PaigeAlaine Quilting & Designs

Wishing everyone a safe holiday season!

2011-12-23T11:25:00.003-06:00

Happy Holidays!!!

Busy is an understatement!

2010-11-15T00:01:00.002-06:00

I've been cranken away on a new shared blog called SewMod with friend Lorrie! We encouraged each other to start up a blog and it has sparked a lot of great ideas. Check it out and leave a comment you can subscribe too so you don't miss our Free Motion Mondays and Fabric Fridays and many other great projects!

I will continue this blog as well to focus on PaigeAlaine designs so don't give up on me yet keep checking back!

Hope Valley Bundle!

2010-08-29T09:38:00.004-05:00

I just couldn't resist this bundle of 24 fat quarters of Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley I picked up at Quiltology in Chicago yesterday...how yummy! Now comes the hard part - hmmmm...what-to-do, what-to-do! :) Well, definitely know I want to be snuggled up in it but oh so pretty to look at it now!

Blog refresh...

2010-06-22T10:22:00.002-05:00

With summer here and back from a nice long trip to the Arizona desert I thought my blog needed to be refreshed as well. I'm a big fan of blue and found this new template available...still working on the banner! I have to upload my pictures from the trip - I have a beautiful image of wild horses grazing by a high desert lake -so beautiful. Must head off to work...check back soon to see some pictures.

Spring Purse!

2010-05-08T10:23:00.006-05:00

Happy day, finally finished a project for myself...it's been way too long. I pulled all my favorite fabrics and started cutting strips from each. The pattern is called "The Annabelle" by Renay Martin of Purse Strings. I love the scrappy look though the handles are a bit brighter than the other fabrics I may do a little tea-dyeing to match better but hey...that's scrappy right!

I also want to add these cute little green cat beads to the ends of the closure straps but as I was getting ready to put them on I noticed the first one is missing an ear -bummer! I have a few others but not quite the colors to match the purse...hmmmm...maybe once the green ones are on the purse the little missing blue ear won't be too noticable.

Modern baby quilts!

2010-03-06T20:42:00.008-06:00

Well it's been a busy year so far for baby quilts...in my previous post I promised to show the completed quilt for Holly's little Ivan and I couldn't be more pleased on how it turned out. It was a lot of fun picking out the fabrics and making the wonky cuts. Jennie told me to place all the fabrics in a bag and blindly pull out fabric to sew on each log - I couldn't do it! I had to plan each log. I've been liberated in not doing 90 degree angles but I still have to plan out the fabrics and color placement. The hippo block was actually the one i grabbed every bold print and went to town and it's definitely my favorite!

One thing I did realize after making this quilt was that I do not have enough bold pattern fabrics - oh my! Well, I spent a bunch of time today surfing for fun fabrics and two sites had a wonderful selection - Fabricworm and HawthorneThreads you should check them out.

This sweet quilt was made for Jen's little Cameron -what a peanut! I held her at work Friday for 15 mins and I melted!!! She is 3 weeks old and felt so tiny! We told Jen she needs to come back to work right now with Cameron -the stress level in the office dropped 100%!

This is a sneak peak of a quilt for another mother-to-be but I haven't given it too her yet! I sure do love pinks and oranges together.

Today, was a beautiful day sunny and somewhat warm at least enough to open the windows for a couple hours to smell the fresh air! Spring can't come soon enough :)

Baby Gifts!

2010-02-13T11:01:00.007-06:00

I just love quilting baby quilts and stuff. This bib, blankie and bootie set is for Jen's new baby on the way she is due by the end of February!

This is a sneak peak to a quilt for Holly's little boy Ivan born in December. I will post the entire quilt next weekend! I love the crazy fabric combination's, colors and the hippo in the center which is one of my favorite Zoology fabric by Michael Miller.

Here is another fun block but you will have to wait for the rest!

Well, off to quilting and enjoying a beautiful bright and crisp day in Chicago!

Modern Quilting Group

2010-01-31T11:12:00.006-06:00

I'm happy to say I have started up a modern quilting group and our first meeting is Feb. 3rd at 6:30pm at Quilt in Joy in Huntley. The group is comprised of 8 very talented members from the area (Cary, Marengo, Carpentersville, Barrington, Lake in the Hills, Huntley). I was amazed how quickly we were able to organize! I would like to expand to more interested modern quilters one day but are limited on meeting space at this time.

Our group shares a love for modern designs, fabrics and twists on traditional quilting. We will meet the first Wednesday of each month with an a second weekend sewing day to be determined.

Watch for future posts I will share our projects and success! I look forward to being inspired by such a group of wonderful quilters!

Keepsake photo quilts!

2010-01-10T09:34:00.006-06:00

I finished the following photo quilts for a client to give to her loved ones for Christmas and she sent me a note back saying "thanks again - your quilts were the best gifts I have ever given and it was because of your handwork and thought that you put into all. it gave me a wonderful feeling i haven't had in years!"

