Finished "AROUND THE WORLD"

I embroidered the names of 87 nations we have traveled to and 

we still have more countries we want to visit!

Quilting My Travels

 I am currently enjoying hand quilting my "AROUND THE WORLD" quilt, featuring the fabrics and representations from the 90 countries we have visited. 

Each fabric calls for a different quilting motif. Sometimes shadowing the images within, while others work best with traditional patterns. I'm using a combination of hand quilting thread and pearl cotton for more plain areas. 

 The quilting on this king size quilt has gone much faster than I thought and should be done within a month.

 In the meantime I continue to work on piecing several other quilts: 2 for retirees from my former school, my 6th wedding quilt for my grandnephew and a undesignated quilt from a B&W swap.

 Watch for those being posted.

 Happy Quilting!

Love of Travel

My latest inspiration is to make a memory quilt of our travels.

We have visited over 50 countries and more to come.

I have collected fabrics and needlework samples from a number of those countries.

I want to design a quilt that features as many parts of the world as possible.

I found this panel at Hancock that I'll cut up to show our love of cruising.

I purchased these fabrics to supplement my stash.

I appliquéd these stacking dolls to represent Russia.

I want to also appliqué a maple leaf for Canada.

I'll post more on my progress as I plan and start piecing. I don't want to move too fast as we have a upcoming trip to Africa in the works.

"Memories of an Art Teacher"

My husband is gone on a business trip for the week. Its the perfect time to lay out a project that requires continuous revision. I had cut up my teaching t-shirts as part of my retirement clean out and set them aside. I originally thought I'd do a fund raising quilt for California Art Teacher Assoc but after reviewing the pictures, I realized that they were too personal and held too many memories for me.

Several challenges ensued: 1) to add the correct amount of sashing to each block so the widths and heights added up to the correct measurement. 2) trying to use only fabrics from my stash. 3) to balance and tied the colors together from all the different t-shirts. I'm not sure of the result or what to do next? Do I add a border? What color?

"KAPPA KAPPA GAMMA" Memory quilt for Missy

My niece, Missy, asked me to make a quilt from her sorority T-shirts and sweats. I cut all the rectangles twice as long as wide. These proportions give you more options in the arrangement. The key to using knits in a quilt is to back each piece with a stablizer (iron-on light weight interfacing). Hint: I would avoid using heavy sweatshirt fabric. I removed the stablizer from these rectangles after it was assembled because they were too stiff.