Quilt for Cancer

Amber and I worked together on another quilt in September for the Breast Cancer effort with the Utah Quilt Guild. I decided to try feathers on this quilt and it was a lot of fun.



Gray and Lisa got in on the fun with their embroidery machine and it really added a nice touch.

I thought it turned out really nice. We have no idea how much it raised, but every little bit helps.

Summer is the time for weddings

Finished a wedding quilt last week. I loved the color combination. This quilter really has an eye for color. Not many quilters will choose to put purple and orange and lime green together, but this quilt turned out to be really eye catching. I hope the bride likes it as much as her mother and I did.



It is a king size, or a queensize bedspread, so it was about as big as I can put on my machine. I really like to see them all mounted and being worked on. It is almost as fun as seeing the finished product.


Of course it is fun to see them all spread out on the bed as well. Makes me wish I had pillow shams to match each quilt. Oh Well!




And as always, the back is fun too! Makes a good ending for another beautiful quilt.

Life sure whizzes by! Somehow, I thought that once all my children were married and gone I would have more time to do whatever. Not so! We seem to spend most of our lives thinking that Life is going to change; get slower or better or happier or whatever. You'd think that we would learn a little sooner that life is just life and that we'd better be happier now, or make time for whatever now, or slow down and enjoy it more NOW!!! Well, enough sharing my great wisdom with all of you. On to the quilt.



I finished another quilt in the last little while and really liked the way it turned out. I was able to use some of the same feathers as the last one and even tho the quilt is entirely different, the effect was still lovely.

I worked on a beautiful quilt recently. The workmanship was exceptional and the result was really lovely. The piecing was precise and the colors were well chosen. Together the effect was soft and appealing. I enjoyed working on it very much and choose to use feathers on the whole top.


Since the fabrics used were rather scrappy, I didn't think formal feathers was quite the thing, and so I used a feather that I have worked to develop. It is a feather with a swirl and a leaf incorporated, so it is less formal and more fun.


As per usual, the back is fun too.



I didn't realize until the quilt had been returned to the customer that I didn't have pictures of the ends of the quilt. These pictures were taken before the quilt was turned to do the scalloped ends. The scalloped turned out really pretty. Wish I had remembered to take additional pictures when I was all done. Guess I must have had a senior moment!

Had a lot of fun recently quilting a "camp" quilt to be used as an award at a girl's camp. It turned out to be kind of artsy and was different than most of what I do, but I really had a good time doing it. It was kicks!!!





It was quilted like a "River of Life" and had cattails and fish and other fun things. The fish were mostly hidden, with this gold fish showing up more than the rest of the fish.

The cattails looked kind of cool from the back too. I guess this could be called thread painting.










She also made some little wall hangings of young women. They were fun too. I think the girls will enjoy getting them.

Feathers, feathers and more feathers!

Finished a baby quilt today that I knew was going to be given to my new granddaughter. It seemed just made for feathers, and so that is what I did. It was lots of fun and I really enjoyed doing it. The customer thought it was gorgeous and my daughter liked it very much as well. The baby is too little to ask for an opinion, but I am sure that she will love it a lot in the years to come.


As usual the back was a lot of fun too!

Wow! What Fun!

Last week was a lot of fun for me. I attended the Home Machine Quilting Show in Salt Lake City. It is a national show that comes in May every year and I have attended the last three years. I love to volunteer and help the judges judge all the quilts. It is fun to hear their comments and see all the awe inspiring quilts. I mostly enter mine because if everyone waited to quilt prize winning quilts before they entered, there would be very little to look at, so I enter but never hold my breath.

This year I entered a quilt challenge. A quilt challenge works several different ways, but this one was sponsored by Sew Batik Fabric. The sponsor furnished the fabrics and the pattern and everyone had to piece the same exact quilt. It was about 39" x 39". Then each quilter got to quilt the piece any way she wanted. I thought the fabric was beautiful and so quilted it quite simply to enhance the fabric and not use it as an opportunity to showcase my quilting. My belief as a quilter is that my job is to make the quilt look the very best that I can, and so that is what I set out to do.

Then Thursday when the show opened, I headed for the exhibit to see what everyone else's quilt looked like. There were 18 of the exact same quilt, but what a difference there was. Wow! Did they ever go all out. There were elaborate borders and crystals and all sorts of things. I looked at them and figured that my chances were just blown out of the water. Oh Well.



