Made for Magic City Quilt Artists challenge: I Always Wanted To Be. After suffering from panic attacks for most of my life, I decided that the one thing I always wanted to be was Calm.

"Erythema Migrans Rash" is one of fifty-two quilts in the series "52 Yarns of Lyme - The Lyme Dis-Ease Series" by Susan Jaenen-Griffin that includes traditional quilts, contemporary art quilts, 3d fiber pieces, abstract and mixed media pieces.  The series tells the 'yarns' or stories of my journey with Lyme disease and how engaging in fiber art assisted in my recovery.  The following is the artist statement for the quilt: 

Fabrics are used in this quilt to express the rage of the EM rash which is only the beginning of worse things to come.  Medical journals report that the presence of an Erythema Migrans Rash is “sufficient to make the diagnosis of Lyme” however; it is the controversy around the treatment and the bigger issue of the long term consequences of Lyme that is the real storm.

“Change” is one of fifty-two quilts in the series "52 Yarns of Lyme - The Lyme Dis-Ease Series" by Susan Jaenen-Griffin that includes traditional quilts, contemporary art quilts, 3d fiber pieces, abstract and mixed media pieces.  The series tells the 'yarns' or stories of my journey with Lyme disease and how engaging in fiber art assisted in my recovery.  The following is the artist statement for the quilt:

Diwali celebrates the good over evil, light over dark and knowledge over ignorance.  The inspiration for this piece came from that philosophy and a gold coin by the Royal Canadian Mint.   I envisioned fireworks sparking a change and the light outshining my brain fog.   Dragonflies are included for their association with change and light.   Rangolis are colorful designs that are drawn on floors to welcome guests during this festival of lights.  I encompassed my healing mantra into the Rangolis.

“G” is a quilt from the sub-series “Lemon- Aide with a Twist of Lyme” part of the “52 Yarns of Lyme – The Lyme Dis-Ease Series by Susan L. Jaenen-Griffin.  Included in the sub-series are 26 quilts that utilize over 75 different techniques.  I created these quilts while attempting to relearn the techniques that I had lost because of Lyme.    Each quilt refers to myriad of treatments that I was undergoing at the time I created them.  The following is the artist statement for the quilt “G”

“Garlic (Allium sativum), Ginger (Zingiber officinale), Glutathione”

Garlic is considered to be nutritionally complete with minerals, trace elements, provitamins, fiber and essential oils.  Its anti-bacterial properties cover a wide range of gram positive and negative bacteria.  It is also a strong natural antibiotic, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-spasmodic. The rhizome of Zingiber officinale has pain relieving properties, digestive benefits and enzyme actions.  It is anti-inflammatory, anti-parasitic, antimicrobial, anti-arthritic and an antioxidant.  It has the potential to prevent Lyme carditis.   The antioxidant action of glutathione removes the endotoxins secreted by spirochetes.

A sampler quilt which guests on the South America cruise will complete on sea days as they circumnavigate South America in 2019.

Quilt made for Quilt Alliance auction. I think it is pretty self-explantory.

Holiday Vase  This is appliques of the flowers in my gardens.  I wanted a picture  to put up on my dinning room wall for the holiday season. I painted many of the fabrics to get the blends that were needed.  The candy in the dish is machine embroidery.  On the flowers I did a lot of thread painting.

The IMQE has been such a fun and delightful journey! In July of 2017 Rosemary and I started emailing each other almost daily, there were so many questions going back and forth as we tried to get to know one another. We could not believe how many things we have in common. From the teals, blues and green fabrics we both love, fabric designers we admire, patterns we have tried and still want to try, to the poems we both enjoy, even how similar our husbands names are. My husband’s name is Ken and Rosemary’s husband’s name is Len. After a short time we agreed to do a little block exchange to help us get to know each other better. The theme was a block for a sewing room wall hanging. Our only guideline was we would make 2 of each block, one to share and one to keep. It was like Christmas each time those little packages arrived. Oh, and all the colors are just lovely.

We really wanted our “little quilts” to be connected and as the weeks went by we discovered we both enjoyed a special poem by Robert Frost called “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. This was it, we had our theme and we were off and running. It was so exciting to be working on this project together, but keeping all the details and the design a secret. The best part is we each have a new best friend!

