Wayne's Quilts

Fine Finned Friends

2012-02-08T14:54:00.014-06:00

As I mentioned in my January 19th post ("Sweet Dreams"), our friend Laura is about to become a grandmother....twice! So this is the second quilt I made for her.
The order for this one was "something colorful with fish". Voila! Here it is. And the back fabric is uber-cutesy too!!

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Four Patch Runner

2012-01-19T11:02:00.012-06:00

After using the Bento Box runner as the pattern in my Beginning Quilting for the last several years I have decided it is time for a change. Had to find another pattern that was easy, and teachable in the class time, but that also had all the elements of a larger quilt. So here it is, the Four Patch runner. My next class is in March. Check it out at District 113 online.

Sweet Dreams

2012-01-19T10:50:00.004-06:00

Good friend Laura is about to become a grandmother....twice! Her son and stepdaughter are both due in February. So this is the first of two quilts for her / them.
The order for this one was "something sophisticated, with simple blocks". I think this fills the bill. Don't you just want to snuggle up with it and take a nap!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

2012-01-03T16:40:00.013-06:00

Anyone who knows me even casually knows that two of my great passions are quilting and baseball. So it is really amazing that, after 17 years and 100+ quilts, this is my first baseball quilt!

One of my quilt blog fans, Janice, wanted me to make a baseball themed lap quilt for her husband for a Christmas gift. She told me that he is a big San Francisco Giants fan.

I began looking for baseball fabric, including something with the Giants logo. Well....believe it or not, even after winning the World Series in 2010, the Giants are one of the few teams in any major sport and most large universities that does not have authorized cotton fabric! So I had to use other baseball-themed fabs including green grass!).

While looking for a pattern, I happened across a site called Quilt Patterns From Seattle. They had a pattern called Military Nine Patch. Oddly enough, the example quilt shown on the site also contained baseball-themed fabrics!! I contacted the owner (Cindy Carter) to buy the pattern and let her know of my planned quilt. She was excited and asked for pictures when I completed it. I sent them, and she posted them on her site! So if you click on the link above, you can scroll down and see my quilt there, too.

Now, you may be thinking: quilts (winter) and baseball (summer) don't really go together. But if you've ever been to a game at Candlestick or PacBall / AT&T you will know that one thin lap quilt is NOT nearly enough to keep you warm!!!

Play Ball!!!!!!!

Scrap Lap

2011-12-18T10:57:00.018-06:00

A simple lap quilt, made from scraps, at the request of my mother-in-law, Pauline. Click here for more pictures.

But wait! This quilt contains a 3-part mystery...hidden in plain sight.
First: What is the nature of the mystery?
Second: What does it mean?
Third: Why does it have that meaning.

Anyone should be able to figure out the first two parts of the mystery; only family members will be able to answer the third question (hint, hint!).

Please submit your entries to my email address (wsrhodes@gmail.com) - not as a comment on this post - by midnight December 31st.

I will pick two winners (one for questions 1 and 2, one for #3) at random from the thousands of correct entries. Each winner will receive a morsbag! I will also post the answers.

This four-patch pattern will also be used in my next beginners classes this spring (without the mystery component!). If you are interested in attending, drop me a line.

Da-da-da-da-da-dee-da!!!!! The answer to the mystery:

As indicated in the quilt's name, this is a scrap quilt. That means that all of the pieces were taken from fabric used in other quilts. The color palette was red and blue and purple. The various fabrics are used randomly throughout the 4-patch blocks. However, in the 3 highlighted rows there are some odd-looking smaller orange pieces. See them? Why are they there? Those orange pieces are the separators for the red and blue pieces that make up the mystery message. You will notice (if you look closely) that the red and blue fabrics adjoining those orange fabrics are used nowhere else in the quilt (except, as a subliminal reinforcement, in the inner and outer borders).

Notice the relative sizes of those red and blue pieces. If we "translate" them to words they would be:
square (orange separator) rectangle (separator) rectangle (separator) square
rectangle (separator) rectangle
rectangle (separator) square (separator) square (separator) square

By now, you may have deduced that this is Morse Code (part 1 of the mystery).

In more common terminology then, the message is:
dot (space) dash (space) dash (space) dot
dash (space) dash
dash (space) dot (space) dot (space) dot

Decoded, this becomes: P M B. So the quilt contains my mother-in-law's initials. (part 2 of the mystery).

