lovely rita

Strawberry Fields Baby Quilt {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:54:00 +0000

I quilted this quilt back in December. It was like a breath of springtime in the middle of a bunch of wintery quilts. I believe the fabric for this quilt is Strawberry Fields by Fig Tree.

I love how the color in this fabric line are both bright and fresh. Unfortunately I do not know the pattern name or designer.

I used several quilting motifs in this quilt that I would usually use on a floral type quilt. The patchwork section in the middle is quilted with a simple loop meander. I used my favorite flower border in the small white border, and repeated the flower in the corner sections of the outside border. The pieced border section of this quilt is really neat. I did a variation of a feather design, with a spiral vine instead of a heart shaped leaf.

Somewhere a cute baby girl is cuddled up in the quilt made by her grandma.

Rosette Background Fill {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:20:00 +0000

I saw this lovely rosette background fill on this sweet quilt at Material Girls. I put it on the top of my mental "designs to try" file. It is a new favorite.
It fit in perfectly with on this quilt made of Ruby.

Customer Tip #5

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:27:00 +0000

#5 Give the quilter a general idea of what style of quilting you expect. Here are some examples of instructions customers have given me that I have found helpful. “No flowers, this is for a boy,” or “I like the one you did hanging up in the store,” or “All over pattern with separate border,” or “No stippling, I really don’t like stippling,” or “I always like what you do, so use your imagination.” If you want something really specific it is best to provide a photo. Please realize that all quilters have different styles, and a different hand, (think handwriting) so your results will vary with each quilter that you use.

Don't forget that you can get $10 off machine quilting now until March 31 2012!

Customer Tip #4

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:25:00 +0000

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#4 Press your quilt top and back. Of course you pressed all of your quilt seams as you pieced your quilt, but did you give the top a good pressing once it was all complete? The majority of quilts that I quilt have backs with one big seam down the middle. It is best for me if this seam is pressed OPEN, so that it lays as flat as possible when I roll it up on my bars.

Don't forget to check out my New Years Special and find out how you can get 10 off machine quilting!

Customer Tip #3

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:44:00 +0000

#3 Stay stitch around the outer edge of your quilt to prevent unraveling fabric and seams. Quilts go through a bit of handling to load them onto a long arm machine. If pieced border seams are not adequately backstitched, they often times will begin to pull apart. Loosely woven fabrics on solid borders are also likely to unravel some. To sew a stay stitch, simply set your machine to a medium length straight stitch, and sew 1/8” in from the outside edge, all the way around your quilt.

Have you heard? I am having a $10 off special!

Customer Tip #2

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:35:00 +0000

#2 Fold quilt top, back, and batting separately. Do not baste or pin. Quilt tops and backs are rolled on to bars separately, so there is no need to baste or pin them, as the quilter will just have to undo it before they can load your quilt on the machine.

Because top and back are loaded onto separate bars, it is difficult to line up something on the top with something on the back. If you generally want a portion of your back at the top or bottom that is OK, but asking the quilter to line up seams on the top and back will give her a swearing habit.

Don't forget about my New Years Special! $10 off for new customer, and when you refer a friend! Woo Hoo!

Customer Tip #1

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:33:00 +0000

#1 Your back needs to be bigger than your top. And your batting too for that matter. I recommend that your back be at least 2 inches bigger than your top on all four sides. That is, it should be 4 inches wider and 4 inches longer. This is the biggest problem that I have with customers' quilts. There are many reasons your back needs to be bigger, but the bottom line is, you do not want the quilter to get to the end of your quilt, and not be able to finish because the back isn’t big enough. Here is an example of what I mean by 2" bigger on all four sides. In this photo, the back of the quilt is laying wrong side up with the quilt top centered on top of it.

Don't forget about my New Year's Customer special. Click here for details and to print coupons.

Pink Puzzle Play with Secret Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Bonny) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:16:00 +0000

I'm SO CLOSE to finishing this quilt using fabrics from Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden. I can't wait to show you the final product!

