's. You can pick up the fabric, and probably even a kit there for this exact quilt.

I used some classic quilting motifs that I use all of the time. I like to do the most detail in the lighter fabric, where the quilting is more visible. In the large red squares above I quilted some straight lines with a swirl detail in between. It gives kind of a bandana effect don't you think?

Once again I used some of my favorite motifs on the borders. They are classics for a reason, they work well with most fabrics and designs.

I love those monkey's holding hands in the bottom row. Do you think they are playing red rover?

Bloglovin

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:54:00 +0000

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Lovely Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:52:00 +0000

This past weekend was fabulous. Not only was it my birthday weekend, but the weather was divine, and it was World Wide Quilting day. I took a little time out on Saturday and started piecing the blocks in the photo together. I have been working on my Urban Candy quilt for quite a while now, and I have enjoyed every minute of it. The Quick Curve Ruler is easy to use, and the curved blocks sew together nicely. I look forward to making more projects with it.

Last Friday I spent the day with my parents, one of my sisters, and my BFF. It was great to be around so many of my favorite people at once. When I got home, the card pictured above was waiting in the mail for me. Quilters are the most genuine people. I love getting little notes like this. They keep me motivated to stay creative and inspired, which isn't hard when my clients send me such great quilts to quilt on.

On My Machine: May 14, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:01:00 +0000

I am almost done with this beauty. I can not wait to see the whole thing all at once. I will share more pics later next week.

Veterans Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:58:00 +0000

I quilted this for my good friend Kelly a few weeks ago. She pieced it along with her mom, Marie Cole, and they will be donating it to the local veteran's hospital. I believe quilting had it's roots with the intent to help others, so I am always happy to get the opportunity to work on a charity project.

I quilted this with an all over free hand spiral design. It is a classic, and one of my favorites. I discovered a while back, that gold thread is the way to go when doing a red white and blue themed quilt. I used it again on this quilt, and really love it.