But in the third part of the mystery I asked why it has this meaning?

Here is the answer: At Thanksgiving in 1995 Pauline happened to mention that she had no middle name. Her parents never gave her one when she was born. And she had always felt bad about that, as if she was missing something. So, unbeknownst to her, her 9 grandchildren (at that time) decided to rectify this gross omission. They got together and discussed some possibilities, and reached a consensus.

And on January 29, 1996, her 64th birthday, they happily presented her with their gift - a middle name. On that day she was finally christened: Pauline Margaret Baron.

And now you know the rest of the story!

Winners: um....no one got the answer. Only Pauline guessed that it was Morse Code, but could not decipher it. So the morsbags will go back in the prize closet until next time.

Look What's Outside My Windows! #2

2011-11-01T06:17:00.013-05:00

The second time I have used this pattern (see April entry). This one is for a friend of my sister-in-law, and has a different set of whimsical animals.

Here's the front....

...and the back.

Baby Elephant Walk

2011-09-04T06:37:00.015-05:00

Our friends Mardelle and Jim just had a new grandson, Cameron. His parents, Lauren and Mike, requested an elephant themed quilt. We found these great elephant fabrics, but couldn't decide which to use. Solution? A 2-sided quilt!

Side 1:
Side 2:
Cameron joins sister Grace, who is still enjoying her Rain Forest quilt.

It's A Blue World, Max

2011-08-24T16:16:00.016-05:00

Aunt Max loves blue (and so do I), so she asked me to make a quilt for her bed. The pattern has some similarities to Storm at Sea, since there are only straight cuts, but the angles make them appear to be circles. I designed this one so that the circles seem to overlap.

The quilt is 79x86 (double bed size). Each square is 6.5" (6" finished). It is actually paper-pieced, but I used 3 templates to cut the pieces to save wasted fabric. So each square is made of 2 halves (on a slight diagonal). Each half has 6 pieces made up of a combination of the 3 template shapes.

This quilt is special not only because it is for Aunt Max, but it also happens to be my 100th quilt!

And, here is another contest: What is the origin of the name of this quilt? If you know it (that means you may NOT look on the internet), please comment here or email me. I will pick randomly from all correct entries sent by midnight (Central) August 27th. Of course, the winner gets a morsbag!!!

Here is the answer: It is based on a line in the 1968 animated Beatles movie "Yellow Submarine". If you're too young to remember or have never seen it, it is a really fun movie. And the winner: My son Andrew!!! He knew the source. Second place goes to my daughter Emily (she knew it had something to do with the Beatles). They are the only two who came even remotely close. And no, this was not rigged!

Sweetie Pie II

2011-05-26T09:35:00.007-05:00

I did the original Sweetie Pie in July, 2010. My friend Mari loved it so much she asked me to make another one for new niece Skyler!

This is the sixth baby quilt, and ninth overall for Mari and husband Dennis.

Reflections

2011-05-11T07:13:00.037-05:00

Talk about pushing the envelope! This quilt goes in so many new directions (pun intended!).

First: the design. This particular pattern, and the 3D scrolls technique, come from "3-D Explosion...Simply FABULOUS Art Quilt Illusions" by Cara Gulati. In this book, Cara explains how to start with a simple "S" shape and add perspective lines to make a scroll. Adding and/or repeating scrolls builds the design. Appropriate use of colors and patterns (especially the stripes) enhances the 3D effect. Sharp-eyed readers will notice that the primary striped fabric is the same one I used in my previous quilt (the attic windows). All of the rest came from my stash!

Next: There is no piecing involved! That's right! Until I got to the quilting phase, I never went near my sewing machine. Cara builds her designs using a combination of freezer paper, glue stick, and machine applique using invisible thread. Since I really don't like to do applique, I took a slightly different approach.

Background: In March I visited the Visions Art Museum in San Diego. There I purchased the book "free expression...the art and confessions of a contemporary quilter" by Robbi Joy Elkow. For Robbi, it's all about the designs, the colors, and the quilting. She definitely does not like to sew hundreds of pieces together. Once she has the design, she cuts the distinct pieces to make templates (exactly like Cara does), but then she use fusible webbing to fuse the pieces together. No stitching! No applique! Then, heavy quilting. Her reasoning is that these pieces are meant to be hung, so there is no need to worry about the raw edges.

As I contemplated making one of Cara's quilts, I realized that I could use the fusing (and other techniques) from Robbi's book! So I was able to take the best of both approaches to create this quilt.

