Category: quiltmaking

School Days

One of my projects completed in 2020 was this School Days quilt made of wool and entirely hand stitched.

I had a delicious length of wool in a subtle plaid (thank you, Mary, for this glorious gift) that I wanted to use for the background.  I love the schoolhouse block, but it’s traditionally a pieced block.  I didn’t want to cut up this wool and sew it back together, I wanted to appliqué.  So I refashioned the traditional pieced block into an appliqué pattern.

The lines in the plaid meant I wouldn’t have to mark anything if I made the schoolhouses the right size to fit within the repeat of the plaids.  So a little measuring and planning, and I was ready.

I selected 20 different wools from my collection and ironed freezer paper templates on to the squares.  From that point on, I had a perfectly portable project needing only needle, thread, and thimble to work anywhere.  

I even laid the houses out on the background to get a pleasing distribution of color and pinned a swatch of fabric in each house’s position so I would know what went where.

I stitched each house to the wool using a whip stitch and thread (usually perle cotton #12) to match the house.  

When that was done, I layered it with a piece of hand-dyed linen on the back, pinned it in place, and began quilting.  I didn’t use batting – I thought the bulk of the wool-on-wool quilt was enough with a lightweight back.  I used 12 wt Aurifil thread for the quilting and found it a delight to pull though the  buttery wool fabric.

Again, I had nothing to mark, just stitched along threads in the plaid. It was sheer delight to have one spool of thread, a pair of scissors, a needle and thimble, and pick up and sew.  Relax, relax, relax.

Having no batting meant no where to hide the knot, and “popping” wasn’t easy either.  So, in another connection to past methods, I left the tails loose as if the quilt were “tied”.  But my ties are on the back, not the front.

When it came time to add a binding, I didn’t.  Add one, that is.  I cut the backing 1” wider than the top, folded over, folded over, stitched down.  That’s the way our grandmothers did it, and now I know why.  It’s lots easier than cutting, pressing, stitching by machine with mitered corners, then hand stitching down.  I will continue the latter process on most quilts, but bringing the back to the front on this one was a pleasure.

This was one of the quilts I carried on our photo trip to Indian Springs.  Some of these photos were made there, some in our front yard.  The finished size is 36” x 48”.

A Christmas Garden

We have a new Christmas quilt in our house this year.

This large quilt was finished earlier this year, but I wanted to share it at Christmastime.  It hasn’t been on a photo shoot outdoors yet, but here are some shots and its stitching story.

The design is from a Barb Adams and Alma Allen book, Where the Cold Wind Blows.  The pattern Mistletoe and Holly looks quite different in their version, but the appliqué basket is their creation.

I had this fabulous toile-like fabric that looked a bit Christmasey to me, with lots of green and brown and red.  Wanting to leave big swatches of that intact in the background, I chose to do minimal piecing.  

I did like the pieced stars that Barb and Alma had included, so I pieced a few stars.  

One it was assembled, it needed a bit more color, so I inked my initials and their title Mistletoe and Holly in red.  

It needed a bit more red, so birds flew in and landed in some spaces.

I was teaching paper foundation piecing, so used that technique to add a spiky border.

I quilted it on my Juki with a combination of freemotion echoing and several filler designs.

I chose to give my version the title A Christmas Garden.  It measures 60” x 78”.

Dots and Vines

Yes, I’ve been sewing in this safe-at-home time.  I’ve been busy finishing old abandoned projects as well as exploring new ones.

One of the new things I’ve done is this piece I called Dots and Vines.  Inspired by my grandmother’s quilt on this table in our den, I assembled many many circles appliqued on squares.  

Ollie Jane’s quilt lives on this table most of the year and I continually look at it and think, what a powerful design.  I ought to recreate it.  Finally, I did.

Though it doesn’t look much like her work (nor much like mine, for that matter – it’s rather modern, don’t you think?),  it’s another example of stitching that reflects the love of cloth through generations; a tale that never grows old.

