Quilting like a madwoman since somewhere around 1984!
This quilt was the result of seeing a pattern that resembled a dog we used to have, Dexter, at our local quilt show. The design is from Pacific Rim Quilt Company. It’s all machine appliqué and machine quilting. It measures approximately 24″ x 36″, and I finished it in September, 2023.
Blog post: 1
I made this quilt on a whim when I saw a pattern that I liked. The original design had each elephant standing separately from the others, each in its own background square. However, I know that most elephants are actually family units, so I made my elephants connect by intertwining their trunks and tails. The quilt was machine appliquéd and machine quilted, using both free motion and ruler work techniques, and it measures 36.5″ x 39.5″. I finished it in February, 2021.
When I saw this design offered as a class at the Lake Havasu, AZ, retreat, I knew I had to do it — I so enjoy watching quail run along on the wall around our back garden! It’s a paper-pieced pattern by Linda Hibbert. The quilt measures only 12.75″ x 33″, but I love the design.
I had a small silk batting I’d been wanting to try out, so I used it here, along with some silk thread for some of the background free-motion quilting, which I wanted to make rather unobtrusive. The saguaro cactus, though, is done with Superior Magnifico thread to make it a little more obvious. The border curved motif was quilted with Isacord polyester for a bit of subtle sheen.
This quilt was machine pieced and hand quilted as a gift for my younger daughter’s best friend (since eighth grade) when they graduated from high school in 1994. Stephanie lived on a ranch, which is the source of the theme here. The black and white fabric says “moo” all over. The quilting pattern I chose was the livestock brand Steph’s family used on the ranch. The quilt is approximately 28″ square.
Here is yet another of the patterns from Linda Hibbert’s CD-ROM. My twin and her DH had an adorable salt and pepper miniature schnauzer named Scarlett, and I decided that I should try to make a little quiltlet of her. The problem was that the pattern called for cropped ears, and Scarlett’s are floppy. So I edited the pieces a bit and came up with this:
This one measures approximately 10 7/8″ square and was machine pieced and quilted in May, 2004; it was a gift for Scarlett’s family.
My quilt buddy, Phyl, came for a visit and to work on an adorable quilt together, each of us making our own version. Neither of us had ever planned to make a quilt using the technique of appliqué in the hoop, but then there was this set of designs …. We couldn’t resist, as both of us are dog lovers. There were ten different puppies to choose from, along with some “filler” blocks, but I was hoping to make this a very narrow quilt to fit a small wall in my sewing room. Unfortunately, it didn’t work that way, and the quilt now measures 23″ x 27″, which is just a bit too wide for that wall. Oh well. 😉 The dogs and other motifs were done with appliqué on the embroidery machine, and the paw print border is all embroidered. I free-motion quilted it, trying for a bit of variety in the background motifs.This was finished in September, 2014.
This is a memory quilt I made after the unexpected and premature death of Tuppence, our little cocker spaniel — almost certainly the dog who has meant the most to me of all the beloved ones I’ve ever had. She was almost six years old when the medication she took to control her seizures caused her liver to fail. She and our lab/chow mix were great buddies, so there are lots of photos of the two of them together; but she spent most of her time being my constant companion while I either puttered around the house or sat at my computer or my quilting.
There are 24 photos of Tuppence in the quilt, not counting the one forming the points of the LeMoyne Star in the center. The name of the quilt is appropriate, since she definitely left pawprints all over my heart and since I quilted little pawprints inside hearts all through the background of the main part of the quilt. The borders are quilted with feathers; I love feathers, and Tuppence had beautiful ones on her legs and torso. Here is a close-up of some of the quilting around the center star:
The quilt measures 34″ square. I began designing it in Quilt Pro in November, 2005, shortly after her death; and I finished the quilt in February, 2006.
I’ve been intimidated by and interested in appliqué for a long time. I finally screwed up my courage and machine appliquéed this quilt in 1995. I used a pattern for most of the dogs, but I designed the Doberman myself and made other changes that would reflect the dogs I’ve known and loved. They are in an Attic Windows setting to give them their own spaces. The dogs are echo quilted by hand, and they have a supply of dog biscuits quilted in the borders. The pattern I used was called “Family Dogs,” created by Critter Pattern Works, and the quilt is roughly 45″ x 44″.
I saw this pattern at the 2018 Houston Festival and couldn’t resist those sweet faces. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong fusible for the appliqué, which meant that I couldn’t do the type of quilting in the background that I’d originally planned. Still, I had fun playing with ruler work for the simple straight lines I did. The quilt, completed in March, 2019, measures about 26.5″ x 32″.
This is a quilt I made for a very special former student’s first baby. It’s paper pieced from a pattern in Carol Doak’s book Easy Paper-Pieced Baby Quilts. It is completely machine pieced and quilted, and it measures approximately 36″ square. I finished it in December, 2008, just in time for the baby’s January birth.
