A quilt every few days or so #11

I made this quilt when the kids were in high school, in the desert in southern California. It is made with the scraps of the clothes that I had made for them when we lived in Kansas. I always saved leftover scraps when sewing, usually for mending, and I ended up with a nice batch of scraps for a quilt. I only wish now that I had saved more.




The pattern is Boston Common - again from a quilting magazine. I simply took random 2" squares and pieced them into the central square and the corner triangles, with blue as the edging. I love to look at this quilt and remember the different pieces of fabric from the kids' clothes.

For many years this was just a flimsy - and at one time I gave it to our oldest daughter to use as a bedspread (still unquilted) I hemmed the edges. Again, years later, when all the kids were grown and moved away from home, I got the top back and hand quilted it when we lived in northern California. It was one of my favorite quilting projects. Beccy helped me pick the quilting designs.

Since the pattern is called Boston Common we picked the triangle quilting, next to the inner square to represent the sidewalks in the Common, then leaves next, for the trees along the sidewalks. Moving out to the outer quilting, the scallops represent the sand on the shore, and then the waves. I decided on Prairie Points for the edge - I think it sets off the squares of fabric. This is one of my favorite quilts and I hope it lasts forever.

Ben, a couple years ago - standing by our bed with the Boston Common quilt on it.

A quilt every few days or so #10

In the mid to late 70s we lived on a farm in Kansas . . .

No, we didn't farm, but we rented out the pasture and the stables to people with horses. It was a great time for the kids - all that space to roam, a barn to climb in, chickens and of course the horses to watch. There was a pond out in the pasture for ice skating on in the winter. One year one of the horses came right out onto the ice with us and scared us silly. Fortunately the ice was thick enough - but I didn't have my camera so didn't get a picture of that frightful scene.

One of the stables was rented to some people with a dog. They wanted the dog played with, fed and run so they paid Rusty every week to take care of their dog. He couldn't wait to get home to play with the dog.

We also had cats - quite a few, but not many photos of them.

This is Calvin and Coolidge . . .

They liked the dollhouse . . .

The farm was wonderful for the kids - playing catch . . .

Playing mud football with Don . . .

The first summer there Rusty was eight and he wanted to mow the lawn by himself. He begged and begged until finally I got out the mower and started it for him - and he mowed the whole big lawn. Don was either at school or at work - so I got pictures of the first mowing for him.

Lori, Rusty, Beccy and Jamie, a little boy I babysat . . .in matcing summer outfits of Jolly Green Giant Fabric - that I sewed for them. I've recently seen this same fabric being reproduced.

A favorite game - chase Daddy . . .

All dressed up - near the end of our three years in Kansas . . .

Oh, yes, the reason we were in Kansas - so Don could finish college . . . with straight As and many awards - including Outstanding Young Men of America.

I made a lot of quilts in Kansas - it was very cold in the winters - sometimes -20 degrees and lots and lots of snow. The farm house was not insulated and many winter mornings we would wake up to snow on the window seat in the dining room - it had sifted through the window casings from the constant wind that blew in Kansas.


A Lone Star - a huge Lone Star - made in 70s colors. This pattern came from a McCalls Craft magazine and I copied the colors almost exactly as the pattern - we've come a long ways baby!

This was hand pieced and each separate diamond piece was cut out and pieced together - this was long before rotary cutters and mats and strip piecing. I gave this to friends when they got married the summer before we moved away from Kansas.

This was my first Grandmother's Flower Garden - again from McCalls Craft magazine. The pieces were larger than I use now for GFG quilts - all hand pieced - and not English paper piecing either. I pieced this before moving to Kansas and quilted it the first winter in Kansas.


Double Wedding ring, made using cardboard templates and hand pieced. Also hand quilted. We wore thise quilt to shreds.

A machine pieced quilt, made the first summer in Kansas. It was so cold and we had moved from sunny, warm California. I had several quilt tops and needed them quilted, so I found an ad in the local newspaper for machine quilting.

The machine quilting was done in the basement and there was a long track on the ceiling that supported the machine on "long arms", and it was operated by moving the machine on the tracks in the quilting pattern you wanted to produce. I had four quilt tops and we really needed them to keep warm. The price was $7.50 - each - that's right - $7.50 per quilt - no matter the size. There were three double/queen size and one king size quilt - and each cost $7.50, plus she provided the batting. It stretched our budget to have all four done at once, but we were cold so we managed.

