More Doll Quilts

All of today’s little quilts have been done in both wool and cotton. Using wool to appliqué sure makes the process go quickly. I believe all three quilts are patterns of Cheri Saffiote Payne so I must give her credit.

This little wool kitty was so easy to do using the wool.

This is a mix of both needleturn appliqué using fabrics and the wool. The lettering is so easy to do using wool as you have no edges to turn under. I was drawn to this one because of the lettering.

Bittersweet is one of my favorite things to collect in the fall. Once again the letters are done using the wool making this project quick and simple.

“One kind word can warm three winter months.” - Japanese proverb

Doll Quilts with a Halloween Theme

My three doll quilts today have a Halloween theme to them. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. More for the fun decorating you can do than anything.

Happy Jack is a Pat Sloan pattern that my daughter loved. We changed the sizing a bit and I then made it for her Halloween collection.

The pumpkinhead in the center was embroidered by my good friend Sossity who then gifted it to me. I loved the orange fabric that I had already purchased for no particular reason and thought it was fitting for a border and out of the two came this little doll quilt.

I was in a doll quilt exchange a few years back with a couple of my local friends. I had seen online a little doll quilt that was done in this pattern with the computer writing. I knew that I would like to give it a try on my own and this was the perfect opportunity. My friend Sossity loves Halloween also, so I knew that I wanted to make hers using the Halloween theme and this is the result.

Every man is the painter and the sculptor of his own life.
-St. John Chrysostom

Flower Themed Doll Quilts

Today’s doll quilts all have a floral theme going for them. Flowers show up in a lot of my quilts. I grew up spending a lot of time with my grandparents. My grandpa had a large flower garden surrounded by a white picket fence. All the beds were raised and there was a nice walkway through all the different groupings. A beautiful sight!


A simple cockscomb done up in bright colors. Not my normal color choices but they were fun to work with. This one is heavily hand quilted using the echo pattern.


I love this simple Whigs Rose quilt. It is all done in wool except for the backing and binding. A fun way to use a traditional quilt pattern.


My flower vase I designed myself in a Gwen Marston class a few years back. This one has also been hand quilted using the echo pattern.

In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends.
- Kozuko Okakura

Doll Quilts made for Friends

The three doll quilts I am showing today were all made for friends.


Allelujah was made for my sweet friend Lela when she opened her bed and breakfast. I thought she might need a start on her Christmas decorations. It is done in both cotton and wool.

This little Log Cabin quilt was made for fellow blogger Lucy. I was lucky to be able to meet her during one of her trips to the states. She had posted how she would like to have a wall of little quilts so I made her this one to get her a start on that wall.

My one and only “art” quilt was made for my good friend Linda upon her celebrating her 50th Birthday. We share a love of primitive/folkart quilts so I thought it would be fun to make her something totally out of our safe zone.

“I have learned that to have a good friend is the purest of all God’s gifts, for it is a love that has no exchange of payment.” Frances Farmer

Doll Quilt Show and Tell

I love little doll quilts. I have made quite a few just within the past couple of years. My reason for loving these little cuties are that I can easily hand quilt them. This lets me enjoy the process of creating a small quilt, the quilting part and the finishing of a project. I know I have shown most of these over the past couple of years but I thought over the next couple of weeks I will have a show and tell of some of these little quilts. It might get you excited to make a couple yourselves. They are wonderful little projects to take along during the summer sports season, camping, etc.

Always Kiss Me Goodnight was a lesson to me in making scallop borders and also using my computer for the wording.



I saw this free lesson for the Disappearing 9 patch on a blog so I just had to give it a try.



I love Jo Morton’s little quilts and this was a pattern that was included with one of the Jo Morton clubs I participated in online.

“Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.” - Vincent van Gogh

NICU Quilts

The quilter’s weekend away was wonderful. It is always so much fun to spend time with good friends. Eat good food, drink good wine and have good talk with each other. I did the driving back and forth thing but I was still able to get my little quilt top appliquéd for a special exhibit at our upcoming show.
My dear friend Roseanna that passed away last fall had a heart of gold. She did so much for others. One of her special projects was quilts for premature babies that were born at our local hospital. We have a bi-yearly quilt show. It will be held this year in April. At this show we always have a featured quilter and this year we will feature Roseanna’s quilts. As a tribute to her the guild has asked members to make a 30” quilt to be displayed at our quilt show this year and then donated to our local NICU. So that is what I worked on this past weekend and I have my top ready to quilt. I appliquéd my giraffe in soft wool and will back it in flannel. I plan on putting a larger satin binding on it and handquilting it.
It is always fun to spend time with my friends and always hard to part with the. How thankful I am to have them in my life and to know that they are always there for me!

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” - Helen Keller

On The 25th Day of Christmas

I saved my favorite for last! Isn't it a wonderful quilt~ I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. I will be spending the next week and a half with all three of my children. I will see you all after the New Year.

On The 24th Day of Christmas

I really enjoy two color quilts and this Schrenschnitte quilt is an excellent example of one.

On The 23rd Day of Christmas

I love all the little birds on this one... only 2 more to go.

On The 22nd Day Of Christmas

A perfect quilt for the holidays.

On The 21st Day of Christmas

Another mennonite quilt. Look at all that detail on each heart wreath.

On The 20th Day of Christmas

Simple Beauty.

On the 19th Day of Christmas

Rose Tree is the name of this quilt pattern. Notice how two of the blocks have a flower missing. I wonder what that was all about?

On the 18th Day of Christmas

Beautiful quilting on this one which was labeled as a Mennonite Snowflake.

on The 17th Day of Christmas

Holly and Berries, a perfect quilt for Christmas!

Karen - I wish I had a clearer picture of the Eagles quilt - I can't help you with the flower centers. Sorry.

On The 16th Day of Christmas

Another gorgeous 4-block applique quilt. I wouldn't want to applique those tiny little stars.

On The 15th Day of Christmas

I just love this abstract crib quilt! They were really thinking outside the box while making this one.

On the 14th Day of Christmas

This one had a date with it of 1890 and listed as a Sawtooth Diamond pattern with applique. I like the simplicity of the applique and the touch of gold.

On The 13th Day of Christmas

It is snowing here this morning so I thought I would show a snowblock quilt.

On The 12th Day of Christmas

I can't imagine appliqueing all those tiny little berries. Once again the border is fantastic plus I always love a 4-block quilt.

On the 11th Day of Christmas

Beautiful piecing and Beautiful redwork. This one takes the prize!

On the 10th Day of Christmas

I really searched for some nice pieced quilts this year. Of course I really like the border on this one so I guess the applique does draw me towards the quilt. The piecing is exquisite on this one that I believe is a Wild Goose Chase.

On the 9th Day of Christmas

Numerous things caught my eye in this old applique quilt. First do you see that the maker has embroidered their initials? The applique leaves for the border and the beauty of the curving stems on the flowers. Then it looks like they about had it finished but there was some empty space left so they appliqued plumes in the corners. A nice quilt!

On The 8th Day of Christmas

A really nice bars quilt. I like the multiple bars used instead of one large one.

On the 7th Day of Christmas

I know I have shown this pineapple quilt before, but I haven't shown it during the 25 days of Christmas and it deserves to be on the list of 25 great quilts! Happy Thanksgiving

On The 6th Day of Christmas

A Traditional Pieced Pine Tree Quilt. I believe the solids really make this quilt stand out.

On the 5th Day of Christmas

I believe this applique quilt has a quiet beauty to it. Nothing jumps out at you with the calm colors. A really pretty quilt.

On the 4th Day of Christmas

Cockscomb and Currant - This is in my top 3 this year for sure. I love how her border loops are so off. I always change my border if they call for anything swag like as I am afraid they won't all come out looking the same. I think the wonkiness of this border makes the quilt.