Now, most of you probably know that I consider quilting to be the least important design element of my quilts. It is almost entirely functional (to hold the quilt sandwich together), and I almost always use thread colors to match the fabrics so that the quilting is basically invisible. These 3D patterns are perfect for that mentality! Once again, here I followed Robbi's advice and quilted each piece in a way that mimicked the shape of that piece. So the quilting is both semi-invisible and highlights / reinforces the scrolls at the same time! And it is critical that the quilting go to the edges of the pieces (a faux applique!) so that they are tacked down thoroughly. Though I do a lot of free-motion quilting, as I was doing this piece, I felt for the first time that I was actually "painting" with the thread!

The final oddity: At the Visions Art Museum I saw a number of art quilts that were mounted on wooden stretcher bars (just as a painting on canvas would be). How perfect for this piece and any of Cara's 3D designs. These works are like canvases and the designs are meant to pop off the background. I am always a bit dismayed when my quilts do not hang straight and flat on the wall. The stretchers also solve this problem. And, since the piece is stretched around the bars, there is no need for a border nor a binding!

To see more pictures which go through the entire process of making this quilt, click here

Look What's Outside My Windows!

2011-04-27T14:08:00.008-05:00

For Lydia! Cute snails and mushrooms outside your "windows"!

This is the fifth baby quilt (nieces and nephews), and eighth quilt overall for my friend Mari.

Unusual in this one is that the border threads are variegated on the top (to blend with the striped border), and pink on the back (to blend there).

Wondrous Waves

2011-04-25T08:32:00.011-05:00

Got a commission to make a queen-size bed quilt. The charge was to make something colorful that was reminiscent of flowers and nature. Originally we were going to do something like "Shana's Choice". But when we got to Quilter's Heaven we saw a different pattern, "Eureka" by Maple Island Quilts. Though the pattern is for a lap quilt, we decided this was the one! So I scaled it up, we picked wonderful fabrics, and here is the result:

Since it was so big, I pieced and quilted it in quarters. The quilting was done in the ditch (just along the long edges) with clear monofilament thread. Thus it is practically invisible. Then the quarters were joined.

Sari Safari

2011-02-21T06:35:00.018-06:00

Last December we traveled to India. It was a fantastic experience! We saw many amazing things, ate lots of delicious food, and met many wonderful people. We also had the opportunity to ride an elephant and a camel.

As I did in Japan and Thailand, I was fortunate to be able to purchase some locally made fabrics. Some were at a store in Jaipur, the rest came from the "Ganesh Handicraft" store in Udaipur (thanks, Mona!). What an amazing place! The walls were covered with quilts of every size, color and pattern. Here are some of them:

So I took these as my inspiration to make a quilt that captured the essence of India as well as our personal experience there. Thus the camels and elephants!

The fabrics I purchased were cotton and a very coarse, open-weave raw silk (I really only wanted cotton, but Ganesh only carried the silk). The silk has a beautiful sheen to it, but it was very difficult to work with. Had I known that up front, I might not have made the paper-pieced animals.

I ditch quilted it using gold metallic thread. This is the same type of thread that is in the red medallion fabric, and it also reinforces the sheen of the silk.

Click to see other views.

And, to see our India photo album click here. It is best if you do "slide show", "full screen", "one page at a time". Then you can read the captions better.

Through A Glass Darkly

2011-02-05T14:34:00.015-06:00

This is a very unusual quilt for a number of reasons:

First, the idea. It came from a picture of a rug (below) that I noticed in a magazine while we were in Healdsburg, California for my mom’s and sister’s birthday party in 2005. I liked the playful, condensed block of colors against the larger, dark background.

Next, the design. Obviously, the quilt could not be anywhere near as large as an actual area rug. I figured that about 40” x 60” would work. So there had to be enough repeats in the center medallion to produce the intended affect, but overall it had to be small enough to allow for a large background and border and still fit into the desired size. Additionally, the colored rectangular mini-blocks had to be designed so that each had a slight tilt. Then, there are the smaller square blocks in the alternating rows, and a thin sashing strip that separates them (the vertical sashing is incorporated into the mini-blocks). The fabric for the main background is actually black with some dark blue highlights (hard to see, but they really are there). This was done to add some interest and avoid a dull, flat looking expanse without directly moving the focus from the center. The goal was to make the medallion “pop” both visually - through the colors-on-black, and physically - because it is actually floating above the background’s surface!

