Lavendar Blue, Dilly Dilly

This quilt was made in the early 1990's and is machine appliqued (satin stitch) and hand quilted.

The blocks were taken from magazines and books with many of them coming from the Quilter's Newsletter magazine. Some of them I have used in other quilts, also.

The sashing took a long time to cut and sew but it was worth it, I think.

I actually designed the border myself. It's a pretty quilt but I believe I would have done it in different colors if I were going to start it today.

This block with the birds I have used in other quilts. One of my favorites.

(Click to enlarge)

Black Magic

The pattern for this quilt was in a magazine. The blocks are drunkard's path and I hand appliqued the curved pieces on each block. All the fabrics are oriental and are embellished with gold. This is actually the last piece that I hand quilted and it was done with gold thread. The background was a piece of black on black fabric that I purchased in a little town in Illinois near Rock Home Gardens. I wish I had purchased more but there was enough for this quilt. I have never seen any other fabric like it. A favorite quilt of mine. (Click to enlarge)

First Quilts I Pieced

This was the first quilt that I pieced - it was a crib quilt for my first granddaughter who was born in 1977. The quilting was also done in Arkansas. It is amazing how the fabrics have changed since this was made.

Then I was inspired to make this quilt, which also took a trip to Arkansas. Back then, there was no rotary cutter and mat so you made a template out of cardboard or plastic and drew around it on the fabric (I used a pen such as a sharpie) then cut it out with scissors. Another material used to make templates was sandpaper. It gripped the fabric nicely. How things have changed!

(Click to enlarge)

The Start of It All

When we moved to Overland Park, Kansas, in 1972, I was given a set of quilt blocks by my neighbor. They were blocks that her mother had pieced many years ago. I put them together with plain blocks and borders. Ray and I always went to Arkansas twice a year to fish and each time there was always a jaunt over to Eureka Springs while we were there. That is such a neat little town in the Ozarks. Found a quilt shop there and made arrangements to bring the top down on our next trip to be quilted.

Here it is on our bed on Dearborn Street. The headboard is an old church window frame that a neighbor of ours in Topeka, Kansas, was going to use for kindling. His friend had taken the stained glass out of it. I asked him if I could have it and he gave it to me. A few years later after we had moved to the Kansas City area, I antiqued it and Ray put hardware cloth behind it. One of my favorite old things in my home.

(Click to enlarge)

My Quilts

This will be a blog devoted to the quilts I have made over the past 35 plus years even though most of them are on my other blog. I will start with the one that I am using in my header - it's called There's a Lady in the Corner and it is done in oriental fabric most of which has gold highlights. There is a little oriental girl in one corner piece, hence the name. I had this quilt longarm quilted at our local quilt shop and I was just thrilled at the way it was done. The quilting is lovely.

The arcs were all paper pieced and it was the second one that I did. Curved piecing was also scarey for me but I surprised myself and really enjoyed the task. When I was doing the blocks, I would put them up on some flannel and batting I rigged up on my basement wall and it was easy to move them around. I also put a tiny bit of folded red fabric in the seam between the quilt body and the border. The spot of color really adds a nice touch. This was done in the early 2000's - I am too lazy right now to look it up.

This is one of my favorite quilts that I have made. (Click to enlarge picture)