Improvisational piecing

This quilt is an improvisational pieced quilt which means that there is no set pattern that was followed, instead pieces of fabric were randomly sewed together that were pleasing to the eye of the quilter.  This quilt top came to me through my aunt.  My aunt's friend is an older lady and she had been ill and had this quilt top that she had started to piece by hand.  The lady knew that I quilted, so she gave it to my aunt to give to me because she didn't think that she would ever finish it.  When I received it, the hand sewing was not secure and it would have come apart in the first wash.  So, I decided to rip out all of the hand stitching and sewed everything again by machine.  I quilted it, put on the backing and the binding.  I kept her original fabrics for the top and I pieced the back from my personal stash.  I decided that I would re-gift the quilt to the lady so I gave it back to my aunt and my aunt gave it back to the lady.  Ironically, the lady's birthday was the next day and she said that this was the best birthday gift that she had ever received.  I am happy that she is enjoying her quilt and that I was a part of this journey.

Scrappy Dresden

This is a picture of my latest creation called "Scrappy Dresden".  This quilt had a long journey to get to this point.  The large Dresden plates were created first about four years ago. They lay dormant until last year when I took two the five that I had made and made pillows from them.  Then I was left with three.  Then I decided that I really wanted to make a scrappy Dresden plate quilt.  My dilemma was that I only had three plates so I had to make more.  Another dilemma was that after I made the new plates, I realized that they were smaller than the original three.  I did not freak out and I had to make it work somehow. I forged on and completed the quilt.  Made the scrappy border and the two color binding.  The back is also pieced out of scraps.  This is a great quilt to make a dent in your stash and use up those fabrics that you just can not work into other quilts.  This would be the perfect quilt.

 As I was appliqueing the plates using the classic zigzag stitch, my machine began to act out and the tension was off and the zigzag started to pull and show the bobbin thread on top.  I got frustrated and did some hand applique then I did a straight stitch around three of them. Of course, I knew this was not going to work because I still had raw edges that were not covered.  In the end, I had to go back, once I had it sandwiched, and zigzagged around those three that I had straight stitched and the one that I had hand stitched.  Needless to say, I had a lot of technical issues with this quilt.

As you can see, the bobbin thread is a teal colored polyester thread which I loved.  The top is quilted with a transitional polyester thread that has four colors - red, green, blue, and yellow.  The white space around the plates is quilted with a white polyester thread.  (I will use cotton or polyester for quilting.  Polyester is stronger and has a great shine and cotton is matte.) You can see the straight line quilting which covers the entire quilt (my free motion sucks!) You can also see the zigzags too because I did that quilting after it was sandwiched.  I am not worried about that because I think that it gives the quilt personality.  I am not a "show quilter" so it is okay if I have some imperfections as long as my quilting techniques are sound and the quilt is well made.

This is a another shot of the back of the quilt showing the quilting and the pieced back.  The back has about five different fabrics that I pieced together.  Since this quilt is totally scrappy, I did not worry about coordinating fabrics.  I used scraps that I wanted to get rid of and they worked perfectly in this quilt. I am proud of ScrappyD and I hope that you have enjoyed it.

Allegiance

This is a lap throw. This was made and is dedicated to all of the men and women of the US Armed Forces who protect us and our way of life. Thank You!

Mosaic, Princess,Quilt for Kids,The First One, Bars & Tumblers

 This quilt is called Mosaic.  It was given to a friend who takes dialysis treatments and they stated that it gets very cold sitting there waiting on their blood to get washed. This quilt should keep them warm.  This block is called Frog in the pond.

This is a baby quilt called Princess.  The fabric is from a Disney movie The Princess and the Frog.  Introducing, Princess Tiana.



This is a Quilt for Kids quilt.  Made and quilted for a great cause.  Google it to get your kit and make a quilt for sick kids. This was made from the kit that they sent to me.

Another QFK quilt.  This was made from my fabric stash and sent back to them with the quilt above.  The color blocks are 5 in. charm squares and the yellow blocks are cut to size from yardage. I did cross hatch quilting on it.

"The First One".  My very first quilt that was hand pieced and "machine quilted" if you can call it that!  I did my best.  It was made in 2003.  I still have it. It was a quilt for my son who is 16 now and it was quite tattered.  I mended it and did some more quilting on it and I retired it.

This is a throw called Bars & Tumblers.  This is actually the name of the pattern.  I saw it in a quilting magazine and decided to do my own take on it.  The blocks are 2in. X 4in. and the sashing is 2in. X wof (width of fabric). Totally scrappy.  Helps to put a dent in your stash and comes together quickly.

African Safari

This quilt was made from a pattern in Quilters World. I just mixed it up by choosing bright colors and combined them with animal prints.  This quilt was sold.

Moose

This is a quilt throw called "Moose", hence the center piece and corners.  The center piece and corners were part of a panel that I cut apart and incorporated into this throw. It measures about 65 in. X 70 in. The trees and leaves are pieced.  Machine quilted by me on my HSM.

Trip Around the World

This quilt is a throw.  I found the kit in the clearance bin at Wal-Mart.  The instructions were horribly written and inaccurate.  However, I did my best to complete it.  The colors are magnificent and lively.  That is why I was drawn to this kit.  I never use kits.  This was the first time.

Ashton

This quilt is simply called "Ashton".  This is for a good friend of mine who had a son born in December 2012.  This is his first child.  This quilt was made from a charm pack.  It was very easy and I did straight line quilting.