Dog in the Yard House Quilt

This is the small quilt I made for the 2012 Alliance for American Quilt “home is where the heart is” contest.  The deadline isn’t until June 1, 2012 so there is time for you to enter if you are interested.

I used multiple techniques to make the quilt, beginning with machine piecing.  I initially screwed up the measurements  with the base of the house being 12 in X 12 in rather than the 12 in high X 15 in wide specified by the contest rules.   I had to redo it, but the mistake worked it my favor (thankfully) and it looked better and gave me room for the windows.

The finished size is 15 in wide X 19.5 in high.  It is machine and hand quilted. 

I used Mistyfuse to apply the fussy cut dog with his house onto the quilt prior to doing the quilting.  I used Textures Magic (my first experience with it) to make the bushes which I hand appliqued after finishing the quilting.

I again used Mistyfuse to add the fussy cut cat.  I embroidered the ivy onto the house walls.
The windows, the door, and this attic window were fussy cut.
Here is the back before adding the ring and sleeve specified for hanging.
This photo and the next show the detail of the quilting better.

Small Voyager Handbag

I recently made this small handbag for a friend.  It is made using the Ghee’s Voyager Handbag pattern.  I used the small size, but made it an inch wider.  Open, as in this photo, it measures 7 in X 11 in.

Closed, as in this photo, it measures 7 in X 6.5 in.
Here’s the back.  It has a clip for keys.

African Whole Cloth Quilt Finished!

I have finally finished!  As implied by the title, there was no piecing of this quilt top.  I loved the fabric so much I just couldn’t cut it into pieces so I just quilted it.  I attempted to do some machine trapunto.  The effect is less than I had hoped.  I think I should have used an even higher loft polyester batting for the trapunto.  I might even should have used it for the entire quilt rather than switching to Hobb’s Heirloom cotton batting.  Still, it is lovely and my photos don’t do it justice.

It is machine quilted in an echo pattern.  The quilt measures 52.75 in X 70 in. 

Here you can see the some of the echo quilting. Notice the animals could use a little more “stuffing.”
Another photo to try to show off the quilting.
Here’s the back (really the fabric is a lovely green)
Here you can see the quilting better.  Again not the animals could use a little more “stuffing.”
Another photo of some of the back detail
I haven’t decided what to do with this quilt.  I have a few options in mind, but am open to suggestions.

 

WIP — African Whole Cloth Quilt (January 20, 2012)

Family T-Shirt Quilt

I made this quilt for my husband around 1997 (forgot to put a label on it).  He had all these t-shirts from Civil War reenactments, car stuff, etc but not quite enough.  I had some t-shirts from trips for meetings (Chicago, DC, San Francisco) and races (Elby’s 20K in Wheeling, WV and a few local ones).  So I combined them to make this quilt using old blue jeans (both of ours) in an attic windows setting.

The quilt is machine pieced.  It measures 79 in X 97 in.  I used iron-on interfacing to stabilize the t-shirt fabric before cutting it to the finished size.  I did not do the quilting (too thick for my basic machine), but sent it to Peg’s Quality Quilting to be machine quilted.  I did do the binding of thin denim fabric.

The two shirts on the left and the upper right were my husband’s.  The Smithsonian one was mine.
In this set, the two on the left and the lower right ones’ were my husband’s shirts.  The Chicago one was mine.
The upper left one here was my husband’s and the other ones were mine. 
All of these were my husband’s.  I brought the one from San Francisco to him from a meeting trip.
I love the words on the bottom of this t-shirt:  “From the lips of God to the hearts of man, let the past be past. Let the dead be dead now and forever American. Anonymous, 1863”

My Ring Pillow

I’m still working on the whole cloth African quilt, so I thought I’d show you the ring pillow I made in 1990 for my wedding.  I cross-stitched the design (don’t recall the source), then added some ribbons to tie the rings.

Here’s a closer view of the center.
Here’s the back edge with our initials and the year.
Here’s my nephew who was 3 yrs old then, now is a freshman in law school.  He loved the tux and did not want to return it.

Old Cross Stitch Pieces and An Update

I’m still working on the Whole Cloth African quilt, so I ‘m just going to share a couple of old cross stitch pieces I did years ago.  The first one I did during medical school during my senior year pediatric rotation spent out-of-town shadowing a pediatrician in private practice.  It was good on many levels.  I loved watching him interact with his patients and their parents. 

This piece was framed at one time and hung on the walls of my apartments in Baton Rouge, Wheeling, Pittsburg, Boston, and even here in Little Rock.

This bookmark (one of the problems with e-books is these aren’t needed) I did in Boston during my plastic surgery residency.  I actually took a 6 week sailing class on the Charles River.  I haven’t done any sailing since moving back inland. 

Here’s a small segment of the Whole Cloth African quilt with the corresponding view from the back below.  The colors aren’t true in this first one.  The color is more green.
Here’s from the back.  Making progress, but at the point in the project where it’s seems to be slowed to a crawl.

Flag Kite Tail Quilt

As with the quilt I posted last Friday, this one was done for QOV.  It uses 4.5 in X 6.5 in fabric flags in a kite tail quilt pattern.  The quilt is machine pieced and quilted.  The quilt is approx 52 in X 73 in.

Here is a photo of the label made by the quilter (not me, I only pieced and did the binding for this one).