Jonnie's cream and red quilt

Jonnie wanted custom quilting on this one and suggested that I might do a block design. She thought a darker cream thread would be the best.

I spent more time thinking about the quilting for this quilt than I did quilting it. I wanted something that would compliment the lines of the block. I finally found a design that I liked and set about marking it with my Frixion pen.

I used the lid from a peanut container to draw the center circle. Then I made registration marks where all the lines would connect. Unfortunately, the angles on my Continuous Curve rulers weren't round enough, so I pulled out a plastic cookie dough lid and traced the curves. I did attempt one block actually using the lid as a ruler, but it was a little high for the foot.

When I finished quilting the basic design, it looked like it still needed something. So I quilted some petals in the center square, and echoed the curves on the outside. Then I was able to use my Continuous Curve ruler to fill in the middle spaces.

My friend Gina gave me a great tip for making the feather spine more uniform. Well, she said to use receipt paper. I guess you can get that easily at Staples. I didn't have any of that in the house, but I did have some wrapping paper. I cut out a long strip, folded it into four, and then cut a curve with scissors. Then all I had to do was pin it down and mark the line, and every curve is exactly the same! Amazing how easy that is:)

And of course, my little dog sneaked into the studio to be photographed.

As it would happen, the only darkish cream thread I had was a 1000 yd sample cone that I received when I bought my George. I was pretty sure that I would have enough, but it never hurts to be careful.

I went to Kingsmen Quilting Supply online and checked to see if they had the color I needed. There was a note saying that they weren't fully stocked with Omni yet and it could take up to 2 weeks to order. That made me nervous. I surely didn't want to wait that long. I could buy it directly from Superior, but Kingsmen's prices are too good too beat. About $5 less per cone. It was late evening when I emailed them and asked if they had the Maple in stock. I wasn't expecting to hear anything back until the next day.

Their customer service is amazing. Jen emailed me back that night around 10:30 saying that she had sent her son to the shop floor to make sure they had the color I needed. And they did!

I emailed her back the next day asking what other colors they had in stock and how many would fit into the box. She told me that 11 cones would fit into a box and sent me a list of the numbers available. I placed my order on the 20th and had the box in my studio on the 22nd.

If you ever need to order thread, I highly recommend Kingsmen. They have incredible customer service and great prices. And you can't beat super fast shipping.

Happily, not only did I have enough thread to complete the quilting, I've discovered an affordable brand that works really well in my machine. Almost as good as the Aurifil and at a much lower cost. It is polyester, but it looks and feel like cotton and quilts like a dream. Think I'll be stocking up on Omni from now on.

Thanks Jonnie!