One of my favorite parts of being in a quilt guild (or two!) is attending quilt retreats. The first weekend in November I spend the weekend in the Marin Headlands with SCVQA. It has a spacious sewing space, the food is delicious, and the views are amazing!
The majority of projects that I brought for the weekend were pieces that I wanted to finish in time to share at my Nov. 10 lecture at Amador Valley Quilters. Two of these were finished at the retreat. (The other two I made great progress on and will be sharing them on the blog soon!) I shared my Wonder Full quilt tops back in June. They use my Planned Improv: All About Angles technique in a more regular unit construction. I really like how I took two piles of identically constructed units and made two quilts with such different overall compositions.
These two were the first and third quilts I longarm quilted myself. I've been renting time at Always Quilting in San Mateo for free hand longarm quilting. The pink quilt was my very first one. I opted for a floral and leaf design with large scale motifs and lots of space.
On my second trip to the longarm I quilted the navy quilt. I opted for three different motifs and alternated the designs in each diagonal strip. This led to a challenge as I couldn't complete a strip without advancing the quilt on the frame which resulted in numerous starts and stops. That said, I'm thrilled with the overall look of the quilting. Check out that texture on the back! Between this one and Fandangle Scrappy Squares I am now hooked on the longarm.
All About Angles is my latest Planned Improv workshop. I'm currently working on a mostly blue version with Cherrywood fabrics, using smaller units. And you may have seen my Pantone Ultra Violet version which I finished this summer.
The second night of our retreat I took advantage of the opportunity to go on a short hike with a few other quilters to watch the sunset. The weather was perfect.
Thanks for visiting! Happy quilting!
I've linked up to the Q4 FAL Finishes Linkup.
Cheryl Brickey
Both finishes look great! Beautiful work with the longarm on the quilting.
sarah
Post authorThank you, Cheryl. They were so fun to quilt!
Jenn
Beautiful sunset photos!
sarah
Post authorThanks! The weather was so lovely!
Roseanne
Hi Sarah! What wonderful finishes you share with us today! And that sunset - gorgeous. I'm sure it took your breath away for a moment in person! I love that you shared close ups of your first few longarm quilting. I am in a similar place, just getting into different stitches in FMQ on my DSM. Oh, I just love the flowers and leaves on the pink quilt. You must have spent some time thinking of your path or transition before you started, and it really shows. They are smooth and seamless. On your navy quilt, I find myself having many threads to bury because I either can't transition well, I get stuck, or I may not have a plan in my head. If I can offer one suggestion that I've learned, is that I put an acrylic board over a section I'm going to quilt and use a marker to draw my plan out. Including most importantly, the transition from the swirls to the diamonds and then to the loops. Your finished piece looks fabulous!! You should be very proud of yourself! No one would ever know you are a beginner on the longarm from those pieces. Happy Saturday to you! ~smile~ Roseanne
sarah
Post authorThe acrylic board technique is a great one. The benefit of free motion quilting a bunch is building an bit of intuition about the path one could take. And the free motion skill from working on a domestic transfers (at least somewhat). ;-) I still sometimes "paint" myself into a corner, but overall I just work in a general direction across an area. Thank you for visiting, and for the thoughtful comments, Roseanne.
Anja @ Anja Quilts
It sounds like you had a great retreat. Your quilting looks great.
sarah
Post authorThank you, Anja! Now to figure out how to get a longarm and where to put it! :-)
Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty
Beautiful finishes, Sarah! I'm about to get certified to use the longarm at my LQS. I'm excited at the opportunities it will open up to me!
sarah
Post authorYou're going to have so much fun!!! Thanks for visiting, Michelle.
Teresa Saunders
I have just found your site and am thrilled to see your work. I have not had time to read all responses to your work thus may repeat what has been said. You are very talented and have an awesome eye for colour. I have been sewing quilt tops for years,and am know learning to quilt on my APQS. I have never had a colour eye therefore by fabric in bundles. I was wondering if you would mind picking some Kona colours to go with Breakers and chartreuse. I would love to do the Ombré HST quilt using your pattern. Thanks so much.Teresa
sarah
Post authorThanks for visiting, Teresa. Are you wanting to use Breakers and Chartreuse in the same quilt, or for two different projects?
Sandra
Great finishes, I love the improv technique. And well done on the longarm quilting, too! Thank you for participating in the FAL, on behalf of the 2018 FAL hosts!
sarah
Post authorThank you, Sandra!