Friday, January 28, 2011

Monday, January 24, 2011

Sunday, January 23, 2011

"says who?" construction

I was asked to show some in progress photos of how I pieced the quilt top, so here they are. It was the first time I made a quilt without instructions or a pattern. Click on the photos to see them at full size.





Friday, January 21, 2011

"says who?" gets quilted

Well I hid it in the closet for a year (shame on me), but today my guilt finally got the better of me, I set up my machine, and I've been meandering my way along the quilt. It actually surprised me that my body still remembers what to do, it's been so long since I freemotion quilted. Maybe "Says Who?" will finally be completed afterall. Note to self: try to not *ever* forget again how good it felt to touch fabric and baby girl (sewing machine) after such a long time.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

in progress


says who
In early December 2009 I joined the Lib-Quilters group on Yahoo and this quilt top developed. It's been sitting in the closet, sandwiched and ready for machine quilting, for a year.

some of my quilts

Quilts I've made over the years...


string quilt
batiks and hand-dyeds, 2007


mystery quilt
I don't know where it is, I seem to have "lost" a few quilts along the way. I think it was one of the Inspector Clue-sew mysteries.


machine applique wallhanging
And again, I have no idea where it is.


my ex-husband's 40th birthday quilt
I'm kinda proud of this one, alas it isn't in my possession anymore, for obvious reasons. LOL! My own design after reading Margaret Miller's Blockbender Quilts.


fantasy landscape
a small wallhanging, completely by machine, except for some beading


small bowties
small wallhanging, it was a way to make bowties without a set-in seam....now I can't remember how they were done anymore


mystery quilt
A mystery quilt I found on the Internet many moons ago. I was soooo happy how it turned out, for once I really liked my fabric choices for a mystery quilt.


when pigs fly
Named after one of the fabrics in it, featuring, you guessed it, flying pigs. I have no idea where this quilt is now. I also wish I knew where the sampler is, as it was my first quilt *after* getting a few books and decent quilting cottons. Addendum February 2012: The sampler lives at my daughter's in Berlin. :)


black and white
made for my brother, late 80's


funky stars
I loved making this one! I only found the hole in one of the stars when I quilt-tacked it for machine quilting. That hole still makes me smile when I look at the quilt.


bargello wallhanging
I loved making bargellos. I think it had something to do with raising my autistic son. Amongst all the chaos and heartbreak, I needed order at that time. The bargello technique gave me some of that.


my summer quilt
It may very well be the simplest quilt I have ever made.....and also the one I use the most. I sleep under it during the summers, I believe I have been doing so for close to 20 years. I used a very, very low-loft poly batting and it has one machine quilted line down the center and one across the center. I just wrapped the top to the back, and machine sewed it to the back, with the raw edges turned under. The Quilt Police has still "Wanted" signs out to get me for this quilt. LOL!


paper pieced wallhanging
heavily machine quilted with rayon threads


southwestern landscape
small wallhanging from a pattern a friend sent on to me, machine pieced and appliqued


optical illusion wallhanging


penguins
Made for a friend's child sometimes in the 90's, I *think* it was a pattern from Quiltmaker Magazine.


eruption
I let go and created eruption sometimes in the 90's. And once more I have no idea where it is. I wish I did know though, as I like it. It was a first "sign" (for myself) that yes, I could do non-traditional quilts.


my first projects
ca. 1986/87, nothing survived, they all fell apart after a few years, as I was quilting without ever having seen instructions, my sewing machine was below dirt etc. The Log Cabin was my very first quilting project, I figured out the pattern after having seen a similar quilt on TV. It was a rerun of a 70's patchwork show from England, if I remember correctly. I remember that I suddenly found myself right in front of the TV, my nose practically glued to the screen. The next day I went out and searched for any books, fabrics etc. and so the journey began.