DOUBLE WEDDING RING

I hand quilted this double size Double Wedding Ring for a customer (KD of Esperance,NY) with 450 yards of stitches.  The owner wanted it heavily quilted so each square was outlined stitched, the arcs were stitched on both sides, the pieces inside the arcs were quilted, and the large blank area inside the arcs was quilted in interlocking rings.  I used the top of a drinking glass as the pattern for the interlocking rings. The rest of the quilting was eye balled a quarter inch.

The top was what appeared to be 1930's and 1940's cotton fabric with muslin. The batting was some sort of poly mix and the backing was muslin to match the front.  I did not bind the quilt.

Quilted Oct. 1995 - Jan. 1996 in Laurel, MT.

In my scrapbook, this is quilt #156.

DRESDEN PLATE AND FLOWER GARDEN QUILT #2

This is the second quilt I have hand quilted for a customer (PB of Brazil, IN) who made this very unusual quilt from a mix of Dresden Plate blocks and Flower Gardens blocks that she had on hand. It is similar to the first one that I did earlier in 2019. You can see the first one in a previous post at https://indianaquilter40.blogspot.com/2019/05/dresden-plate-and-flower-garden-quilt.html

Final stitch went in on June 29, 2019

For the Flower Garden blocks she did an added dimension of appliqueing a block under the flower garden block and between the solid color block. The sashing is only vertical between each strip of 3 blocks. I don't know what the story of the actual blocks are but I am very certain the prints are real 1930's feed sacking and fabrics due to the feel, colors and designs.

Size: 65" x 76".

Materials: 100% cotton top and backing, and a poly/cotton batting.  The batting had enough poly to make it fairly easy to quilt.

Hand quilting: The customer had no real idea what she wanted quilting-wise, and left the choices to me. I debated about an all over design, but finally opted for quilting around and in the blocks themselves as it really made the design of the blocks stand out. There are 164 yards of quilting in this quilt. Instead of a rope design in the sashing like in the first one, for this one I simply did straight lines every 3".  This way the quilts (who are going to her daughters) are not quilted exactly alike - similar but different.

Here it is still in the frame with only one row to quilt.........

ALBUM QUILT

This album quilt was hand quilted for a customer (SB, Maine).  She pieced it from fabrics that had a very soft look out of 100% cottons. Some of the blocks were signed by other quilters in her life. The back was plain muslin. The finished size was 45" x 60". I don't remember exactly how I quilted it, but I put in 80 yards of hand quilting during Aug. 1995. I've worked on many quilts with and for her, and she likes a cotton/poly mix for batting.

After she put the binding on, she sent me this photo to let me know how it looked and that she was very satisfied with the quilting.

SB is a very skilled needlewoman, and this quilt is a good reminder to all of us that quilts don't have to be complicated to be beautiful.

In my scrapbook, this quilt is listed as #151.

AMISH BAR QUILT (Part 2)

My Amish Bar Quilt is finally complete!!The original post about this quilt was in 2013 at:  https://indianaquilter40.blogspot.com/2013/10/amish-bar-quilt.html

I have finally gotten the hand quilting, binding, and tag done so here are photos of this beautiful reversible quilt.  It has about 5 spools of cream quilting thread and a wool batting (Hobb's Tuscany line).

I purchased the pre-printed top that I used to hand quilt  this quilt from The Stencil Company at this link: https://www.quiltingstencils.com/  .  This company has all kinds of wonderful quilting stencils and pre-printed designs from 18" square to queen size. I have purchased from this company for years and have always been happy with the products and service.

DRESDEN PLATE AND FLOWER GARDEN QUILT #1

A customer (PB of Brazil, IN) made this very unusual quilt from a mix of Dresden Plate blocks and Flower Gardens blocks that she had on hand.  Her applique stitches are small and neat.  For the Flower Garden blocks she did an added dimension of appliqueing a block under the flower garden block and between the solid color block. The sashing is only vertical between each strip of 3 blocks.

Size: 65" x 76".

Materials: 100% cotton top and backing, and a poly/cotton batting.  The batting had enough poly to make it fairly easy to quilt.

