Maddie

I love the 1930s prints that are available today. I think they must remind me of fabrics I saw my grandmother & great-grandmother use when I was a little girl. They both had a tremendous influence on not just my sewing, but on many aspects of my homemaking skills. My great-grandmother, Grandma Smith as she was known to me, was a Danish immigrant & made wonderful Danish pastries. Sometimes I wish I picked up that talent, but most of the time I'm pretty glad I didn't since I would no doubt weigh about 50 pounds more than I do & who needs that?!

I made this particular quilt for my great-niece, Madison. If you look closely at the quilt you'll see that the white blocks all have the same quilting design done in pink thread. These were done on my embroidery machine. Isn't today's technology awesome!

As if I need something else to do, I have been busy repainting our bathroom & bedroom. I need to finish ASAP because the weather is hinting of spring & before we know it, it will be time to get outside for all those clean-up & planting chores. So much for new sewing projects.

Monkey Shine

Did you have a sock monkey when you were little? I don't recall owning one of my own, but my grandmother had one at her house that we always played with when we visited her.

A few years ago I made a sock monkey for my grandson York. I also knitted him a sweater with a sock monkey on the front and made him this quilt. He has long outgrown the sweater (maybe his little brother Jack will get some use out of it), but he still sleeps with his monkey quilt.

These fabrics were from a Moda collection & also included panels to make a fabric book about the monkeys jumping on the bed - remember that? I'll have to dig out those panels (another UFO) so at least one of the grandkids will have a chance to enjoy the book!

Taylor's Quilt

This is one of my favorites quilts. I made it for the first grandchild of my best friend. Even though they live over 100 miles away, we've been friends for over 30 years & have watched each other's kids grow up, get married & start their own families. We just enjoyed the weekend together & got to spend time with all our kids & grandkids. It was like one big family reunion.

State Fair Winner

Take a look at the quilt in the center of this photo. It's the Star Medallion in red, gold, black & tan. I made this as part of a local quilt shop's BOM program during 2008. I had it professionally quilted because I wanted to give it to my son & his wife for their wedding in October. It was finished in time to enter at the Iowa State Fair & won a second place ribbon. I had won only a 4th place ribbon for Circle of Life (see previous post) in 2006, so I felt like I must be improving.

I received high praise from the judge for my binding. I enjoy almost every aspect of creating quilts from designing the pattern to piecing the top, etc., but really get a lot of satisfaction from hand-stitching the binding. This was a king-sized quilt & it took me 12 hours to do the binding.

Another of My Quilts

If this quilt looks familiar, it's because it was published in Love of Quilting in March 2006. I made it in 2004, just before my first grandchild was born, as a quilt for the crib at Grandma's house. Marianne Fons asked if they could publish it & I even got to help style the photo for the magazine.

Unfortunately, they own the rights to the pattern, so I can't publish it myself, but if you're interested in making it you can purchase the pattern at their retail store in Winterset, IA, or online at www.fonsandporter.com

Doodle Bug

I designed & made this quilt a year ago for my granddaughter's second birthday. Her name is Tess, but I have always called her my little "doodle bug." I am currently trying to remake it so I can publish the design & pattern.

Other Interesting Blogs

Here are some other interesting blogs.

Quilting Lessons Online

Online Quilting