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Back in early September, Kelley tried an experiment. He put my finished quilts in the shop for sale. Joanne did not think they would sale since her customers are piecers and make their own. She was right. Only Nancy Gorgen was able to sell one quilt. After it sold, Kelley told me it was his favorite. Determined that they need homes, here is where all the quilts have gone!!
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Joan Taylor and I are teaming up to make Tony Trivette a UNC Tar Heels quilt. Joan is piecing the top and I will longarm and bind it. This project is a good ole mountain horse trade venture. I need some work done around here that I can't do, Tony is willing to work for his quilt. Joan and I are trading services. Win, win, win! This eventually proved to be the beginning of J&L Quilters. Dec 30: Joan has her fabrics now to make the top & I have mine for the backing. They have been pre-washed and are ready to sew! Jan 2: Joan has been sick but says the top will be shipped Monday! I am planning to piece the backing tomorrow that has been lying across the longarm for several days now. By Thursday there should be a quilt needing only the binding. Several evenings later, it will be done. Soon now, Tony! Jan 5: The quilt top arrived today. Now that I see it, this one is crying out for one of Sandy's custom designs. The curls in the sashing would make a perfect longarm design that makes this classy looking quilt even better! So the three wins may have just become four wins! Jan 17: Sandy did her design today. I have had a time seaming the backing but it is now done too. This will be quilted with two layers of cotton batting for extra warmth. Jan 18: Loaded & basted. Hit a snag in Sandy's design so will longarm when that is fixed. Jan 20: Longarming done! Binding in progress. Jan 31: Joan sent 2 matching pillow cases for this quilt - a freebie for him. Feb 01: Binding, and thus the quilt, is finished! I have an online friend who saw and loved my Metallic Butterflies when I announced I am officially in business. I suggested she check out Marilyn's to see more quilts made with this fabric line. From that point on, it was blue and lavender or nothing at all. Alas, I called Ye Olde Forest Quilt Shoppe & searched the internet, but was unable to find any of these fabrics. THEN, my kids (Joanne & Kelley) just happened across some of these fabrics set aside months ago. Beautiful yellows, reds, greens, oranges and golds ... AND blue and a bit of lavender. So I set about to design a quilt around the fabrics I now had on hand using only the two fabrics--4 half yard cuts & 5 fat quarters of blue and 1 half yard cut & 2 fat quarters of lavender. Yikes! Well I came up with something and my friend said, "Yes! I love it!" The longarm pattern will, of course, be dragonflies. "Why dragonflies?" you might ask. JRGarland, in the same online community, named a dragonfly character Shar after her. (BTW, the mouse in John's stories was named after my then online name--BlueWhite (BW for short). BlueWhite is no more but I am now YouBet.) Unbelievable News!! I found a bolt of the lavender fabric at the quilt shop yesterday. We had all missed it before!! So the back of this quilt will be lavender with metallic gold dragonflies while the front will be predominately blue with metallic gold butterflies, dragonflies, bees, ferns & flowers. 
 Give a cabin dwelling quilter a bit of fabric ... You see, there was a small piece of fabric on the counter at the quilt shoppe from the Wizard of Oz collection. "What is this with the writing on it?", I asked as I reached to look closer. "You can have it if you want it", my daughter said. Kool! Now, in case you didn't already know, I named my cabin Shanti Niketan which means my abode (niketan) of peace (shanti). And I just happened to have a block pattern with a beautiful dove on it. With some casual time on my hands this afternoon, I put it all together.
 On October 13th with a $14 check, I registered my business name with the Ashe County Register of Deeds and registered online for my NC Sales & Use Tax. Just like that, I am officially in business! For NC customers, this means I will be collecting sales tax on thread & batting as I resale it to you. No tax on services though! With my business registration on the wall in the quilting room & my new business cards, I find myself in a place I never imagined nor hoped for! Years later the law changed so NC residents have to pay taxes on services too. Life is an adventure with a plan of its own to be sure!
