Quilts

PIECED QUILTS

My first quilt was a twin-size Double Irish Chain pattern in monochromatic blues and whites with small- and medium-scale floral prints. I machine-quilted clover patterns in the center of the large blocks, and decided that I really liked machine-quilting and the way that it looked. I also pieced my name into the back of the quilt. I still love this quilt and use it on my bed, although some of the quilting has come out from daily wear-and-tear. I love using my sewing machine to piece and quilt my quilts, because I have so many quilts in my head that I don't know if I'll ever have time to get them made, even using the sewing machine.

Next, I made an Ohio Star quilt in light and medium blue, yellow, medium brown, and dark brown, which I had to plan out on graph paper. Some of the Ohio Stars had yellow points and blue centers, while others had blue points and yellow centers. The blue-pointed stars formed a diamond on the quilt. I liked the look of a contrasting dark brown central diamond, so I had to plan the squares more carefully. I also pieced Ohio Stars into the sashing. I free-motion quilted a large butterfly into the center of the quilt, and smaller butterflies into the border. I sewed a square embroidered with my name and date into the back of the quilt.

I also made a lap-sized Woven Ribbons quilt. Even though this is one of my favorite quilts, I didn't originally intend to make it. I was helping my mother choose colors for her Woven Ribbons quilt, laying out potential color schemes for the background and the blended ribbons. I fell in love with a color scheme I had arranged, with a dark green background fabric with red and pink flowers on it and lighter green and pink ribbon fabrics. When my mother chose not to use those fabrics, I just had to make the quilt I envisioned myself!

APPLIQUE QUILTS

I learned to machine applique in order to make my County Fair quilt. Since then, I have made several smaller applique quilts. I really love the process. I feel like a traitor to my quilting roots, but I prefer applique to pieced quilts. I made two tablerunners as a present for my mother. One has a picture of our yellow labrador retriever, Roger, on it, surrounding by a plaid border with padded, quilted dog bones. The other has snowflakes on it, with quilted swirls.