Then, the execution. This is the most unusual aspect of this piece. It is actually a quilt on a quilt! First, the medallion: The mini-blocks were pieced and cut as regular rectangles. Then I used a template at an angle to create the tilt. And, in a very rare approach (for me at least), I pressed the seams open. This was done to avoid extra bulk in the mini-blocks and also to minimize the visibility of the seam lines. The blocks were then assembled into rows and joined to the sashing and the square-block rows. The medallion was then made into a sandwich with batting and a piece of muslin. The top, bottom, and side sashings were intentionally left large so that they could be folded to the back and whipstitched in place. Then the entire piece was set aside.

I did not want any seams to mar the expanse of the background, so it was cut from one single piece of fabric. The borders, batting, and back were added as if this were a regular quilt top. I then stiple quilted in wavy black lines to mimic and reinforce the back-and-forth motion of the mini-blocks. The binding and sleeve finished off this part of the project.

The medallion set was then centered and ditch quilted on top of the larger quilt.

Finally, the name. Once again, I am at a loss for what to call this piece. So I am calling on everyone to be creative and come up with an appropriate (and unusual?) name. Submit as many entries as you want (along with an explanation if necessary). The winner will get a morsbag in the color of their choice.

And what’s not unusual about this quilt? It will hang in Pauline’s apartment of course!

Bill's Choice

2011-01-16T10:03:00.003-06:00

A few month's ago I made a wall-hanging for my friend Shana. Her friend Bill saw it and liked it so much that he asked for a similar piece in shades of blue. Thus was born "Bill's Choice"!

Seussical the Quiltical

2011-01-03T14:06:00.005-06:00

My daughter Emily's friends Melanie and Ken were expecting their first child in late September. She suggested we make a quilt for them. Melanie is a BIG Dr. Seuss fan, so we looked for some Dr. Seuss fabric and found what you see below (there were more fabs to choose from but we narrowed it down to these 8). Then we had to come up with a pattern. We decided that a 9-patch would be good, but couldn't find a way to use all the fabrics.

Em then suggested that we do something on the back instead of the usual "one piece of fabric".
We eventually came up with this:

So the quilt really has two "front" sides and no "back"!

Em did most of the cutting and stitching. I did the quilting and the binding.

Melanie did her part and baby Avery was born on September 30th.

Emily gave the quilt to Mel and Ken and Avery when she visited NOLA last week. It was a big hit!

Check out more pix!

Remembering Ken

2010-11-22T12:32:00.015-06:00

In August, after a long battle with cancer, my wife’s Uncle Ken passed away. Ken was a fascinating person and a collector par excellence of a wide variety of objects. One of these was his collection of neckties. So Aunt Max asked if I would create a quilt using them. All quilts are special, but this one is truly unique. Even the fabric composition is unique (for me) as it is comprised of cotton, flannel, polyester, and silk! Using the ties as a starting point, I tried to capture Ken’s essence.

Ken’s main passion was movies. He had a large collection of vintage films, projectors, posters, and other paraphernalia. Related to Ken’s love of movies (especially serials) is the fact that he was also an author: (see "To Be Continued" and "To The Rescue"). Thus, I included a fabric with images from classic horror movies. (This fabric is also the back of the quilt.)

He was also a professor of communications at Iona College in New York. So there are some squares devoted to teaching / school.

At one time, Ken and Max owned and ran Shire Village Camp in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. Hence the camp-related fabric.

Finally, Ken loved music, and, of course, his taste was eclectic. He loved classic music from the 30s and 40s, but he also liked the rock-n-roll of the 60s and 70s. Every Sunday he listened to Jonathan Schwartz on public radio. So I included the fabric with the musical notes.

All of these theme fabrics are surrounded by squares cut from Ken’s ties.

With this quilt as a symbol, we will always remember Ken.

Shana's Choice

2010-10-20T20:51:00.020-05:00

This quilt was made for our good friend Shana Lowitz. Shana comes from a very artistically gifted family. She asked me to design a wall quilt that had visual interest, but was not too busy; one that had some structure, but also some randomness; in soft rusts, corals, greens, and browns.

The pattern is loosely based on one from the book "City Quilts" by Cherri House.

