Thankfully No More Thangles

Last January friend Cheryl and I

started celebrating "Thangles Thursdays"

Below is Cheryl with the completed pieced top:


We both created the same top
though mine has darker blue sashing
and wide black borders.

Mine is off to Ebony for my
first ever quilt completed by a
professional long arm quilter.
Check out her amazing offer here

Autumn Amish

From this:

To this:

In one lovely day.

Catching up on posting the
fun times sandwiched
between planting 50
trees and shrubs
along the new fence line
this past summer.
This was my entry into the
Liberated Amish Group.

ICE for Michelle

This is the block I received from Michelle for our
Chicago Modern Quilt Guild Challenge.
Lots of prints - really different from my usual style.
That's what challenges are, right - to stretch us?
Clearly she was headed toward some flowers.
I just changed the scale a bit for a
Lady Bug Picnic:

I used the striped fabric to make the
squares for the flower pot &
the mini quilt on the clothes line.
For the fruit tree I was
channeling Kathy York.
(Big thanks to Michelle for
reattaching the buttons that fell off - oops!)
My favorite bit is the plate
on the picnic table:
Michelle's blog is "Bacon then Eggs"

End of Summer Celebration

In honor of September as "National Sewing Month"
I've returned with this lovely
end of summer treat -
The completed "ICE Challenge" quilt that
I received from Jessica in August.
Isn't it beautiful?!!!
She started with my original block
and material & added only grey.

My favorite bits are:
the cool continuous block quilting
the bi-color pieced binding
and the wonderful diagonal stripe.

Thanks Jessica - you're a wonder!

Blogger's Quilt Festival Waterfall Return

Welcome Bloggers Quilt Festival Visitors!

I made this quilt for my daughter's 8th grade graduation
and it follows the design she created in a 6th grade art class on
Frank Lloyd Wright's style.
Her painting shown below represents a
Frank Lloyd Wright style waterfall
which she intended as a quilt pattern.
This quilt encompasses both my love of nature in quilts, and
my interest in abstraction in them as well.
The tonal fabrics read as solids, which
seem to be my current mode of choice for fabrics.
I have a new quilt planned in this format in greens, called
Garden Gate - stay tuned!

ICE Breaker Challenge

Yesterday was the kick-off for the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild's
first ever challenge. The goal:

meet new folks, play with fabric, give a gift.

We picked 4 fat quarters from our stash
and made 1 block from part of them.
The block and remaining fabric went in a bag with
our name & contact info.

At the meeting all who brought a bag put a name in the hat, and then drew one.
We then took home the bag of the person's name we drew to create a small
Mini wall quilt for them.
My block is shown above - still working the "liberated" thing.
Next up: Michelle's block that I brought home!

Cactus Care

My father had both Alzheimers & Parkinsons, and I was his caregiver.

In his honor this quilt reflects the Arizona desert he loved.

The cactus is an apt metaphore for many prickly moments as his condition progressed,

and the angles in the quilted sky reflect the unexpected directions our conversations took.
The years with Dad at our house, though, were also often bright & sunny
as these colors reflect.
There was much love sandwiched among the rocky times
which is reflected in the quilting at the base of the quilt.
This quilt was donated to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

Love you, Dad. I miss you