Neopolitan Monday Quilt

In 2012, for our quilt birthday this year, Pieced by the Master's Hand Quilt Group did something completely different. Each participant gave a completed quilt block to you, of your choice. There were 12 of us, so we each made one block and received 11 blocks of the same design. We choose our block pattern and the colors to be used in the block. Of course, you had to make 11 different blocks, one for each participant in addition to making your own block. And we had one year to complete our quilt.

For my block, I chose the colors brown and pink, which are so wonderful together, and the block was from Stars Over Fort Sumter, a Civil War inspired quilt pattern from Bonnie Blue Quilts. The pattern was a vintage look, but I used bright fabrics to modernize it. Even though it is a scrappy quilt, I distributed the background fabric to my friends so the background was consistent throughout the quilt. If you can't pick out the block in this quilt, it is because there are 2 blocks. My quilt friends made the single star block, and I made the four star block.

 
More blocks were added than the original pattern because I wanted it full sized--quilts are more versatile this size, I think. When choosing fabrics, I tried for brighter, clear colors with both pink and brown predominate in the fabric.My quilty friends did an excellent job of choosing fabrics to complete their blocks, each one complimenting the other so well.

Not only is it dear to me due to my friends gifting me the blocks, but also it is only my second quilt that I quilted on the Millennium longarm machine, using Warm and Natural cotton batting and Aurifil Mako 100% cotton thread.


Neapolitan Monday is aptly named, first, for the colors, after Neapolitan ice cream, and secondly, our quilt night is Monday.

Such a successful birthday project will be difficult to top. The question is, what to do bigger and better next year?

Urban Garden

Urban Garden Quilt was made using the urban garden fabric collection from FreeSpirit. I downloaded the pattern free from the FreeSpirit website, but made it larger because I wanted the quilt to be twin sized. It was donated to Kingsway Christian School Auction on Saturday, February 23, 2013. I am delighted that Donna Swartzentruber, the 2nd grade teacher at Kingsway, is the new owner. This quilt is quite special because it is the very first quilt I quilted on the longarm machine.

Urban Garden

Ooh la Dot Quilt

Ooh la Dot Quilt

Donated to Kingsway Christian School Auction March 17, 2012.

Used Disappearing 4 patch block pattern in black, white and pink fabrics. 

Twin Sized

Quilted by Coburn's Quilting

Empress Garden

Empress Garden

Empress Garden
This One Block Wonder Quilt was started in a class at A Piece In Time Quilt Shop in November 2011 with my quilting buddies Paula and Carol. Amazingly, only one fabric is used in the center of this quilt. The first technique learned was cutting all those triangles, then sewing them together into half hexagons and sewing the strips into full hexagons row by row. I think the most difficult technique is carefully placing the hexagons to form an interesting pattern or design. But each and every hexagon is just a little different from the previous one, keeping the excitement to see what the next one will look like. 

Empress Garden was displayed at the 2012 Stow-Munroe Falls Library Quilt Show and won a first place and judge's choice award. Also awarded first place at 2013 Baskets of Quilts Cascade Quilt Show in Cuyahoga Falls. It is shown here at the 2013 Lake Farmpark Quilt Show.

Quilt is quilted by Coburn's Quilting with a gingko leaf design.

Atmospheric Quilt

Atmoshperic Quilt

When my daughters married, I gave each of them a quilt as a wedding present. Sara and Josh’s puppy chewed a hole right in the middle of their quilt. So, when Sara and Josh sold their house and bought another one in November 2011, I promised Sara a new quilt of her choosing, but told her I would need one year to complete it. She choose a gray quilt with a little taupe color in it to match her new bedroom. Of course it had to be king-sized—I already had a king sized in the making for myself--no pressure! Plus, I had to find enough gray fabrics in light, medium and dark fabrics for the pattern I chose. In case you haven’t discovered—I like scrappy quilts—more fabrics make a more interesting quilt!

Finding a quilt in McCall’s Quilting magazine, March/April 2011, designed by Gerri Robinson as my inspiration, I designed a 15 inch block, carefully placing a light, medium and dark gray fabric in each block. The quilt has, I think, at least 40 different fabrics—I lost count! It’s amazing how many different “gray” colors of fabrics are available. Notice the quilt has no borders, giving it a modern feel.

If you were wondering about the name, I stole “Atomspheric” from the paint sample they gave me, feeling it fit the quilt.