I sometimes forget why I quilt for clients because I don't usually get to see their reactions or hear their comments but when someone said they'd cried when they opened up their gift it all makes sense!!! Nothing means more than a handmade gift made specifically for someone...you can't buy this in a big chain store so be sure to support your LOCAL crafters!!!

I scanned Duke's winning pictures for Desitiny Dream harness racing horse the quilt was @ 40x40.

Unfortunately, the sun hardly peaked thru the clouds in December so I didn't have adequate lighting to does these quilts justice -the pinks we very bright and the white was white! The pictures were of the most recent wedding anniversary and their daughter's first Christmas. The quilt is @ 45x45.

I pulled all my favorite batiks for this cute pet photo quilt -@36x36.

This pattern was inspired by Terri Atkinson's "Slide Show" pattern, quilt is 54x54.

You can see more of the images on my Flickr site.

Keep warm!!!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-09T10:03:00.013-06:00

Hi all, Happy New Year - I'm a little behind with my blog and new year wishes! I hope you all had a nice time as I had a wonderful holiday to relax and enjoy family and friends...and lots of pet and quilting time!

For those who know Kitty she does not like to share her space with Sophie at all but this morning since we haven't had much sun these days I guess she was willing to share her sunbathing time just this once! They are actually still there why I'm writing this post -this is record time they've stayed this close to each other!

BY the way, check out these cool modern/retro kitty beds at Like Kittysville on Etsy.com -love her fabric options. She also rescues feral cats and gives them a home -what a kind and generous lady!

This is a picture out my dining room window it was of the Blue Moon on New Year's eve - it was so bright it lit up the snow so it actually did feel and look blue!

Thanks for stopping by! I have to get ready for a sew-in tonight at Tammy Tadds store to work on a couple commission items. Tomorrow I will post some of the quilting projects I worked on in December that kept me pretty busy. Some of the photo quilts are posted on my Flickr site if you want to check them out!

flea market fancy giveaway!

2009-11-25T21:33:00.004-06:00

Check out this great giveaway on Flea Market Fancy Freaks blog!

Anne Lullie Class at Quilt in Joy

2009-08-04T19:06:00.004-05:00

Anne Lullie Class at Quilt in Joy
Originally uploaded by PaigeAlaine

Hi, I'm back! Lots have been going on amongst a much needed vacation - a 2500 mile road trip thru Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado! So now that I'm refreshed and enjoying the great weather instead of trying to catch up for my absence from this blog I am going to commit to posting at least once a week. I have several client and personal projects in the pipeline so please check back periodically and post a comment!

I created this quilt in a class at Quilt in Joy in Huntley this past Sunday. The teacher was quilt artist Anne Lullie she lives in Lake in the Hills, IL and is part of the Chicago School of Fusing group with Laura Wasilowski and others -there designs and color layout are very inspiring!

I had a blast, this is my own creation inspired by one of her patterns/samples. Something to try, very liberating to free hand cut shapes and play with batiks. I can't wait to quilt it!

On a sad note, in June I lost my big guy Chance he was challenged with diabetes and his system was giving out...he is now in heaven with all our other wonderful and cherished pets we've had over the years...luv ya Big Guy!

Spring is in the air!

2009-04-11T17:16:00.005-05:00

Easter is tomorrow, yikes! Ok, I have to get better scheduling time to blog but to my defense it has been a busy few weeks. Last week I was in a little consultant expo where I displayed my quilts and promoted my machine quilting services we didn't have much traffic but it was my first time participating in a show. It was a good experience I had two weeks to prepare flyers, quilt a raffle bag and ornaments for giveaways, finish quilts to sell, and design a sign with my logo out of fabric. Karen and Jan helped me tremendously last Saturday machine sewing on binding and Jan did a beautiful job with the little ornaments I made out of quilted batik fabric - she saved them by sewing on some embellishments, she's so creative!

The quilting studio is coming along but still messy and unorganized - I've been moving everything from upstairs so at least the upstairs is looking pretty good now.

I finished 4 quilts for a client, Carolyn the week before - she is a beginner quilter who designs as she goes and comes up with some really beautiful quilts - as soon as I load her quilt onto the rollers ideas pop into my mind and then I can't stop quilting until I finish. I will post her pictures and all my client quilts soon with a link thru Picasa (or Flickr) so just need to figure out how to put the link on my site so be sure to check back soon.

I worked on a t-shirt quilt today all free hand design using the same color varigated thread throughout the entire quilt -it was awesome. In the past I would match the thread to each t-shirt which is nice but this quilt inspired me to be more daring and with a great result...picture to be posted soon.

