Mary’s brother-in-law passed away a few years ago and her sister was hoping she could do something more with his clothes than just throw them away or donate them. Knowing Mary is a quilter, she turned to her sister for help. This is the seventh (!) quilt Mary has made with his clothes for her nieces and nephews, and the second one she’s quilted on our longarm machines. The fabrics inside the heart on this quilt are from his polos and button downs. For the quilting she did a freehand meander with little hearts throughout the line. The grey and pink hearts were appliqued to the quilt top, so Mary also quilted into the hearts and outlined them to help nail them down to the quilt. She did a beautiful job and her niece is going to love it! Mary also brought in a baby quilt for her first grandson that afternoon. This baby is definitely going to be a big baseball fan! It took us a while to decide on the perfect pantograph for this one. There were many designs that would have looked great on this quilt, but it was so hard to choose just one! Finally she decided on the Star Dance panto. Her grandson is going to be an “all star!” Colleen always brings in beautiful quilts with amazing fabrics and colors. Today’s quilts were no exception! Take a look at this log cabin quilt for her granddaughter! Those bright colors are just perfect for a little girl - or even some grown up girls! She used the uber girly Feathered Flower pantograph for this quilt. It’s nice and dense, so it will add lots of texture to a quilt. We were also in love with Colleen’s second quilt of the day. This lovely quilt has lots of beautiful blues, indigos, and purples. This one is a wedding present for one of her nephews. It’s not unusual for someone to bring in a quilt with lots of patterns in the fabrics and have no idea what panto to use. If I see lots of flowers or vines in those prints, and if I know this quilt is going to someone who lives in or grew up in Louisville, I’ll often suggest the Funky Fleur-de-Lys pantograph. It’s another wonderful panto with nice movement and texture. And that fleur de lys, the official symbol of Louisville, will always remind them of home. How about a classic bow tie block made with actual bow ties? That’s what Debbie did for this memory quilt she made for her cousin. All of those bow ties belonged to her uncle who passed away about a year ago. Debbie’s cousin sent her all the ties and simply said, “do whatever you can with them.” I know from experience that working with ties and bow ties can be a bit of a challenge, so I was wondering what her process had been. Debbie stabilized the fabric with a non woven interfacing. Debbie was sure to point out this tie in particular. This one was made for his uncle, and even has his name on it. He bought this while in Scotland and it’s made with nice Scottish wool in a traditional tartan design. She just wanted a simple meander for her quilting. For those who aren’t ready to free hand their meandering, we do have a design board that gives their quilt a consistent meandered look with the training wheels on!