This is a very small wallhanging (about 14″ square) that I made as a beginner. I liked the pattern of the saguaro cactus, since we had so many of them near where we lived at the time. I machine pieced and hand quilted this.
Category: Quilting techniques
Cabo San Lucas
This is not only appliqué; it’s also drappliqué! I took a class from Pam Holland at Quilt Camp in the Pines in July, 2005, and her technique combines machine appliqué with drawing on the fabric with special pens to make the fabric look the way we need it to look. The quilt is entirely machine appliquéed and quilted, measuring 19″ x 23″. I finished it in September, 2005. I didn’t actually do that much quilting, since the appliqué was combined with the quilting in the main part of the piece. The wide border is quilted in a stylized wave pattern.
And here is the photo that inspired the quilt:
Broken Bricks
This quilt went together so easily that it’s almost embarrassing! It measures 61″ x 57 1/2″, and it was the first I made from the Fat Quarter Quilts book. It’s machine pieced and quilted; I had a wonderful time doing the free-motion quilting on it! I used variegated thread in two different browns and a green to make the vines and leaves that are climbing up this “wall” of broken bricks.
Blooming Nine-Patch
I needed a new quilt for my queen-sized bed, and I love this pattern, so this was an easy decision. What wasn’t so easy was deciding on the fabrics to use, especially since I wanted to use ten fabrics, rather than the eight in the original pattern. Thanks to the help from a couple of RCTQ members (thanks Susan M and Nancy!), I had revised measurements to consult and lots of very good tips. I bought the fabric for this in late 2001 with help from a very artistic friend, but I didn’t start making it until October, 2002, because I found out that Blanche Young (the originator of the pattern) would be in town for a class in this very pattern! I finished the top in late November, 2002, and did something I’d never done before — I took it to a long-arm quilter instead of quilting it myself. It was so large that I didn’t want to wrestle with it to machine quilt it, and it was too busy to benefit from hand quilting, so that left a commercial quilter as my choice. She did a gorgeous job with it, getting it back to me in early April, 2003, so that I could bind it and put a label on it. The quilt measures 95 1/2″ x 105 1/2″ and was entirely machine pieced.
Blazing Star
After seeing Eleanor Burns’ technique on PBS, I figured that this was worth a try. It was finally completed in 1994, two and a half years after I started it! It really wasn’t because I didn’t want to finish, though. First, I had to take a break of several months’ duration when I hurt my back and the doctor wouldn’t let me hunch over my hoop. I had just recovered from that when I literally took flight on a wet floor and broke my tailbone. I’ve never mastered the art of quilting while standing up! This one was also machine pieced and hand quilted, and it’s 60″ square.
Black and White
I made this wallhanging to keep from freezing in our former home! Directly over the chair where I prefered to do my hand quilting, there was a vent for the evaporative cooler. That was nice in the summer, but in the winter the cold winds came through the vent with a vengeance. This piece covered the vent in the winter so that the room stayed warmer and I stayed comfortable. This Drunkard’s Path variation was machine pieced and hand quilted and is only 28 1/2″ x 17 1/2″.
Benjamin’s I Spy
It suddenly became obvious that our grandson Benjamin had outgrown his baby quilt and that I needed to make him a new one quickly! Fortunately, I remembered that I’d purchased and stashed a pre-printed I Spy panel several months before — just in case. To that center panel I added borders of black with red polka dots and binding of red with black polka dots. I even found flannel for the back in black with tiny red polka dots.
I used bright variegated thread to machine quilt around the printed motifs in the center and to do loops in the plain red border. The same thread was used to do more straight lines in the outer border. The quilt was ready in time for Benjamin’s third birthday in January, 2002, and measures 40 1/2″ x 48 1/2″.
Benjamin’s Baby Quilt
This is the first baby quilt I ever made, and it’s also the first free-motion quilting I did. That’s pretty appropriate, I guess, since the quilt was intended for our first grandchild!
The quilt is approximately a yard wide and a yard long. This corresponds with an old tradition of giving a new baby a yard of cloth. The project was the result of a class in machine quilting, and it won a blue ribbon at our local county fair in 1998. Here’s a closeup of part of it:
And now for a photo of the quilt in use! Our beautiful grandson was born on January 13, 1999, at 12:32 PM. He weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces and was nineteen inches long. This picture was taken when Benjamin III (he was named for his daddy and his paternal grandfather) was just three days old! Isn’t he wonderful?
Bed Runner
The thought of having to wash the large bed quilt I’d recently made was a bit daunting — having to do so frequently was even more so. Why would I have to do that? Why, because our adorable little Bisou loves to sleep at the foot of our bed, of course! 😉 The solution seemed pretty simple: make a bed runner for the foot of the bed. This could be washed much more easily than the entire quilt. I purchased a Moda layer cake grouping (about 40 10″ squares of coordinating fabrics) and found a simple pattern called “Slice of Cake” designed by Denise Sheehan. The leftover squares that weren’t needed for the quilt top became the backing. The bed runner was quick to make, and you can judge for yourself whether or not it’s serving its intended purpose:
The runner ended up being about 19.5″ x 91″, completely machine pieced and machine quilted, and I finished it in May, 2011. Below, you can see a detail of the feathered quilting I did.
Bargello Flag
A friend of mine demonstrated how to make this small quilt at a meeting of our local quilt circle. I really liked the effect of the bargello, and I didn’t have a wall hanging in a patriotic theme, so I made this. It’s completely machine pieced and machine quilted and measures roughly 27″ x 21.5″. I finished it in April, 2013.