Duck, Duck, Goose {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:46:00 +0000

At first glance, this quilt isn't one I would normally say I love, but as I quilted it I began liking it more and more. The little duckies are adorable. And when I got to the end, I noticed the goose, and "a-ha" I finally got it.
I used some simple geometrics to fill in the blocks.
And different background fills in each of the duck blocks.

Pattern is Oh, Ducky! by Meags and Me.

New Years Quilting Special

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:24:00 +0000

Good news quilting friends! I am running an awesome quilting special to kick off 2012.

Here are the details:

New customers get $10 off their first quilt now through March 31
If you are not a new customer, you can still cash in by referring a friend to me, and you both get $10 off!
This special is good for any size quilt!

How it works:

Drop off a quilt to myself, or Gracie Lou's Quilt Shoppe in Salem, Utah by March 31st.
You can also ship a quilt directly to me.
Click on the coupons below to print, and attach it to a quilt request form. Make sure you fill out who referred you, if applicable.
If you forget to send the coupon, no worries, I will be keeping track of referrals, so nobody misses out on their good deal!

Please email me (Molly) if you have any questions: lovelythreadsquilts@gmail.com.

Stockings & Tree Skirt

noreply@blogger.com (Bonny) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:37:00 +0000

I caught the holiday crafting bug this week. It was a good thing, because we'll actually have stockings to stuff at Christmas and a tree with a real skirt (instead of a blanket wrapped around the bottom). The best thing about it all was that I only spent $3!! Everything else I had in my chaotic stash.

I made these stockings using this template and piecing together a squares from a charm pack. The fabric is Crazy Eight by Moda.

I also made this ruffle-icious tree skirt. It was all over Pinterest a few weeks ago. It was super easy and actually took less time than I anticipated. I bought an ugly tree skirt at the store for $3 and glued these ruffles to it as indicated in this tutorial. I can't wait to put up my tree!

Large Floral Spiral {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:34:00 +0000

I had this quilt of my mom's in the "to-do" pile for way too long. I finally prioritized my time better, and got it done. The great debate for me on this quilt was how to quilt the petal portion of the flowers. Although the petals are pieced, the whole petal section is a circle which is appliqued to the background. Many of the ideas that were swirling around in my head were going to fight against that circle. In the end, the whole petal section got quilted with one big spiral, and the background with spiral swirl meander.

Bamboo Knit Infinity Scarf

noreply@blogger.com (Bonny) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 04:03:00 +0000

Winter is coming and I am not a fan. I think winter should only last during the months of December and January. In my opinion, there are only a few good things about winter 1. hot cocoa 2. Christmas 3. hoodies & scarves.

To fend off the cold weather blues, Aubrey and I whipped up the most delicious infinity scarves today. We chose bamboo knit for our fabric. Bamboo knit is uber soft and drapes so nicely. I'm seriously considering sleeping in this thing.

Want your own? We modified this tutorial.

Houston Quilt Market {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:46:00 +0000

I don't get to go to Houston Quilt Market, but three quilts I quilted do. This top one will be at Anna Griffin's booth debuting her Blend Fabric line.
Love, love, love these ruffle flowers. This quilt will be at the Clover booth to advertise a new interfacing/ruffle product that Kristin is raving about. I want to try it too.
And the fairy quilt I showed you earlier will also be at the Anna Griffin booth. All three quilts designed and pieced by the super duperific Kristin of Cute Quilt Patterns.

So, anyone going to market and want to hook me up with some photos of my quilting?

Fairy Princess {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:30:00 +0000

I had a magical time quilting these fairy quilts this week.
I made them as girl and as frilly as possible.
Flowers, leaves, petals, swirls, loop de loops.
I love the ruffles and 3d butterflies.
We gotta get all the fairy princess magic in at our house before my little girl is not so little anymore. Here she is last Saturday all ready for her baptism.

