"A stunning display of craftsmanship and hard work." I used a Leaflet pantograph design for this quilt. It measures 68"x 76" and fits perfectly on Tianna's queen size mattress. Below is a message from Tianna: "I was lucky enough to have received this beautiful quilt from Allison and I could not be happier with the hard work that she put into quilting it. It's easy to see that Allison took the time to carefully guide the long-arm over the top of this quilt creating a gorgeous leaf pattern. I've never seen such care and attention to detail. The design is intricate and features such lovely spirals. How she has sewn the border on without leaving a single stitch showing is still a mystery to me. This quilt lives on my bed and it makes me so happy to see it laid out flat every morning after I make the bed. I am proud to be the owner of such a masterpiece. Thank you Allison for this beautiful piece of art that I will treasure forever."

It all started with a fish How to turn a fabric panel into a "one of a kind" queen size quilt in 3 easy steps (sort of): Ok, maybe it took more than 3 steps, but it did end up becoming a one of a kind quilt, or as the owners of the quilt say, "a work of art". My dearest friends, Mark and Deb, came for a visit one afternoon and while we were talking Deb pulled a fabric panel from her purse. “Look what I found!” she says with great excitement. “Can you make this into a quilt for me?” It was a beautiful fabric panel depicting different varieties of fish swimming in a lake. Funny thing is, I know this panel. One of the first full-size quilts I made and quilted on my long-arm was done using this very panel, and it was made for my husband. I told her I would be more than happy to make a quilt for her. She then asked if it would be possible to have it ready for her husband’s birthday, which was just over three weeks away! The answer was a resounding NO! But, I could definitely have it done by Christmas, which was just over four months away. And so the design process began Step One: Create your design Originally I thought I would incorporate the panel with a bunch of log cabin blocks, but as I started making the blocks I realized they weren’t doing the panel any justice. So, it was back to the drawing board. Step Two: Re-create your design Then, I came up with the idea of creating a Bargello design around the panel. I wanted the pattern to reflect the whole earthy theme of the panel, so I created a paper chart I could follow. Starting with the water and then the shoreline, forest, mountains, sunset and finally the sky. Step Three: Choose your fabrics The next challenge was to find the fabrics I wanted to use. I chose to use all batik fabrics and matched the colours as closely as possible with the colours in the panel. There are forty-one different fabrics used in this quilt! Step Four: Cut your strips Using my rotary cutter, this step only took me a few days. I am so grateful to the person that invented rotary cutters. If you are still using scissors, there is an easier way and I suggest you go to the store right now and buy a rotary cutter. Step Five: Let the sewing begin! Using the chart I had created, I started building the quilt. Row after row was sewn together and two weeks later I had a finished top ready to be quilted. Step Six: The real fun begins The second to last step in making this quilt was to put it on my long-arm and give it the final touches. I chose to do a simple edge-to-edge quilting pattern called “Zephyr”. I felt this pattern represented the waves of the ocean or air currents and would enhance the quilts earthy theme. Step Seven: Surprise your friends Once the quilt was finished, I put it on the queen-size bed in our guest room and invited Mark and Deb to come for a visit. The look of astonishment on their faces when they saw the quilt was priceless. There were many hugs and a few tears. Below is Deb's full testimonial: "I have known Allison all my adult life. She was my matron of honor. Throughout the years we have enjoyed receiving special gifts from one another. Her gifts to us though have been the most memorable. In total we have 3 quilts that she has lovingly made us. It took us a few years to feel comfortable using them as they are works of art. When my husband and I each got our quilts made especially with our hobbies in mind we felt privileged. Little did we know at the time that they were just a warm-up to the magnificent quilt that would come to our home. I had given Allison a fish panel to look at. I asked her if she would be willing to make a small blanket. I was thinking a small one for the chair. She said “Ok, I will look for some scrap pieces of fabric and see what I can do.” A couple of months later I was the recipient of a masterpiece. It was breathtaking. Even to this day, writing this out, my eyes water and I get a lump in my throat. The colors of the piece are stunning, for an artist, a special visual treat. Your eyes drink in the colours as they blend together in minute squares. The time it must have taken shows it was a labour of love. Our lives have been enriched by her thoughtfulness of these gifts. Can you imagine: Not one, not two, but three pieces of art? I know of very few who are as lucky as I am as I now have a legacy of love to pass down." #fishing #quilt #friends #longarm #lovedones #artistseye #family #trout #bargello #fish