I had pieced this quilt in Wisconsin, many years before and it was one of the quilts that were machine quilted in Kansas . . . (we still have this quilt)

Every fall there was a big fund raiser in Kansas City, MO - not too far from where we lived. Interior decorators would pick a room in one of the many mansions in Kansas City and decorate them in their style. Tickets were sold for home tours. One of the decorators contacted me about making quilts for twin beds in the room she was doing. She bought the fabric and I made the quilts. These are done in the quilt-as-you-go style so when the piecing was finished - the quilt was finished. Again - you see the colors of the mid 70s. The decorator kept the quilts, as she had paid for the materials - and that was ok with me - not my favorite colors. It was fun to know that my quilts were in a home tour.

A quilt every few days or so #9

This quilt I did not make. It is vintage, probably the 30 or 40s frm the looks of the colors in it.

Don's cousin Bob was visiting from Wisconsin a couple years ago and we decided a day in Port Townsend would be a great trip. Bob and I were wandering around in a wood shop while Don was across the street in an antique shop. Bob and I finished looking around and waited and waited for Don to come out so we could go to lunch - but he seemed to be engrossed in the antique store. I walke in to tell him that Bob and I were ready for lunch and there, right next to him was this quilt, folded up in a plastic bag. I looked at the price and was shocked - I asked Don to read me the price, I thought I was seeing things - he read it and then I decided I'd buy it.

Just to be sure, I asked the clerk what the price was - and she told me - and then said she wished she had bought it. I couldn't believe it was mine, mine, mine - and for only $40.00. That's right - $40.00 - I was sure it must have been $400.00 - but it wasn't - though it would have been worth it.

I held the quilt on my lap all the way home - on the ferry and in the car - it was just too good to be true.




The hand quilting is very good, but it is noticable that there are several different styles of quilting on the quilt, suggesting that it was quilted by a group, perhaps a quilting bee. I love this quilt and usually you will find it hanging on the back of the rocking chair in the living room.



Ben loves to play "Giraffes" - we hide under the quilt together and we are the baby giraffe and mommy giraffe - and we pop out of the quilt to surprise the other animals in the woods. Did you know that giraffes live in the woods? Well Ben says they do.

A quilt every few days or so #8

This is the quilt I made for Ben before he was born. I love the outdoor theme of it - and the things on the border all have to do with air/sky,


except the frog on the bottom, because every little boy needs a frog. I gave this to Bec and Jason at the baby shower in October, before Ben was born in early December.

Hand appliqued and hand quilted - I loved doing every stitch. . .

This is the label - with a Navajo Blessing . . .

Ben's room is decorated in a backyard theme, and the quilt fits right in. It is hanging on his wall.

A quilt every few days or so #7

I love the appliqued Hawaiian quilts and started this one when we first moved to Washington in 2001. It is done in reverse needle turn applique so that the seams of the white fabric wouldn't show on top of the purple. I love doing reverse applique.

Each block is different - it is from a book given to me by a friend . . .


Close up of two blocks . . .

This is the border - the dolphins were my own design . . .

This quilt top is at Julie's, waiting its turn to be quilted. It will be a lovely summer quilt when finished.

A quilt every few days or so #6

This is a project that I started when Sharon taught me to do Stack 'n Whack quilts. You layer the fabric so that each repeat of the design is exactly over the other repeats and then you cut out the pieces in those layers. When you sew the pieces together that have a similar design, you end up with kaliedescipe designs. The original fabric was bears camping, with canoes and all sorts of outdoor things.

The main thing in this block was a fish . . .

And this one was a bear rowing a canoe . . .

Several of the blocks - not sewn together. . .

I did finish the top, but it just wasn't my thing, I think I should have used a floral fabric, so I sold it on craigslist. The new buyer was very happy and I was glad to learn a new technique.

A quilt every few days or so #5

Sometimes I make blocks - for a test to see if I want to make a quilt of that block, for a special swap with friends or just because I like the block and want to see how it will come out.

This little bee is paper pieced. The whole block is only 3" square. The head was supposed to be paper pieced too, but the corners pieces in that section were so tiny that I couldn't get a seam to fit, so the head is appliqued. I haven't done anything with this block - waiting for the right place to use it.

This is a block I designed for a swap I have been in for about 10 years. This is Bellingham, from Lummi Peninsula, with Mt. Baker in the background. I made 30 of this block.

Everyone in the group makes blocks that remind them of something about Washington, and then we send in our blocks to a central locationa and several ladies get together and swap out the blocks. You can send in anywhere from 5 to 35 blocks, and you get back the same number you send in. I've done this swap with two different groups and have gotten some really great blocks.

This is a birdhouse I made for a private swap with an internet friend. She suddenly disappeared and we never finished the swap. The theme was "In My Garden". One of us would make a block depicting whatever we thought looked like it went in a garden. When our block was finished we sent it to the other person and then it was their turn to make a block. We made two of each block - one for us and one to swap. There was no time limit - you had as long as you wanted to make the block and when you were done it was then the other person's turn. Wish I knew what happened to her - I would have liked to finish this swap.