A quilt for a colleague

I belong to a group of 40 women professionals. One of our long-time members is going through her second round of chemotherapy plus divorce. The group suggested sending her a card, but I said, "It's time this woman got a quilt!" Two volunteers with "junior high sewing skills" stepped up to help, one sent a beautiful embroidered piece, and the group gave us a budget of $50.

I asked the quilt recipient what colors she would like. "Earthy, grassy green with touches of purple and gold." Yikes! Just the colors I DON'T have. Thank goodness the Rebels came to the rescue. Look at all these beautiful fabrics they donated!!

Alexis suggested the volunteers and I make a simple rail fence pattern. Wa-la! All done in a day.



And look what Goodwill provided--the whole back for only $4!

Everyone in the professional group will sign the quilt with good wishes, and I'm sure this colleague will be very pleased. Thank you Rebels!!!

Another baby quilt by Alexsis

Baby quilt by Alexsis for baby boy named Grayson

Scraps that keep on giving, 30"x30"

Experiment # 3. Started with 8 women's shirts, size medium, plus Kona solids. First quilt, not shown for now, was 64"x64". Second was 30"x30". Still have lots of scraps and ideas to try. I could see this idea worked up as a 4 quadrant quilt with lots of confetti sashing and borders. I don't usually use pink, or florals, too romantic for me. I like the mix of textures and scales. Guess that is what scraps are all about.

NYC Scraps

I had the good fortune to go to NYC for a quilting retreat hosted by Victoria last weekend. I took only a few solid fabrics and used scraps supplied by everyone else. Here's what came home with me. It's 72 x 80. I brought home some strips from the scrap pile, and am wondering about a border. Any ideas?

Strips of Confetti Scraps

Scraps from last project, sewn into strips to use for border

Seabiscuit Time Span

Seabiscuit is a working quilt. All winter this quilt hangs over the drafty French doors of our owner-built cabin/house. A decade ago I discovered this top in Paducah, KY for $10. I liked the energy I saw in the topsy turvy triangular blocks. The wide black sashing is unusual. Once I got it home and studied my options, I decided to applique different batiks with an orange and black color theme in the white junctions. These circles added new geometric visuals, toned down the white, and resemble the sea creature called a seabiscuit.

Additionally, I was reading the book about the life of the famous race horse named Seabiscuit. The name seemed to fit. I used large free motion swirls in quilting the blocks, but opted for a contrasting orange thread and uneven straight lines to emphasize the importance of the wide sashing as a resting place for the eye among the busy blocks. The binding repeats the orange and black batik theme of the seabiscuits.

Living with this quilt for months at a time each winter has only increased my appreciation of Seabiscuit. I still admire the simplicity and the energy I see here. I wish I could consult with the original maker and see if she, too, is pleased with the results. I am glad her abandoned quilt top came my way!

Orange Scribble quilt top

Top view: finished top

Middle view: closeup detail

Bottom: original abandoned top

"No one would want this top unless they knew one of the children," said my friend when she gave me this thrift store top. I took that as a challenge to transform it into something visually interesting. I took in a few crooked seams to make the top more square and headed for my stash--what fun I had. Wish I had more of the side border fabric, but that was it!

Yesterday was the deadline to turn in our quilts for the April show here in Northwest Arkansas and I have been overwhelmed by finishing the hand quilting on my "Spectator Pumps: Versatile and Spectacular". (You can see this quilt as a top behind me in my profile photo.)

Playing with this orange dominated top released a burst of creative energy. I am now working on completing various tops to be include in our special exhibit, "When This You See, Remember Us." I am putting together a group of album quilts, signature quilts, t-shirt quilts, memory quilts and reproduction quilts. Some of the quilts are borrowed from other guild members and many are from my own collection. Our show is April 8 & 9 at the new Bentonville Fair Grounds located in the northwest corner of Arkansas. Y'all come if you can!