CENTENNIAL STATE

This quilt was designed and made for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Colorado admitted as the 38th state of the United States on August 1, 1876 by President Ulysses S. Grant.  Its entry followed a long, 15-year journey from its creation as a territory in 1861.

 The colors for this quilt were borrowed from the Colorado state flag that was designed by Andrew Carlisle Carson in 1911 and adopted by the General Assembly with revisions in 1928 and 1964.

The blue represent the blue skies of the region; the white symbolizes the snow-capped mountains and the silver mines; the red represents the Spanish meaning of Colorado (red earth); and the gold symbolizes the year-round sunshine and the gold mining industry.

THE STATS:  CENTENNIAL STATE, 2026, 29"X29", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.  Nerd number report --640 pieces.

PHOBIA

 I've always had a phobia of buying small pre-cut fabrics, because of another phobia.  I'm an old-school diehard when it comes to pre-washing my fabric before construction.  I knew that prewashing 5-inch squares would be time consuming and tedious.  However, I wanted to experiment using some Kaffe Fassett fabrics, but didn't want to buy a variety of fat-quarters or yardage.  So, I bought 5-inch precuts of his fabric.  And, yes, I prewashed all 35 little squares!!!

THE STATS:  Phobia, 2026, 26"x34", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted

This quick project convinced me that I should stay with my usual choice of fabrics.

A STAR IN THE DARKNESS -- MLK DAY

"DEMOCRACY MATTERS" SERIES #1

I started thinking about this quilt on Martin Luther King Day (2026) while listening to Dr. King's final speech.  His famous statement, "Only in the darkness, can you see the stars."  was all I needed for inspiration to continue working on the design. This is the result.

STATS:  A Star in the Darkness, 2026, 29" x 29", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted

The pictures were taken at the stone arch at the base of Skyline Drive in Canon City.  It was constructed in 1932 by inmate labor.  It was built with stones sent by governors from all 48 states at that time in the U. S.  I thought that it would be appropriate for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

CREEKSIDE CABIN

  I made my first strippy quilt called "Tree Everlasting" in 1982, and have loved the format ever since.  I have done several strippies since then, and it was time to do another one.  This one includes some newer fabrics, but also some from that 20th century time period.  They were chosen because they are all muted in their color, and seem to blend together with an occassional accent.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable project!!!!

THE STATS:  Creekside Cabin, 2026, 32" x 35", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.

The name comes from childhood memories of going from the hot, summer prairies of Colorado to the mountains with my grandmother to cool off for a week, or so.  We always stayed at a cabin that had a creek running right behind it in the small town of Cuchara.  I wasn't the outdoor-adventuring type; but as a child, the whole experience was literally cool!

TARTAN TABLE RUNNER

 A quick project to be donated to the St. Andrew Society of Colorado for their fundraiser Burns dinner event this month.

THE STATS:  Tartan Table Runner, 2026, 13" x 29", Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted, 100% wool.  Contains 19 different tartan plaids from my stash.

Our grandson is active in this organization that promotes Scottish culture in Colorado.

WACKADOODLE

 No really apparent reason for the name except that I have always been interested in the word.  Does it mean something positive or negative?  Sometimes a 'fanatic' or 'eccentric' pops up as a meaning.  I became sort of a fanatic trying to finish this quilt during the hectic month of December during the holiday season. It was to be my last quilt for 2025, and I wanted to get it done before the new year.  So, I persevered.  There are 25 5-inch blocks each containing 29 pieces for a total of 725 + 8 border pieces contained in a 29 inch square.  Hope that doesn't mean that I'm overly eccentric!

THE STATS:  Wackadoodle, 2025, 29" x 29", Paper pieced, Machine pieced, Machine quilted.

Now, maybe on to something uncomplicated for the month of January.

CRISS-CROSS APPLESAUCE

A simple quilt to donate when needed for fundraiser events.

THE STATS:  Criss-Cross Applesauce, 2025, 28"x28", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.

 

GEOMETRIC MAGIC

Something new for me ---- brights with black!  This was definitely a "design as you go" project.  It was like putting a 230- piece puzzle together.  I've always loved math, and this was geometry in its basic form!

THE STATS:  Geometric Magic, 2025, 27" x 27", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Hand Appliqued, Machine Quilted

My new favorite quilt (at least until the next one!)  This was so much fun to make to satisfy my mathematical nature.

