a Quilting Miracle

Earlier this week I opened a box and pulled out this...



That's a bonafide quilting miracle, folks.  I sent away a ginormous 96" x 90" quilt top and a huge piece of 108" wide flannel backing, then received back this treasure of straight line texture from the hands of miss Emily Sessions.



When my mom explained she'd like the Sparklers quilt finished with dense straight line quilting, you all know I groaned.  Groaned.  So, when I got in touch with Emily Sessions after seeing her work for A Quilt is Nice, I realized this large quilt would be just the one for my first longarm experience.  This was my first time sending out a quilt.



Honestly, it all went so well!  Emily at Emerson Quilting graciously accepted my desire for starbursting straight lines in all the sparkler blocks and dense straight lines in all the background pieces (changing direction based on the orientation of each background piece - that was my mom's clever idea!).  So many starts and stops and so many changes of direction - it's something I would have never attempted at home.  She asked good questions to clarify my directions, and even didn't mind putting in "my signature" at the bottom corner, to make my mommy smile.



I am so happy with how it all turned out!  The quilting is deliciously flat and the lines are nice and straight, but "natural" looking since she longarm quilts by hand, not with a computer.



Now I just have to trim and bind her.  Easy peasy.  What a load off!  And, as enquiring minds may want to know, I am currently working on the Sparklers quilt pattern, anticipating a finish sometime next week.

Thanks so much, Emily!  It was definitely a pleasure.