Hand quilting: The customer had no real idea what she wanted quilting-wise, and left the choices to me. I debated about an all over design, but finally opted for quilting around and in the blocks themselves as it really made the design of the blocks stand out. There are 176 yards of quilting in this quilt.

I was traveling a lot while this quilt was in my possession, so it took me almost 2 months to the day to do the quilting.  It returned to the owner on May 3, 2019.

PRESQUE ISLE QUILT SHOW 1991

Loring AFB had a great group of quilters when I was up there in 1990-91, and we had an equally great group of civilian quilters to meet and quilt with from the surrounding communities. Several of us made up a group we called the "Loring Quilters". When Desert Storm started in 1990, we determined that we would plan and make a quilt to give to the base to show our appreciation for our troops. Closing the base was already in the works at that point, so we specified that when the base closed the quilt would be given to the Limestone Library for permanent display. Our quilt "Desert Storm" got alot of great comments at the show, and we were the proud "parents" of it. It was fresh, new, and unfaded in 1991.

Here it is at the Limestone Library in Sept. 2012 - faded, but still a testament to patriotism and teamwork.

The only other picture I got at the show was of my "9 Patch Basketweave", which has long since been used to death and is a ragged mess. I did not own a rotary cutter when I made that quilt and I was simply cutting up small scraps into the right size with scissors (nope, no strip piecing either), and I cut enough for four large quilts, three of which I eventually completed and gave away.

Please note that all photos and written content in this post are mine.

AMISH CENTER DIAMOND (Handquilted)

I started this quilt in 1991 in honor of my Grandma's Amish/Mennonite heritage. I actually bought all the cotton fabrics at an Amish dry goods store in Arthur, IL - the ladies at the shop were great about double checking my math on yardage.  By the time I finished it in 1996, Grandma had died.

I did most of the hand quilting myself, but was able to have one quilting bee that involved LT, JG, BP, GS, EE, SS, MM, MK, TC, and BK. I tried to keep track of how much quilting there was in it, but after 400 yards of hand quilting decided to quit counting (and I wasn't to the outside border yet). I chose to quilt each of the outer purple borders a different all over pattern - fun, but definitely not traditional. It took so long to quilt because I would quilt for a customer, then put this one back in the frame until the next customer quilt arrived.

 It is cotton fabric with poly batting (I hadn't discovered wool batting yet). It won first prize in the local county fair in 1998, and was also shown in the local quilt guild show the same year.

The backing is a brown print with small black flowers.

The center square and green triangles were measurements from the book, Amish Quilt Patterns by Rachel T. Pellman. From that point, I adjusted the blue and purple borders to suit me. The top itself was quick to piece - 2 hours.

 Size is 96" square.

In my scrapbook, this is quilt #167.

AROOSTOOK COUNTY AUTUMN (handquilted)

AROOSTOOK COUNTY AUTUMN:

I had a basic idea of what I wanted in my head, but I just couldn't find a pattern that really satisfied that desire.  I thought that since I was pretty creative with fabrics maybe I could just rough sketch out what I wanted and make it work.  After all, pencil and freezer paper are not rocket science !! So I spread out the paper on a table and just started drawing (and I am anything but the world's best drawer).  At some point a friend came over and suggested a couple things she thought would work based on the fabric I had out (and she even braved the fabric shelves to find a few other pieces that worked better - like the silk and satin for the knot hole). Anyway, within a couple hours I had a rough pattern for the tree and leaves on the freezer paper and a rough diagram of where I wanted the various parts of the top onto scrap paper.

The applique really went quickly as the pieces are large and there are no real sharp corners or points. The leaves were pretty easy and didn't have to be exactly the same size. The leaves that are "blowing" around were made with various cotton and silk scraps. The tree trunk is a silk and the knot hole is satin.

I was reminded how easy silk is to applique and how easy it is to do points (like on the blowing leaves) with silk instead of cotton.  Has to be something to do with the density of the fabric.  Anyway, the center tree piece went smoothly.

Piecing the Flying Geese borders was simple to do with what started as 6" squares sewn into half square triangles. I chose the blue "sky" fabric because I love the blue sky during the fall before it gets gray and gloomy looking.

The top took from Sept - Nov. 1999 to complete.

