HEY YOU! STOP!

I have noticed that there are now 111 of you wonderful people following my OLD blog. Yes...this is my O.L.D. blog. I am thrilled that you want to keep up with what I am posting about, but I haven't posted on this blog since LAST SUMMER. So this is my request, please STOP following this blog and start following my new one. I've been updating it weekly and have ALL OF MY BEST WORK on it. I want very much to share it with you all, but you'll never see it on this blog. Please visit my new website/blog.

Please follow my NEW BLOG: http://www.bethanyquilts.com/ 

***This blog is officially retired.***


***To see more photos of these quilts starting following:
http://www.bethanyquilts.com/

Photo from: http://autoclipart.com/auto_clipart_images/cartoon_policeman_directing_traffic_while_holding_a_baton_and_stop_sign_0521-1009-1319-0701.html

NEW WEBSITE!!!

So I've left you all hanging about the mermaids and sailboats...Wanna' know what's been going on? A NEW WEBSITE!!! My good friend Bob has done an incredible job of getting my website set up and ready to role. Check it out at: http://www.bethanyquilts.com/ Don't forget to subscribe to it! And check out all the cool tabs and links...(some of which are complete and others in the process of updating).

Of Mermaids and Sailboats ~Part 1~

I have been stitching away! Here's a sneak peek of what's next...stay tuned!

ALL NEW DESIGNS ~Part 2~

Here are the rest of the pictures from the 2 day quiltathon. Weee! It was a challenge but so worth the effort. I was delighted to be able to use several of the new stitch motifs I learned at MQS. I did not think that I would be able to master them less than a month after my business trip. I consistently practiced making the feathers & before I knew it - I was stitching them on this quilt. As for the ribbon candy quilting...I had actually decided before MQS that I couldn't do it. I was happy to discover during a class at MQS that I was WRONG! Guess what my instructor Linda Taylor made me practice for 20 minutes straight? Yes...you got it...ribbon candy and more ribbon candy. Now I'm a ribbon candy pro.

Sandy King did a beautiful job with her choice of fabrics and pattern. I loved quilting her quilt for her. Thanks Sandy for letting me have fun with it.

Feathers in the corners & borders...

As I was quilting the quilt I had no idea that I was simultaneously creating a whole cloth quilt on the backside. I was delightfully surprised at what I discovered when I unloaded the quilt out of the machine.

Here's a good view of the feathered medallions, ribbon candy, swirls and border feathers...

The skinny feathers in the sashing added movement to the middle of the quilt and tied in the border feathers...

Upclose photo of the border feathers...

I'm so proud of how well the ribbon candy quilting turned out!

The swirls were the perfect motif to fit into the small center squares...

Stitching around with ALL NEW DESIGNS!!!

Here are a few pics of the quilt that took me two days to quilt. I was so excited to be able to use several of the new techniques and designs I learned at MQS. As you can see in the photos (and several more on the way) I used 4 different feathers to fill in borders, sashing, corners and the center diamonds - and TONS of ribbon candy quilting in the braid sections. I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and I learned a lot along the way. I surpassed many of my goals with this quilt and can't wait to feather the next one! *The part that surprised me the most when I took the quilt off the machine was that the back looked like a wholecloth design! I certainly didn't plan that! So don't miss the photo of the back of the quilt at the end of this post*