Though the quilt is relatively small (about 38" x 26"), it is made up of 20 different fabrics. And no matter how closely you look, you won't see any quilting. Why? There are 7 rows, each comprised of a number of "block" units. Each row was then sewed to the previous row directly onto the batting/backing in the "quilt as you go" fashion (the same as I used for the small handbags I made a few years ago). Thus, no visible quilting on the front and only 7 straight lines on the back!

As Shana and I were designing it, we tried to come up with an appropriate name. Alas! We were unable find one worthy enough. So, once again, I am opening up naming rights to everyone. Please submit your choice either by commenting directly on the blog or by emailing me. Shana will have the honor of picking the winning name from all of the entries. The winner's name will be posted and he/she will receive a morsbag in the color of their choice.

Update: There were 17 entries in the "Name the Quilt" contest. As you can see, Shana chose "Shana's Choice", which indeed it was! The winning entry was submitted by Pauline (who knows a thing or two about quilts!). Thanks to all who submitted.

This Makes Me Happy!

2010-09-24T15:00:00.008-05:00

A multi-colored bedspread made especially for my biggest fan (in terms of the number of my quilts she has, among other things), my mother-in-law Pauline. Though it looks like a scrap quilt, we actually picked and purchased 30 different fabrics specifically for this project. Even so, when we laid out the pieces to arrange it, we had to include one piece from my stash to fill in the last spot. You'll have to visit Pauline's apartment to try to find it!

I did minimal shadow quilting using a clear monofilament thread. That way the quilt stitches are nearly invisible, letting all of the bright colors show through.

And the name of the quilt? It is Pauline's suggestion. Perfect, no?
Click to see other views.

Two Alef-Bet Quilts

2010-08-24T09:51:00.013-05:00

Last spring, by coincidence, I learned of two soon-to-be new little people.

One was the first child of our religious school director and his rabbi wife.

The other was the fifth child of the daughter of friends of ours. The daughter and her family live in Israel.

When I offered to make a quilt for each family, both suggested a Jewish theme. So I began looking for suitable patterns.

Then I found this Hebrew alphabet (or, more correctly, alef-bet) pattern.

I don't normally like to make the same quilt twice, but this opportunity was too good to pass up.

I used the same fabrics in both, but slightly changed which colors went with which letters. Each block is paper-pieced.

Remember that Hebrew is read from right to left, so the letters are: alef, bet, gimel, hei, vav, zayin, chet, tet, yud, kaf, lamed, mem, nun, samech, ayin, peh, tzaddi, kuf, resh, shin, and tav. There are also 5 "final consonants" (versions of other letters) in the alef-bet. These were not included. Nor were the vowel symbols, which go below the letters.

There are two other symbols (in the bottom row). The one on the right is the Star of David (or Jewish Star). In Hebrew it is called the Magen David which means "shield of David". There are many ideas about the symbolic meaning of the Star of David. Some Kabbalists thought that the six points represented God's absolute rule over the universe in all six directions: north, south, east, west, up and down. They also believed that the triangles represented humanity’s dual nature – good and evil – and that the star could be used as protection against evil spirits.

The structure of the star, with two overlapping triangles, has also been thought to represent the relationship between God and the Jewish people. The star that points up symbolizes God and the star that points down represents us here on earth. Yet others have noticed that there are twelve sides on the triangle, perhaps representing the Twelve Tribes.

The other symbol is the hamesh (meaning "hand" in Hebrew; also hamsa in Arabic). It is an old and still popular amulet for magical protection from the envious or evil eye. The words hamsa and hamesh mean "five" and refer to the digits on the hand. An alternative Islamic name for this charm is the Hand of Fatima, in reference to the daughter of Mohammed. An alternative Jewish name for it is the Hand of Miriam, in reference to the sister of Moses and Aaron.

Batik Coins

2010-07-20T11:59:00.007-05:00

This is a pattern commonly called "Chinese Coins" because the solid blocks are said to look like stacks of coins. I guess if you squint and tip your head sideways you could come to that conclusion. Anyway, this is a very simple pattern, and I made it to use as the project for my next quilt class in September.

Sweetie Pie

2010-07-09T06:59:00.010-05:00

Cute little creepy-crawlies, flowers, butterflies, balloons, and oh-so-sweet pink and yellow with pindots!
The 9-patch squares are worked into the border, and.....
repeated on the back.

Flight of Fancy

2010-04-28T07:19:00.014-05:00

I really went out of the box (for me!) with this quilt:

First, by fussy cutting and arranging the theme fabric (bird / flowers / Japanese-style motifs), it is almost a realistic landscape scene. My work is usually much more geometric.

