Why do I quilt?



The quilt I made for my sis

The quilt pictured is one that I made for this sis of mine; I call it Lemon Meringue/Key Lime Pie because the colors are that delicious.  The picture was taken before hand quilting was applied, stitch by stitch, to sandwich the quilt top to the backing fabric, the old-fashioned way.  Visiting my sis, she once commented out of the blue, "Think of the money spent on all that fabric you have stashed away."  My fabric stash?  How could someone who does not quilt or sew possibly understand?  There are lots of us out there, you know, I mean...quilters with stashes of fabric.  There's a good reason to have fabric on hand; this quilt, for example.

Mrs. Lincoln Sampler Quilt, 5" squares...oh my!

One year ago I started this sampler quilt...

Back on Christine's work board

Preparing block #5

There's been a resurgence of interest in needle-turned applique, the old-fashioned way to applique, and I'm on board.  This is something that I love to do!  In addition to working on my Hawaiian quilt projects, I've pulled out this Mrs. Lincoln sampler quilt that I started a while ago.  This quilt is made up of 5 inch squares; some blocks are pieced and some are hand appliqued.  I counted and there are a total of 48 squares; 4 almost 5 done and many more to go.  It may have to go on the back burner again, as there are other things that may take precedence from time to time, but this one will get done.  I promise myself!

Hawaiian Quilting; it's a passion of mine

Laua'e

Laua'e, back view



Ipu design

This Calico Quilter has a bunch of projects going on.  Here are three examples of what's on my current work board, of the Hawaiian quilting variety.  I have been working on this laua'e leaf pattern, done in lavender calico prints, for a few years now.  The reverse side shows off the hand quilting which I have dallied with.  It's a project I'd work on and then set aside, and then go back to it again.  Almost done and then it will be made into a pillow, approximately 20" square.  I enjoy everything about Hawaiian quilting.  My newest project is the ipu (gourd) pattern, from the Hawaiian Quilt book by Poakalani and John Serrao.  This pattern is now cut out and ready to baste onto a backing fabric.

Gourds and things

These are gourds that I have carved out and done artwork on.  Gourd dust is very fine and killer if you are not careful, even with a dust mask on.  I have an affinity for round shapes, which reflects in my body of work. 

Quilters are artists, too!

I am a self-described artist who dabbles with Adobe Illustrator, a program that Papa Paz put on my computer because he thought I'd enjoy it.  I supposed there is a certain style that defines my work.  I see my artwork as kind of wonky, plain and simple.  Whether patching together a quilt top or dabbling in creative quilting, for me, it's all about developing an eye-popping color palette.  I looked through my stuff on Illustrator to possibly bring drawings to the quilting table.  Not every drawing translates well, but then there are some that are exciting, whether printed on paper or put to fabric.  These ones keep me wanting to do more.  Above are two pieces; one of them in progress, the other waiting for the next step toward completion.  Here below are two pears.  On this one, I did a little bit of shading, using pastel chalk.  This was a free-motion quilting practice piece.  Practice, practice, practice!