W.I.P. (Work In Progress)

There's always something in the works on my sewing table...usually more "Works In Progress" than I care to admit. The list is long, but I DO keep a list so I don't forget anything I've started or promised. The good news is that no matter what my mood, there's a project to work on at any time. I will be adding pictures in the next couple days.

Hand Quilting Projects

Dear Jane - The top is finished, and I've started hand quilting in the large inner border. I'm doing a twisted feather/cable design in the border, looking for a nice rounded floral for the large triangles, and will quilt each block "as it dictates." There's also a straight line of quilting in the 1/2" sashing between blocks. Backing is 108" white-on-white print from Jinny Beyer/RJR. Hobbs Thermore batting.
Click here to view my Dear Jane #2 in progress
"Applique in a Day" by Eleanor Burns - Mine took more than a day...in fact, I started doing this quick machine technique, decided I didn't particularly care for it, and did it all by hand. This was my first hand applique project, and it went very quickly (and I was hooked on applique!) This is a housewarming gift for my sister, who moved to our community from out of state (blush) almost 3 years ago. It is on the big frame in my family room, and I'm hoping to finish it before this summer. Traditional diagonal grid quilting in backgrounds, vine and leaves in sashing, flowers in setting squares. Parallel lines in borders. All applique elements are outlined. Warm & Natural batting. Muslin backing.

Machine Quilting Projects

Grandma's Country Album - I started too fast on quilting this project, and was unhappy with the quilting I did. So I am ripping. It is not fun. I may change my mind and hand quilt it, but there are lots of other projects lining up by the quilting frame. We'll see.

Hand appliqued, machine pieced, 1998. Lots of dimensional applique, folded points in the borders, buttons, ribbons, etc. to add my personality to the quilt. As soon as I spread it on our bed for a "look-see" after piecing was completed, Cleo the cat descended from the desk and plopped her furry little self down right in the middle. I guess she likes it!








 Dreams of Africa - Based on Bethany Reynolds' book, "Magic Stack & Whack Quilts," this queen size top is being made for a friend of a friend. It will be machine quilted with Warm & Natural batting. The back will be pieced from several related prints and leftover border fabric.

The fascination with "Stack & Whack" is that all the kaleidoscope blocks came from the same fabric. It is really amazing to see how different they all turned out. I really like the results, and am not looking forward to the day this quilt leaves my house forever!

Diane & Scott's Wedding Quilt - My godchild Nicole and I made this quilt top together as a surprise for her mom and stepfather's wedding. Nicole, who is 12, chose the fabrics and did much of the piecing. I assembled the top and will do the machine quilting.

The striking colors make a simple, traditional design exciting. "Plain old" log cabin blocks in bright purples and teals make lovely contrast, and when they're arranged all in the same position, the last row of teals form what appears to be sashing around the blocks. We added the top and right teal inner border to complete the effect.

Hand Applique

I just love to applique! I take it with me everywhere, and work on it in every spare moment...you'll find me stitching in the car as I wait for a passing train, waiting for kids after school, during music lessons, at the park...all over town! Everything I need fits in a baggie in my tote bag, and I keep a spare "Thimble-Pad" on the dashboard!

 "Heart of Roses" - by C. Jean Horst (Good Books) - I fell in love with this design when we visited Gettysburg and Lancaster PA several years ago. My friend Alecia hand-dyed fabrics for me, and I got as far as stitching the first sample rose, which is shown here. The center heart-shaped wreath is worked on a 65" square of background fabric, so this will NOT be a protable project!







"Jacobean Rhapsodies" by Pat Campbell - There are several of Pat's beautiful books on my shelf, but this one really appealed to me. In two weeks, I've already done three blocks...they are addictive! In this project, the leftover fabrics from my Dear Jane quilt have found a home...lovely jewel tones on white-on-white. This is block #5 from Pat's book. It's called "Pixie Vine."

My first three "Jacobean Rhapsodies" blocks, from Pat's book...

