Welcome to Cj's Quilting Page

Do you love to quilt? I do! Please take a few minutes to enjoy a look at some of my work. Please note...my most recent work can be viewed on Webshots...click on the link below to view.

Hi! I'm Cj. My mother and sister taught me to sew, knit, crochet and embroider as a child, and I've been at it ever since. Needlework has always provided me with an outlet for creativity while making clothing, gifts, and other items that are both practical and beautiful.

The projects that you'll see here have been made using a variety of techniques and equipment. Although I love to sit at the machine and sew, my busy family often calls me far from the sewing room - school, church, music lessons, and a busy teaching schedule all keep me away from home. I've developed a love for hand applique - a delightful art that can go anywhere in a baggie!

You could call my quilting style "traditional style with contemporary fabrics." I love the old designs, but am equally attached to modern methods. My quilts are often based on traditional designs or styles, but with the addition of contemporary fabrics, computerized embroidery, and machine quilting, they take on a different "flavor."

I started quilting sometime in the early 80's, making simple crib quilts as our family grew. I would date my "official" start as a "real" quilter at about 1985. My first pieced quilts were a couple Lone Stars and a Storm at Sea (an overambitious beginner!)

As you look at my quilts, you'll soon see that my favorite colors are bright jewel tones, but I enjoy working with all colors. It's my hope that your visit here will be an inspiration to get out the fabric and get sewing!

Click the link below to see my latest work. Click here to see more recent work Click here to see my latest work on Webshots

cj.spensley@worldnet.att.net

Tulip Garden: Memories of Maryland

When we travel, I enjoy browsing new quilt shops, and I try to find patterns by local designers for my souvenirs. This one came from Cottonseed Glory in Annapolis, MD.

The design is by Lynn Jourdan of Treehouse Designs. It is 36x36", hand appliqued, machine pieced, hand quilted. Completed March 1998. Second Place for Viewer's Choice, Village Quilters (Glen Ellyn, IL) "Quilted Impressions V," 1998. First Place and Special Award, DuPage County (IL) Fair, 1998.

The feature blocks in this quilt are 7" square, so easily fit in a sandwich bag in my pocket. Many elements of this lovely design were stitched in the car, waiting for the kids at school.

Federal Star

This quilt started out as an experiment with a four-block pillow design by Jackie Robinson, found in Australian Patchwork & Quilting Magazine (vol. 4, no. 6), sent to me by a friend in Australia. It uses folded squares to create three-dimensional areas in the design. The center purple square is made using the "folded bow-tie" technique, and the small purple squares are prairie points under folded squares. As you can see, Cleocatra loves this three-dimensional quilt, as she can get her belly and her back rubbed at the same time!

I started playing with the design and some fabric I'd bought because I just thought it was pretty. The pillow top grew into a wall hanging, which screamed to me "make me queen size!!!" Of course, since I hadn't purchased fabric with this project in mind, a great fabric hunt ensued.

Here is the result. Special thanks to Christine for sharing the magazine and to Liz for finding that last bit of fabric! Machine pieced, machine quilted. Completed in June, 1998. Second place, DuPage County (IL) Fair, 1998.

Log Cabin Heart

This is an original design I've made in several different color combinations. The center heart is made of 1" strip log cabin blocks in varied shades of the same color. In the center there is a block that was machine embroidered on my Viking #1+ (Orhcidea by Husqvarna, to those of you who are not in the USA). The design is on Cassette #15 for the Plus Hoop. The bride and grooms' names and wedding date surround the embroidered flower basket. The background blocks use 2" strips.

Machine embroidered, machine pieced, machine quilted.

Two quilts were made in 1996 in green, mauve and ivory, for Scott & Laurel and for Linda & Brendan; a third was made in July 1998, in blue, yellow and white, for Chris & Bryn. Commissioned by Jill & Dave Fenoglio.

Caja de Joyas

The blocks for this quilt were demonstrations for a "Block of the Month" class I taught, based on Diana Leone's book, "The New Quilt Sampler." The quilt acquired its Spanish name as part of a teaching trip to Madrid, Spain, in February 1997. Since the quilt was "only" a top at that point, we used it to show how the blocks are assembled into a top. The outer border uses fusible applique and satin stitch for the medallion frame.

Machine pieced, machine quilted. First Place and Special Award, DuPage County (IL) Fair, 1997.

