60 Years of Happiness

Tennessee Waltz - This quilt I started in 2008 with cutting the pieces to put together. I used the Tri Recs tools by Darlene Zimmerman and Joy Hoffman to create some of the blocks for this quilt. The Tri Recs pieces were a bit difficult to make sure they came out the right size but It worked. I plan to make another one of these quilts.

Midnight stars - I had all these beautiful dark squares of fabric and decided to throw the bright stars haphazardly onto them. I'm very happy with the results - and it fits my new Arizona home.

Blueys - My husband gave me 20. Blue coloured fat quarters and I new straight away that there were perfect for the swoon quilt

One Thousand Diamonds - This is a modified Lone Star quilt with additional points. There are 1000 identically shaped and sized diamond patches each made of a different fabric making this a charm quilt. The fabrics were collected via a charm exchange within my local quilting group, The Lovells Loose Threads, in the township of Lovells, Michigan. I added some fabrics from my stash as well.

Autumn Sun

Anchors Away

Grandson's Navy Quilt - US Navy fabrics with a mariner's star in the center. Flannel backing.

Spin Wheel Spin - This was my first quilting project and was a Christmas present to my mother. When she opened the box she didn't believe I made it, in fact she asked where I bought it. ;-) I unfortunately got it back when she passed 4 months later. However, for 3 months she dragged this quilt all over town showing it off. Thanks to Alex whom I met at a trunk show in Ann Arbor. I was ready to give up on this project because I found the pin wheels too challenging. She totally kicked my butt and told me to go home and figure it out. I did and was able to do the project. I would have thrown in the towel if it hadn't been for her words of encouragement!

Alexandra's Quilt - This quilt is another version of a quilt I made for her sister, Maddie. Maddie's colors were more rainbow-like. Alexandra's mother picked the colors for this quilt but she wanted the same design just in case the girls ever had to share a room. It was fun to make and I used the fused each heart onto a white background and the used a double blanket stitch on my new Bernina 780 to applique the hearts onto individual blocks. Some of the hearts were from Keepsake Quilting die cut hearts collections. the rest I had to template when I ran out of a given color.

Tessa - This quilt was made to be a something that my niece could spread on the floor, carpet or grass so Tessa could play. I also wanted to try my first attempt at quilting it myself on my new Bernina 780. I use a wonderful Long Armer to do most of my quilts but I needed this fast and didn't want to wait. Tessa was fused and then double machine blanket stitched I printed out her name using different fonts and then enlarged the letters of the font I chose using Power Point.

Abbey and Frank Gohl's Wedding Quilt - I have made versions this before in "jewel" colors but my daughter wanted just reds and off whites for her wedding quilt.

Same But Different Challenge 2014 - This was made for the Oklahoma Machine Quilter's Association 2014 "Same But Different " challenge. Quilted on my Tin Lizzie 18DL! Using stitch regulation, templates and hand guided.

I've Got the Blues - Original true miniature design featuring tiny traditional pieced blocks in a sampler setting. Machine quilted on my Janome 6600 home machine.

Nana's Secret Garden - Hand paper-pieced hexes form the center "garden", surrounded by vines & butterflies. It includes paper-piecing, hand appliqué & machine quilting on my Janome 6600 home machine. This quilt was designed to showcase the center piece, which was handmade for my mother-in-law to be used in her antique doll house. After she passed away, I decided to incorporate it into a mini-quilt in her honor - "Nana's Secret Garden".

Sudoku - My granddaughter, Brittany, loves to do the puzzle Sudoku and when we saw the pattern in the Quiltmaker magazine, we knew it was the design for us. Brittany has collected fat quarters, focusing on purple combinations, since she was a little girl. At a quilt show in Snohomish, WA she chose the purple batik for sashing. The Kokeshi doll is adapted from a design by Embroidery Library. Brittany has been fascinated with Japan culture for many years. We had a good experience developing this quilt and she loves the finished project.