Machine Quilting

What I’m Working On Today

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This quilt belongs to Melanie, a member of the Carousel Quilt Guild in Burlington, Colorado. It was a class taught by Junelle Hills from the Quilt Cabin in Colby, Kansas called the Jelly Roll Race Quilt.

Today, I’m getting a break from my duties at Foltmer Drug and RadioShack, so that I can pursue some quilting for my upcoming customers.  WOO HOO!  This quilt is awesome.  I love the colors, and it’s made entirely of batik fabrics.  The quilt is called the Jelly Roll Race Quilt.

I found a tutorial video on you-tube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bEJLnaZQOU

I met with Melanie when she dropped off her quilt top, and we looked at several designs, ultimately deciding upon a gorgeous oak leaves design by Anne Bright.  I love using her designs, because they stitch out so beautifully on my Statler Stitcher, Artie…

Anne Brights designs are online here www.annebright.com

Because of the beatiful oak leaves and acorns design, and the colors of the batik fabrics, a King Tut variegated thread was chosen to complement the quilt.

Superior Threads has a website at www.superiorthreads.com and many sewing and quilting shops carry their thread.  I subscribe to their monthly newsletter for the great thread education, but also for the joke of the month… which is always super funny, and a joke that I can tell at work.

The design is called “Old Oakky” by Anne Bright

Here is a closeup of the quilting design.  You can see the beauty of the batiks, and the richness of the pattern and color.  I chose to use a black batting, since there are no areas of white in the quilt.  That way, if the batting ever beards out after washing, it will be less noticeable.  Maybe you’re not yet familiar with that term.  Bearding is the term to describe when little fibers of batting escape from inside the quilt, usually through the needle holes made while quilting, or through a seam that has been pressed open.  They can be a bother, and can take away from the beauty of your quilt.

Beards on “Fellow Quilter” = Good

Beards on your quilt = Bad

The other tip for this day is to realize that batiks are much tighter woven than your traditional cotton fabrics, say from Moda or Benartex, etc.  As a result, if you have to rip out stitches, there will still be holes where the needle sewed the fabric.  If you rip out on a batik, you should try your best to resew exactly over the same stitching line to hide those holes.  Just a little thing, but it’s the little things that set your quilt apart.  Thanks for reading!

Fellow Quilter,

Brian Clements

Colonial Needle

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I just returned from a trip to the Quilt Market in Kansas City.  While I was there, I made many new connections with some pretty amazing people and companies.  One such person was Jim in the Colonial Needle Company booth.  We got to talking about Precensia thread, and pretty soon the conversation shifted to our outdoor quilt show, Quilts of the Plains.  Jim made a generous offer to send an item to our show…  I just emailed him the details, and I’m sure he’ll be sending something way cool….  You’ll have to come and see for yourself.  It may be an item for the silent auction, or maybe a giveaway…  Hmmmm.

If you’d like to check out their website it is www.colonialneedle.com and be sure to check out the article about sewing needles.  I found it to be very interesting.  http://www.colonialneedle.com/html/about-needles.html

As I’ve said before, the show is coming up on June 23rd, 2012 in Wray, Colorado.  The quilts for display will be dropped off at Rainbow Fabrics between June 18th and June 21st, however, I usually receive some out of town quilts early.  This year is no exception… I’ve already got a few great quilts lined up in my studio, which I will enter into the show for some out-of-towners.  They are planning to come to the show, but this simple act saves them a second trip to drop off their quilt at Rainbow Fabrics.

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Add a comment to my blog about your experiences at Quilts of the Plains… What did you enter?  Have you seen a favorite quilt on display there?  Have you won a prize or ribbon?  Whatever you can add to this discussion… others will enjoy reading!

Thanks for stopping by, and good luck finishing your projects.  I’ll look for them in the show!

Sincerely,

Fellow Quilter,

Brian Clements

 

 

 

Quilts of the Plains 2012

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Well everyone… It’s right around the corner. Quilts of the Plains 2012, that is! There is a great webpage devoted to the upcoming outdoor quilt show in Wray. Please check it out at www.wraychamber.net/quiltsoftheplains.php and see for yourself. If you’ve entered quilts before, the procedure is the same as last year. There are seven different categories… so you’ll certainly have many things to enter. If you haven’t yet displayed your quilted items in this show… I challenge you to do it this year. Who knows… YOU might be the winner of the viewers’ choice top prize, and brand-spankin’ new Janome sewing machine.
There are some cool vendor booths, and YOU could be the winner of our great raffle quilt, which was donated by Quilters’ Anonymous. All you need to do, is buy that ONE lucky raffle ticket!

Here is an example of how the quilts are displayed along the Main Street.

Please help us to spread the word. Quilts of the Plains is awesome… and it’s less than four weeks away!

Studio Sneak Peek

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Studio Sneak Peek

I love looking at other artists studios. So… I thought you’d like a peek into mine.

As you see “Artie” is busy stitching out a design on my latest customer’s quilt.

Actually, that reminds me… This customer, Benita from Greeley, Colorado asked me to quilt a dear sentiment on her quilt.

She told the story of her father helping her with story problems in her math homework as a young girl. He would prompt her to solve the problem by asking “What do you have… and what do you want?”

I thought this phrase was so awesome. Really fits with the puzzle theme of this sudoku quilt pattern for sure.

It took some time to quilt, being that each letter is stiched out as an individual pattern, but the end result is marvelous.

I hope you like the peek at my studio, and especially a glimpse into this quilt’s legacy.

Fellow Quilter,
Brian Clements

I just finished my last quilt before the move.

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Well, I’ve finally completed the last quilt in my queue.  As you may or may not know, I’m preparing to move my studio across town.  With this accomplishment, now I can move forward with the dismantling, moving and resetting my Gammill with Statler Stitcher.

His name is Artie, by the way.  His robotics and system really allow me to have fun putting my spin on many, many customer quilts.  Every once in a while, I even get to work on one of my own quilts, too!

I guess that’s all I’ve got to report tonight.

Have fun… Do something creative!!!

Fellow Quilter,

Brian

Hello world!

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Fellow Quilter has arrived!

I am pleased to present this new blog space for promoting my machine quilting business.

I’ll be posting some inspirational photos of some of my customers and my own quilts.

I’m participating in a round robin quilt project with several quilting men that I have met through the years.  Below is a rendering of my central block.  I can’t wait to see what each guy adds to it as it travels around.

Please check back later!

Happy Quilting,

Fellow Quilter,

Brian