A story of a quilt that took generations to complete In January of 2014, my birth mother passed away and I ended up inheriting a couple of boxes of her fabrics. The majority of the fabrics were leftovers from the many clothing projects she had sewn in the past. Many were polyester blends, which I donated to a local charity, but there were quite a few usable cotton pieces as well. I kept those and put them aside in a plastic bin for use in future scrap quilts. At the bottom of the second box I found a plastic bag full of old quilt blocks. I was intrigued and wanted to know the history behind these mystery blocks as I knew my mother was not a quilt maker. The story that emerged after asking a few family members was that these blocks were originally made in the 1930’s by my grandmother using the fabric from flour sacks. For people who may not know: In the 1930's, during the great depression, flour sacks were made using pretty patterned fabrics. Flour companies did this after they discovered women were using the flour sacks to sew clothes, cloth diapers, etc. because times were difficult and money was tight. No one remembers my grandmother turning the blocks into a quilt but they do remember my mother inheriting them after grandmother passed away. "I thought to myself "this has to be the ultimate UFO!" A UFO, in sewing terms, is an unfinished object (project) and this one had to take the cake. The bag contained twenty-one finished blocks and another half dozen or so in different stages of completion. I decided it was definitely time for these blocks to become a quilt, or two or three! I took eight of the blocks and graphed out a plan I wanted the quilt to have a vintage feel, so I headed to my own stash of fabrics and pulled out everything that had an old look to it. I think I succeeded in finding just the right fabrics to blend with the original blocks. After picking out the fabrics I wanted to use, I placed all the blocks on point and added sashing to separate them. Next, keeping with a simple 2.5” block pattern, I created the setting triangles on the sides and bottom. After that, I added a border around the whole outside. Then, I needed to fill in the corners to make it square, so I added more 2.5” blocks and a border. Finally, to get the size I wanted (twin) I added two outside borders. Now it was time to quilt it At that point in time I was only doing hand guided free-motion quilting. So, I opted to do a double paisley pattern over the entire quilt. I never had the opportunity to meet my grandmother (due to being placed for adoption at birth) and I really wanted the quilt to go to someone who had had a relationship with her and who would appreciate its history. Once the quilt was completed I decided to gift it to my oldest half-brother. I booked a flight to Calgary so I could deliver it to him in person. Needless to say he was thrilled with the quilt and the history of its creation. I’m pretty sure I saw a tear or two although he will never admit it! I named the quilt "Rebirth" because it was born and then put away, only to be reborn again many decades later. #quilting #floursacks #1930s #grandmasquilt #paisley #longarm #family #adoption

It Started with a Bag of Scraps! My sewing journey began when I was six years old. I found a bag of scraps my mom had saved from a dress she'd made. She wasn’t a prolific sewer by any means, but she did own an old Singer sewing machine and every once in awhile she would make herself something simple, like a muumuu. For those who are not old enough to remember, a muumuu (as defined by Merriam - Webster’s Dictionary) is: “a loose, often long dress having bright colors and patterns and adapted from the dresses originally distributed by missionaries to the native women of Hawaii.” They were pretty shapeless and boring. Anyway, I found her bag of scraps and decided that I was going to make myself a skirt. I asked to use her sewing machine and was told I was too young. Did that deter me? Oh no! I found a needle and thread, cut my pieces out, and made myself a little skirt with an elastic waistband. All sewn by hand!! I was so proud of that little skirt! Yes, it was tight and short, but I had made it all by myself!! I don’t remember making anything else after that but as soon as I hit Grade 8 and found out sewing was going to be one of my classes I was so excited!! It seemed to be a skill that just came naturally to me and I passed with flying colours. Sewing was always a part of my class schedule throughout the rest of my school years. How did I end up making quilts? I always thought I would wait until I was retired to learn how to quilt, but in fact it happened quite a bit sooner than planned. Quilting that is, not retiring! My kids were grown and I wasn’t interested in making clothes any longer, but I still had the desire to sew. Then, my daughter got pregnant and of course I had to make a baby quilt for my first grandchild. I was able to quilt that one myself on my domestic machine but the next quilt I made was slightly larger, almost a queen size, and there was no way I could maneuver it around in my little sewing room in order to quilt it. I found someone to quilt it for me on their long-arm. It cost me a pretty penny, and yet I was a little disappointed with the job she did. She must have been a fairly new long-arm quilter and I didn’t know much about long-arming at the time, so I didn’t really have anything to compare her work to. I thought to myself "I can do better" Which is why I ended up buying my own long-arm! That was almost nine years ago and I haven’t looked back! #quilt #longarm #muumuu #fabricscraps #journey #leaningtosew #quilterforhire