My Ombré Gems quilt!!!

This is one of two quilts that I started and finished last year.  I quilted tons of quilts, however I don’t sew a ton of quilts, because I sew so slow.  I try and enjoy the process.  I’m thrilled to share with you my Ombré Gems quilt!!!  You have no idea how excited I am about this quilt.  I loved this pattern the first time I saw it from Emily Dennis...  go here to get the pattern: https://quiltyloveshop.com/collections/featured-products/products/ombre-gems-pdf-quilt-pattern

I got all the fabrics from https://www.sistersandquilters.com/ my favorite online fabric store!!!  Or they have an etsy... https://www.etsy.com/shop/sistersandquilters 

So, beginning of last year Emily said she was going to do another Ombré Gems sew along, and I totally jumped right in, even though I had a ton of work stuff going on at that moment and didn’t know how I was going to fit it in.  I started and loved it sooo much!  One thing that really helped is to have the blocks precut and clipped together, with the color name written on paper.  Once you cut off the selvages, it’s hard to know what some of those colors are.  It was the first time I had used Vanessa Christensen’s Ombré fabrics, so I was wondering how I was going to get that great fade from light to dark in my blocks.  No worries, Emily shows you exactly what to do to cut the right piece in the right spot, so you can have awesome blocks, too.  Like I mentioned above, the fabrics are by Vanessa Christensen from V and Co by Moda Fabrics.

The little red clips I’m using are called Wonder Clips, they are a life saver in so many ways.  The bottoms are flat so it’s easy to sew until you get to the clip, then of course you can’t sew over it like a pin.  They are great for binding, English paper piecing, sewing bags or zipper pouches and trying to keep all those layers together, and of course for keeping all your pieces together.  The best price I’ve found is amazon, and yes...you’ll want the 50 pack.  click here: https://www.amazon.com/Clover-Wonder-Clips-Red-50-Pack-x/dp/B004ZKPX8A/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1546708234&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=wonder+clips&dpPl=1&dpID=51fJgM4kdRL&ref=plSrch

I finished this quilt in May, and thought I knew what I wanted to quilt on it.  In the mean time, I had client quilts to quilt.  Come December, when I was about done quilting for clients, I counted how many quilts I had quilted for the year and I was a few short from doing the same amount last year.  So I looked in my closet and my beautiful Ombré Gems was sitting there.  The dilemma, I had no idea what I should quilt on it.  Seriously went back and forth soooo many times.  I even did an Instagram poll in my stories with three options.  The funny thing, I was totally going to quilt a triangle design on it.  I actually started to and it was too big, so I unpicked it.  Thankfully I only had two triangles quilted.  I decided to do and poll and sleep on it.  The triangles were a definite no...haha!  Actually there were some who voted for all three designs.  I know that any one of them would have looked great.  But since I LOVED this quilt, I wanted to LOVE the quilting too, and not just quilt it to quilt it and then regret what I did later on.  So, I eliminated the triangle design as an option.  Which left me with my Squared©️ Or Beaded Clam©️ design.  Squared won the poll hands down, and I was sooo close to quilting it.  I even spent a few hours thinking out loud, just trying to decide.  My mom was listening...haha!  I actually decided to do Squared, and then changed my mind.  Let me tell you a few reasons why.  I wanted to first and foremost soften up the quilt.  This quilt is beautiful and has a lot of hard lines, and I knew my Beaded Clam design would be great at softening it up.  Second, I have two other quilts that I really want to do, and they both need to have Squared quilted on them.  I love my Squared design, but I want to use a variety of my designs on my quilts, instead of using the same one over and over.  I also, quilted Beaded Clam on a client quilt back in August, right after I released it, and I really wanted it on one of my own quilts.  Now, I just hoped I was going to LOVE it as much as I LOVE the quilt.  And, I do!!  So much!!!  You may be wondering why I went into great detail telling you about my thought process.  The funny thing, most times I can look at a quilt and know exactly what to quilt on it.  Especially if it’s an edge to edge design.  I usually draw inspiration from the fabrics or the quilt pattern.  The hard thing about this particular quilt, it’s all solid fabric...well except for the backing fabric.  (Look for it below)  Which is another reason I chose this design.  I quilted this design at a height of 3”, and that is a perfect size.