A Walk Around the Block (It's Not Big Enough to be a Trip Around the World)

Completed in 1997, this quilt got its start several years earlier and languished as a UFO for a long time. I love jewel-toned fabrics, and had collected a lovely pile. This quilt was my experiment in strip-piecing the traditional "Trip Around the World" design. Rather than read a book about doing it, I decided to figure it out on my own. I'm happy with the results, but it would probably have been much easier had I read the book!

Machine pieced, Machine appliqued, machine quilted, 1997.

Stitches in Time: The Turn of the Century

What a journey I've had with Jane A. Stickle's Civil War era quilt! I bought the book early in 1998, fully intending it to be a "coffe-table" book...one that is lovely to admire, but would never be used. But the more I heard about this quilt, the more intrigued I became...and pretty soon, I joined the mail list at DearJane.com. On August 26, 1998, I made my first block. I finished piecing my top on November 29, 1998, just 3 months later! It was quite an experience.

One of the most interesting things about this project is that the book does not include instructions. Quilters are provided with Brenda Papadakis' wonderful scale drawings of each block, but then we are to go from there, selecting our methods from our strengths, and learning as we go. Many of my blocks are foundation pieced -- I used this technique wherever possible, even when it meant doing a block in 10 or more units. Other blocks feature lots of hand applique, or a combination of pieced background and appliqued overlays. The photo on the right shows a closer view of my jewel-tone Baby Jane.

Eventually, I finished all blocks and triangles, added two rows of extra blocks from Sew Precise and Foundation Factory, plus a 5" inner solid border, making the finished quilt queen size.

In January 1999 I attended a "Dear Jane" retreat in Shipshewana, Indiana, where several of these delightful ladies helped me baste the quilt. I started hand quilting that weekend, and did about half of the white inner border. The quilt then went on display (safety pins and all!) at Pieceful Heart Fabrics in Lisle, IL (the shop where I teach), as the model for a Dear Jane Workshop I was leading. I brought it home in September 1999, and started doing some serious hand quilting. "Jane" was permanently parked on the ottoman by my favorite comfy chair, and every time I'd come into the room, I'd sit down and do some more quilting. In January 2000, I realized I had a long way to go before this quilt would be ready for our guild's February show, and I made myself a chart. I had to quilt 7 blocks or triangles a day to finish on time. Happily, it was finished a day early, bound (those scallops were FUN!), and displayed in the show. "Stitches in Time" won "Best Bed Quilt" and "Best of Show!"

To date, "Stitches in Time" has received the following honors:
Village Quilters (Glen Ellyn/Wheaton, IL) "Quilted Interpretations 6" February 2000 - Best Bed Quilt, Best of Show
Naper Settlement (Naperville, IL) "Old Fashioned Quilt Show"
Quilters' Heritage Celebration (Lancaster, PA) April 2000, 2nd place, Pieced Traditional
New Salem Heritage Quilt Show (Springfield, IL) June 2000 (accepted to show)
Vermont Quilt Festival (Northfield, VT) July 2000 2nd place
Illinois State Fair (Springfield, IL) 4th place, Mixed Technique Bed Quilts
Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza VII (Ft. Washington, PA), August 2000
Eastcoast Quilters' Alliance Gathering (Westboro, MA) November 2000

Special thanks to Brenda and all the DJ ladies (and Frank and Larry) for their friendship and encouragement!

As if this wasn't enough...I decided to do it again!

I'm teaching a class at a local shop, and decided I would need an "in-progress" sample. Since I'd seen several "Baby Jane's" that were made in just two colors, I thought I'd give that a try. So my second "Baby Jane" features Hoffman's Bali handpaint called "Dawn" and an RJR tiny stripe in midnight blue and black, forming a mottled background, with solid plum sashing. It is challenging to work with the stripes in all those little pieces (did I mention there are over 5600 pieces in Jane's original quilt???). But the results are quite pleasing. Here are just a couple of the blocks.

Click here to view my Dear Jane #2 blocks

For more information on "Dear Jane" please visit
Click here to visit the "Dear Jane" website.

Grandma's Country Album

In December 1997, McCall's Quilting Magazine introduced a serial quilt called "Grandma's Country Album." In each issue for the next 6 months, several blocks for this quilt would be presented. I ran out and bought lots of Thimbleberries Garden Gate fabrics, and others that blended with these dark country colors, then anxiously awaited the arrival of each issue.

