worth her weight in gold
November 29, 2013 That is how I feel about my friend Laura. I had the great fortune of meeting her several years ago when she was first starting her longarm quilting career. Since then, she's become an extraordinarily talented longarmer. I consider myself very lucky to benefit from her crazy mad skills. :)
For starters, Laura is an expert piecer. Her own quilts are beautiful because she is meticulous and methodical and those qualities are in her longarming work too. She has a deep understanding of the work and craftsmanship that goes into making a quilt top. And as a quilter, she has a passion for patchwork. She appreciates the art and the artists.
She also has a creative flair when it comes to longarm design. She's always got great ideas to compliment and enhance your labour of love.
But my favourite thing about Laura is that she "gets" me. She understands my style. She knows my personality and knows what I like and don't like. I never worry about leaving a quilt in her hands. Ever.
(Funny little story ... if you have my book S is for Stitch, you can thank Laura in part for that too. I had given her my original little girl quilt to topstitch after a few of my friends encouraged me to write a pattern for it. I was in the process of making the boy version and happened to mention it to her. She was expecting her first grandson and asked to see the boy quilt when it was done. I showed it to her when I picked up the girl quilt and she loved it so much she asked if I would put together a kit for her. Talk about a compliment! Her appreciation and enthusiasm of my design really helped me muster up the courage to submit my designs to a book publisher. So there's that story.)
I know many of her clients simply hand over their quilt tops to her and say, "Work you magic, Laura!" That's exactly what I asked her to do with my Farmer's Wife. I gave no other instructions. And this is exactly what she did. Every block is different. But after admiring my finished quilt for a little while, I noticed something that fascinated and excited me about the top-stitching. Laura artfully picked a few shapes, designs and motifs and then repeated them throughout the quilt. I'd wonderied how she would stitch all 90+ blocks differently, but she did. I'm sorry I don't have it in me to photograph every block individually.
(I want to make huge postage stamp quilt with 3/4" finished squares JUST to have it all topstitched like the block above!!!)
I will be studying and enjoying her work on my quilt for a very long time.
I love the feathered border. And I most especially love how she treated the sashing.
Thanks again Laura! xo
And to all my American friends to the south, hope you're enjoying your Thanksgiving weekend! I'll be out and about choosing window casing, baseboards and doors for the new house.
PS: And for the record, I do NOT say "oot and aboot". I do not know where that came from and I've never heard a fellow countryman say that for real. It sounds hilarious when I hear an American making fun of Canadians about that. It always makes me laugh. But I want you to know that I don't sound like that. Just sayin'. ;)
Reader Comments (22)
And SO funny..."oot and aboot"! Yes, we really do think y'all sound like that. ;)
Um I do know Canadians that speak that way. And you forgot one....Eh! Don't feel bad; it's hard to take anything seriously from the US. The land of gun totting fruit cakes. Love my Canadian neighbors to the north. At least they are reasonable; can't say that for my neighbors across the street.
I am in awe with the effort (read-work) you've put into this heirloom piece and to see what Laura has done is, in a word, stunning. What a team! I especially love how she left some pieces untouched making the patterns of both fabric and design really stand out.
I think we'll all be gushing over this quilt for a long time :)
Beautiful, beautiful quilting. Wowee. I love getting those close ups of your piecing and fabric choices as well, it is such a pretty quilt.
Your quilt is absolutely gorgeous. I fell in love with it when you were still making the blocks. I was so enamoured that I ordered the book so that I can make my own. I love the colors, quilting, can't think of a single thing that isn't gorgeous.
As for how Canadians speak, I have relatives in Ontario (is that considered the east coast? :) . Anyway, they do talk like that. So maybe it's an "east coast" thing :) As an Ohioan (since age 5), I've been told I have an accent and talk "funny" too :) Thanks for the Thanksgiving wishes.
Jenni
~karen