Time to catch up with the renters! We get to know our renters more and more each time they finish a quilt on one of our APQS machines. Tracie is an excellent example. She has quilted several quilts recently and we've noticed a certain tendency towards...CHICKENS!!! Backyard chicken farming has been very popular in the past few years so she's on trend with these two quilts.

In this first quilt, Tracie has combined large patterned setting blocks, blocks made up of four half-square triangle units, and solid fabric setting blocks with appliqued chickens. If you look closely at the patterned setting blocks, you'll see that the pattern is actually more chickens. Tracie selected the colors for the quilt based upon the patterned fabric. She quilted her quilt with an overall swirl design that adds texture without dominating the quilt.

Tracie then brought in this glorious rooster quilt. Don't you love the printed rooster blocks? What ornate tail feathers! Tracie's secondary arrow block, itself bold and colorful, still lets the rooster blocks shine beautifully. She used our traditional Baptist fan design board to quilt this top. The overall effect is marvelous!

Next up is Beverly's variation on a 54-40 or Fight quilt. She carefully planned this quilt so that the colors would line up diagonally in what is called a "straight furrows" design. Think about the pioneers in the 19th century plowing their fields! The block itself is also historic and refers to the debate over what the latitude of the northern boundary of the United States should be. Beverly wanted to quilt this quilt with a feathered design, so she used our Bountiful Feathers design board. Design boards make quilting even a complex design easy, and the results are always beautiful!

Finally, Vickie rented an Accuquilt Studio die cutter to make cutting our her fence rail quilt a breeze. It's easy to cut out a quilt in an hour, and with a commercial-grade model, you can cut up to ten layers of fabric at a time! In just one pass, you can cut all of your binding for a quilt! Vickie quilted her quilt using the Orange Peel design board and it turned out wonderfully.