As the quilt took shape, I realized that I was not going to have a place in my home for this very large wallhanging that was not large enough for our bed. So I got out the graph paper and started plotting ways to expand it...you guessed it...to queen size (you should, by now, sense a recurring theme in my quilting!). By designing variations on three of Robert Callaham's original blocks, I was able to rearrange the blocks and preserve the style of the pieced sashing. The further addition of a second set of identical borders made the result queen size.

In chatting with editor Beth Hayes about an error in one of the patterns, I shared my expansion plans, and she asked me to submit a photo to the magazine. It was published in the February 1999 issue.

One way I personalized my Grandma's Country Album quilt was to add three-dimensional applique. "Forget-me-nots" (left) uses gathered yo-yo flowers with domed shank buttons and satin ribbon.

"Floral Heart" is a variation on "Laurel Heart" and uses gathered yo-yos with beads.

"Country Basket" also uses gathered yo-yos with beads. A basket and different leaves were substituted for the vase in the original "Floral Elegance" block.

Since we grow white grapes in our garden, I chose a light green fabric for my "Grapevine" block. The grapes are made from yo-yos, stuffed with polyfil and attached upside down.

I am still quilting "Grandma." It may be a while, as there are several other large projects in line.

There's an active e-mail discussion group focused on the "Grandma's Country Album" quilts (yes, there's a sequel!). If you are interested in participating with this group, click on the link below:

Finally finished! In May 2004 I purchased a Gammill Classic Plus longarm quilting system. Over the summer I removed some of the hand quilting I'd done, and machine quilted the rest. I love the way it turned out, and it's nice to have it finally finished!

Spearmint Leaves

In 1996, Village Quilters (Glen Ellyn, IL) offered a challenge to its members: Make a quilt that was predominantly plaid. "Oh my! Not my style, at all!" I exclaimed. Not being one to resist a challenge, though, I gave in when my youngest son latched onto some green (his favorite color) homespun in the fabric store.

"Peppermint Swirl" from "The Thimbleberries Book of Quilts" became the model, and I duplicated their design in green. I was teaching for a sewing machine dealer at the time, so everything I was making was completely machine made. This quilt was no exception. I hooped up the center blocks, mounted the hoop to my Viking #1+ and called up a basic quilting design, the feathered circle. It is repeated throughout the quilt, including partial motifs on the edges of the center section. Free-motion quilting on paper templates was used for the outer borders, which feature a serpentine feather design. The center feathered circles are surrounded by meander quilting that highlights the green plaid petals that somehow reminded me of those gooey jelly-sugary spearmint candies.

Machine pieced, machine quilted, 1996. First Place, DuPage County (IL) Fair, 1996.

Kitties & Spools

After two swaps with my "kitty quilter" friends, I disocvered I had enough blocks and matching spools to make "Susan's Quilt" as shown in Janet Kime's book, "The Cat's Meow." The blocks were made by ladies all over the USA and Canada, and we had a great time getting to know each other as we swapped kitties and matching spools.

Each kitty has a "purr-fectly" matching spool, and only a couple kitties are "twins." Everyone who looks at this quilt seems to take a minute to start matching up the kitties and their spools...they really are fun!

Machine pieced, machine quilted, 1998.

Tulips by the Path

Just after I finished "Tulip Garden: Memories of Maryland" I vowed that it would be a long time before I did something with tulips again. So what did I pick next? You guessed it. Big pink ones!

This design, from "The Stitch Connection," was another one of those vacation-time souvenirs. It stitched up very quickly, and the finished quilt measures 48x48".

Hand appliqued center, machine pieced, machine quilted with Sulky Sliver irridescent thread, 1998.

Little Quilts

I just love having a collection of small quilts to hang on the front door! Here are several from my growing collection:

"The Garden Gate" - A calendar block from Piecemakers' 1996 calendar. Embellished with buttons, it is 20x20", hand appliqued and hand quilted, 1998.

"Love in the Air" - From "The Critters Quilt" by Brandywine Designs, this little hanging uses hand-dyed fabrics from Alaska Dyeworks, and is made with fusible applique and machine stitched with monofilament thread. It was machine meander quilted using Sulky Sliver Irridescent thread and bound with one of those prints I just couldn't resist but had no idea how to use.

"Turkey Time" by Pine Tree Lodge was made in a weekend. I changed the pattern, eliminating the pieced apple and pumpkin blocks, and replaced them with a smaller band of lovely printed leaves. This is one of my collection of "front door quilts" that I change every few weeks.