John, a former neighbor & close-by friend, has purchased two quilts and designed one for himself. He mentioned some time ago that he wanted a pink one made for his Mom for Christmas. Some rare folks, like quilt shoppe owners, have more quilts than they know what to do with so I have been the benefactor several times. When this beautiful flannel quilt top, pieced by my daughter, was given to me to finish & sale, I thought of John. So this is my next project. I need to piece the backing, quilt it using Deb's Swirls longarm pattern & wool batting, then bind it.       Sep 05, 2010: This is an unfinished project started by my daughter, Joanne. I took the first picture here. Dec 09, 2011: Planned to finish this but decided to take the blocks apart and start over. Joan has some ideas but no time. Perhaps later. Back in the closet for now. Mar 08, 2017: I gave this to Mary Blankenship today to finish any way she likes. I never cared much for the fabrics & she loves them.
PS: Backdated to include Linda Campbell's quilt--my first customer. I love emerald green and I instantly fell in love with the main fabric in this quilt. The quilt top pattern was one I wanted to try. Thus this quilt. Never been quite sure the white and yellow were the best way to go but it is what it is. 05/14/2010: Purchased fabrics for Sweet & Simple quilt. Sandy made the quilting pattern to match the quilt. July-August 2010: My best guess as to when I pieced and quilted this. It was a pre-website quilt and the dates on my photos are not correct. 04/26/2011: It is time this quilt had a home. I would have loved to have kept it but it swallows my bed whole & the borders disappeared over the sides. There is a couple who share the task of delivering our mail. When a package comes, whether by Bennie or Rita, it is delivered to my porch 1/2 mile out of the way each way. Always cheerful and friendly, we are fortunate here in Fleetwood to have just personable and dedicated mail carriers. The last package Bennie delivered is one I opened immediately and then handed back as it was for him and Rita! I hope they either love emerald green or it grows on them like the summer grass!! In 2011: Sandy made a matching stained glass block to match this quilt. I eventually gave that to Rita too.  Main fabric is butterflies and flowers from the Kona Bay Nobu Fujiyama Collection. Green backing. Quilt Top Pattern: "Sweet & Simple with a Twist of Lime" by Designs by Lavender Lime (Kathy Skomp) Longarm Design Pattern: Panto by Sandy Daugherty especially for this quilt. The butterfly and the flower design were taken from the fabric itself. Size: 76 x 88 Mar: A very dear & special friend was watching and helping me put together several quilts for a coming show. Even guys can get caught up in the fun of designing their own quilts. Certainly, JRGarland (John) did. He silently watched as I turned "Miss Jump's Scrap Bag" layer cake into an Ashley's Journey quilt top. On the first trip to fabric store, he said nothing, just roamed around silently while I made my purchases. Apr 04: On the second trip down, I learned he had the quilt he wanted already picked out. He made his fabric purchases including an unusual but beautiful backing for his quilt. He watched as I did the cutting and as I worked hard to layout a quilt where no two blocks were alike. Whew! Then I said, "It is your quilt. You play and arrange them as you like." In silence he worked away, twisting and turning the fabric bits. I tried to stay busy doing something else. When he had it like he wanted it, I said. "okaaaaay" to myself and started sewing. Apr 08: Quilt top done. While I was sewing, John went online and selected his longarm design. Later I purchased some longarm monogram letter designs May 05: & added that touch unknown to him until finished and delivered it. John named his masterpiece A Pigment of My Imagery.  John is a prolific writer. He published his first novel, The Wizard Endor on Lulu, also available on Amazon and through many bookstores. As editor and proof reader, I also wrote this synopsis: A delightful and heartwarming tale of Wizard Endor as he travels throughout the mythical kingdom of Greysmire with two friends, solving problems and fighting evil at every turn. Brilliant, wise, kind, respectful and beloved, this wizard wins the hearts of young and old alike. Only the bad guys fear him!! (When I discovered the cover painting that inspired his first book--Three Friends, I proclaimed myself the little mouse in the beard, later named BW, short for BlueWhite, my original avatar on RedBubble. You can also check out some of John's poetry and delightful humor on RedBubble.  Added this note on Feb 20, 2011 John has now published his second novel, Endor's Adventures. Both are delightful books of charm & wisdom.
