The Opportunity Quilt

Wow!  The Opportunity Quilt has reached a milestone.  It is DONE.  The top has been pieced; the quilter has begun, worked numerous hours and finished her contribution to the quilt.  Helia Ricci is her name and she is a member of Crazy Quilters.  Under her skilled hands, the quilt has been taking shape.  We are getting an exciting opportunity to watch this quilt go from a beautifully pieced layer of cotton fabric to a quilt.  The definition of Quilt from the Oxford Dictionary comes to mind as I have watched the process Helia has been doing....."A warm bed covering made of padding enclosed between layers of fabric and kept in place by lines of stitching, typically applied in a decorative design."  Well, baby we have come a long way!  This ain't your grandmother's quilt, it is a piece of ART!  

The process of quilting uses a needle and thread to join two or more layers of material to make a quilt.  Helia uses a machine known as a longarm quilting machine that suspends the layers of fabric and batting in a taut expanse over rollers.  The quilt remains stationary and the machine moves over the surface as a skillful artisan forms the decorative pattern. It is custom work at its finest and Helia is an artisan.  She was the winner of the Best of Show at our 2014 Quilting in Paradise Show and just won Best of Show as the quilter in the 2015 Broward Quilt Exposition.  A thank you to Helia.  Please share our excitement at the seeing the quilt be formed.

After the work of the Committee was done Margy M. pieced all the parts of the quilt together to make the top and when it was quilted she did all the binding.  A big thank you to her for all her work. 


The first steps were to Stitch in the Ditch across the whole quilt. This means literally to stitch between the two adjoining fabrics so it is hidden from the eye and yet adds that shadow we all want. Here are a few shots of the quilt in that state.  

The sweeping curve and every spike was outlined.

But well worth the effort, look at definition.

Every little piece needs to be highlighted.

Even the big spikes are outlined.

Then the artistry begins once it is "stitched in the ditch."  The pictures speak for themselves, so enjoy what Helia has shared with us.  The quilting is to enhance the pieced pattern and the choice of quilting motifs certainly does on this quilt. It can be yours should you win our opportunity quilt but if you want to do it yourself here is the information on the pattern and all.  It is a pattern designed by Judy Neimeyer for her company Quiltworx.  It is called Fire Island Hosta and is done in the Queen size.  She produces some of the best patterns of this style in the industry and following her directions makes the paper piecing and all a dream.  What a great pattern.  

The tickets ($1.00 each) are now available and can be obtained from our Quilt Committee at 
pslcrazyquilterticket@gmail.com.  She has made arrangement to be able to ship the tickets to you. Also, check with any member of PSL Crazy Quilters as they will have them available as well. The drawing will be Saturday at 3pm February 6th, 2016. Just ask for..........................................

"You Hosta Love It"

100" x 100"