Second, it is done using a combination of piecing styles: It is a 9-patch, but also includes both big and small solid patches of the theme fabric. Usually, a quilt is made using just one type of piecing technique.

Third, in order to smoothly incorporate the 9-patch squares into the theme fabric, I used the watercolor approach. That is, adjoining squares and patches blend together to appear as a smooth transition.

Finally, it is quilted using several different design elements (what was I thinking!). The orange setting points were shadow quilted. The large and small bird squares were free-form quilted with arcs to represent the shape of the birds' wings, the clouds, and also to reflect the curved motifs. The 9-patches and adjoing squares were ditch quilted, but only in parallel lines from bottom right to upper left to help reinforce the flight path of the birds.

One other note (which you quilters will certainly appreciate): When I took the pattern (from 9-Patch Pizzazz by Judy Sisneros) into the quilt store to buy fabric, we pulled an interesting bolt off the shelf and started building around it. After a few minutes we realized that it was the same fabric that was used in the pattern! Believe me, this never happens in real life!!!!

Point, Counterpoint

2010-03-14T09:39:00.016-05:00

This is a work I designed based on the painting, below, by Geraldo de Barros. The original (an enamel, 23.5" x 23.5", 1952) is in black, white, and light blue. The hues and shapes do indeed appear to show movement, or, at least, tension.

I did my version (29" x 29") in the primary (rainbow) colors. It does not have the same sense of movement as the original, but I believe that the bright colors and interplay of the shapes against the stark black background do have an interesting vibrancy.

Click to see other views.

Puzzled?

2010-03-01T20:54:00.016-06:00

Normally in a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces all fit together such that you see the finished picture but don't see the tabs and slots. In this "puzzle", the opposite is true. Hence the title. This piece will be donated to the United Way of Lake County for their annual fundraising auction.

The back is a piece of fabric that has been in my stash for over 10 years! Never could find the right piece for it...until now.

DOUBLE VISION

2010-02-20T10:59:00.023-06:00

Another wall hanging made with multi-colored fabric. The fabrics are dyed in different colors across their widths, so that when pieces are cut, they subtly change and blend in the finished piece. This piece will be donated to the United Way of Lake County for their annual fundraising auction. Click to see other views. I couldn't decide what to call it, so I solicited suggestions from the core group of people that access my blog. Well....there were 24 entries submitted by 17 people in the "name the quilt" contest. Lots of "kaleidoscopes" and "spinning" themes. The winning name was submitted by Nancy Coolley. I think it really captures the essence of the pattern.

And....if you want the to hear the song by Foreigner,
click here.

3D Tucks #1

2010-02-01T08:24:00.078-06:00

Although I have made many faux 3D quilts, this is actually the first real 3D quilt! That is, sandwiched between each vertical strip is another strip. This "tuck" strip has black fabric on one side and a second fabric on the other. The second fabric is cut from a piece of fabric which is dyed from purple to yellow and back again across its width.

After all of the strips and tucks have been sewn, the tucks are ironed against the seam line so that they pop out of the quilt body. A line of decorative stitching is added to hold them in place.

Looking at the quilt from either side gives different perspectives as the tucks and colors shift across the surface.

Diamonds Are Forever

2010-01-08T13:56:00.009-06:00

This is the second quilt in a row that we actually get to keep! I made this basic "block and sash" quilt using colors to match those in our bedroom. Click to see how it looks on our bed.

This quilt also will be used as the pattern for my "Advanced Beginner" class in May!

Starburst!

2009-11-08T10:38:00.006-06:00

My first work involving curves and points, this pattern is called New York Beauties. The idea was to simulate multiple fireworks exploding simultaneously in the black night sky.

The back is almost as interesting as the front because each burst was quilted with a matching color of thread.

Butterflies!!!!!

2009-08-31T10:40:00.011-05:00

Purple is Hannah Moffic's favorite color. So mom Ari and grandmother Rusti picked these wonderful fabrics for a special butterfly quilt. Click for more pix!

St. Roch Quilt

2009-08-19T16:52:00.022-05:00

My daughter, Emily, works for the St. Roch Community Church in
the 9th Ward in New Orleans (www.strochcc.org). During the summer, she helped run a day camp for neighborhood children.

