Route 66 Handmade Lap Quilt

First place winner in the 2017 Piece and Plenty Quilt Guild Quilt Show in Rolla, Missouri.

Route 66 Handmade Lap Quilt

When I think of Thanksgiving, I can't help but think of driving, lots and lots of driving. There was a time when the long Thanksgiving weekend involved several thousands of miles getting to a variety of relatives homes, with a lot of "are we there yet," a tradition that came to mind when I saw this interesting Route 66 Handmade Lap Quilt at the 2017 Piece and Plenty Quilt Guild Show in Rolla, Mo.

The hand-embroidery lured me in, so unusual these days to see in a handmade quilt. Then I saw the first place ribbon in the quilt corner, someone else also appreciated all of the embroidery work.

The first place ribbon in the shape of a flower is also a unique way to recognize these quilts.

This next Route 66 Handmade Lap Quilt block shows the detail of not only the embroidered block but how the machine quilting adds a nice three-dimensional effect to the overall quilt.

A close up of the traditional Route 66 sign in the embroidered design.

The old Route 66 highways were dotted with old gas stations like this one. There still are some still working but most have been memorialized in photos or designs like these.

The details of this gas station are impressive down to the glass window panes.

The top of the Route 66 Handmade Lap Quilt has some more personalized details including license plates and old oil cans. I have one that looks like the oil cans on the right.

Close up of the old oil cans in the top banner of the winning handmade quilt.

This is a very personalized quilt and gift, the quilter took the original design and personalized it for her husband:

Every quilt has a story and this is the story behind this Route 66 Handmade Quilt.

It's a lovely handmade quilt, with an even nicer story behind it.

Charlotte

Butterfly Throw Personalized Gift

Different fabrics form the applique butterflies in this personalized gift.

Butterfly Throw Personalized Gift

An office colleague made this lovely butterfly throw as a gift and the simplicity of the design, and intricacy of the execution, is a good reminder that a quilt gift does not need to be - well, complicated.

The throw - a standard one is 50x60 inches - is a good size for a gift quilt. Throws can be used to curl up in and can easily be tossed over the back of a chair or used as a wall hanging.

Secondly, the theme was a universally-liked one, butterflies.

This butterfly is a cut out butterfly giving the insect more dimension.

The design could have stopped there but this quilter decided to add some interest in her butterflies by having them in different shapes. Some are solid fabric, others are cut-outs. The variety adds to the overall design.

This is one of the solid fabric butterflies up close in the custom-made butterfly throw.

When joined together, the butterflies make a wonderful visual message of beauty to a parting colleague and friend.

The butterflies were quilted in outline to finish their design.

The machine quilting was done on a home sewing machine so this was truly a custom, handmade gift!

Charlotte

Personalized Blue Blocks Quilt Throw

One way to personalize a handmade quilt is to add names in each of the blocks.

Personalized Blue Blocks Quilt Throw

It is one thing to talk about a custom personalized quilt but I know it is more helpful to see examples. This is a custom personalized quilt throw we made as a gift that included the names of all family members along with military insignias and a pink breast cancer ribbon.

This is one of the reason why we offer a variety of handmade quilts and throws with blocks, it gives you several options to add custom embroidery, such as ribbon flower garden throw.

In this example, not all blocks were filled but they were centered through the available blocks to keep a pattern to the throw.

Blue Blocks handmade quilt throw custom embroidered blocks.

Names and dates hold very special memories, as do military service. One way to mark that contribution is to add the seal of the particular service in custom embroidery:

Custom embroidered Navy emblem to mark military service on this special quilt throw.

One more special touch to this handmade quilt, a tribute to surviving breast cancer:

Custom embroidered breast cancer ribbon as part of this personalized handmade quilt throw.

There are many other things that could have been added to this handmade quilt throw but these were the final ones included.

Names and military symbols could have been included in the same quilt block, and several names could have been included in one quilt block to represent one family.

I though this one turned out well as designed.

Charlotte

Personalized Throw for a Grandson

This customer fell in love with our Bluebells Applique throws and is now giving one to each of her grandchildren. Julien turned 3-years old this year. He's a big fan of Disney's movie "Cars" so we included a green truck to deliver birthday wishes. His grandmother told us he loves his quilt and travels everywhere with both throw and car.

Now that's a satisfied customer!

Charlotte