SUNBURST

 

My goal in this quilt was to see if purple, red, pink, and orange could live together?????

THE STATS:  Sunburst, 2025, 30" x 30", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted

THROUGH THE YEARS

 It's always a challenge to design a quilt that will use up a lot of scraps from previous projects.  A crazy quilt concept is always a good avenue to achieve that goal.  The word "oeuvre" has fascinated me as it means "a body of work".  How can I try to show a body of my work in one project --  a project that has scraps of fabric from various old quilt projects, plus pictures of some of the quilts from over the years?  This is the result ----

Not sure it achieves my goal; but, at least, it was fun in the making to relive memories of some of my old quilts and the photographing excursions.  Quilting always brings joy to me!

THE STATS:  Through the Years, 2025, 26" x 26", Foundation Pieced, Machine Embroidery, Machine Quilted.  Pictures of past quilts copied and printed on fabric on home computer.

TWILIGHT

 It's always fun to chase the light!

THE STATS:  Twilight, 2025, 35" x 35", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.

FALL TAPESTRY

Time for some color after a month of working with pastels!

THE STATS:  Fall Tapestry, 2025, 28" x 28", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.  Number nerd report: 504 pieces and many different fabrics.

This was really fun; I love seeing how colors/fabrics interact in a true scrap quilt!

 

BLOOMS

This quilt has been a real struggle for me to complete.

#1 It's rather boring to look at.

#2  It was repetitive to work on -- many small pieces in all the same colors/fabrics.

#3  I always struggle with pastel quilts.

#4  For some reason, I kept having many interuptions making it hard to focus.

Oh well, it's done.  What are your thoughts?

THE STATS:  Blooms, 2025, 28" x 28", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.  Number nerd report:  425 total pieces in the 25 4-inch blocks; plus 256 pieces in the sashing and border.

AND, #5 it didn't photograph very well.  I'll have to work on that in different light.  Hopefully, I'll have some better photos soon.

THREADS OF HOPE

 Some quiltmaking activities stretch the maker's creativity more than others.  This type of quilt is that kind of growth experience.

The first step was to decide on a color plan; and with my frugal personality, that always figures into the supply of on-hand scraps of fabric.  Do I have a plan and size in mind for a suitable design that will achieve my final goal?  Have I done the math and drawn up the basic design on paper?  Do I want to add embroidery, applique, or other embellishments?  How will I quilt the top?  Is it all workable with my limitations?  Lots of questions to be answered with creativity necessary at every step.  Always a learning experience.

Here is the end product --- threads of hope!!

THE STATS:  Threads of Hope, 2025, 29" x 29", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Emboidered, Machine Quilted.

LITE BRITE

This quilt mimics a donation quilt top I made in 2002 for Colorado Quilting Council, which was quilted by Terri Ballard, and won by Marcia Spitelle.  This was one of my favorite quilts, and I hope that whoever now owns it enjoys it as well.  It was time to make a smaller version with fabrics from current scrap bins to add to my personal quilt collection.

THE STATS:  Lite Brite, 2025, 34" x 34", Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.  Nerd number report:  385 pieces including 353 one-inch squares in the top.

The donation quilt from 2002 called Autumn Glow:

The new quilt is not as spectacular as the first one in chasing the light source because of the size and number of blocks; but it is close enough as a reminder for me!

METAMORPHOSIS

This was a design as you go!  I started out with a little 3" block, found it too small; changed to a 4 1/2" block; later changed the color-way.  I intended to make 13 of these blocks, and alternate them with 12 simple log-type blocks. The log blocks were blah, and needed some definition so were re-designed, which made the center block to be repeated on the corners look even more blah.  Against my goal to not add any red to the quilt, I reneged and added some burgundy; changed the corner blocks; and turned the whole thing on point.  Now, it looked better; but was too big to repeat.  So, I spent a whole day working on designing and sewing the setting-in triangle units to make it square.  And, now I have a finished 20-inch small table topper instead of a larger quilt.  Too much information about my metamorphic process; but at least I'm  finally pleased with it.  Does anyone else sometimes struggle with design issues?

THE STATS: Metamorphosis, 2025, 21" x 21", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.

 Thanks to my artistic grandson for his critique along the way!!!