A Traveler’s Memory Quilts
Quilt designs and fabric choices tell a quilter’s story in a memory quilt Journal Entry: August 6, 2021 The American Quilter magazine began the story… Traveling isn’t just about getting away from daily life, seeing the most advertised sites and gift shops. Acknowledging I do enjoy these things. Going off the beaten path leads to much more: learning about the influence of history, interests of local people, and exploring the surrounding landscape in a different way. Often, all these tend to inspire to a memory quilt design. I had so many different preconceptions about South Africa. When I found out…
Dog Quilt Designs: A Dog’s Imaginary Life
Turning photos of a favorite little canine into a whimsical dog quilt design.
Batik and Wool Appliqué Quilt: Bandana Blossoms for QUILTmania
QUILTmania #141, featuring batik and wool appliqué Bandana Blossoms
A Flower Basket Quilt Celebrating the American Southwest
Organically Gramma™ presents Red Sand Blossoms, a flower basket quilt design inspired by the picturesque America Southwest desert. Hand-dyed cotton and wool appliqué, embroidery and bead embellishments. Journal Entry: November 29, 2020 The last appliqué flower basket quilt in the Organically Gramma™ Pretty Pot series was inspired by our travel through southeastern Utah and northern Arizona. In the design of Red Sand Blossoms, I wanted to capture the essence of the rock outcroppings, the red sand that surrounds them and flowering succulents. Traveling the Southwestern Red Sand Route: Colorado –> Mexican Hat, Utah –> Tuba City, Arizona Striated red rock outcroppings… I’d…
Flower Basket Quilt: In My Easter Basket With All the Frills Upon It
Another flower basket quilt in the Organically Gramma series, filled with appliqué batik and embellished hand-felted wool flowers. Journal Entry: November 22, 2020 I know. I know. It’s the end of November! And, it’s not even close to springtime and a flower basket quilt filled with pastel beauties. My emotional reaction is due to all the stay-at-home time, winter settling in with early snowfalls, wearing extra clothing, and more stay-at-home time. It’s making me lust for Spring. I already can’t wait for warm sunny skies and bright flowers. So… here I am, ready to introduce the fourth flower basket quilt in the Organically Gramma™…
Season’s Greeting Flower Basket Quilt
Journal Entry: November 1, 2020 In my mind, Halloween heralds the beginning of the winter holiday season—and another flower basket quilt. Thinking about the design of a holiday basket I asked myself a question. What flower most represents the winter holidays? Of course, everyone knows poinsettias are the first to appear in the floral departments and nurseries to greet the season. Alas, mystery of the floral element was solved, along with the name of this flower basket quilt, Season’s Greeting. The design of the flower basket… As with the first two flower basket quilts, Gardens & Trails and Panier de Points, the Season’s…
A Flower Basket Quilt: Batik & Wool
A flower basket quilt design filled with colorful flower dot shapes made from embellished appliqué batik and hand-dyed wool. Journal Entry: September 18, 2020. Well, I missed a goal of finishing my second flower basket quilt by the International Dot Day, September 15. A day of celebrating creativity, courage and collaboration seemed like the perfect target for introducing my latest Pretty Pots flower basket design Panier de Points (translation: Basket of Dots). Instead of rushing the project, I let my energies concentrate on enjoying the process. I love finishing with hand appliqué, embroidery and adding embellishment the most. Handwork feeds my spirit, calms my soul and…
Batik Quilt Fabric with Wool to Dye For
It’s all about the quilt’s fabric chosen for this flower basket: batiks and wool in a quilt design inspired by Banyan Batiks’ Dot Necessities. Journal Entry: August 30, 2020. The fabric I used in my latest Pretty Pots flower basket design for Organically GrammaTM, Panier de Points (translation: Basket of Dots) is the focus of this quilt. I had a Make-Me-Now moment when Karen Gibbs, Design Director for Northcott’s Banyan Batiks, showed me Color Me Banyan Dot Necessities, a Banyan Batiks Studio collection. The wheels started turning as my imagination conjured up the image of a project—batiks…and wool…in a Pretty Pot, of course! Why Batik and Wool?…
Flower Basket Quilts Inspired by Nature
Journal Entry: August 9, 2020. Gardens & Trails is first of the Pretty Pot flower basket quilts in a series I’m designing for *Organically GrammaTM. Embellished appliqué, wool blended with quilted cotton. My renewed interest in flower basket quilts is largely inspired by two things. The first is a project my youngest grandson Evan and I undertook to practice our photography skills. The second influencer is the incredible artistic viewpoint expressed in the nature studies my friend Heidi Egerman creates. I am inspired to create a fiber translation of almost every nature photograph she posts. Finding Inspiration from the Natural Beauty of…
Quilt Designs Inspired by Monet’s Garden: Monet’s Lilies #1 and #2
Journal Entry: March 15, 2020. The inspiration for my Monet wall hanging and bed-size quilts came from an interesting series of events related to Claude Monet’s garden. It started from a long phone conversation with my youngest granddaughter Lily, who had visited Monet’s home in Giverny, Normandy, France with her mom during a summer vacation. Claude Monet is my absolute favorite of the famous Impressionist painters. Lily provided a wonderfully detailed description of her experience: the gentle beauty of the gardens, colorful flowers and lily ponds, and Monet’s personal collection of paintings. During our chat I mentioned how much I admired…