I chose to use Cherrywood handdyed fabrics.  The circles are 1” in diameter, the squares finish at 3”.  I spent many morning hours on the porch stitching these, and many more hours doing the same at night in front of the tv.  Many hours of delicious time thinking and soothing the soul while pulling a threaded needle through cloth.  

There were days when the finished blocks danced all around my design wall, trying to find the right arrangement of color.  Here you see them with several fabrics I considered using as borders.

But the final arrangement has no border.  A nice stripe from Kaffe Fassett’s collection as binding seemed to bring enough closure.

I knew the entire time that I wanted to quilt a meandering vine from variegated thread, so that’s the rest of the title, Dots and Vines, a bit of homage to a book I came to love in college math classes, The Dot and the Line.  I considered August 12, 2020  as its title – that’s the day I finished the quilt and it just happened to be the 225th day of this calendar year.  But that title requires too much explanation in casual conversation, so Dots and Vines it is.

I made many more circle blocks that are waiting another use.  But the 225 that I chose means I have a 45” square finished piece.  I like that size.  It’s good to drape over a chair, take along on a photo ride-about, or use as a table topper.

I continue to stay busy with a variety of things, including nature photography.  But most things are connected to fiber in some way.  Don’t you think it would be interesting to make a textile version of these mushrooms?  I see red thread here.

More about my grandmother’s quilts can be found here and here. Enter “Ollie Jane” in the search box for even more.

Garden Dance

Tawanda made an appearance in my last post.  I referred to her as my outdoor spirit doll.   Now she’s an element of an art quilt.  

We’ve been sheltering in place now for several weeks with no antiquing adventures to replenish my stash.  But, oh, how my collection has grown.

Since friends are at home, they’ve been cleaning closets and drawers and I’m reaping the rewards. One day the mailman brought a box from Alabama.  Susan had sent a box of tea towels, doilies, and dresser scarves her grandmother had passed along to her.  She kept the one she and her daughters would use, but sent others to me.  

This hankie’s image looks like the clematis blooming on our fence.

A friend is moving to another city and won’t be taking everything she has acquired over the years. She thought I could use a collection of women’s hankies. Oh, yes, indeed, I can.

This pile of blue from the fabric samples made my heart skip a few beats.

And Helen had a box of discarded drapery and upholstery samples.  Silk, linen, cotton, and wool.  Yes, wool.  I was amazed, too.  Lovely, lightweight, sheer wool.  I can’t wait to see how that behaves in the dye pot.

More drapery samples sorted by color…inspiration for a red quilt, I think.

And Joyce, a new friend who was at the last guild where I lectured has a box waiting for me filled with beautiful linens.  She no longer quilts, having moved on to a new focus in sewing, but has acquired beautiful pieces.  Once Joyce’s friends saw that she could give new life to their linens stored away in hiding, they shared with her.  “More than I can use in my lifetime,” she says.  So she is sharing with me.  Now that’s something to look forward to when this stay home order is lifted – a drive to collect that box!

Garden Dance celebrates Tawanda’s exuberance with Spring and all the treasures I described.  I sketched her image, transferred it to fabric, then collaged bits of embroidery from one of those silk samples I mentioned, vintage crochet, some recycled denim clothing.  A few buttons, and a lot of hand stitching brought it all together.  That pop of color at the top right is a piece of trim I bought in Paducah one year.  It was a dusty bolt of unused drapery trim, stained and hopeless looking – and containing some polyester, I’m sure.  But for some reason it spoke to me; maybe the many, many yards of something for little money.  But it loves new color.  I’ve painted some of it and the bit you see here has taken a dive in the indigo dye pot.

Tawanda is a sculpture made of rebar and cement and she’s nearly 20 years old.  She was one of those purchases that I thought, “I shouldn’t spend this much money on yard art, but I really want to take her home with me.”  She was at a local garden center and I think I saw her dancing there on a couple of visits before I succombed to her charms.

As is often the case, I used an old quilt remnant as the base for this collage. Notice the patch some previous owner had made – I was thrilled that I found a place to include it.

She has brought a smile to my face on countless days over these years and I’ve never regretted that expenditure. It seemed it was time to memorialize her in a quilt.