I've been quilting client quilts all day so I'm off for a long break to make Sweet & Sour Cabbage soup a special request from Wendy and Jon for Easter...they brought over two heads of cabbage...they must be really craving it! Jeannette & Lakin are making my famous cabbage rolls for their Easter dinner - I gave them a handwritten recipe over ten years ago when I made it for them back in Arizona. They called this afternoon to confirm a few details...Lakin of course is tweaking slightly but I approved!

If I don't get back on before tomorrow...I wish you all a Happy Easter!

Studio update & weekend retreat

2009-03-16T19:18:00.011-05:00

Well, the studio is getting closer to completion, my dad finished painting the room in a beautiful blue/green/gray color called Ocean Air by Benjamin Moore. He did a maticulous job -thanks dad! The floor is a laminate by Shaw called Sydney Eugalyptus, in the picture it's a little darker but it's more like a medium oak color. As you can see I have some organizing to do which is always a challenge for me but mom, the master decorator with the incredible ability to balance any room, has offered to help. Plus i have a couple quilter friends who are ready and willing to make a run to Ikea!

So, to give you some perspective this is the area to the right when you first enter the room I think it will make for a cute little area to sit when I'm binding or doing hand work. I'm going to put a small love seat & table facing the tv with an area rug.

The area to the left of the tv will be this cute little roll-top desk I think will be great for keeping my calendar and project lists and miscellaneous office supplies. Ignore the white curtains - I found some modern curtains in brown with blue/gray circles I think will help finish the room. I don't quite have the modern touch yet -hopefully one day.

Continuing to the left is a cube shelf unit. I started placing projects and kits in the bins on the top and the next row is filled with patterns...I had to place the bins high enough because the little kitty loves to use them to sharpen her claws! The area with the lamp and ironing board will be the cutting, ironing & sewing machine area. The white wall unit on the left will house my quilt books.

Next, is my design wall - if anyone has any suggestions for the best material to use and how to hang so its snug up against the wall and doesn't sway I'd love to hear your comments!

And last but not least the giant fabric closet! 3 long shelves, the spacing is a little large so I'll add some additional shelving to break up the distance and to help keep the fabric from falling over. There is also plenty of space below to store batting and bins.

I'll keep you posted on it's progress!

I was at a quilt retreat this weekend with some wonderful ladies- Vicki thanks for inviting me! I had a great time. Some started at 8:00am and quilted to 3:00am...I still haven't recovered. It was very inspirational to see the various project and styles - bags, quilts, table runners, more bags, blocks...everyone was quite productive.

My weekend was pretty productive too I finished the Cowgirl Ranch quilt which I started over a year ago I put on the red inner and the rose/brown outer borders.

I also sewed up 9 inch blocks of my old stash to make a couple lap quilts.

I also completed a block for Project Improv which lead to making 4 additional blocks for this quilt below. I was inspired to do something crazy so I put a 6" bold black & white border which you can see on this first picture but after I cropped the picture I like the smaller border the blocks don't get lost...I'll probably trim it to 3 or 4" -each block is 12". What do you think?

Sorry for the long post but so much going on I wanted to catch up! Spring is in the air...yippee!

Quilt studio countdown!

2009-03-07T17:39:00.004-06:00

Well, it has been raining all day here so I stayed in to work on the quilt studio! Yep, laminate floor is in, walls painted, I just need to fill in the nail holes on the quarter round an do a final coat on the baseboard. I'm starting to move things down and have a preliminary layout of the sewing area -realized I need to get some tables. Also, found some really cool modern brown/blue curtains at JC Penney...it's going to be so fun!

Last week I was in Palm Springs for my non-quilting job...it was awesome, warm, sunny, desert meets tropical...mountains just beautiful. Went on a 5 hour jeep tour to the San Andreas fault and to an old Indian reservation that was turned over to the tour company - we spent the day going in and out of several box canyons saw a couple ravens, bald eagle, coyote and a lizard...pretty cool.

My house is a mess I can't find my camera so as soon as I do I will post some cool pictures of the studio and Palm Springs.

Project a month challenge -February

2009-02-21T21:25:00.008-06:00

When I first started collecting fabric I had purchased a ton of Baby Talk by Sandy Gervais for Moda so last year at a quilt retreat in Spring Green, WI - I decided to sew up a bunch of baby quilt tops to use up the 'vintage stash'! Monday, a friend of mine requested a baby quilt for her daughter-in-law so I took my favorite which was a strip quilt using most of the colors in the line.

I had fun quilting it with loops and flowers and due to the short timeframe I machine sewed the binding on. I still love this fabric!

Baby and Chance crack me up they were watching the snowflakes hit the window this morning, I opened up the slider and once the cold wind hit their little noses they took off down the hall!

Wow, can't believe it's been 2 weeks since my last post!

