Hawaiian Memories - I painted the center medallion with some of my favorite parts of living in Hawaii- the color of the water and sky, the palm trees, my blue adirondack chair I would relax and enjoy the breeze in, plumeria (my favorite flower), sea turtles (honu, these four representing myself, my husband, and our two children), and the pineapple I lovingly grew. The center is quilted in the traditional Hawaiian style. The pieced blocks have a plumeria quilt design. I finished the border with quilted waves.

My Kool Kaleidoscope - I love the freedom to work without a pattern and creating my own.

Best of Show Ribbon ~Colonial Quilt Lovers Quilt Show 2015

3rd Place Wall Quilts Ribbon ~Colonial Quilt Lovers Quilt Show 2015

Autumn Splendor - The Fall season is my favorite time of the year...Plus I love landscape quilts. I bought this pattern Alpine Glow by Kathy McNeil to challenge myself...I learned to needle turn applique using the Piece o Cake video.. Highlighted the water and trees with fabric paint.. I was pleased how it all came together...

My room - This is a thread sketch of a memory of a childhood room from my perspective as a child. I used a whole cloth background to see if I could create enough emphasis using color work with thread. I was most interested in leaving open space and not creating a completely thread covered surface.

Spiral Dance - I began this during a class with Barbara in Houston.

Ships That Pass in the Night - This was made for and published in my book, Block By Block for That Patchwork Place, 1994.

Crowns & Apples - This is my first hand applique using many different fabrics. I designed the border with vines & leaves and had it hand quilted.

Merry Christmas - This is a colored, embroidery, pieced, applique, and beaded project.

Jewels in Silk - My first foray into using silk, this quilt shows how Jewels in Chocolate can look completely different with a different color scheme.

Nature Walk - 100% White Cotton Sateen painted with Setacolor Textile Paints then sun printed with botanicals. Go to this site to watch me create this quilt: http://luannkessi.blogspot.com/2011/12/challenge-quiltslideshow.html

Purple 12 By 12 Challenge - Made by pencil drawing and creating a simple template. Background is four purple batiks The hat is one fabric. The darker purple was done with fabric markers. Ribbon is sewn to the upper brim of the hat. My goal was to move myself into a new quilt style, learn to use my machine better, and practice machine quilting. This was for a 12 By 12 Challenge group project we started on Facebook. (inspired by the original 12 by 12 group.)

Diamonds - Started at a workshop with Kaffe and Brandon at the Festival of Quilts in the UK in 2011 and finished a year later. I learnt a lot about colour and value from working on this quilt.

harvest grape - found on the internet, cant find name of designer. It is a very simple cut-away technique and turned out really pretty.

Tortuga - purchased kit in Maui - I screwed up and didn't reverse the applique pieces on the fusible web so my turtle is on the right side instead of the left as the pattern shows! the embellishment is Japanese sashiko which was a lot of fun to do. Good remembrance of our Hawaii trip - I hang the quilt in the summer in my dining room.

PROWLERS IN PARADISE - Originally, this quilt was a personal experiment using Paula Nadelstern's "Puzzle" book...but it morphed into purple panthers prowling outside one of the larger squares because I was thinking about the flora and fauna in Florida and how they were affected by hurricanes.

River Valley Quilter's 2010 Raffle Quilt - Raffle quilt pieced & appliqued by 15+ guild members. Quilting done by me for our 2010 guild show which is in October. I was guild president & quilt committee chair in 2009. Lots of work, but beautiful results.

Thistles - Based on my photos of thistles growing along the roadside, I drew a pattern incorporating the traditional sawtooth block.

Outside the Box - This quilt is my daughter's graduation gift - she likes bold designs, black & white with a bit of red. The pattern translated to me - thinking outside the box - a good tool for succeeding in life :) I adapted Maaike's pattern to enlarge the quilt - added rows and rejigged corners.