Gail Thomas!

Gail Thomas with her award winning quilt Houston Quilt Festival 2011

Last week, Gail sent me some photos of our 4 foot Art Quilter frame set up in her studio. Before I share the photos, I'd like to share the story of how we met. We met Gail Thomas back in 2011 when we were demonstrating our NEQ frames at the Houston Quilt Festival. We were busy running our JUKI/New English Quilter frames through their paces, when I noticed this amazing woman playing with our Art Quilter frame. She was so striking and looked really familiar. Then I realized that I'd seen her on a quilt!

This is Gail Thomas, one of the 'three sisters' , you'll recognize Gail as the one on the left. The Three Sisters are girls from Canada, America and Australia who met at the 2006 Quilt Show and created this award winning quilt for the following year!

Gail took me over to see her quilt for this year so I could take some photos. 2011 marks the 175th anniversary of Texas' independence from Mexico so there was a section of this year's exhibition dedicated to Texas history. Gail's quilt above called 'Someone Found' tells the story of a girl Cynthia Ann Parker who was captured by the Comanche indians and became the mother of one of the most famous Comanche warriors, Chief Quannah Parker.

In this photo, Gail is showing us the quilting detail. And the quilting is totally awesome but I love the photo for another reason. Gail used her daughter as the model for Cynthia Ann Parker. In this photo looking from Gail to her daughter depicted in the quilt, the pose is so similar that no one could fail to see the resemblance!

Gail loved our frame! She left the Houston Quilt Festival the happy owner of a new 4 foot Art Quilter which is just the right size for her studio.

Our 4 foot New English Quilter Art frame & JUKI 2010 set up in Gail Thomas' studio

Here's a good photo of the Juki 2010 sitting on the Art Quilter frame carraiges. The Juki 2010 straight stitch sewing machine is a classic workhorse with just the right amount of space under the arm. It's simple to tension and has the necessary speed to get a nice flowing line of stitching. 

The speed control Nifty Grip handles allow Gail to bypass the foot pedal

Notice the set of Nifty Grip speed control handles at the far right of the photo. These handles replace the foot pedal! They're ergonomically designed to be comfortable as you guide the sewing machine  every-which-way,  just like the much larger long arm machines.

The 4 foot Art Quilter frame is ideal for smaller projects and fits perfectly in small spaces.

"Thought I would send these as I look like I am relax and chilling.

 They are taken in my small quilting studio.

 Thank you again Martha."

Love Gail

ps. I love the frame ...XXXOOO