2009-02-15T11:12:00.012-06:00

Lots going on in my non-quilting job preparing for a national sales meeting in Palm Springs - can't wait to get my desert fix, it's been a long time! I've also been working on a customer's king size custom quilt...lots open space so I'm trying some new techniques for me (tracing paper for block designs) and have a baby quilt top from last year that I plan to complete for my Project a Month club...will post when I'm finished.

Since I did't have any current pictures to show I was thinking of the Dresden plates I tackled last year for clients, each very different in colors and the quilting I chose. This first one was made by Jan H. she used old fabrics from her mother-in-law and the next was made from her mother's fabrics- both so very beautiful.

This Dresden was made by Jennie (sunflowerquilts) - she is an amazingly percise quilter!

I forgot to add this one so I'm updating this post...this was a top I picked up an antique shop years ago I took the edging off and added a pink plaid backing and had fun with free motion echo quilting throughout the white areas. The fabrics are very charming with the gold center reminds me of daisies.

Well, I'm off to tackle a feather border on the king size quilt!

Project Improv!

2009-01-31T10:25:00.015-06:00

I came across this really cool project at Tallgrass Prairie Studio blog and have committed to an 12.5" orange/pink block and to help with putting some of the charity quilts together. For those like me that have the desire to quilt beyond the traditional strips, triangles, blocks and colors to let loose to bring out the creative artist dying to get out this project may help!

A few months ago I challenged myself to a liberated log cabin pattern from the book Collaborative Quilting by Gwen Marston . Unfortunately I ran out of time so I had to skip the black and white border but I ended up adding a really cool fabric for the binding and backing. One of the biggest challenges was not doing right angles...by the time the last couple of logs went on the right angles came back!!! I guess my brief architectural drafting background strongly programmed brain! But I must say it was liberating to pick colors and cut shapes as I built the block.

Busy week!

2009-01-29T21:36:00.013-06:00

I can't believe it is the end of January already! I'm amazed I was able to finish a couple more projects this week - a coffee theme table runner and matching monogrammed napkins (thanks Jennie!) made for my dear friends in Arizona who enjoy a morning cappucino (J makes the best foam ever!).

And a single photo quilt with a range of blue batiks and a white sand batik that matched perfectly for this south Florida beach picture taken of a client's darling daughter! I called the quilt "Hugs & Kisses" - I quilted X's and O's in alternating blocks!

1st project completed in January!

2009-01-24T09:57:00.011-06:00

This was a late Christmas present for my friend Bea so I changed it to a New Year's gift when I finished it and gave it to her earlier this month. The pattern is the "Easiest Tote Bag Ever" by Fig Tree Quilts (they have some awesome pattern designs) since I'm more of a visual person I developed the bag based on the picture on the front of the pattern and modified the size down to fit Bea. The batik I used has a subtle purple/gray base color with gray/silver swirls. I trimmed with a purple Moda marble one of my favorites in my stash which had to be over 10 years old. My sister Wendy saw this and now wants one for her birthday!

Oh, have to post this picture of yesterday morning's sunrise...the pink sky was amazing!

Also, I finished my friend Jan's Sisters quilt this week I used a pantograph 'Featheration' by Golden Threads using Aurifil Mako 40wt thread on top...it blended nicely without over-powering the busy star & color pattern.

Project a month challenge!

2009-01-18T10:07:00.010-06:00

I spent Saturday quilting in Jennie's new "quilting studio". She utilized a small space off her kitchen very efficiently. Check out her blog Sunflower Quilts for pictures and ideas. I will be trying some of her space saving tips and fabric organizing techniques in my basement where I will be moving my studio from my dining room upstairs. Yeah!

She also joined a project a month challenge which I have just joined. Since most of my time is quilting client quilts I think this will motivate me to finish some of those UFOs or projects I've been putting off for so long.

Recently, I finish quilting a beautiful photo quilt by Carolyn H. she framed each picture with two borders which gave me an opportunity to create a fun thread design in each.

Here's the back...this was a really fun quilt to quilt with all the different borders/sashings.

Welcome to PaigeAlaine!

2009-01-11T11:01:00.007-06:00

Hi! This is my first blog so please bear with me as I find my way!

I have been quilting for almost 15 years on my Bernina Virtuosa 150 then I was implusive about two years and bought a Gammill Classic Plus. Since I loved to draw and doodle transitioning from my Bernina to the longarm was amazingly easy. After some practicing I opened up my longarm quilting business PaigeAlaine Quilting & Designs in August of 2007 and have quilted over a hundred quilts to date.

I do have a full time non-quilting job but my hopes are to make quilting and designing a full-time job someday SOON!

My goal is to post current projects, client quilts, favorite notions, books and tips with the hopes to discuss ideas and issues and to meet new quilters with similar likes! So be sure to check back soon and leave a comment if you like!

PaigeAlaine

Here are some pictures of my personal quilts.