Based on SewKindofWonderful's Quick Curve ruler and patterns.  I love how this one was done with an assortment of solids, framed in a dark navy blue. It's so pretty!

I lightened the photos a bit to show some of the quilting on the navy blue. 

 close up of some of the blocks as I was working on them - note some of the areas are not complete yet 

I started by stabilizing all of the blocks and stitching in the ditch around all of the coloured strips.   That was fun.  NOT. 

Pure torture...and a good reflection how piecing and pressing are important parts to the whole quilting process.  ahem.

Did I mention that I was in a manic rush to get this done?

After SID everything,  I quilted wavy 'c'  patterns in the center whitespace of all rectangular blocks

Some of the darker photos are done in my studio with a side lamp to show the texture of the quilting. 

I may not be the best at this yet, but I sure enjoyed it, and it just looks ultra cool in some places. I've only been doing this for a year on my APQS machine(another post coming up) and I have a lot to learn still.   But darn, this is just so. much. fun.

I just love texture.    

Outdoors, the colours become alive and less muted.   

My Avignon Picnic quilt was enlarged somewhat - by adding one more row.  It measures 64 x 80.   

Thread:  Wonderfil Master Quilter and Decobob in white.

Wonderfil Invisifil in light blue (it's all I had and well..it's invisible)

Batting:  Hobbs 80/20

The coolest thing about this project?   My long arm quilting group in Calgary decided to use this pattern to showcase long arm quilting skills as a group entry at the Heritage Park Festival of Quilts this weekend.      

You don't know how beefy proud I am, but yet totally shy about it as well. 

 I mean, me?   

You cannot believe the ideas that people came up with.   I will take photos this weekend to show the different quilts.  All use Avignon Picnic pattern,  with different fabric combinations and quilting designs.   I am super super proud to see my design in so many new ways.     It's kind of one of those neat little milestones in life that make me feel so happy.   I'm not a grandstander....so for me, if I just play it down or shrug or look away,  know that deep in my heart it is so completely awesome for me, but I can't 'wear it on my sleeve'.   My reward is seeing it in so many variations...and people tweaking my pattern to make it even better! 

It's been a busy few months.  I have forgotten to take photos of some of the quilting I've been doing,  but here are some for inspiration.   My list of quilts to make keeps growing and growing! I'm doomed!

   I am always in awe of people's work.  

 Freehand 3's and e's create a swirl/spiral/filigree effect.  

Thread:   Superior Magnifico in blue

Batting:  Warm and Natural

 Freehand Playing around  - continuous curves and some fill work

Thread: Superior Magnifico

Batting :  Warm and Natural

 Freehand scroll/filigree style 

Thread: Glide gold

Batting:  Warm and Natural

 A beautiful modern pattern with a mix of modern and traditional colours

A simple modern design with fresh colours in blues, greens and orange

 Freehand basic meander

Thread - Superior 4069 green

Batting - Hobbs 80/20

Backing - Minky

The texture of this minky backing was outstanding.  It was a high quality minky fabric with no stretch to it, and was amazing to quilt with.   This minky was so soft, I didn't want to give the quilt back.  

I will be purchasing some -  my client purchased it from theminkyboutique.com

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I like to list my thread usage as I go along for my reference.  I'm still trying to narrow down the threads I like,  but so far my favourites (in no particular order) are  Aurifil 40 poly,  Superior Magnifico and So Fine, and Wonderfil's Master Quilter. and Glide.   

I have clients that prefer matte finish and some that prefer the show or sheen of a thread (and some that don't care at all), therefore my preference for a bunch of brands.

Here are my millions of thoughts  (mine and only mine...I am NO expert)  on each one:

Aurifil polyester -  only 10 colours (variegated) to work with in the larger cone.   It quilts like butter,  the variegated threads look stunning in the stitching lines, but only 10 colours.  Jewelry for a quilt! No breakage, shredding or lint issues, ever.  Tension is always perfect. 

Superior Magnifico - Poly thread with a shine.  Beautiful colours and a large selection to choose from.    Quilts up beautifully with no shredding or lint.   No heavy thread buildup with dense quilting.  Shinier thread and smooth finish.  When I use this, it really does feel like a superior thread.  

Superior So Fine -  look of a matte traditional cotton in a poly thread.  Strong,  no shredding and very little tension issues.   Great thread...I'm not totally sold yet using it on dense quilting.   It gives a linty looking buildup that I can't describe other than it looks like a cotton thread buildup.     I'm used to the look of the MasterQuilter and Magnifico which looks a little cleaner with thread buildup.   Can't think of how else to describe it.   Maybe I should do a sample showing the difference between the two! 

Wonderfil MasterQuilter -  I love this thread.  It looks like cotton, in a poly form.  But it is slightly less dull looking than the SoFine, without it having any sheen.  It is very smooth.  I really love working with this thread.  I just wish they had more colours in their selection.   Good selection of colours, but not as expansive as say,  Superior or Glide threads.  This can be a problem sometimes when trying to match the 'right' red, like I did recently and had to switch to a different brand.  

Glide thread -  a shiny 40wt poly thread.  Very affordable.   Beautiful and huge selection of colours - dare I say too many?  (I know, I said not enough in one paragraph - too many in this one)   This is a lovely thread to work with.  My only complaint is that I find it does shred somewhat and untwist when I snip  my threads, or have to rethread my needle.   A tiny complaint, nothing huge but enough to notice the difference between Magnifico and Glide.  This thread is beautiful when it quilts up,  it does have a slightly less smooth look than Superior Magnifico.  I'm thinking it is the 'twist' of the thread that shows.      

Again, these are just my thoughts to write down so I can reference later.   I like to look back and see how my tastes and preferences  have evolved over time.  

I was a little bit worried about how my vacuum would like this habit.  I finally came across something that works...

Voila,  your $1.00 toilet brush.   

It's clean of course!   I picked this guy up from the dollar store.  It works like a charm!  So I 'sweep' this brush over my carpeted area and pick up all of the tossed threads - Aurifil, Wonderfil, Glide, Superior, Guterman.  It doesn't play favourites!  It doesn't get every single one of them, but it does the majority.  And my vacuum is grateful.  

And I found another use for it:  

My design wall -  it's been a disaster.   I've tried vacuuming it, and the vacuum doesn't pick up the threads without sucking up the flannel.   I've tried the sticky lint roller - which works somewhat but not that great and I hate wasting all of that paper!  

Look at the after: 

Amazing right!?