Creative Life Sampler

Linen Closet- Spring Wall Hanging This is one of a series of four Hawaiian quilt wall hangings that I rotate with the seasons. It was started in October 2010 and finished in March 2011. I was going for a spring color scheme here. If I were to do it over, I would choose a paler off-white/beige; then the two colors wouldn't be so close in tone. To create a greater contrast, I elected to heavily echo quilt the background and not quilt the wreath. The texture of the background makes the wreath stand out more. Note: This pattern is from Hawaiian Appliqué by Vicky Fleming.

Linen Closet- Hawaiian Wreaths Quilted wall hanging created with the Hawaiian appliqué technique. Wall hanging quilted in the Hawaiian quilting technique. These wreaths make a regular appearance in our home at this time of year. The quilt was created in 2011 as part of a series of triptych wall hangings that hang from a rod over the bed. Echo quilting traces the outline of the hunter green and cream Hawaiian appliquéd wreaths in ever expanding circles, like the ripples of a pebble dropped in the water. The pattern for this block is from Elizabeth Root's Hawaiian Quilting: Instructions and Full-size Patterns for 20 Blocks. Note: triptych- work of art divided into three parts/panels

Linen Closet- Lord’s Snowfall (2 of 2) "Lord's Snowfall" was appliquéd and quilted all by hand. It measures 87.25 inches x 91.5 inches, and contains 46 unique appliquéd and/or quilted snow crystals which are surrounded by echo quilting.  This quilt has heard many a shared confidence, deep thoughts, and world views. My friends were lovingly supportive through it all and contributed in their special ways. Sara was my "snow crystal teacher" and made sure I was creating authentic snow crystals. Erin shared fabric pieces from her stash which helped make the background transitions more harmonious. Since we came together through church, it's title has special meaning to me. It was finished in February 2018- yes, it took 2 years and 4 months to complete. I have been waiting to show this quilt to you because I entered it in a juried show and hoped I might have the happy news that it had been accepted.... but it wasn't... competition i...

Quilting Friends (1 of 2) It's always a special moment- learning something new about a friend. It's like finding a treasure within the treasure that is your friend. When I heard that two friends from church also quilted, it was happy news; yet another thing we had in common.  For many months, we talked about getting together for some quilting: “We really ought to… Yeah, we definitely should…!” Finally, in October 2015, we decided to take turns hosting a little get together each month, nothing fancy, just a chance to catch up, share ideas, and be productive. Knowing that we would be rotating locations, I wanted a project that would be easily transportable. I had already completed several small quilts with the Hawaiian appliqu é  method, and had been thinking about how I could use that technique in a new project. My mind kept going back to the cut paper snowflakes we all make as children. So, I resolved to see if I could make snowflakes in fabric, centering them o...

And Bigger Still   (3 of 3) So, the basic unit for a Hawaiian quilt is the square. And the bigger the square the more detail you can create at the cutting stage. But the biggest challenge is to retain those great details. Remember that in appliqué of any variety you are turning under the edge and blind stitching to prevent fraying. Points, interior and exterior curves and intersections can be most vexing. This pattern is called Coconut Palm  from Vicky Fleming's book,  Hawaiian Appliqué. When I did decide to go bigger, I created a wall hanging with simple lines that felt like California to me... palm trees. In off white and a sage green fabrics, the threads for each fabric match the colors on which they appear and the lines of quilting move outward from the appliquéd pieces in the "echo" effect. I kept the quilting on the palms simple as well, with a line around the edges and very little other detailing. And thus began my experimentation with this s...

On a Roll- Multiplying the Appliqu é d Panels   (2 of 3) I found this appliqu é process ingenious! This pattern is Hana O Hawai ´i (The Birth of Hawai ´ i)  from The Hawaiian Quilt by Poakalani & John Serrao After completing my pillow, I decided I really liked working smaller, portable projects and wanted to experiment more with this technique. In 2007, I created a tryptic wall hanging to display on a rod over a bed. (Note that in California, one doesn’t lightly put anything over one’s bed that could come crashing down in an earthquake while one sleeps- this rod is secured with wire to the wall brackets.)      Once again, my mentors for technique were authors who shared their knowledge in their books and I'm sure there are nuances to this which I haven't perfected. But in a nut shell, one places a square of the top color on top of a square with the same dimensions for the background fabric. While they are together, one folds them in h...

Trying Something New- Hawaiian Appliqu é   (1 of 3) Some years ago, we took the family on a trip to Maui, Hawaii. That is where I was happily introduced to the art of Hawaiian appliqu é quilting. I found a shop filled with these impressive quilts which can be very intricate in design, but only use two colors in their execution. I was fascinated with the patterns; their symmetry and elegance really appealed to me. So, I bought a small kit to try my hand at creating an  appliquéd pillow. This turned out to be a wonderful way to start; a small project to “get my feet wet”. I really enjoyed this project and was ready to explore this new (to me) art form…