Here is a look at my Beaded Clam©️ design, not to be confused with my Beaded Clam Take Two.  Beaded Clamb is available only in my shop at: https://www.quiltingit.com/shop/beaded-clam-1

Urban Elementz picked up my Beaded Clam Take Two design, and it’s available in paper and several different digital formats...if you’re a paper pantograph quilter check that out.  https://www.urbanelementz.com/beaded-clam.html  

These aqua, pink, magenta, greens, and red...are my favorite combination of color on this quilt!!

Look at all that awesome quilty texture!!!  Love love love it!!  To create this texture I actually used two layers of batting.  I’ve done that before on a few of my custom quilts and on a client quilt...but never on a quilt I was going to just do an edge to edge quilting design on.  The base layer is my favorite 8020 cotton poly blend batting from Winline out of Ogden Utah.  Then on top of that I used a layer of Hobbs wool.  I tell you, this combo is heavenly!!!  I haven’t had any problems with the batting bunching or anything weird, but as I roll I check to make sure everything is still flat and straight.  Especially when quilting a quilt that is pieced on the bias.  Sometimes batting likes to bunch on me, with blocks sewn on point...I don’t know why, when I’m advancing the quilt on the machine.  The reasoning behind using two layers of batting, is to add extra loft and help the quilting POP!  I actually rubbed my hand on this quilt dozens of times to feel the texture.  Haha!  I used a white 30 tex poly wrapped poly Perma Core A&E thread.

I’ve been sleeping with this on top of my bedspread, and it’s been so cozy and warm in the freezing northern Utah winter we are having.  

See...here is the backing fabric!!  Does it make a little more sense why I wanted to quilt this design on this quilt???  The dots have a rounded top and bottom mimicing the scallop in the quilting.  I think they pair nicely together.  This quilting may not be your favorite, that’s okay.  I also love this grayish bias pinstripe for the binding.  It’s a Bonnie and Camille basic by Moda.  The backing fabric is from one of Vanessa Christensen’s old fabric lines, Color Me Happy by Moda.    

This is also my first quilt that I was able to put my custom made label on!!  I love these!!  Of course I went for Navy/Aqua, with white...they are my favorite color combo!  So many of my quilts have navy and aqua in them, so I thought it would complement them nicely.  I also love the clean simple look and the cute font they did my name in.  

Custom Labels 4 U, did them for me.  They are awesome to work with, and I got a ton of labels for a great price!!  Here is their website...  https://www.customlabels4u.com/mobile/custom-woven-labels.htm

If any of you are wanting more specifics about my labels...size, fonts, colors... comment below, and I can dig up the emails with all the details.  I had these made awhile ago, so I can’t remember everything off the top of my head.   

Thanks for following along and reading my story!!  When I was teaching my longarm quilting classes, deciding on which patterns to quilt, was something they all wanted to learn more about.  So, I hope you learned a little something about the process I use.  I definitely want to include the “why I chose this design” in my posts, in hopes that can help those of you who are new to quilting.  

Hope you’re having a great day!!   Happy quilting!!

- Leisha  

Beth’s sweet quilt!

I love the soft colors of this beautiful quilt.  AND, I love that I got to quilt out one of my brand NEW designs!  Beaded Clam©️!!

Beth did an absolutely beautiful job making this quilt.  She fussy cut the hexie fabric for the sashing, and was right on with every point.   

The quilt pattern and fabric are by 3 Sisters and is the Victoria quilt...and it was one of Moda’s box kits.

I used Antique Cream 30 Tex Perma Core A&E thread, and Beth brought a 8020 cotton poly batting.  I think it was a Hobbs batt.

I sent a link to all of my new designs, on my website, to Beth and let her pick a design.  Beaded Clam was one of her choices, and I thought it would be a perfect match.  I couldn’t LOVE it more!!  Thank you, Beth, for being the first to let me quilt out one of my very own designs on a quilt.  

This is one of the options for this design, and the one I quilted on her quilt.  Here is a link to my shop to see all my designs: https://www.quiltingit.com/shop

I love love love the texture this design creates.  You may notice spots on the minky back, where the circles have a bump or notch in them...that is totally the minky pile.  If you turn the quilt over and look at the quilting on the front of the quilt, it is a perfectly quilted circle.  This design quilts out beautifully!

I love the front and back texture shown below.  My job is so fun!!!!   

Thank you for coming by!  Happy quilting! 

- Leisha