Left: "Mayfair Grapes"
Center: "Pixie Vine"
Right: "Canterbury Bells"






 [Photo to come soon!] "California Vintage" - This design, by Kathy Galos for P&B Fabrics, was my souvenir from a trip to San Francisco in August 1998. When we travel, I try to find patterns by local designers. The resulting quilts become my souvenirs. This one was purchased at Whiffle Tree Quilts in Cupertino, CA. It is hand appliqued, with ruched flowers and braided bias grapevine wreath. The borders are machine pieced.

"The Critters Quilt" - I am a violinist, so this cute musical quilt caught my eye without much difficulty! I purchased a series of fabric kits for the project from Cotton Pickers in Morton Grove, IL, and started stitching. Their fabric selections are wonderful, and it's been lots of fun to work on. It's challenging, though, since there are many tiny parts and complicated animal shapes, all on a large background. The next "critter" I get to do on it is a cricket playing the fiddle. At the bottom of the quilt, it will say, "All God's critters got a place in the choir." The design is by Brandywine Designs.







 In July 1998 I had the privilege of taking an applique class with Nancy Pearson. She is a delightful and very talented lady! I thoroughly enjoyed the time with her and learned a lot. This is my class project. I have not decided how I want to frame it yet.



Nancy's designs are available from Rainyday Designs.
Click here to view Nancy Pearson's designs

Round Robins and Other Swap Projects

I've made many wonderful friends on the internet, and have participated in a variety of progressive quilts and swaps. These are still in progress or awaiting finishing.

 "Freida the Frog Finds Friends in the Fabric Stash" - I joined 11 other quilters in a year-long round robin project that began in early 1998. We had a great time working on each others' quilts, and the results were fantastic! I am working on collecting photos of the other finished tops to share here, but so far, I just have mine. Freida started out just a little fussy-cut frog in the middle of a 6" block with appliqued hearts in hot pink with silver sparkles. She travelled all over -- Alaska, Hawaii, California, Georgia, Canada, New Jersey (she is better travelled than I am!), and she had a great time making new friends. I was just delighted when I opened the box a few days before my birthday!

Round Robin '97 - This quilt doesn't have an official name yet, but it was one of my earlier forays into the jewel tone spectrum. The center is a foundation-pieced mariner's compass in purple, teal and white. Five friends around the world each added a border. I plan to add one more border to make the quilt queen size.







 1998 Block Swap - I ended up with two sets of blocks from this swap. There were 22 people in the group. Each month, two people chose a feature fabric, which they mailed (12" square) to everyone else in the group. We each made blocks every month from the fabrics we received, then sent the finished blocks back to the person who sent the fabric. So everyone made a whole quilt top worth of blocks for others, and received one back in exchange. I discovered with the first block that if I did the "54-40 or Fight" block, there was enough feature fabric to make myself a block too. So, here are blocks that match what I made for everyone else. They will make a wonderful scrap quilt one of these days.

The only exception to my "54-40" plan was Teri's block...she sent out black/tan homespun, and asked that the blocks be all plaid. I just couldn't do "54-40" in plaids, so did some big cheerful applique PLAID flowers for her. [Photo to come soon!]

Here is the feature fabric I sent out, and the blocks I've received back so far.

1999 Row Robin - This is a new experience for me. Six of us are working together, each making a 60x12" row based on a theme of our choice. Mine is music. After completing our first row, we package it up with notes, pictures, ideas, fabric for the next person. They will make us a row, repack and send it on. In August, the boxes will return to their owners for final assembly and quilting. I decided on a piano keyboard...please don't laugh when I say it is "to scale"! It really is life-size. My friend JoAnn in Florida drew the rose applique design for me, and it was stitched from multiple pieces of the same hand-dyed fabric. The black keys on the piano are made of polished cotton, so they shine like the real thing. This picture shows only the middle third of the finished row. It includes exactly the same "keys" as my piano here at home.

Quick Little Projects

This summer we will welcome two new great-nephews into our family. Here are two quilt tops in the works for the new babies.

First, the "Beanie Bunk" adapted from McCall's Quick Quilts Holiday 1998 issue. I added border print fabrics for the outer frame. Each jungle print patch is a pocket large enough to hold a Beanie Baby.

"Magic Stack & Whack" by Bethany Reynolds was the source for this one, made from 60-degree triangles. You do have to be careful where you cut those animal prints...I ended up with several kaleidoscopes I could not use because they contained rings of partial animals!

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