Her name, Tawanda, comes from the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.  if you are familiar with the characters in that production, you understand.

The quilt finishes at 12″ x 16″. Here you see the label attached to the “front” of the old quilt which is now the backside of Garden Dance. The faded homespun backing is one of my oft-used vintage backgrounds. I wonder if the woman who made this scrappy quilt years and years ago would approve of my use of her work. If she was a Tawanda herself, I think she would say, “You go, girl!”

Emma Sue’s Work Basket

Emma Sue Emerson was born in 1930.  No, her parents did not give her that rhythmic name.  She was born Emma Sue Whittle, marrying Bob Emerson at age 20.

Bob and Emma didn’t have any children, but they would have been wonderful parents.  They gave of themselves to nieces and nephews and to the community as a whole.  Emma never worked outside the home much; in those days women weren’t expected to have a career.  Oh, she substituted at the grammar school when they needed her, sold a little Avon, and she sang in the choir at church.

Emma and Bob had seventeen nieces and nephews. Emma spent some time working on items to fill the nieces’ hope chests.  She embroidered linens, tatted edging for pillowcases, made some baby clothes when a new generation came along.

An accident at the canning plant in the early 1970’s left Emma’s right hand with some nerve damage and she could no longer execute the fine stitches needed for some embroidery.  She learned to write with her left hand and didn’t miss a beat with other day-to-day activities.  Those hope chests of the youngest nieces were filled with unadorned sheets and pillowcases (with neat hems done on the sewing machine), and copies of recipes handed down through the years.

An assortment of treasures from Emma Sue’s sewing basket came into my possession and I collaged them together to tell Emma’s story.

A bit of a stained and unfinished dresser scarf, a remnant of barkcloth (from draperies in the 1950’s), some lace, a tab from a linen shirt, and a collection of buttons reveal elements of Emma’s life.  A corner of one of her pocket hankies is held in place by a belt buckle from her sewing basket.  A large hook and eye like those used to fasten coats was included, too.

I wove a base from strips of cotton – some of which were in the basket, others I added from similar fabrics.  I attached it all to a bit of an old grain sack to give it a firm base, then used a quilt remnant to provide a backing and frame.  The dimensions of the finished piece are 16″ x 26″.

I hope the wall hanging will trigger fond memories of Emma Sue when viewed by those who knew her.  I love it when pleasant memories are not packed away in a box.

Dancing Hearts

Old spools, old quilts, old ticking, old buttons, memories in old clothes.  What’s not to like?

Put them all together in a new format.  Unroll to see fresh delight every time.

It seemed a perfect place to collect some old reds and make a Valentine’s project.

The old quilt was soiled and tattered, tan and white with red accents.  I love that the indigo dye subtly changed the backgrounds, but left the reds RED.  

The unfurled piece measures 7” x 30”.

I love the rolled format for story quilts.  The first one I did is the one above. And, I’m working on another one now. It has hearts on it, too.

Carmen’s Calendar Quilt

I love it when people find new ways to share their stories!  Our quilt guild has an amazing Show and Tell session almost every month.  We learn so much from each other and are inspired by work with a fabric line we didn’t know about, a designer new to us, or just an individual’s “take” on an old pattern.

Carmen brought a fabulous story quilt to Show and Tell at last week’s meeting.  It’s a calendar quilt for the year 1998. There is a piece of fabric for every day of the year.

Vertical rows – there are twelve, of course – contain colorful fabrics that hold memories for Carmen.  She has a rich collection of conversation prints (fabrics with a recognizable prints, available since the 1800’s), having made several “I spy” quilts for her grandchildren.

Carmen chose an appropriate piece of fabric for each day and stitched it to the previous day’s selection.  I asked if she had to go to the store, searching for a particular motif.  She said, no, she went to her collection (arranged alphabetically from aardvark to zipper) and pulled an appropriate fabric.

When there was no commercial print available in her stash, she drew the design on fabric.  The tornado is one example. (There were actually two tornado blocks – Carmen did live in Missouri, after all.)

Other times, she used a typewriter to tell that day’s story.

