Loved quilting this beauty!

One of my clients, Lana, always does wonderfully square quilts, which makes me happy when I quilt them. She had me quilt one of her Judy Niemeyer pattern quilts, Vintage Compass, and I had a great time!.

If you are not familiar with Niemeyer patterns, she designs highly detailed designs, using her method of paper piecing that helps take some of the guesswork out of what size to cut your fabric piecing. They are well designed, but not beginner patterns.

Lana & I decided that this was going to be "show worthy"--and since she is putting it in the Miami Co. Quilters Guild Drag N' Brag Show (Sept. 28-29) I won't show you a full picture--go to the quilt show to see the "real deal"!

We knew that matching thread was needed throughout and that the center compass stars needed to be done so that each appeared separate from the one behind it. The black border needed to fade some so that the light gray background for the compass rose stood out more. And that light gray offered lots of fun quilting space!

I used a 1/2" crosshatch grid for the black background; several different free motion designs on the compass stars; and went nuts with that light gray negative space! I originally though to drop a large circle design behind the compass rose, but as long armers know--if the circular design overlaps several rolls of the quilt, it's hard to keep the design smooth and even. I tried marking, but didn't like the results, so went with a ghosted star and added distinct designs surrounded by feathers.

Looking forward to seeing it hanging in the show!