I made this family quilt for a gentleman whose intention was to use it on this beautiful guest bed, and more importantly, to have it passed down through his family. I included fabrics that showed his many interests. Images of cats, chickens, fawns, and the many frogs that roam his country property. He enjoyed a trip to Hawaii, so I found pineapples and flowers. He loves cars, especially Corvettes. On eBay I found a Corvette fabric by Alexander Henry from the 1990s.  It was used as part of the backing, so that when the top of the quilt is turned down the Corvettes are right side up, facing you. 
I included a diary that I wrote in as I made the quilt, recording the work, and both the joys and frustrations, of the project, as well as the times. I suggested that future owners add to the book. 

I started the 2017 BOM but time constraints didn't allow me to complete the entire project. My mother, Carol Hood, generously offered to hand quilt the portion I completed. I was totally thrilled with the result. I saved the monthly patterns. One day I hope to revisit this project and complete the entire quilt.

Truly a labor of love.  I bought this fabulous kit from Ricky and changed out the background fabric for a very different look.  So much stitching!  I scheduled a couple of “at home” retreats over the summer and had my friends keep me company.  Brandy Rayburn did her magic quilting and the result is pretty amazing.  Finishing this project got me motivated to finish my first Rhapsody that I started 10 years ago in La Veta with Ricky’s guidance.  And off I go again!

I created this quilt as a sample for a 60-30 Kaleidoscope class that I was teaching. It uses Paula Nadelstern mandala and other prints.

This quilt is a combination of Sue Garman's Bed of Roses and my layout.  After watching the 2020 BOM show, I realized I had never posted it at TQS.  I wanted to do something a bit different, so I did the applique out of Kaffe Faucett fabrics and combined it with a Civil War Reproduction red background and some lime green.  I enterd it in Houston and won an Honorable Mention.  I was fortunate to communicate with Sue prior to her death.  She and I had a nice conversation about how I chose to quilt it and why I chose the colors I did.  How I wish I could have met her.  

Growing up on a ranch, it always stirs emotions when I come across an image as this.  Once a treasure now 'put to pasture' begins the thoughts of the stories this relic could tell.  My heart ponders as I create my art piece and finally conclude that life has a way of moving on.

Bailey on the sailboat belonging to our son and daughter in law. They adopted Bailey before they bought the boat and he turned out to be a happy sailor.

Background is  photo shoped to "watercolor" and printed on fabric.

Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of Heaven, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the Angels.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow                                               

 

 

 

 

Cotton fabric, machine pieced and quilted with walking foot and free-motion, cotton batting.

Alien Eyes is my first try at a quilt in the modern style - interesting, clean, and simple with a focus on negative space. The quilting is important but not overwhelming. The eyes' center design was taken from Hajime Ouchi's book Japanese Optical and Geometric Art.  

Alien Eyes was published in the Jan/Feb 2015 issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited.

The fun wall hanging makes me smile. 

Althought there is snow outside my window and we are currently 'sheltering in place', it reminds me that summer is coming and there will be time to enjoy cherished friends.

This quilt is the result of a short term BOM issued by Ricky Tims.  I chose the "Wizards's Wardrobe" color option. I received my kit in the the summer of 2018, but did not begin work until February of 2019.  I completed the applique in the summer of 2019 using a double blanket stitch and several colors of Glide thread, but only completed the machine quilting and machine embroidered binding in July 2020 during the quarantine days. I machine quilted around each applique shape and inserted as many tiny feathers as I could fit in the background. I used my Brother Scan 'n Cut to scan and cut all the applique shapes. The quilting fabric was Ricky's hand dyes, the batting is Hobbs 80/20, the thread was two colors of Superior's 'So Fine".  I did the machine quilting hand guided on my Innova long-arm machine. In the borders,  I followed the pattern's spine designs, but quilted much thinner feathers than the pattern showed.

This quilt began as part of a group challenge in 2016. I made Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, each a seasonal representation of deciduous or coniferous trees. Then in 2019, after several years of wildland fires in Oregon (and across the western U.S.), I realized that I need to add two more pieces:  Wildfire and Recovery.  Each piece is 6” x 54”.  Each was made separately, but hang together on a rod.

The International Space Station (ISS) has been continually inhabited since the first crew arrived in November 2000. More than 200 representatives from 15 countries have visited the ISS since then.

The ISS acts as a bridge in many ways. More than 100,000 people, working for space agencies and contractors in 16 countries, had to bridge linguistic, cultural and technological barriers to build ISS. The ISS also required a bridge between multiple disciplines in the sciences, technology and the arts. As it orbits approximately 240 miles above Earth, ISS is a bridge between Earth and space. Even as relations between partner nations falter, ISS remains a bridge, continuing to conduct research projects which have included projects designed by professionals and students from 68 countries.

My quilt is based on a photo taken from Space Shuttle Discovery after Discovery undocked from ISS. On this its final space voyage, Discovery provided a transportation bridge between Earth and ISS.

I made this quilt for friends of mine.  They have a lot of interests, so chossing blocks was easy.  There is a cat block, bookshelf, and music across the top.  Along the bottom is chemistry glassware (They are both chemists), delectable mountains (Thanks to the 2019 BOM!), and the funny looking squares is supposed to be a game board.  The feathered star in the middle was made twice.  When I originally made the half Lemoyne stars surrounding the central medallion, I forgot that they are supposed to be triangula -- so the rectangles went in the border.  This is not the quilt for those whose mantra is "Perfection is Overrated!"

 

I went to Quiltworx University in Shipshewana, IN last year and began this quilt there.  I chose the layout and fabrics and colored it on Quiltster.

I love batik fabrics, and I love fractal art designs. I wondered if I could make a wall hanging out of batiks in a fractal-like design. This is the result of that experiment and my own original design.

It's made from mostly batiks and done with raw-edge applique with fusible backing. I stitched-in-the-ditch around each shape and then free-motion quilted the background. It measures 31" x 36".

 

    I made this for my son celebrating his 50th birthday. It is made up of photos which are printed on cloth and made into blocks. The quilt tells the story of his first 50 years,