Quilts for June

My mother-in-law, June, passed away last weekend. She was a very kind woman who raised four responsible, caring children. She enjoyed being with her family, fishing and contemporary design. Here are two quilts I made for her.



This one, made in 2006, features a block pattern from the Chicago World's Fair in the 1930's. The Chicago area is where June lived for much of her life.


The tag shows a photo of me quilting the quilt.



June loved Marimeko fabrics. I picked up this fabric for her at the Marimeko store in Helsinki a few years ago, and quilted it very simply.

I'm told she was wearing this quilt during her final hours. I'm so pleased that I could express my love for her with these quilts. Aren't we quilters fortunate in this way?

Happy Spring!

Look what sprang up at my house today! This is a group quilt from the very fun gals over at 15 minutes play. I sewed all the blocks together today. I had all these red petal shape scraps leftover from my Eyelashes quilt, and since it's a scrap quilt, and the first day of spring...

I did love the quilt before the tulips arrived. But many of you were good at encouraging me to go that next step and make it my own. I'm so glad you did! Now for some easy hand-applique.



Come to think of it, it's kind of a reverse of this quilt I made a few years ago, based on the cover quilt from the book, Georgia Quilts, by Anita Zeleski Weinraub.

I hope you're seeing spring blooms at your house too!

Back from NYC!

This weekend I got to go on a quilting retreat in NYC, hosted by the lovely and talented Victoria. She set up a perfect sewing space in her loft, cooked for us, shared all her scraps, and set a wonderful tone of warmth and good humor.

I made this quilt, which I think I'll call "New York Scraps." It's 72 x 80. I brought only a few solid fabrics, and used scraps supplied by everyone else.

Victoria and I did a trade, where she sent me this poppy, and I made this for her. Yes, those are buttons from old shirts on the white polka dots.

I sent her this piece of vintage fabric, and look at this exquisite piece she made!! I absolutely LOVE it.


Everyone was so much fun and so creative! Bonnie sat next to me and made these cool scrappy hexagons.


Karen was across the room, quietly whipping out these masterpieces from scraps.


Helen pieced together these colorful scraps and will soon be wearing a very fun vest.


It was great to see Victoria at work--cut, sew, cut, sew--then...

Wa-la! Like magic. She's completely amazing.


Kim made this cute owl for a future Halloween quilt.


Jackie masterfully put together a paper-pieced table topper, then played with Victoria's Mary.



I didn't get a photo of Jessica's new quilt, but she brought this HAND-PIECED finish to show. Incredible!

Here's another stunning show and tell, this one from Andrea.

Thank you, thank you Victoria and everyone. I will hold a warm smile in my heart from this retreat for a long, long time.

Sneak peeks

Sometimes tiny bits of a quilt make the neatest little compositions.



These are bits of a small quilt I'm taking to NYC and hand deliver to Victoria!



Shh, don't tell. It's a surprise!

Maybe I'll slow down and quilt them all by hand. Ha!

I've been hand quilting this little number all weekend,

and thinking about how much I love to quilt by hand.


It makes me slow down and contemplate the important things in life,



like friends and family,


warmth and good food,


safety, health and laughter.


And the encouragement and support of all of you!