Pattern: Inspired by Celestial Waltz by Gerri Robinson, published in McCall’s Quilting magazine, March/April 2011

Fabrics: Gray, Taupe, and White

Quilting: by Joyce Coburn

Batting: Warm & White Cotton

Started: July 2012

Finished: November 2012

"I'm the bad puppy"

Christmas Pickle Quilt

Christmas Pickle Quilt

After finding a picture of this quilt in an ad, I collected as many different green fabrics as I could find. It is paper pieced and I used the exact pattern from the book. Different greens were specifically selected for each block with red, gold and purple accents. I mitered the gold, red and green borders. The backing is a fabric with green pine needles on cream. Funny thing happened when I blocked the quilt--the red fabrics bled through to the backing. Very carefully, I used a Q-tip dipped in bleach to remove the red. It worked!

Pattern: Christmas Pickle Pattern from Home for the Holidays by Lynda Milligan and Nancy Smith
Quilting: by Joyce Coburn
Batting: Cotton
Finished: December 22, 2010
Size: 50 x 62
Quilt Shows: 2011 Lake FarmPark Quilt Show in Kirtland, Ohio and 2012 NQS Quilt Show in Columbus, Ohio

2011 Lake FarmPark Quilt Show

Gilbert's Quilt

Gilbert's Quilt

Nathaniel, my nephew, and his wife, Susie, were having a baby, and they decided not to find out the sex of it. So my dilemma was--what color to make the baby quilt? I chose brown and aqua, so it could be either a boy or a girl quilt. 

Pat Speth's quilts fascinated me, so I tried one of her patterns, Chesapeake, only I didn't use charm squares, instead used strips of fabric and Thangles. I cut the strips 2 3/4 inches and used 2 1/4 inch Thangles to make the half square triangles in this quilt. It has 24 brown and 24 aqua blocks. As you can see, it is larger than a baby quilt, more of a crib sized quilt.

So they had a boy, pictured here at nine months with his quilt. Isn't he a cutie?

 

Stained Glass Trip Around the World Quilt

My inspiration came from a quilt on the front cover of Quilter's World magazine, February 2007. My objective was to use the leftover fabrics from my Birthday Baskets quilt. I chose my favorite colors from the collection of fat quarters given to me by my friends with a request for Amish-like mottled fabrics--not solids!

Black strips create the stained glass window effect with 10 different colors of 2 1/2 inch fabric strips. There is a black border and binding to complete it into a wall hanging.

It is a beautiful quilt that brightens my office. 

 

Batik Double Sawtooth Stars Quilt

Batik Double Sawtooth Stars Quilt

As many quilters do, when I viewed the Double Sawtooth Stars Quilt in a magazine (I don't know which magazine, but will post when I find it), I knew I had to make it. However, the pattern was in just three colors, light blue, purple and dark blue. Of course, I made it my own scrappy type of quilt, deciding to use batiks in purple, aqua and green. 

 In my quilt guild, twelve of us participate in a birthday fabric exchange. At least one month before our birthday, we request a particular type of fabric. Then, on our birthday, we receive 3 fat quarters from each participating member of that fabric. During the year 2011, I requested dark and light Christmas batik fabrics in purple, aqua and green. As you can see, I received 33 beautiful batik fat quarters.

First, I planned each block using one light fabric, one medium and one dark fabric. The small star in the center of the block was made using the medium fabrics, the large star used the dark fabrics, and the background was the light batik fabrics. In all, this quilt has 49 -- 10 inch finished double sawtooth star blocks.

Next, the sashing was made using light and medium batiks. Each year, we are supposed to present our finished quilt on our birthday. Well, in 2012, I presented the top, without borders, on my birthday. It was not completed by my birthday on May 15. I actually spent the summer completing the borders.

The inner border is a red Christmas batik fabric, also used as a dark large star in several blocks, and as the binding. The large outer border, also a Christmas batik fabric, is found in the blocks as a large star. The center border used half square triangles which were the remains of the triangles trimmed from the large star point.

Not all the fabrics are Christmas batiks, but using several of them creates the effect of winter stars. The quilt is king size and is the Christmas/Winter quilt that covers my bed. It is extremely precious to me because my quilting buddies have contributed to this quilt and warms not only my cold feet here in cold NE Ohio, but my heart as well.