Sometimes she added embroidery, or wrote details in with a pen.  

Just looking at the quilt and reading a few isolated blocks, I know it holds special memories for Carmen.  She misses the members of her guild in Missouri.  But I know she remembers fun times when she looks at the blocks representing their meetings or their road trips to go quilt shop-hopping.

She shared some stories of those ladies, like the one whose doctor told her that to treat her carpel tunnel syndrome, she should restrict her hand quilting to one hoop per day.  She went out and bought a bigger hoop!

If you are a quilter, I know the wheels in your head are spinning about how YOU could make this work in your world.  You should have heard the hum of ideas in our meeting room.  There were lots of, “oh, look, she….” and “I have these fabrics I could use…or….”.  

And, look at this!  She’s been sewing for her son and daughter all their lives, quilting off and on for 40 years.  In 2007 she won a blue ribbon for this quilt, made from shorts she had made for her son.  I love it!  

There was a pair of shorts he refused to wear.  She made them from this “ant” fabric.  They looked too real to him, so they were never worn.

This is the same son whose art work adorns the top of the April column of blocks.

Thank you, Carmen, for sharing your story, your technique, and your calendar quilt.  And the clothesline photo is fabulous.  If there is anything better than a story quilt, it’s a story quilt hanging on a clothesline.  I just love clotheslines!

Heaven in a Wildflower

It was a glorious fall day and the gingko leaves were turning.  We grabbed cameras, a couple of quilts, and went in search of photo ops.

As we drove around town looking for public access to beautiful trees, Jim was looking at the sky, wanting the contrast of blue skies and golden leaves.

I was looking for a carpet of fallen leaves to blanket my latest quilt creation, Heaven in a Wildflower.

We found both shots through our camera lenses.

My quilt guild’s challenge for 2019 was to be “charming”.  A charm quilt is one in which each piece of fabric is different from all the others.  Traditionally, the pieces are all the same size and shape, such as a tumbler quilt.  But our challenge always encourages us to think in a new way, so I came up with this design.

I selected a piece of an overdyed fabric with fruits and vegetables on it.  I believe it started as an old tablecloth.  The artist who painted it is Wendy Richardson.  I have amassed a collection of beautiful fabrics from Wendy and selected this as the focal point.  I added bits from my Cherrywood hand-dyed fabrics and some woven stripes from a Kaffe Fassett collection, then pieced the selections improvisationally in a modified log cabin layout.  

Those big blocks of solid fabrics needed details that luscious quilting could provide.  I wanted to incorporate a word or phrase in the quilting.  

When I asked Jim for advice about a word or phrase that the painted segment conjured up, I got more than I bargained for.  He came up with a lot of words:  from William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence.

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And Heaven in a wildflower,
To hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

So intense quilting ensued!  

The challenge specified a perimeter of between 120” and 200”.  My quilt measures 34” x 41”. 

The colors seemed destined as a background for posing gingko leaves.  Mission accomplished!

More Wonky Stars

The Wonky Star block is an easy one to construct in any size.  I love star blocks and this one is less tricky than most when it comes time to assemble blocks.  Because the points “float”, the intersections are not complicated.  And if you combine a few of these blocks with a common background, you can make the other intersections unimportant, too.

these wonky stars have pieced centers, are all made of solids and the background dotted fabric camouflages all intersections.

I find the block to be perfect for graphic drag-around quilts!  Quick assembly makes it a perfect choice for sew-ins and charity sewing.

The block is made using 13 squares of fabric, all the same size. Eight squares are the background, one is the center, four squares make the star points. I usually use the eight background squares from the same fabric, but that’s not required.

This colorful quilt uses black and white prints for the stars, solid backgrounds, and a field of red to show off Dewey Godwin’s fabulous quilting.

The star block is essentially a nine-patch, so if you use 2 1/2″ squares, you will end up with a 6″ block, if you choose 6″ squares, the block will be 16 1/2″ finished. (This presumes you use the standard 1/4″ seam allowance.) I’ve made this block in many sizes, sometimes using charm packs for convenience, sometimes based on a fixed size to use a particular print for the center.