On The 3rd Day of Christmas

I love this irish chain with the applique. I like how they positioned the birds on the vine.

On the 2nd Day of Christmas

Cherry Wreath - wow look at all the work involved in this one. I think I would much rather just enjoy the picture of this antique quilt then tackle the actual project of making one myself.

On the 1st Day of Christmas

A gorgeous Prairie Flower quilt. I just love the gold in this one.

The 25 Days of Christmas

Tomorrow I will once again start my version of the 25 days of Christmas. This 25 days is based on my calendar and the days I will be able to post between now and Christmas. I have chosen 25 fabulous antique quilts that could easily be displayed during the holiday season. I don’t own these quilts they come from the pages of my inspiration notebook. 25 women that were way ahead of their times made these little beauties. Please feel free to comment and let me know which are your favorites and why. And above all else please enjoy your holiday season! Happy Holidays!

“ Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do…but how much love we put in that action.” - Mother Teresa

Sossity

My friend Sossity is such an awesome person. She is a fantastic friend, wife, and mother to Donovan. She lives in a big country home that is decorated with antiques and items that Sossy has created herself. She is so talented when it comes to creating. She is also the queen of organizing and a pretty awesome quilter. She and I hit it right off upon meeting. She is raising Donovan a lot like I raised my kids; out in the country and just keeping it plain and simple.
She has such a big heart and is always doing for others. I have been the lucky recipient more than once of her beautiful handwork. We share a love of Halloween so last year she gifted me with pumpkin head embroidery. I put a border around it and made a little mini quilt. This is what I hand quilted while going through my divorce proceedings. At quilt camp last week she had another gift for me. I love my little Christmas candy quilt. It is so Sossity. Sossity loves candy, candy fabric, candy whatever. It is also beautifully hand quilted. What a treasure this is to me. Thanks Sossity!!!! I am blessed to call you friend!

“To love and be loved – this on earth is the highest bliss.” - Heinrich Heine

Everything Gwen

I was cleaning my desk out and came across some more pictures I had taken of Gwen Marston quilts while attending a one woman show of hers in Flint Michigan back in the 90’s. Gwen is an absolute favorite of mine, I was lucky to be able to take a class from her a couple of years ago. Recently on a couple of blogs I read they have posted some pictures of her and Freddie’s quilts. Check out Valori Wells blog and Sue Spargo’s blog. You might have to scan down to an earlier post. Here are a few of the pics I have found.


“Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.” - Denis Diderot

Farmers Market

This weekend I did something for the first time since moving into my little place last Thanksgiving. I pulled my sewing machine out and set it up on my dining room table and sewed. It actually wasn’t as much of a pain as I thought it would be. Set up and take down didn’t consist of much time and I didn’t have the mess I thought I might have. Our guild is having our annual retreat this September. Our theme this year is “Patchwork Pantry” and one of the projects we have been working on in advance is Pat Sloan’s Farmers Market quilt. I wanted to have mine done in advance so I needed to get my blocks together so I could appliqué the border next. So the picture above is my center all sewed together. I haven’t decided yet exactly what fabrics I will use for the borders. So far I have purchased nothing for this top it all came from my stash and I hope to continue with that theme. The couple of blocks I haven’t shown yet are the strawberries and the vase of flowers. I am worlds worst yo yo maker and to think I want to make a yo yo quilt. I have since purchased the Clover yo yo makers to help me form better ones.
On another note I have decided I am not happy with my paint colors (and I haven’t even shown you my living room yet) so I am going to start painting the kitchen and living room again tomorrow. This might take me a bit but before I paint the living room I will snap a picture and then I can show you not only the first before, but the second before. (Does that make any sense?) Hopefully I can get it right this time around!

“The home is a human institution. All human institutions are open to improvement.” - Charlotte Perkins Gilman