Sep 2009: Purchased the fabric. Feb 2010: Quilted. Mar 06: Squared. Mar 13: Attached the binding. My sister, Sandy, did the binding because I didn't know how. Apr 10, 2014: Met Harold & took him a quilt. Not just any quilt. A very special quilt. My first custom quilt. Perhaps my 3rd longarmed quilt. A favorite! Apr 11: As I wrote a friend this morning: "Yesterday, out of the blue, I knew my train quilt needed to go to Harold. I fixed all the places where the borders were coming unraveled & made sure they were secure. I went to see him & asked if he would receive it. He did. Later last night, his daughter told me he loved trains and used to collect them. HA!
I've not slept well lately (under that favorite quilt perhaps because it was just too long). Went back to my little homespun monkeys last night & slept like a baby. Quilts are precious but sleep is essential. Both are best when they go together just right." Now if he will just stop worrying that someone will steal it.  A lot of history here. I did the cutting on my small round kitchen table. I didn't yet even own my first used Janome Jen Platinum 760 I purchased in December along with the longarm. I think I was still using a Brother I had borrowed from my daughter. I used 2 cameras & the date stamps are confusing so some of this is pure guess.
Sep 15, 2009: Purchased fabric. Nov 02: The cutting was done. Nov 07: Piecing. Every block is identical, just turned differently. Nov 09: Quilt center is together. Nov 13: Purchased Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. I think some dates are wrong because my records date the cut fabric laying on the bed later (29th) than photos of the borders attached. Hmmm. Nov 21: Borders are on. Feb 07, 2010: Started loading for longarming. Makes this the 2nd quilt I longarmed. Feb 19: Longarmed. Aug 25: Binding attached. Sep 04: Binding finished
This post not added until June 14, 2015. So much has changed. So much hasn't. Nov 28, 2008: Purchased Northern Journey Flannels & Tuscany Wool batting. No piecing photos. Nov 30: Pictures of quilt top at Ye Olde Forest when Kelly was longarming Coming Up Roses. Quilt made from 1930's prints - Pieced 11/16/2008, Quilted 07/06/2010, Finished & Sold 201111/16/2008 My RedBubble friend and amazing poet, Kristin Reynolds, wanted this quilt as a present for her daughter whose birthday is in June. She will be 6 years old! I pieced it for Ye Olde Forest Quilt Shoppe as a sample shortly after they opened their doors in the fall of 2008. My daughter later gave it back to me to finish and sell. At last, it has a home!! Moda Jelly Roll of 1930's fabrics. Backing is 1930's Turquoise Vintage Solid. Fabrics purchased at Ye Olde Forest Quilt Shoppe Quilt Top Pattern: A variation on "Spiral Strips" from Jelly Roll Quilts book by Pam & Nicky Lintott Longarm Design Pattern: 1930's Flower Panto by Sandy Daugherty especially for this quilt. The flower design is taken from the fabric itself. Size: 64 x 64  Where it all started...Opening Day at Ye Olde Forest Quilt Shoppe. Aug 31: Bought first fabrics. Marie Osmand Sep 08-09: Pieced. Nov 30: Kelley longarmed this quilt (Quilting for Queen Size 90 x 96 = 8640 sq in = $50) It would be several years before I would transform the leftover fabric into a couple of table toppers. One covers the table where I cut my earliest quilts. Appropriately, it is a Log Cabin design. TWO 4-FOOT TABLE TOPPERS - FINISHED 06/05/2011 |
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