I found out about the IMQE when I attended one of Ricky Tims “days” on this side of the “pond” and I have been twinned with a quilter from Florida. Since we are both quilters one would expect to find common likes etc. but it has been quite uncanny…..we are both multi-crafters, we have both made teddy bears, we like the same colours, we have both made “Gypsy wife quilts” …just last week…..while sharing photos we discovered that we had both used the same, rather unusual fabric in family quilts! I could continue!

We write often…..and very early on we decided that we wanted to link our little quilts in some way. We narrowed our ideas down to 2…..but we couldn’t decide between them. Finally we went with both. We have been swapping blocks on a sewing/quilting theme…..4 so far, each time making identical blocks…one to send and one to keep! For the IMQE we took as our theme…..what turned out to be both  our favourite poem….Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost.

“The purpose of the International Miniature Quilt Exchange is to promote quilting across borders and cultures”……in our case it has done so much more…..we have become friends and this friendship will last way beyond the scope of this project. We have one final decision……will we meet? Maybe….I hope

Custom design, raw-edge applique on solid white background.  46" w x 42" h.  Designed on EQ8 software.  Longarm machine quilted, computerized and hand guided. 

Custom designed, raw-edge applique on pieced background. 63" w x 48" h.  My goal was to show underwater scene along with the sea surface. Smaller appliques are fused, larger ones have dots of glue on backside.  Black tulle over all the applique scene.  Longarm machine quilted.

Custom design, raw edge applique on a pieced background, paper-pieced diamond border.  26.25" w x 34" h.

I made this quilt for my IMQE partner because the bee eater is found in the Black Forest of Germany where she is from.  The beautiful and colorful bee eater reflects Inna’s passion for quilting and the beauty of her work.. 

This quilt is a collaborative effort and represents our interpretation of Sue Spargo's Folk Tails pattern.  My friend selected the beautiful fabrics and gorgeous color scheme, a complete shift away from Sue's usual wool to cotton.  I appliqued and quilted, all on a domestic machine.  The small added cranes are in homage to our mutual love of Mah Jongg which introduced us to each other.  The small owl in this quilt represents a beautiful Owl Mah Jongg set that inspired this project.  The Mah Jongg set now lives with me and the quilt resides with my friend.  

When I was assigned my partner, I had no idea the connection would be more than just a partner in quilting. From my first, "Hello from Germany!" email, before we even started on ideas for our quilt, we were getting to know one another as a fellow quilter, as a person from another country and lifestyle. As Silvia stated: We are very similar quilters but the difference is “the salt in the soup”!

We decided to use the same collection of batik fabrics so our quilts would complement each other. However, our quilting styles would be "the salt in the soup" that makes each one special.  I have combined a traditional star block with an untraditional paper pieced star, along with flying geese and hand quilting and named it "Finding North". Finding our way to friendship, understanding, and sharing in our love of quilting. 

My quilt for IMQE “On the Edge of Tradition” has been a journey of joy.  Ever since “meeting” Karen from Canada, I have enjoyed getting to know her, her quilting, and her family through the emails we have exchanged.  She is very encouraging, knowledgeable and confident in her skills as a quilter.

After finding out Karen’s preferred colors I set out to see how I could incorporate them into a mini quilt that set off my skills and infuse some of the New Mexico flair to the quilt.  With her colors of turquoise and reds, setting them against the black and whites kept coming to the forefront of my thoughts as I designed this mini.  A traditional nine patch and an appliqued wreath pattern were set in motion.  Turquoise is a color that is associated with the native Navajo nation in their jewelry and traditional dress. My town of Farmington, NM borders the Navajo nation.  

 I love traditional quilts with applique.  The classes that I have taken from many national quilt artists encouraged me to worked on my applique skills.  In this piece I have used techniques from Sharon Shamber for the leaves.  The 3/8” hexagons are an extension of another quilt I am currently working on. Black and White just kept it edgy.

My husband and I travel extensively and this quilt has been to Washington in the summer, across country to Vermont in the fall and to the third coast in Texas in Feb. 

IMQE 2017 - I used half square triangles to create a "landscape" background for a sweet sea otter and cypress branch. I wanted to depict a scene common to my area for my exchange partner from the Netherlands. I am lucky enough to live just blocks from the ocean where I can watch otters floating in the kelp everyday.