Green Island by Michael

The quilt is blue, I realize that, but that's the title that Michael gave me.  Stunning in blues and white with yellow stars.  He chose the "Sunburst" panto for quilting, and a minimally variegated thread for quilting.  Very pretty!

Red and White Stars by Michael

Yes, he is at it again!  More quilts by Michael, and always, more advanced piecing than I'm willing to take on.  I asked, these fabrics are all from his stash.  Quilted with the "Clematis" pantograph and Lava black and red variegated thread

An Unlikely Story

Oh I love mystery quilts!  The ones where you start with one clue, and the directions tell you how much fabric you'll need, and how to cut it.  Once you complete that step, you get the next clue.  

This quilt was published in Quiltmaker Magazine, and designed by Bonnie Hunter.  Since the magazine only comes out every other month, I had to wait 2 whole months for the next clue!  Torture, but worth the wait I think.

I chose to stick with Bonnie's color theme of pinks, purples and greens with a white background.  Then I raided my stash and started to cut.  

The name for the quilt comes from my biking buddy Xande.  I had told her that it was to be given to mom's Connections group which supports literacy.  Her suggestion of "An Unlikely Story" surely fit the group, and the quilt.

LIsa's t-shirts

Where do these people find the time?  According to her shirts, Lisa has run the Hood To Coast relay several times, run in Finland, and I don't know where else.  This is Lisa's 2nd t-shirt quilt that I have made, but she gets to keep this one!

Terri's Fireman t-shirts

T-shirt quilts are so fun to make and to quilt, but I think this is one of my favorites.  

Quilted with a "flame" design to go with the fireman theme.  

And a huge thank you to the men and women how daily put their lives on the line to fight these fires.

Modern Flannel baby quilt by Veda

I hate to admit it, but I'm not too enamoured of the whole "Modern Quilt" movement.  However, I really love this quilt.  I believe the design is by Veda, and it's just lovely.  Quilted with the "Swirls" board, and perfect for snuggling a baby with it.

Tumbling Blocks by Michael

I am sure I've commented before on Michael's prolific quilting.  I don't think he sleeps.The shading of the fabrics makes this quilt look 3 dimensional.  Michael chose a multi-colored thread, and then I quilted the blocks with continuous curves.  Another chance to play in the border and try out a new quilting design.  I really like the curves.

Michael's Music 9-patch

Michael started making small 9-patch blocks.  Then he set those into larger 9-patch blocks that alternated a black music note background fabric. Add sashing strips and cornerstones, quilt with a music note pantograph, and you've got a lovely scrappy quilt!

By the Lake, Green

I was wrong before, this is Michael's 2nd By the lake quilt.  I wonder what the next color way will be?

Fours and Nines

More quilts for charity.  Again with those little bits that are too small or too big to toss, and another Beginner and Ender quilt.  I started by collecting squares that were 2.5" or 1.5".  The 15" squares were sewn into 4 patches, which made a block that finished at 2.5".  Those were then randomly selected and sewn together into 9 patch blocks.  I ended up with a few extra blocks and could either make enough more to add another row to the quilt, or I could add them to the outer border.  Border wins!  This quilt needed a border to give your eye a place to rest.  I usually quilt a large meander on charity quilts, just something to finish them, up, with all that lovely black fabric on the outer border, I had to add feathers. 

 

 Look closely, I'm sure you'll recognize fabrics from a quilt that you've received from me!

Peggy's Green and Black pinwheels

I believe that Peggy told me she bought this quilt top at an auction.  What a find.  

She chose to have it quilted in a edge to edge design of feathers, and we used wool batting to give it loft.  Very pretty.

Memory quilt by Terri

This is one of those really special quilts that I love to work on.  The design is called and Irish Chain because the blocks form a chain across the quilt.  Part of that design is the large open spaces that are then formed and usually filled with quilting.  Terri instead had family members create their own blocks and fill the white space with memories for the quilt recipient.   She had attended Oregon City High School, and this was her graduation quilt. 

.

 The above embroidery represents the mascot for the school, the Pioneer.

 I quilted continuous curves in the chains, then use the edges of the blocks for the spine of the feathers that surround each one.  Feathers were repeated in the border.  The quilt has family photos and her letter from school.

Wedding Quilt for Karen's Brother

This is an amazing quilt! 

Hand appliqued and curved piecing.  One of those would be enough to try out for a new technique, but at the same time?  Then to make it a bed quilt and to give it away for a wedding gift..  Wow.

Proud as I am of the quilting on this quilt, the photos simply don't do justice to what I had to start with.  Amazing applique all done by hand by Karen and her sister Laura.  The wool batting really gives definition to their work.

I stitched continuous curves in the border squares and piano keys in the large outer border.

This shows the back of the quilt to show the detail of the quilting around the appliques.  I quilted it quite densely to give a trapunto look to their applique.

Sharon's Star Sampler

 I love star blocks.  Sharon took a multitude of blocks and made them all work together in this lovely quilt.  She then chose a pantograph design that resembled stars as well to emphasize her lovely work.  I believe that she plans to keep this for herself, but I love purple too!  Just in case she decides that she doesn't like it after all.

Convergence by Lisa and Rachel

 I still can hardly believe that these are the women I taught to sew when I first met them at the Heart to Hand Quilt shop.  They have both come a long way in their sewing abilities.  

This quilt was made for the brother of the Friendship star quilt.  Not to be outdone, this quilt is quilted with Blue glow in the dark thread.  Really fun!

Friendship stars by Rachel and Lisa

The name of the block is "Friendship Stars" and this was made for the daughter of one of their friends.  I do love scrappy quilts, and this is a great example of that.  They used similar fabrics for the backgrounds of the blocks, and then repeated the blue that forms the stars.  The pink thread that I quilted it with actually glows in the dark!  I guess I'm going to have to figure out a way to get a photo of that.  Lisa and Rachel reported that this was very well received by the recipient.

By the Lake by Michael

I believe that this is the second "By the Lake" quilt that Michael has made.  

It's such a great design, and so versatile.  I love the heart in the center.  Perfect for a wedding gift.

String Theory

 Ah, strings.  Those pieces of fabric that are too small to save in your stash, but too big to throw away, so what do you do with them?  I guess that you save them in a bin in the basement for a long time, and then you get inspired.  I started this quilt as a "Beginner and Ender", meaning that before starting or stopping at each seam of a quilt, I would instead start with 2 strings, and end with two strings.  That way I don't have long thread tails when I begin or end my stitching.  It's a quilter thing. 

I started making these blocks, then squared them up to 6.5" each.  That was fun, so then I started to lay them out on my design wall, otherwise known as our guest room bed.  Hmm.  By turning them, you get a fun diamond pattern that just never ends.  Since they are all so random, you'll never be able to get all the different colors evenly spaced, so just put them where they end up.  This quilt ended up being a twin size, and was given to the Portland Police Sunshine Division.  If you look closely, you can even see that I used leftover fabric that had already been pressed together for the binding. All those little bits of fabric, and not even a dent in that bin of strings.  I've already started the next one, and the one after that too.

Water Bargello by Michael

Michael again is creating his own pattern.  He took several water fabrics and made a Bargello quilt out of them.  Quilted with a Pond Water Meander design, but then I played in the borders.

Adding leaves and using the seam between the two borders as a stem, and trying out a new border design in the outer border.  I really like that look.  Thanks for letting me play Michael.