Daddy's shirts 1

This was the first quilt I made from my father's shirts after he died 12 years ago.

Antique Peony

Peony..a quilt from our collection, made in New Hampshire in early 1900's. The quilt is hand quilted with templates from the quilter's own environment...eg the donut cutter and the leaf from the yard. This quilt has Turkey red and a green that has faded to tan. This quilt was purchased from the same estate as the brown Lone Star quilt in another post. It was purchased in Miami from a dealer 20 some years ago.

Yesterday's strips

When I was young, I was a flight attendant for Pan Am. Flying in and out of India was exciting and in those days, buying clothes from India fit

right into my lifestyle. These clothes were eventually cut into fabric for quilting and since I cannot give anything away, the fabric was kept forever. About six months ago, I decided to strip that fabric from the early 1970's, adding some current fabric and make these strip quilts for myself. A

good choice I think.

Lynsey in the fall

I just love my 8 month old granddaughter, Lynsey...Here she is enjoying a drink under her new little snowball quilt I made her and checking out our pumpkin for her first Halloween!

My solids of forever

I have been collecting fabric all my life, since I was 13. My sister has too, but she is better able to de-clutter. So, she gave me her solids to donate to the Guild, but instead, I donated them to myself. I have had these solid fabrics for 25 years, untouched, having collected them from Mae's Discount Fabrics' Wearhouse in Miami. I have had Pumpkin for 13 years so she knows:) She is so proud of me for starting some quilts using solids. She is sitting on quilt number 3. The others are basted and when they are quilted, I will share them with you. Diane

Pink and Yellow Forties Fan

This fan quilt has a story. I was giving a talk in Concord some years ago when I dropped into an antique store and found this quilt. My husband and daughter had been talking about going to Riverdance and wanted me to go, but I didn't want to spend the $67 for my ticket. I saw this quilt and decided to buy it if they would sell it for $67! They of course said no, but at my insisting, called the owner who said YES!!! So, my priorities in order.....I stayed home from Riverdance and hung my new quilt on the wall. Later, I decided to mend a small tear. As I was doing that, I noticed an unusual batting. On further notice, I saw that this quilt was batted with a sort of fluffy pollen that comes down from a very large tree here in the Carolina's in the spring. On researching that tree, I have found that it is the Southern Cottonwood tree, also known as the Carolina Poplar. Most unusual and very enjoyable.

Tropicana

This quilt won first place in the Charlotte show a few years back. The pattern was from the book, Square Dance, by Martha Thompson. The colors used in this quilt reminded me of Miami, the place that was home for me for so many years....hence the name, Tropicana.

Veggie Jars

MP had a birthday and I made her a veggie jar quilt. The pattern and design is by Ruth Ingram (Bags by Ruth, Asheville, NC). Thank you Ruth. And thank you MP for making tea at quilting for 10 years straight! The backing is her vegetable garden.

Johanna's quilt

The Charlotte Irish Quilters love Johanna....so we made her a quilt...naturally:) She paints water colors. I took two of her water colors to Staples and enlarged them to different sizes on the color printer. Took those prints, scanned them into the inkjet printer and printed them out on (Printed Treasures ) paper. Since Johanna is Irish, into the quilt went things Irish and things she loves: Potatoes, shamrocks, music and birds. Since she likes things healthy, we put in the yoga monkey block and I latticed the quilt with cucumbers. A border of water, sheep and shamrocks was all it took to tell Johanna how much we care...

Marie's wedding quilt

Marie moved to Colorado with her man...off to Hawaii and got married. Here is her wedding quilt...Twisted Sister by Ami Simms.... Funky and fun for Marie...one of the best quilt artists I know...

Happy Halloween 3, "Purple Scares Me Too!"

This Halloween quilt was made a number of years ago, again to showcase my favorite Halloween fabrics. The simple pattern of squares and rectangles is one Norie has used for the Habitat Houses here in Charlotte. If you want to make a lap quilt to donate to Habitat ( Charlotte Quilters' Guild), the square is 9" Finished. That is cut one square 4.5 inches, one small rectangle cut 4.5 x 5.5 inches and one large rectangle 5.5 x 9.5 inches.

Happy Halloween 2,"Orange We Fun"

This Halloween quilt was made to showcase years of Halloween fabric collecting. Thank you Floy for teaching me this fun technique of sewing and quilting the squares at the same time to the pre-made fabric sandwich with a grid. When I find the directions, I will post them.

Happy Halloween 1

This quilt was made from a pattern found at Joanne's fabrics in Pittsburgh years ago. The pattern was printed right on Wonderunder so all I had to do was choose the colors and iron it on...so much fun. It hangs in our foyer every Halloween.

Judy's Red Onion Quilt

So Judy had a birthday and what better thing for a birthday than a red onion quilt. From Stack a New Deck, by Karla Alexander. Just finished this this summer...Thank you Ruth Ingram for your inspiration!!! And yes, I have crocs to match all my quilts:) Diane

Grandma's needlepoint bag with Swedish flag

Grandma Edith Karlsson Franzen died 12 years ago at age 99. She had come over on the boat from Sweden when she was 15 and had always been so proud to still speak perfect Swedish till the day she died. She taught me to sew and sewed herself to almost the end. Actually, she won a thousand dollars at bingo the month before she died! Clear minded and active she was. She often slept with Bit O'Honey candy and True Detective Magazine under her pillow. She left behind lots and lots of needle work. When I found this cross stitched piece, I saw that she had added a small Swedish flag. This spring, I made it into a bag..carrying with me her memories:) Diane

Butterflies for Baby Ryan

I found an old pattern published in 1979 (a Patchwork House Pattern by Poppy Morse) of butterflies. I took one of the butterflies and designed this quilt for new baby, Layla Ryan. 2009

Piece N Quilt: Piece N Share

Piece N Quilt: Piece N Share ...this is a link to a nice site with a lovely Halloween tutorial. I want to share this with you.

Very first blog..../Lynsey's first quilt

Well...this is certainly baby steps into blogging. Speaking of baby, I made this quilt for my first granddaughter, Lynsey. It is machine appliqued and machine quilted on my wonderful Janome 6600. The red lady bugs on white fabric are from a sheet I bought from her registered crib set. I drew the flowers free form.