We thought it would be a good idea to have the older kids make a quilt!
I designed one based on the unique cross motif used at St. Roch:

Then, Emily, Lindsay, and other counselors revised the design to
make it easier for the kids to construct. They also had the great
idea of letting the kids personalize some of the squares!
Here is the quilt top after they cut and pieced it:

(standing, from left to right) Destiny, Precious
(front row, left to right) Nyjah, Caitlin, Nakyra, Lindsay
Also helping were Tyla, Jalen, and J'lanae.

But camp ended before they could finish the quilt, so I offered
to do it for them. Here is the end result:

Nice job everyone!!!!!!! Click here for more pix.

D Is For Dinosaur

2009-08-17T07:34:00.006-05:00

A colorful, bright, fun quilt for the the new grandson of our friends Mardelle and Jim. Unfortunately, the baby's parents did not choose a name that started with "D"!

Check it out!

3D Study in Black and White

2009-06-18T16:15:00.002-05:00

Three strips of black patterned
fabric and three of white alternate
to create depth and movement in
this piece. The thin red border both
frames and accentuates the black /
white pattern.

I taught a class to make this quilt in September at Quilter's Heaven.

Sea of Love

2009-05-26T06:54:00.008-05:00

This bed quilt was a wedding present for Jesse and Amy. The border has an Indian motif.

The picture is not so great (and if you look closely you will see that it has been rotated 90 degrees). Because the quilt is so big, it had to be held up (by Wendy and Pauline), so this was the best we could do.

Eric Carle

2009-05-20T16:24:00.005-05:00

Here is a very hungry
caterpillar!!!! Did you know
he is celebrating his
40th birthday this year?

This is the first time I have
had the quilting done by
someone else.......butterfly
designs on a long-arm machine.

For more views, click here.

Noah's Ark

2009-05-16T12:16:00.012-05:00

Thirteen pairs of animals are depicted in this colorful quilt! (The other hundred thousand species are already on board.) Can you tell which are male and which are female?

A very special gift for new baby Tamir, son of Evan and Ari Moffic.

For more close-up views, click here.

Thai Silk

2009-04-12T13:02:00.005-05:00

This wall-hanging was made with silks that I bought on our trip to Thailand. The blue represents the Andaman Sea; the red represents poppies; the gold is for the many golden temples; the orange is for the ubiquitous robes of the monks; the purple is for delicious purple sticky rice; and the yellow is for the curry used in many delicious dishes!

The stripes themselves represent both activity and orderliness; two qualities which are part of the Thai culture.

Kazuri Beads

2009-03-17T12:25:00.005-05:00

This quilt was made for an auction to support NICASA's Women of Worth program. The program is a collaboration between women in the Nicasa program who are in recovery and women in Kenya who supply the beads from which the Nicasa women make jewelry. Thus, I made the quilt with African-pattern based fabrics. In fact, the main fabric looks almost like Kazuri beads! To learn more about the WOW Program, go to http://www.nicasa.org/
To learn more about Kazuri beads, go to http://www.kazuribeadsusa.com/index.php

Rain Forest

2008-11-24T14:40:00.006-06:00

This is a companion piece to "Over By The Pond". It is for the new granddaughter of our friends Mardelle and Jim. Check it out!

Bento Box Table Runner

2008-11-19T15:00:00.009-06:00

This is the project that my students make in my quilt class!

It is a table runner using the "Bento Box" pattern.

Paschke Homage - Hot Fax

2008-09-10T07:04:00.003-05:00

The late Ed Paschke is my favorite artist. For 4 decades he created stunning pieces with brilliant colors and shapes. Click here to see his collected works.

This piece is dedicated to his memory. It is an attempt to capture those colors and the often jarring juxtaposition of objects that characterized his art.

The original "Hot Fax" is pictured below.

Lattice Be Happy

2008-06-20T16:08:00.001-05:00

This quilt is a wedding gift for Rob and Jolene. Hence the name!
Like looking through a slatted window at a beautiful Japanese garden.
Peaceful, calm, relaxing. Be Happy!

Jungle Stars Part 3

2008-05-21T08:12:00.003-05:00

Whimsical jungle creatures prance around in this baby quilt. This is the fourth quilt for this family, joining "Jungle Stars Part 2", "On the Go!", and "Under the Sea".

More Aprons

2008-05-09T07:01:00.000-05:00

Gee! These make wonderful gifts! Checkemout!