In Wonky Stars with Sue (in the photo above), I had some fabric printed with Sue Spargo’s brightly colored flower designs. Those squares measured an unexpected 7 3/8″ inches, so that’s what I cut all the squares.

In my last post, I promised details for constructing this block. Here they are:

The block overview is: cut four squares in half diagonally to make star points. Position the triangles to cover the lower corners of the square, stitch using a flip and sew method, press, trim, then assemble block as a nine patch. I’ve outlined steps with photos below:

  1. Cut 13 squares of fabric, all the same size
    • 8 background
    • 1 center
    • 4 star points, cut in half diagonally

2. lay one triangle in position to cover lower left side of square, sew with right sides together, press outward.

3. Repeat with triangle on right side, taking care to be sure that lower corner of background fabric will be covered when the triangle is “flipped”.

backside of star point square before trimming

4 Press, trimming seams if desired, then trim to original size of square.

these squares have been trimmed. These finished at 2 1/2 “

5 Four star point squares should look like this.

6 Arrange into nine-patch layout taking care to have star points in the proper position.

7 Assemble in rows, press, then sew rows together.

The table topper I shared in the previous post was made using just two fabrics (one star points and center, the other background). I cut the squares as large as possible based on the fabric I had on hand. In that case, it was 11 1/2″.

Vero Beach Wonky Stars was pieced on my featherweight. Jim was taking a photography class and I kept busy.

And the quilt top in the first photo is a small piece using 2 1/2″ squares. (I actually started with 5″ charm squares. I cut them down because I wanted the star points to be the same fabric, and I only had one charm pack – was away from home, and improvised.

Portable Magic

In my most recent post, I had a photo of this quilt and promised details about it soon.  The project I called Portable Magic was a sample I made after agreeing to teach the paper foundation piecing technique at a local quilt shop.

I feel like Ginger Rogers when I’m paper foundation piecing.  You know, she did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.

The technique of paper foundation piecing in quilting is like that.  You truly are working with fabric that is upside down and backwards to normal piecing procedures. The technique is a go-to method when you need really sharp points or have awkward angles that would be tricky to piece traditionally. 

I had been asked to teach the technique years ago, but was reluctant to do so.  Most traditional patterns that use this method involve curved piecing, too, which would be a whole different lesson.  A three-hour class was not long enough to get folks comfortable with both techniques.

When I saw the pattern called Book Nerd by Angela Pingel, I offered to finally teach the class. (pattern available here) This book block had enough pieces to teach the technique, but not so many that it wasn’t doable in a few hours.  And, curved piecing could be saved for another day.


This quilt, Portable Magic, was the result.  I didn’t make 24 book blocks, as the pattern depicted.  I made five blocks and pieced them in a rather improvisational manner to make a child-sized lap quilt.  I inked the word “read” in the corner, rather than appliquéing those tiny letters.

My finished quilt measures 42” x 50”.  That’s a nice size for a class sample because you can sometimes use just one width of fabric for the backing.  

Speaking of the backing – this fabric was a fun bit of yardage I bought probably 15 years ago.  I loved it.  But it was one of those pieces I just couldn’t cut up.  So I hung on to it until the right project came along.  This one seemed perfect to me.  I pieced the back just because I like pieced backs.

Dewey Godwin (jdquilts.com) did a great job quilting it for me.

My spin on the paper piecing technique involves a lot of holding the paper and pieces up to the light to get the positioning just right before stitching.  I precut the pieces, oversizing them a bit – that helps get the angles right, making positioning easier, too.

The title came from a quote from Stephen King, “Books are a uniquely portable magic.”  I used a vintage doily for the label. 

As I mentioned when describing Miss Nellie’s Country Garden, I used a wider binding than usual on this quilt.  This finished at 1/2″ wide and I used one of my favorite fabrics for binding:  a stripe cut on the bias.

I used the paper foundation piecing method to stitch the flying geese in an oval in Endless Migration.  I now realize I haven’t shared the story of this challenge quilt before, so I will.