September & October Customer Quilts

>> Sunday, November 7, 2010


Bright & cheery star quilt for Crystal C.

Lap quilt for Jayme A.

1930s Sampler for Margaret K.

Sweet baby quilt for LuAnn W.

Grandmother's Garden table topper for Marilyn G.

Buggy Barn "If the Hat Fits" for Mary Ann D.

Autumn Table Topper for Jayme A.
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Invisible Machine Applique: Simply Amazing

>> Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Last week, I took a workshop from fabric/pattern designer and quilter Kim Diehl. She came to our quilt guild for two days of workshops to teach her method of invisible machine appliqué. In case you're not in the know, appliqué (in quilting terms) is a method used to create designs on a quilt with pieces placed on top of the fabric and then sewn in place--either by hand or machine.

There are several different ways to appliqué, but I prefer the look of needle-turn for it's clean edges and no-show thread. However, needle-turn takes a lot of time because it is all done by hand. Well, Kim's invisible machine appliqué method is just what the name implies: appliqué attached by sewing machine where the thread is pretty darn near invisible. When done correctly, it looks fabulous. And that's what I've been trying to perfect on my project all week. Here is a picture of Kim's wall hanging (and the one I'm working on as well). I'll post a picture of mine when I'm finished.



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July and August Customer Quilts

>> Tuesday, September 21, 2010

July and August came and went so quickly! I did a few quilts during my "slow" quilting months and had some time for a fun family vacation to Southern California. Now the kids are back in school and I've even had a few telephone calls about getting quilts done in time for Christmas. Can it be time for the Christmas quilt rush already? I'd much prefer getting them done now rather than December 17th, though. My first picture actually is a Christmas throw that I did in July but it was a store sample pieced by Jessica S. for the local quilt shop, so it needed to be done early enough to be on display for a while. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

This cute Christmas throw was for Jessica S. I quilted snowflakes, swirls and loops in the quilt body, swirls in the red inner border, and snowflakes and loops in the big outer border.

This throw was for Julia T. and has loops, vines, and flowers as well as detail and outlining on the applique. I love the pinks, greens, and reds in this quilt.

This BYU quilt was for Julia T. I quilted stars, loops and swirls in the quilt body, stars and loops in the blue inner border, and large swirls in the outer border.

This queen size scrappy quilt is for Chris L. I quilted loops and swirls in the quilt body, swirls in the red inner border and the scrappy outer border, and large double loops in the big black inner border.

This bright Yellow Brick Road is for Launa G. and was pieced by her daughter Becca. She did a great job! I quilted this with an all over flower/swirl/vine pattern and hid Becca's name in it as well. She picked some fun colors!

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April, May, and June Customer Quilts

>> Tuesday, July 20, 2010

I quilted this adorable jungle print baby quilt for Kathryn G. with all over loops and meandering.




Not a very good picture, but I loved the colors of this throw for Kristin P. I quilted it with an all over floral pattern. 



Here's a fun scrappy queen size for Jayme A. that I did with an all over meander.


Cute baby quilt for Marilyn G. quilted with stitch-in-the-ditch.


First of two Buggy Barn Christmas tree skirts for Anita W. with a double echo of the star quilted inside the star and loops in the background.


Here's the second tree skirt for Anita W. I love these. Maybe someday I'll have time to make one for myself...



Strip baby quilt with an all over floral pattern for Jayme A. I love this fabric line--City Girl by Kitty Yoshida.


Here's a beautiful Civil War Era sampler from Shelley B. I quilted feathers and swirls in the blocks, double loops in the sashing, feathers in the diamond border, stars & loops in the dark blue border, and feathers & swirls in the outer border. Whew!


I love this beautiful floral medallion in the center of this sampler quilt by Shelley B. I echoed the floral design in the center and quilted a vine & floral pattern in the background and blocks with leaves in the sashing.


And a second floral medallion quilt for Shelley B.


I did this beautiful Friendship Star lap quilt for Gayle W. with feathering in the background of the blocks, a double echo line inside the star, double loops in the sashing and feathers in the dark blue border.


Here are two more Underground Railroad quilts for Shelley B. I quilted them both with feathering inside the blocks, double loops in the sashing and feathers and swirls in the outside border.




And this Underground Railroad for Shelley B. has swirls in the sashing rather than the double loops in the other one. She does such a beautiful job with her piecing and fabric choices. I love these quilts!



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Quilts of Valor

>> Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Today I finished and turned in a quilt to Quilts of Valor. Quilts of Valor is an organization whose mission is to provide a quilt for all the wounded soldiers, whether physically or emotionally, who have served in the War on Terror. So far, they've awarded 26,125 quilts to our servicemen and women who have been injured in the line of duty. So amazing! What a great reminder of  how good and generous quilters can be! Each one of those quilts was lovingly pieced, quilted, and donated to a very deserving soldier. A long time ago, I promised myself that if I were blessed enough to have a hobby-turned-business from my home then I would try to bless the lives of others with my talents. This is just one way I can do that--by making a quilt to thank someone who has sacrificed for our country. For more information, visit the Quilts of Valor website. Here's a picture of mine.


Ring Around the Star
Pieced and Quilted by Dianne Kartchner
May 2010

Here's the front


And the back.

God bless the servicemen and women who serve our country.

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HMQS 2010

>> Monday, May 10, 2010

Last weekend, I went to HMQS in Salt Lake City for some longarm quilting classes and to see the fabulous quilt show. I came away from the classes with lots of new information about designs (lots and lots of designs), new techniques, threads, gadgets, supplies, and even how to make a show quilt! I've been thinking it would be lots of fun to make a show quilt now that I've learned some tips and tricks about how to do it. I think I'll do that in my spare time. (Translation: I'll never do one because I have no spare time). But I can dream, right?

