Quilts from 2010 - 2016

Scenes from Brighton & East Sussex,   England     40" x 44"

An embroidery project worked on over many years, taking as long to photograph, design and draw the panels as it took to stitch them.  Getting them all to fit together was also a challenge.  The embroidery is like traditional red-work (using back-stitch) but done in a green embroidery floss.

Completed December 2016

 

3D Flowers - Hydrangeas and Clematis   18" x 18"

Another project to create a three dimensional effect.

 

 

 

Garden Quilt   65" x 60"

My quilt has hand appliqued flowers (mostly from my own drawings), with machine quilting.  This simple sentence conveys nothing of the hours, weeks, months, years it has taken me to actually create it.  It started as a hand sewing project, and as each set of flowers materialized I knew I had to do something with them.

Easier if I had planned the layout/sizes etc. before starting, but that would have been too simple. The machine quilting was an ordeal all on its own - I don't understand how "real" quilters do this!  Anyway I am proud of the result!        Completed 2014    

Fuchsias     9" x 11"  

I have been wanting to make some 3D flowers, and I was inspired again this summer in England by gardens full of huge bushes of them.  I painted the background first in a pale wash. Then painted leaves and flowers, using aquarelle crayons and fabric paint, and then added machine appliqued flowers and leaves, and finally attached the 3D fuchsias.  The white flowers (seed beads) at the base was inspired by the endless fuchsia hedgerows we saw in Ireland several years ago, where the fluffy white blossoms made such a beautiful contrast with the wild fuchsia and their dark leaves.    2015

 

 

 

 

Kaleidoscope 30" diameter 

I used the techniques created by Ricky Tims from an online tutorial.  Complicated, but interesting the way it all came together in the end. Probably got a bit too "busy" but you don't know that until its all put together!  2015

 

 

 French Village Street   12" x 16"   This is from a photo I took, and many more similar, during a driving tour through Provence in 2006.  

 

Little Mix  15" x 13"   Another project for/with Natalie. Her favorite singing group (when we started two years ago - 2012).   She lost interest and I finished it all. I think she cut out the stars! 2014

Sewing Box (and bowl for scrap threads)    8" diameter x 3" high. 

Covered foam-core board and quilted outer fabric, hand-stitched together. Crocheted border on lid.   Bowl uses Timtex.  Not exactly a quilt, but...... I loved making them, and they are very useful when hand-sewing.





Calero Reservoir  21" x 16". 

Inspired by a Paintsite with SCVWS in March 2013 - in one version I painted I had grouped the trees in clumps and the result reminded me of a fabric patchwork. 2013

 

And here's the painting

 

 

 

Two sets of table mats   2012

 

 

 

Sussex Windmills  24" x  24" I always wanted to try out this quilting pattern without the patience to make a bed-size quilt, so I combined it with another idea inspired by Delft pottery of windmills in blue and white. These are windmills in Sussex that we have been visiting over the last couple of summers, most restored and open to the public and one is a private house.  In order: West Blatchington, Patcham, Rottingdean, High Salvington, and "Jill" at Clayton.  2012




Dyed and Folded   27" x 30"   A project to use the fabrics created at a session on shaving cream dying a few years ago, together with some samples of  folding & tucking from Jennie Rayment's  book,              "Creative Tucks & Textures".    2012

Jessie Jay  14" x 12"   Another summer project with Natalie, her idea, my design, she coloured and cut, and with her nimble fingers peeled off all the fusible backing papers,  and I sewed. 
 Summer 2012

  
 


Light as Air  36" x  14" With instruction at a session with Wedgewood Quilters, I then had fun 'discharging' at home.  Shapes were made out of freezer paper and ironed to a black background. Then we sprayed the fabric with a bleach/water mix  - the discharging, removing the shapes and rinsing as soon as the desired effect was reached. The same shapes were then used to cut the appliques which were offset slightly to give a shadow effect.  I used images that float naturally.  2011

Tiger.  55" x 40"  I told Natalie that most grandmas make their granddaughters a quilt. So, what do you want on yours?  A snake!  I don't do snakes. Well, a tiger then. OK, I said.   Here it is, with two other tigers (below) as wall hangings.  The first tiger I colored in Aquarelle crayons using acrylic medium and the result felt a bit like plastic.  The second one I added raw edge applique leaves, which my quilting colleagues said would not wash well.  The first one went to Hannah for her room, and the second one is in Natalie's room at her mum's. The big quilt had painted leaves and I used seta color for the tigers. 2010   





65" x  65"  Another scrap quilt  2011

Table Topper. 28"  From a pattern in a library book.  I love the weaving effect and it gave me the opportunity to try the kaleidoscope principle (never again). Its a very clever pattern - a triangle block turned different ways.  2011

Adventures of Zelda - Link   22" x 19" Made to Natalie's specifications and my design. She helped tracing and cut out all the fused fabric pieces.  She also colored the castle and insisted on the ray of light from the top window - it must all mean something.  Summer 2011.

December  24" x 18"  This was a project with Wedgewood Quilters - depict your birth month in an 18" x 24" panel.  The name of the month had to appear also, so I placed a calendar on the mantle shelf.  I wanted a cosy room and a window view.  I hadn't intended to make a Christmasy scene, but the space needed filling, and the cat was to add a bit of life, and to get a sense of warmth within and cold outside. Typical of December, if you don't live in California.   The tree, the curtains and the chair are slightly three dimensional.  Summer 2011

  

OTHER QUILTS

Wedgewood Quilters Interprets Water. 45" x 75"  Group Challenge.  We each had to produce one 15" square block, quilted and bound, depicting water, which was assembled into a wall hanging.    It was made in time for the 2011 SCVQA Quilt Show.   I actually made two panels, and as an extra one was needed to complete the project, mine is the wave effect block at the top.   I also made the last one in the second row - four ways of showing falling water; a fountain, watering can with flowers, a grotto, and rain on an umbrella.



Valley of Heart's Delight.   53" x 68"  This is the Opportunity Quilt for 2010/2011 for the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association.  Every other year, the Guild produces a quilt as a fund raiser, and sells raffle tickets for it at quilt shows in the area.  Wedgewood Quilters led the effort for this one.  It is redwork; hand embroidered, machine assembled, hand-quilted.  Our group came up with the idea and the overall design, and I did all the drawings and assisted with the layout.  I also embroidered three of the panels, but many members of the main Guild also were involved, including taking on the majority of the hand quilting. The raffle was held at PIQF in October after about eighteen months "on the road", and was actually won by one of the members of Wedgewood, which was a wonderful coincidence!