In Zen Buddhism, an Ensō  "circle" expresses the moment when the mind is free to let the body create. Those are the magic moments of life.

Finally have completed my first (and last!) "commissioned" quilt....made for a graduation gift (to fit a dorm room long twin bed) for the daughter of one of DH's co-workers. Never thought I wanted to make quilts to order, and this experience has confirmed that idea.....your hobby isn't near as much fun when it becomes work! Lesson learned! Having said that, making a Storm at Sea from a laser cut kit makes a very positive difference....just very time-consuming when other projects are calling for attention!  Very pleased with the quilting done by a local long-armer at my favorite LQS....the quilting really added to the water-like feel of the quitl!

It's a wrap... FINALLY ... I went on a quilting Carribean Cruise in 2000 where I bought this from Alex herself. She was kind enough to sign one of the blocks. I finally finished it recently. It measures 49x54 not including the praire points.

This is a second version of a quilt I designed using the prisms of a round diamond. Rather than a Diamond, this one looks like a Mariners Compass. I rarely repeat a quilt, but I saw other possibilities for this design. 

This quilt was inspired by the scenic beauty and wonderful memories of visiting the Mt. Shasta Lavender Farms with friends and family over the years.   This area is a hidden gem with majestic Mt. Shasta looming in the background behind the colorful rows of purples and greens.   You can almost smell the fragrant scent of lavender in bloom!    Using a combination of photos I had taken of the lavender fields,  I began this in a Nancy Ryan workshop called Impressionistic Landscapes using snippets which are then covered  with a layer of tulle and then machine quilted. I took artistic license with the variety of colors of lavender in my quilt.  It is finished with a flanged binding.  

It will be part of an exhibit of "Quilts of Mt. Shasta" hosted by the Mt. Shasta Lily Quilt Guild at the Mt. Shasta-Sisson Museum in Mt .Shasta from May 31 - July 30, 2017. 

The third in a series about polo horses.  The photograph was of an Aiken SC player. Using photoshop cropped heavily and placed horse and player slightly out of the picture on the right and the ball to the left.  Also changed colors and shapes of landscape and tents.  Quilted using 100 weight thread to create a more subtle quilting line on the wool batting.

I decided to do the Sedona Star quilt as a challenge to myself to pick my own colors, embellishments and then experiment with techniques I had learned on TQS. I used Razzle Dazzle in the bobbin to highlight different parts of the quilt, Machine Embroidery on the appliqued blocks, overstitched some quilting with Glitter thread to make it show up more, used pipping on the binding, and them added over 4000 crystals to make it shimmer. It took me almost 2 years to complete and I had so much fun expanding my skills. Getting Margaret Solomon Gunn to quilt it was the icing on the cake. I just love the way it turned out!

This little wall-hanging is made of 6" paper-pieced blocks designed by Jennifer Ofenstein at Sewhooked.com.  

Sedona star

This is the first quilt I've made sine my husband passed away in April.  It is made from a layer cake.  When I was matching the top of the hearts, there were 7 fabrics that did not have a mate... what to do.... so I matched the colours.  As it turned out, there are 7 souls missing my husband....2 sons, 3 grandsons, muse, and our Westin, Molly.  Guess the quilt was just meant to be.  I made this as quilt.as.you.go and quilted it on my Elna Quilters Dream.... looks great on my bed.

I made this quilt in celebration of Canada's 150 birthday.  Our local newspaper, The Expositor, held a 150 logo contest.  The winner was Wes Newburn with his 9 bladed maple leaf.  Each blade is an outline map of Manitoulin Island where I live. I used this logo for the centre of my quilt (with permission).  The Bear Paw border depicts the vast wilderness.  Hand quilted.

This is a raw edge Applique quilt.  There are a number of hidden plants and animals in the quilting.

I designed this quilt as our guild's raffle quilt.  Over 40 members worked on it.  The tasks included applique, paper piecing and using freezer paper to construct the center star.  We asked that whomever did the applique use any method they chose to prepare the applique, but that they do the actual appliqueing by hand.  It was a wonderful group adventure and all of those who worked on it felt wonderful as it was accepted into Paducah.  The colors were driven by my co-chair who said she didn't care, but want there to be teal in it.  Most of the fabrics are Jinny Beyer fabrics and were so fun to choose.  We also created a pattern and sold that as an addition.  The whole adventure was fun and a great success.

Feel the red glow of the sunshine!   The New York Beauty quilt block is so stunning!  After taking a class with Peggy Martin in 2014 called Quick Strip Paper Piecing, I decided that I was up to the challenge of making a quilt using the New York Beauty.  As a beginner at that time, this was my first attempt at foundation paper piecing!

Hawaiian applique quilt made 2017

2-Color applique quilt