Thursday evening was the awards ceremony and I was totally floored when I won first place. I couldn't believe it! I got to go up on the stage and claim my ribbon and the whole thing! Amazing! I guess the sponsor appreciated being able to enjoy the beauty of the fabric. I'm glad that the sponsor was a judge and not a quilt judge as the quilt definitely had some weak areas in that regard, but it was certainly exciting to be able to bring home a ribbon.


Here is a detail of what I quilted. You can see that it was quite simple. It was the first time I ever quilted feathers. Some of them turned out pretty nice and others looked like they could use a little help. I guess we are out own worse critic. Lee said it was an amazing quilt. Needless to say, he is my best fan. It must be one of the reasons that I love him.

Time to Post

Well, time to get posting again. If any of you follow Amber's blog, you know that I finally finished a quilt for her bed. I have had it quite awhile, but what with customer quilts and others that had to be finished, it took me a long time to get to hers. Here is a picture in case you haven't seen it on her blog.


It was a real challenge to figure out how to quilt it. You can see from the picture that it is rather unusual. This side piano keys turned out to be her favorite.

Having Fun

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I have been having lots of fun lately. I quilted a table runner for a customer. It was beautiful and went pretty fast, which is always a plus. I thought she did a wonderful job of choosing fabrics for the tulips. It was a breath of Spring, which I really appreciated.




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I also quilted a baby quilt for my youngest daughter's soon to be born baby. My oldest daughter pieced it and it was sure a lot of fun. Everybody loved it and I am sure the baby will too!

Itching to get Quilting!

Now that I am feeling better, it is time to get quilting again. I was ill for three weeks, so I was getting itchy fingers! My husband made fun of me!! Can you imagine!
I finished a double wedding ring quilt for a customer. She wanted to use templates that her mother used. I thought they turned out really nice, and so did she! This quilt was for her bed and she was delighted!

It has certainly been an eventful month for me. I was pretty sick for about three weeks. Thank goodness that is over and I am feeling almost back to normal. I have finished a customer quilt. It was a double wedding ring quilt and she had me use the templates that her mother used to use on this type quilt. I thought it was pretty when it was all finished and my customer was pleased.

Amazing Experience

Wow! I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted anything. I spent almost all of February sick. I won't get into any of the details, but I was beginning to think that I was going to be an invalid forever!!!!! It is nice to fell better, and slowly, day by day, my strength is returning.

I have been feeling better just in time for an unusual experience. We had an 8 month old baby in our church die of SIDS last week and they asked my if I would be willing to do a burial quilt. All of the women who wished to contributed a square of white fabric and my daughter put is all together in a beautiful quilt top. I think it turned out lovely. It was a joy to be able to do something that expresses the love we all feel for this good family.

Something New

Well, thought I'd post the latest Quilt of Valor and then move on to something new next time. Why does life always stay so busy. I guess I shouldn't complain. January could do a lot worse than being able to stay busy. At least it is not depressing!!!

Quilts of Valor

This posting is just for my granddaughter who had a math assignment where she had to choose a quilt block and sew it up, and had to have a picture of a quilt and tell its story. She went to a friendly neighborhood quilter (she lives in a different state) and did up the quilt blocks. They sound wonderful and I can hardly wait to see them. She plans to make a pillow out of the four blocks she did.

Now for the quilt and story. Several years ago a group was started (I believe it is a foundation) who's goal was to quilt a quilt for every person who served in the military services. The focus began with the wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq, but has expanded beyond that. They put together people who wish to donate materials with those who like to piece the tops and then found people who would take the tops and quilt them. Then the foundation is notified when a quilt is finished and the quilt is then sent on to wherever there is a need for a quilt.

The quilts are sent in a presentation case with a journal that talks about the experience or feelings of the people involved in the quilt. I have really enjoyed being a part of that process.


This is the first quilt I did for QOV. It was done by a church group that meets monthly and quilts as many as they can in a year's period of time. The congregation donates all the materials and the women make the tops. Then they are sent out for quilting and once a year all the quilts are displayed in the church for everyone to see and then they are sent overseas. This particular year 35 quilts were made and sent.


This quilt was made by a mother who has two sons in the military. She has learned to quilt since one has been posted in Iraq. She says it keeps her busy at night when she wakes up worrying.




I especially liked this one. It was a beautiful top and was fun to quilt.




I was not overly happy with the way this quilt came out. Oh well, live and learn I guess. You never know until you try something. This is the last quilt I finished, complete with presentation case. I as grateful to have a way to say thanks to the brave men and women who are ready to lay down their lives that we might be safe.