The blocks at the top and bottom (representing leaves already on the ground) and flying geese are all cotton fabrics. The 3" squares at the bottom are more of those fabric blocks I traded for the millennium quilt (see https://indianaquilter40.blogspot.com/2011/08/2000-millennium-charm-quilt.html ).

The hand quilting is simply what I felt made each piece and part stand out.  The quilting took place in March to October of 2000.

The backing is certainly nothing related to northern Maine, but is more southern Maine with the lobsters and sea life.  They were just two fun fabrics I had on hand and decided to utilize for the backing.

Backing

Finished size is 77" x 88"

In my scrapbook, this is #281.

Update 10/3/2022: For more thoughts on autumn quilting, visit this post on my newer quilt blog.

LONE STAR (Hand quilted)

LONE STAR: 

This isn't a whole cloth quilt in the true sense, but it is a cheater panel that I hand quilted during 1991-1992. 

Bound by KL in Montana. I love the Amish colors.

 It is 36" square. Cotton with poly batting. I made it intending to hang it in my bedroom, but was made such a nice offer for it that I sold it in 1994.

 

 

FB/P/I

#102

IRISH CHAIN (Handquilted)

IRISH CHAIN (Handquilted):

I pieced this quilt from various blue cotton scraps and a red linen in early 2008. The blue squares are 2.5". I really did use scraps so pieced all the 9 patch blocks and then added the alternate red (linen) blocks to make the "chain".

 It had been years since I hand quilted a cotton batting so I wanted to try it again. A huge mistake in Indiana as the humidity makes the cotton stick to the needle and it just drags and is very hard to quilt.  I don't want or need sore fingers.

Because of how hard it was to hand quilt, it was in and out of my frame many times. I was so  unhappy with the batting and so got a customer quilt or some other of my own with wool batting to put in the frame instead for awhile.

 Yes, I am spoiled by the ease of quilting with a wool batting. I finally put the last hand quilted stitch in during July 2011.

By the time I got to the outside border to quilt, I was just sick of the quilt so that was machine quilted by RLM in August 2011 - wow, the quilt was completely quilted !!!

I just got the binding done.  I would love to be outside in my flower garden, but it is so humid that I can't breathe, so I put in an old movie and the binding is done - yippee !!!!!

The backing is a cotton in red, white, and blue.

The finished size is 80" x 80".

Update 03/28/2020: 

Here are some better photos.  It is a beautiful quilt, even with the nasty cotton batting.

In my quilt scrapbook, this is #770.

SPINNING FLOWERS (Hand quilted)

SPINNING FLOWERS: 

Date and maker unknown (but I am guessing the 1930's)  - the top came from Ohio. I hand quilted it in 1996 in a design that reflected the appliqued flower blocks. Used cream colored quilting thread. The customer marked the quilting design and supplied the batting and backing.

Once I completed the quilting and self binding, I contacted the customer who stated she was getting divorced and would contact me in a few weeks once things settled down.  I never heard from her again.  The quilt is very unique.  All solid colors. Hand appliqued. Contains 301 yards of hand quilting.  

Size is 78" x 94". The top is cotton, and the back is plain muslin. Wool batting. It is self bound with the muslin back being hand stitched down on the front. The backing fabric has a few very small spots of what appears to be purple paint on it which was no doubt on the backing fabric when I got it from the customer.

 I entered it in the local county fair in 1997 and it won both Champion and First Place. 

Update 2020:

Sold on Etsy to a woman in Pasadena, CA. 

MY FANTASY GARDEN (Hand and machine quilting)

MY FANTASY GARDEN - This wall hanging was started in 2002 for a quilt show challenge.

 The theme for the challenge was a plain center and a fancy border. For the center strips, I used 2 Jinny Beyer fabrics, with a solid black cotton border.

The flowers and flowerpots are hand appliqued and the applique is a mixture of silk and cotton batiks. There are buttons that look like ladybugs and bees. There are also 3-D caterpillars and butterflies made by my son.

The top was done in time for the show.

The center was machine quilted by RLM in 2004, and I did the handquilting in the border on and off thru 2008. I really like appliquing with silk - it just lays exactly the way I want with no fuss.

(#462)