Spiral Vine with Feather Leaf {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 02:50:00 +0000

(Rainy day + dark house + I am not a photographer = bad photos.)

I debated between a feather border and a spiral vine border for this quilt. Then I thought I would go with the feather but add some vines. As it turned out I went with the vine and added some feather leaves.

The sashing got plain old spiral vines and the blocks got a variation of a feather.

There you have it.

Happy Mochi Yum Yum Zig Zag {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:13:00 +0000

I am still not tired of zig zags. On this quilt they are vertical, so that spices things up a bit.

Fabric is Happy Mochi Yum Yum by Happy Zombie for Liecen.

I believe there are kits available at Gracie Lou's.
Instead of my usual straight lines following the zigs and zags, I mixed it up a little with some swirly feathery meander in the white space.

Where Ocean Meets Sky {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:44:00 +0000

Love, love, loved working on Kristin's latest.

Read & Black Bib Purse

noreply@blogger.com (Bonny) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 16:17:00 +0000

I just finished my SECOND red & black bib purse. A friend in Georgia (go dawgs!) requested this bib purse in red and black. One day later, her friend had to have one too! I was happy to oblige.

Green Polka Dots + Pink {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:34:00 +0000

I feel happy when I see this quilt. It has some of the things I love in it, starting with a green on green polka-dot.

Love green, love polka-dots.

I love how this block looks like a fruity piece of candy. I also love a chance to quilt a feather wreath. This block fit it perfectly.
I also love a bright pink paired with green. With a little orange and yellow sprinkled in, this quilt had me smiling!

Sketchy Applique {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:39:00 +0000

I wanted to give you a closer look at the applique on the PTA quilt I showed you last week.

I am always looking for a faster way to do everything.

I knew there was no way I would have time to hand or machine blanket stitch the applique on this quilt. That leaves me with my longarm to finish off the applique.
Using my long-arm, I quilted around each shape 3-4 times. I was careful to catch all of the edges, but I let my stitching fall off the edges too. I love the sketchy look it creates.

Penny Lane Donation Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:31:00 +0000

Last week I whipped up this Penny Lane quilt to donate to Pinkie's school PTA. If you signed up to join PTA, you were entered for a chance to win.
Last year I did a small Jack-O-Lantern quilt for the school carnival raffle. It was a hit, so my friend snagged me for the PTA drive at back to school night.

I didn't want to do the same quilt as last year. Too Boring. However, I did want something fallish, not too modern, not too country, and I didn't want to spend much money.

I got just what I wanted. The border fabric I bought at Walmart for 1.50 per yard. Woo Hoo! The rest was from my stash, and my mom's stash.

Thanks Bonny, for redrawing my flower. I am liking it this way much better!

This quilt pattern is now available through Sweet Ruby Designs, under the name Dee Dee's Daisies.

4 Point Star {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:24:00 +0000

Here's what happens when I design a quilt:

I look at the quilt and get a general idea of what I think will work. Sometimes something comes to me right away, sometimes it takes a few days, sometimes I look around online for ideas.

I load the quilt on the machine, and about half of the time, I totally change my mind.
On this quilt I had planed on something loopy inside the star, and something outliney in the background.

At the last second, I changed my mind.

So glad I did. T his is one of my favorite quilting jobs this year!

Fa La La La La {Machine Quilting}

noreply@blogger.com (Molly) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:40:00 +0000

It's never too early to start stressing about Christmas right?

Quilt Pattern: Rhapsody in Blue from the book French Farmhouse by Need'l Love.

Fabric: Fa La La La La by French General for Moda
My favorite part is the dark red triangles with the outline quilting.
I also like the loops in the green diamonds.

Yellow & Grey Accessories

noreply@blogger.com (Bonny) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 13:50:00 +0000

Remember that awesome grey and yellow purse? Here's the wallet and coin purse that go with it. Pretty much perfect.