My Quilts - 2019 & 2020
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$Friendship Crane
2019 The middle of this quilt is a commercial panel that I purchased for a friend who was searching for a crane to applique onto her completed quilt. Turns out she needed a crane with a six inch wing span. I had a quilt retreat coming up so I gathered up my favorite fabrics and started making friendship star blocks. Soon after I began I went to a meeting of the Contemporary Quilt Association in Seattle and purchased a package of beautiful hand dyed fabric in shades of pink and blue done by Barbara Fox. Her fabric echoed the in between, difficult to find shades of the panel. I repeated the spirals of the clouds in the quilting of the stars. Two extra stars and the star scraps finish the back of the quilt. 58"x68" $800 SOLD |
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Black and White and Red All Over
2019 This mandala began with the red zebra fabric from my new favorite quilt shop, Quilting Mayhem, which was soon followed by my usual trip to my fabric stash. The central fabric is from an African booth at a quilt show many years ago. The black and white fabrics repeat the stripes of the zebras. The inner red border alternates solid red fabric with those inserted bias triangles I enjoy curving with hand stitching. I like the way the central gold motifs form small leaf shapes where they meet at the seam lines. The inserted black prairie points seem to elevate the mandala from the zebra herd. 36"x36" $750 |
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Squid Maidens
2019 Another commercial fabric beginning that formed an interesting unexpected secondary design where the seams meet. I was attracted by the little maiden's faces. The curves of the first needle turned boarder mimic the curves of the sea creature's tentacles. The seams of the koi of the next boarder were unpleasant so I solved that by inserting bias triangles of a blue clamshell fabric which was then turned back upon itself to form yet another curve. 42.5"x42.5" $850 |
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Fishladder
2020 Fishladder started with a friend downsizing to move to California and leaving me with a large box of fabric cut into strips just before a quilt retreat. It was such fun to work with another person's stash. As the days went by I started adding my own fabric. I fell in love with the little green frogs and other delightful creatures I found in the box. The spiral quilting breaks up all the straight lines and reminds me of the swerling water rushing through the local fishladder between Lake Washington and Elliot Bay in Seattle. This quilt is going to my sixth nephew Charles and his wife Tamsen in New Jersey. 90"x94" |
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Diamond in the Rough
2020 Diamond in the Rough began when I looked at my stash after a recent field trip with friends to found that I had purchased more blue fabric again though there were at least three drawers full that I loved already. The simple block was inspired by a block by Katie Peterson. She cut her triangles precisely but but what would happen if I used random triangles? Then I thought what would happen if I alternated adding blue triangles to white squares with white triangles to blue squares? Then what would happen if they were rotated 90 degrees to form radiating diamond borders? I like all the sharp points but decided that the quilting would be all curves to contrast with all the straight lines in the piecing. This quilt will go to my seventh and final nephew Christopher and his wife Jessie in New York. 96"x102" |