If Wishes Came True Dinosaur Quilt - My friend’s son was 5 when I made this quilt. She was having trouble parting with some of his baby clothes and I told her if she would bring me some of her favorites I would use them to make a memory quilt. Her favorites turned out to be pants – corduroy, jeans, and camouflage. When we were trying to decide on a pattern she told me about him finding a four-leaf clover and wishing dinosaurs would come back to life. The colors were perfect for dinosaurs and I found coloring pages online for patterns (I emailed requesting permissions and they replied they were public domain). I used corduroy for the dinosaurs, jeans for the water features, camouflage for nest, white knit shirt for eggs and clouds. There are baby dinosaurs ‘inside’ the eggs that you can see if you wet the fabric. I wanted the dinosaurs to be the focus so I dyed the sky and grass to get the shades I wanted. I used embroidery to embellish the dinosaurs features. I randomly cut the scraps from the pants to make the border around the blocks. Hand appliquéd and hand quilted. He loved it and so do I.

Cats and Dogs and One Rabbit - I made this quilt "Cats and Dogs and One Rabbit" for KyAnn, the daughter of a friend I work with. Her kids had outgrown their baby/toddler clothes and she could not bring herself to get rid of them. I offered to make a quilt for her son and daughter perserving some of the clothes and lots of memories. I made a dinosaur quilt for her son and this quilt for her daughter. When I suggested making it, I never expected the bag of knit outfits that she brought me. KyAnn loves animals and we chose the pattern for Gingham Dog & Calico Cat from the Encyclopedia of Classic Quilt Patterns book. Using an applique pattern allowed me to stabilize the knits onto the background fabric and I incorporated as many of the cute little designs from the outfits as I could. Collars and bows are made from my fabric stash. Everyone loved the way it turned out. Why the rabbit? While I was working on the quilt, KyAnn adopted a rabbit so of course a rabbit had to be added and he looks right at home.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse - I made this wall hanging for my friend and cousin in Oklahoma. One of her favorite memories is visiting the lighthouse when her family vacationed in North Carolina in the 60’s. I used photographs to design the lighthouse and dyed the fabric for the sky and grass.

Red Feather - I have always wanted to make a red & white quilt. This was made as a wedding gift for my nephew.