Quilt Swirls on my Luggage!

Yes!  I decorated my luggage with a silver sharpie and made swirls all over them. It was easy to find at baggage claim!

I drew on all four sides!

I also made a crocheted flower from fabric strips for the luggage tag. 

I learned how to crochet with plastic strips, last year at the Haak-In while visiting in Amsterdam.  Although this tag is made from fabric.  I made one from plastic too.

I visited Corrie this year while I was in Amsterdam!  Corrie's upcycling and crocheting inspires my quilting and I will be sharing more about that very soon. 

I packed four quilts into my suitcase and carry on bag!  I used the space bags to squeeze them in. Three of them were lap size and one was full size. --- The I Spy Quilt! The Tree Quilt is a large lap quilt. The Sprouts Quilt is also a lap quilt. The fourth quilt was a quilt I made from fabric for a soft book. I plan to share about that quilt soon... That one was baby size. 

 My suitcase was full!

And of course, I took my Skype Book!  My grandson loved it.  We read it every night.  I brought it home with me, so I can use it when we skype.

We had a wonderful time with my daughter and her family.

How do you tag or mark your luggage?

Enjoy!

Marcia

Getting Up Close with My Quilting --- Paisley Swirly Quilting on Three Quilts

The Paisley Swirly Quilting works great on just about any quilt from modern to traditional.  I like it best on the modern bright quilts.

Here it is on a more traditional looking quilt.

The next quilt is the same quilt pattern using more modern fabrics.

This is not quilted with a computerized quilting machine and it is not a panto graph.  I free style (free motion) quilt every quilt I quilt. I manually move my quilting machine like a pencil across the quilt to create the Paisley Swirly Quilting.

 It is a great choice for an overall quilting for just about any quilt!  It creates a soft swirly motion throughout the whole quilt.  The quilting softens the straight lines of the quilt.

And it also gives the quilting a fun and whimsical look!

All three quilts are customer's quilts.  The second and the third quilts were mystery quilts from last year at Quilt's by Barb's Quilt Retreat.

If you want to see another post with the Paisley Swirly Quilting - Click Here. My customer chose a Minkee Backing fabric. 

Enjoy your day!

Marcia

Hodgepodge Patchwork Tuesday - Scrappy Quilt Challenge Winner

Heather at Needles and Pens was the winner of the FREE Quilting for her Scrappy Quilt!  Heather took the challenge and created a scrappy quilt.  She used the denim block pattern from my Scrappy Quilt Challenge. 

She blogged about it here on her blog. Heather mailed me her scrappy quilt top and backing fabric.  I asked her to choose what overall quilting, batting, and thread color she would like for her prize.  Heather chose overall swirls, 100% cotton batting, and a lite colored thread - my choice.
Here's how I choose the thread color. I have about 150 colors of quilting thread. First, I pull a few cones off the rack and lay them on the quilt.

Then I lay out the colors by family and unwind some of the thread and lay it across the quilt top. First the pinks.

Then the greens and blue greens.

Last, but not least a couple yellows.

I chose one of the pinks.  It looked best on all the fabrics.  Not too dark and not too light. It also looked best on the little fairies.

Then I start quilting.  I decided to add little butterflies with the swirls.

Heather asked if I would stitch her name and my name in the stitching ... 

Made by Heather

Quilted by Marcia

2012

I finished quilting and trimmed the edges.

Heather's quilt top measured 36" by 44".  It was a baby quilt size.  36 X 44 = 1584 square inches. 

Heather's FREE Quilting prize value:
1584 square inches X 3 cents a sq inch = $47.52, plus 
Quilting Thread $5.00, plus Cotton Batting $7.00.
Total $59.52

Hop over to Heather's Needles and Pens Blog and tell her congrats on winning the FREE Quilting Giveaway!
When Heather sent me her quilt top, she also sent me a gift.  She made a mug rug using the scraps from her scrappy quilt. I love it!  

 I took some pictures with my coffee mugs. It matches my favorite mugs. Thanks Heather, that was so cool!

I will do another Quilting Challenge Giveaway in May during the May for Me Celebration.
If you want to see all the Scrappy Quilt Entries click here.
Have a wonderful day!
Marcia
Linked with:
Pieceful Life: Little Quilts Monday - Feb. 20, 2012
Sew Chatty: Made with Love - Feb. 20, 2012
Sew Happy Geek: Manic Monday - Feb. 20, 2012