Red work using fabric paints.  Used Alex's pattern.

After my Mom passed in 1998, I found several beautiful crocheted items she had been working on.  Among them were five 10 x 10 inch crocheted squares.  For years I tried to figure out how to use these in a way to honor her memory.  I was not a quilter at that time, but I did do a lot of sewing.  So in late 2018 I decided I could use them on a quilt.  It took me about six months to design the quilt after I figured out I could make them form a star by placing them together in a certain way.  This quilt took me another year to make after I got the design.  I made it with polyester crepe back satin (white) and polyester dupioni (2 blues).  I added machine embroidery in the borders, and the center star is also machine embroidered.  I painted the flowers and birds around the white part after I quilted them.  Then I finished it off with a row of pearls along the binding, hot fix pearls throughout the quilt, and sewed on five pearls in the centers of the crocheted squares that came from one of her broken necklaces. Her name was Zephana Compton Bivens and she was a master craftsman in woodworking, handwork, and sewing.

With dogs, their eyes are truly the windows to their souls.

 

This quilt is my interpretation of a hymn written by David Dahlgren called "The Winds of God"

The background was painted freely while listening to the hymn.  I challenged myself to use only the dark grey thread to make the design. I completed the quilting with 24K gold thread to indicate the winds.  Dahlgren's hymn speaks of " illusion - time " and he has a passion for watches and I've also quilted the chorus into the tree trunk.    

I gifted this to my daughter for the completion of her Master's Degree.  I never made her Undergraduate Degree quilt, and every time she saw this she said how much she liked it... so it became hers!  I took this in a class about a year and a half ago, completed a couple months ago.

A fun celebration of colorful circles.

The central medallion is mandala-like with three rows of circles, increasing in size, and changing value as they go around the circle.

The outside border has smaller circles weaving around larger circles and changing color gradually as they weave around the outside.

My version of the 2017 BOM Halo Medallion by Sue Garman. I followed her color recipe but changed out the red for turquoise. Entered it in three quilt shows this year and won three ribbons!!

This is my version of Violet Craft's "Elephant Abstraction" .  I had lots of fun piecing and quilting this one. Metallic thread helps give Stella some "jewelry" on her trunk and ears.

 

She's now hanging in our family room. 

 

Peace of Your Heart Version #1 - Wall hanging featuring applique peace signs and heart using fusible web, alternated with pieced blocks. Peace & Love fabric for the borders. Inspired by a simple wish for peace in our own lives and around the world. Hand-quilted.

Transitions of the Spirits - We lost Peggy Meier from Pancreatic Cancer and she was loved by so many people for her roles in the society, for she was a great influence in her area of Tennessee and in the Democratic Party, worked in Recording for the Blind and many other community agencies to help others. I made this quilt to release the spirit to another level. I let go of her spirit with this quilt and felt a sense of freedom after making it.

Color Me High On Life - It started as doodles on the plane on my way home from the International Quilt Festival and that is how I was feeling, thus the title. My heart flowed into it!

Solitary Splendor - I enjoyed playing with the diamonds to get the feel of land, mountains and sky, then added the tree and eagle in black suede to provide perspective.

Drew's World - I made this for my 15-yr-old grandson, Drew. The back is the world map shown in my other photos. It was a blast to make!

After Erte - Daring bejeweled "flapper", adorned with a peacock perched on one arm, surrounded by densely quilted feathers. This is a wholecloth quilt, entirely painted with French silk paints on heavy silk charmeuse and embellished with Swarovski crystals.

Kelly's Trip - I made this for a friend of mine.

Controlled Chaos - This was a fun way to use up lots of scraps. I used Ricky's suggestion to keep the center strip the same color in all the blocks.

Camel Bliss - I consider this my signature piece. My two favorite creatures in the world are camels and dragonflies. As an anthropology major I came to really appreciate all the various cultures of the world which is represented by the distant pyramids and the fantastical column. My love of gardening is reflected in the red poppies in the foreground.

Glaucidium Palmatum - Started in Ruth B McDowell class. One of my woodland series. It is a plant from a northern Japanese island that I grow. Primarily machine pieced, one small hand appliqué added.