Here's the quilt that won Best of Show for 2010:


Just beautiful. So many of the show quilts use embroidery, fabric painting, and different kinds of embellishing to make them absolutely stunning. The picture really doesn't do this quilt justice.

The main reason I went was to take some classes from some very talented ladies who are well-known in the longarm quilting world. If you want to check out a little bit about each of them, just follow these links.

Renae Hadaddin--gorgeous show quilts that have won many awards.
Sally Terry--best selling author and inventor of the "Terry Twist" quilting technique.
Kim Brunner--travels to teach at quilt shows and has won best teacher awards. I can see why--I LOVED her class!
Pam Clarke--famous for her "Designs With Lines" quilting technique which uses minimal marking and produces fabulous quilting designs based on marking with lines.

All my classes were fabulous and I would take a class from any of these teachers again--I had a great experience with all of my classes this year, and hope to make it back sometime.

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February & March Customer Quilts

>> Friday, April 30, 2010

So here it is almost May and I'm finally posting my customer quilts for February & March. I've been incredibly busy quilting, greenhousing (not a word, I know) and watching my girls' dance competitions. So on to the pictures...

Cute scrappy throw for Heather B. I quilted this with an all-over swirl pattern.


Straw Hat Sam antique quilt for JoAnn W. I quilted this with a small stipple all over and did a little tacking down on each Sam so I didn't take away from the cute applique.


Cute fall wall hanging for JoAnn W. I quilted this with an all-over loop pattern in the body of the quilt and added some detail to the pumpkins, and I did pumpkins & vines in the outside border.


I love these darling baby quilt samplers from JoAnn W. I quilted different detail in each of the blocks.

Here's the second baby quilt sampler for JoAnn W...

...and the third.


This adorable ladybug baby quilt was for Bette G. I quilted flowers, loops, and vines throughout this one with some detail in the applique flowers. I quilted flowers and vines in the outside border.


This darling fairytale quilt was from Betty W. I did swirls in the red sashing, meander in the map blocks, and detail on the castle--tight stipple to give a rock effect, and clouds in the sky above the castle. I also quilted double loops in the green border and a swirl pattern in the blue outside border.

And 3 more Aggie Star wall hangings for Utah State University. Each one is a little different because I used scraps from the bigger quilts I've done. The bigger quilts measure 72" square, and these ones are 36" square. And yes, I know they're blurry. I had the wrong camera lens on, and that's the best I could do before I sent them out the door.

Here's the second Aggie Star...


...and the third.


Lissy's Flowers for Julia T. I love these ragged flowers that look like lollipops. I quilted this one with an all-over flower & vine pattern with flowers, leaves and vines in the outside border.

Here's a sweet pink & brown patchwork quilt for Julia T. with some cute rick-rack detail in the corners. I quilted a hodge-podge of flowers, leaves, vines, swirls & loops in the body of the quilt. The brown inner border had little pink stars on the fabric, so I quilted stars & loops in that border and flowers & vines in the outside pieced border.


And the next 6 pictures are some large Grandmother's Garden table toppers that I quilted for Marilyn G. She hand pieced each one of these, and I love all the different 1930s reproduction prints she chose to make each one look a little different. I quilted an assortment of swirls, flowers and double loops in each row.

Here's the second...


third...


fourth...



fifth...


...and sixth. She's been busy!


And unfortunately, I let one get away during March without a picture first. I also did a beautiful table topper in civil war reproduction prints for Julia F. Hopefully I can get a picture from her and get that posted. Now I'd better get busy starting a post for April!



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The Little Mermaid

>> Tuesday, March 9, 2010

I just finished making 13 of these Little Mermaid blocks for our quilt guild friendship block exchange. The theme this year was fairy tales. I had several fairy tales to choose from, but I had all kinds of ideas about the textures and colors you'd find under the sea, so Little Mermaid it was. At first I was unsure if I could translate my ideas to a quilt block, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm excited to go to the exchange this morning and see all the blocks I'll be getting back!



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January Customer Quilts

>> Friday, February 12, 2010

I'm always still busy the first of each year with the "after Christmas rush". I don't know what it is about Christmas and people wanting to get quilts done. Maybe it's not Christmas at all, but just because it's so cold outside...


Two of the same 1930s print table toppers for Jolene B. Don't you just love 1930s reproduction prints? I know I do!





Two very similar fall table toppers for Jolene B. (The one on the bottom is a little bit smaller.)



And a cute country style table topper for Jolene B.



9-patch "sister's" friendship exchange quilt for Sandra K. (1 of 3)

9-patch "sister's" friendship exchange quilt for Sandra K. (2 of 3)

And the 3rd of 3 9-patch friendship exchange quilts for Sandra K.--She's been busy piecing, now she'll be busy finishing the binding :)


Confetti lap quilt for Marilyn G. (Actually done late in December, so it made the January post.)


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About . . .

Quilting is good therapy. It all started about 18 years ago when I had two little kiddos running around the house in diapers and spent my days as a stay-at-home mom. I soon discovered that I needed something more interesting than sorting laundry to keep me going. That's when I discovered the joy of quilting. Now, years down the road, I've added another kiddo to the mix. We've said goodbye to diapers and hello to driver's licenses and college (yikes!), and I have many quilts behind me. I now have a studio in my basement with a long-arm machine where I keep myself busy quilting for others and for myself, too, when I get the time. I hope you enjoy looking at what I've been working on!

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