You’ve been working on putting that quilt top together for MONTHS.
There was the first, “Oh! I love that tutorial/pattern!” Then came the stash-dash, or the local fabric store run for just the right combination of fabric. And then the moment of truth when you began laying out the fabric, loading a fresh blade in the rotary cutter and the oh-so-careful cutting (and sometimes re-cutting) of the pieces. Hours of sewing later (a process which of course takes so much longer than that 15 minute You-Tube Tutorial did showing how easy it is) and FINALLY you’re done. Now what? Send off your masterpiece to strangers somewhere and hope it comes back in a reasonable amount of time, quilted the way you wanted?
YIKES!!
That’s where the ladies of Bella Dolce try to take a little of the fear out of sending your masterpiece away. When you give us your quilt top we take time to make sure you are involved in every step of the process. All the way from measuring to delivery, you are kept in the loop!
Top with no pattern yet
The first step on our end is to acquaint ourselves with what you’re looking for. That can be as little as, “I have a quilt and it’s this size, now help.” Or as much as, “I’ve looked at your patterns, I know what I want and it must be quilted in cotton thread, color: magenta.” We are happy to meet you wherever you are in your quilting process and discuss whatever designs you would like to. There are three of us with vastly different tastes and opinions so we can always find exactly what you’re looking for. Occasionally we can even suggest something a little bit out of your comfort zone that you end up loving.
Once we have your quilt top and backing in hand we take careful stock of all of the information you have given us so far and get to work. Before we even think about putting your quilt on the frame we take measurements, suggest pattern options and thread colors and email those with an estimate to you for more conversation and confirmation. This is fun for you, the customer, because you get to see a digital rendering of several different patterns superimposed over a picture of your quilt! We take into account the type of pattern and price range you have asked for and send you a few choices. We like to toss in something unexpected or that we loved on your top just to give you a different choice.
Paisley Feather Superimposed
Clamshell Superimposed
Thread options
Then we give you a few colors to choose from. With thread laid out on your top you can actually see the color with your fabrics. This way it doesn’t feel like a guessing game when it comes to color. We might throw a wild color in now and then just to see if the bold will entice you. All this comes in an email and nothing happens to your top until you have confirmed what you like! If you need some more options we’re always happy to try again!
Once we know what you’re after, it goes on the frame and we get quilting. We try very hard to keep our turnaround times quick so that you can get your beauty bound and to its new home!
Giant quilt on the frame!
When the quilt is finished we send you an invoice and wrap it up like a present so when it shows up at your door it feels like a special surprise. Even though you’ve been involved every step of the way the finished product is always more beautiful and special than you imagined it would be.
Voila! In just a few weeks (yes, WEEKS not months) Bella Dolce has your beautiful creation back in your hands ready to bind and finish.
Not so scary after all.
Mari and Mardeen with finished quilt
***Thanks to Dale Musselwhite of Colorado Springs, CO for letting us share pictures of her beautiful General’s Daughter quilt.
something you either go to pinterest or youtube, right? Well armed with a rather boring but very informative video we started cutting; strip after strip of 15 different colors of blue chosen carefully to create an undulating sapphire saturation. And then some more cutting, this time of the paper piecing templates. (It sounds like I’m complaining about the cutting, but I will never make a double wedding ring quilt without paper piecing it. What a fantastic way to manage all those strange angles.)
Pinning never works that well, because you can’t get enough pins in it to truly keep the shape. So, back to the video, and voilá! Fabric glue is a beautiful thing. With a pen that is basically a skinny elmers glue stick, washable for fabric, all you have to do is run a line along the edge of one piece and stick the other one to it. No fuss, no muss, just a great curve to sew on. We continued this practice while putting the rest of the quilt together and it worked like a charm. It took a long time, but it would have taken much longer if we had used a different method. I also would not have retained my sanity.
tell you, we were nervous. We had just spent a lot of time and a great deal of effort to create what was turning into a beautiful blanket. The last thing we wanted to do was spend late nights picking out quilting that ended up somewhere it shouldn’t due to a lack of experience in wedding ring quilting. So after a beautiful basting job by our resident baster, Mari, we started the painstaking process of quilting a specific pattern in each section of the double wedding ring. It went off without a hitch! We were extremely careful and took our time, but the quilting turned out just as beautifully as the piecing. With the addition of a perfect sapphire polka dot binding, it was finished and in the mail on its way to the big anniversary party!
really good at clipping your toenails, but I beg to differ. Mardeen and I just finished a double wedding ring quilt top with scalloped edges. As soon as Mari offered to baste it we jumped at the chance. We knew she’d make it as square as possible and that it would be way easier and faster to get it quilted. She took her time and the basting was invaluable! So, thanks Mari!
Bella Dolce Textiles 