What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

This beauty was made by Marlene.  The pattern is called "Sunflowers" by Primitive Gatherings.  Marlene's hand blanket stitched wool applique was a treat for me to work on.

When Marlene and I were discussing a quilting plan she suggested using 3 different designs for background.  She suggested the piano keys on the outer edge of the border, and something different on the inner section.  I gave a few different suggestions and she left the final choice up to me.

I decided to use branching curls on the inner border section and a good old fashioned stipple behind the applique ...

I recently had the pleasure of custom quilting Marlene's beautiful "Simpler Sampler" quilt.  This quilt is anything but simple, but it comes from Kim Diehl's book entitled "Simple Sampler."  Marlene did change up the border to make it her own, and I like the simplicity and how it frames the beautiful blocks. 

Marlene and I discussed a few of her quilting likes and dislikes but she said she prefers not to say too much and let her longarmer decide.  The hardest part for me was coming up with a plan for the pieced blocks.  I took my inspiration ...