Bug Bag

2008-05-05T07:59:00.002-05:00

A very cute bag....for a very cute niece on her 8th birthday!

Landscapes I and II

2008-04-14T07:29:00.002-05:00

Two twin-sized bed covers. Designed as a stylized landscape (water, vegetation, earth, sky). The quilts can be put side-to-side in either order and are not meant to be exact mirror images of each other. View.

Aprons

2008-03-05T06:33:00.000-06:00

Had a request from a certain daughter to make an apron suitable for her culinary creations. So I did (and 2 more for her friends). Voila!

Latitudes

2008-02-28T08:48:00.002-06:00

This triptych was specifically designed to go on a large wall of the summer home of friends of ours in Port Townsend (Olympic Peninsula), Washington. The house is surrounded by nature: trees, flowers, mountains, a lake, and the sky. The colors and textures of the panels (30", 24", and 18" wide from left to right) were chosen to reflect these elements. The "latitudes" themselves show how these elements both blend and have their own distinct character, and go on to infinity. While the picture of the 3 panels shown here (click) gives one the physical view, the actual quilts are best seen from about 10' - 15' away.

Tote Bag #2

2008-02-10T03:01:00.002-06:00

Another really cute (and functional) tote. Find it in the folder "Other Non-quilted Items".

Tropical Breeze

2008-01-31T15:17:00.001-06:00

How unusual! A baby quilt made with Batiks! But why not? I used the colors of the rainbow (well, 6 of them) in light and dark shades for each. Each of the 12 squares has a light and dark pair (or dark and light) starting with the center block, and then other light / dark complimentary colors. The binding is made from strips of all 12 fabrics. Time to click!

Mauve Bag

2008-01-15T08:41:00.001-06:00

Another striped bag....this one is for my Aunt Elynor.

Tote Bag #1

2008-01-11T06:35:00.000-06:00

OK....yes...this is not a quilt, nor is it even quilted at all! But people have been asking for strong tote bags and I was given this pattern so I made it.
It is really easy and quick (only 7 pieces!), has 2 big pockets, and is strong enough to hold books, a lap top, or lots of sewing supplies (but not your machine!).
Click here or find it in the folder "Other Non-quilted Items".

Under The Sea

2007-12-06T13:37:00.001-06:00

Fun, colorful, scrappy fish (and other creatures) swim around in this new baby quilt. This is the third quilt for this family, joining "Jungle Stars 2" and "On the Go!".

Give Peace A Chance

2007-11-25T13:34:00.001-06:00

This quilt contains 98 origami-like cranes in 25 different fabrics, many of which are from Japan. It is comprised of 2,503 pieces. Click on the "Other Wonderful Quilts" link to see the pictures.
Here is the story that explains how the cranes relate to the name of the quilt:

The connection between origami (folded-paper) cranes and the hope for peace came about because of a young Japenese girl called Sadako Saski, who lived in Hiroshima. She was only two years old when the atom bomb was dropped on her city. Sadako - along with her mother, father, and brother - survived the blast, although her grandmother did not. Sadako became a healthy, active girl, a champion runner for her school class. But radiation can wreak its deadly effects for many years after its release, and Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 11. She spent many months in the hospital. While she was in the hospital, Sadako began folding paper cranes because, according to a Japanese story, a wish will come true if you fold a thousand paper cranes. Sadako very much wished to be well again, so she determinedly folded more than 1,000 cranes. But her wish did not come true and she died in 1955 at age 12. However, some of her cranes were used to line her casket; others were given to her friends. Her classmates decided to create a memorial to Sadako, wishing to remember their friend and her courage and kindness. A collection was begun, culminating in a statue in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, which was unveiled in 1958. At the top of the memorial is a figure of a girl holding up a large crane. Thus, folded paper-cranes came to symbolize the desire for peace in the world. At the foot of the statue are these words:

Something's Fishy

2007-08-23T17:35:00.001-05:00

Newest quilt is a kaleidoscope quilt; 550 pieces, cut from a single piece of fabric, and arranged into hexagons. The border is the original fabric. You can see how the elements of the print combine to make new patterns when put together in hexagons. Click to view.

More to see!

2007-07-17T18:13:00.000-05:00

Still uploading pictures of quilts from the past. Check out all the albums.

Welcome!

2007-07-06T12:52:00.000-05:00

Here is an example of one of my 3D quilts. Check out all of my quilts in the listed folders under "Showcase".