Machine pieced, machine quilted, 1998.

"Puss is NOT in the Corner" - Just before teaching a class on curved piecing, I decided it was time to conquer the traditional "Double Wedding Ring" pattern. Tricia Lund's book "Classic Quilts with Precise Foundation Piecing" has some wonderful patterns that use foundation piecing combined with templates. For this small quilt, the arcs were foundation paper pieced, then sewn to template-cut pieces for the melons and the center. Just a "for fun" project, these bright cats are most definitely NOT traditional!

Machine pieced, including foundation paper pieced arcs, machine quilted with Sulky rayon thread, 1997.

"Kittens & Mittens" is from Janet Kime's book, "It's Raining Cats and Dogs," which is filled with great pet-themed quilts. I purchased Amish solids while on a quilting retreat in Shipshewana, Indiana, and used them for this cute little wallhanging. The cat blocks are foundation pieced, and so are the mittens. The "idiot strings" that connect the mittens are quilted in coordinating Sulky rayon thread, and the border print is actually a very bold floral by Diana Leone...cut VERY small!

Machine pieced, including foundation paper piecing, machine quilted with Sulky rayon thread, 1999.

Village Starburst

Isn't this a beautiful quilt? I didn't make it!

"Village Starburst" was the raffle quilt for Village Quilters' (Glen Ellyn, IL) 1998 show and raffle. Members of the group (myself included, so yes, I made part of it) made a few blocks and border units each, and I did most of the machine quilting. The quilt raised over $4000 towards breast cancer support and research.

Imagine my surprise when they called my name as the lucky winner of this wonderful (queen size, of course!) quilt!!!

W.I.P. (Works in Progress!)

There's always something that isn't yet finished on my sewing table...if it was not on the table, it would be a "UFO" (UnFinished Object) instead of a "Work in Progress." Right now, I'm working on lots of things, including:

* My sister, Betty Anne's, housewarming quilt - Eleanor Burns' "Applique in a Day" quilt, but done by hand and being hand quilted, about halfway through the quilting process
* A Log Cabin wedding quilt for a friend - pieced and ready to quilt
* "Bella Tulip Garden" quilt shown in American Patchwork & Quilting - hand applique tulip blocks with pieced blocks and lots of fancy hand quilting. I'm planning to work on this one by the pool this summer.
* "Heart of Roses" hand applique quilt that is cut out and ready to stitch...someday
* "Jacobean Rhapsodies" by Pat Campbell. These wonderful applique designs were ones I just couldn't resist starting, even though I have a million things to work on already. A great way to work on using up all those jewel tone leftovers from the Dear Jane quilt!
* "Baltimore out of the Box" from Garden City Gateworks. I've ordered the Block-of-the-Month kit series for this lovely project, and started on the blocks. Two are finished, two are started.
* 6-person row robin with Amy, Ingrid, Roseann, Cathy and Lesley (picture of my row below)
* Class plans and samples -- always in the works
* Probably lots more I missed...but that's the beauty of a website!

Click here to view my "Works in Progress"

This is my start on a musical Row Robin quilt. Only the center third of my 60x12 row is shown. Ingrid asked me to participate in a group of 6 ladies who would each make a 60x12" row that depicted a theme of their choice. Since I'm a musician as well as a quilter, I chose a musical theme and some lovely music fabric I've been hiding in my stash for a couple years. My friend JoAnn in Florida drew the lovely rose for me to use as an applique pattern, and its individual petals are stitched from a single hand-dyed fabric. The piano keys are made of polished cotton, so they shine, and the row is "to scale." I can't wait to see what the others stitch to add to my piano.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my quilts...please come back again and visit soon!

Much of my time is spent teaching quilting classes, and I hope to add some tips and how-to's to my site soon.

Happy stitching!

If you're in the Chicago area, check out this new quilt shop: [we'll replace this photo with a better one soon!]

Pieceful Heart Fabrics
2723 Maple Ave.
Lisle, IL 60532

Hours: Monday & Thursday 10-8
Tuesday, Wednesday, & Friday 10-5
Saturday 10-4
Sunday 12-4

Phone: 630-718-0112
e-mail: PHFabrics@aol.com

The Stitchers Caddy

Many of my internet friends have inquired about the "Stitcher's Caddy" that I designed for making applique projects portable. To see a photos of the Caddy, Click here to view photos of the Stitcher's Caddy Updated 5/28/2000