First Quilt of the Year

After spending Thanksgiving with one son and his family in Oregon, we spent Christmas with our other son and his family in Massachusetts. 

One of the highlights was teaching our youngest grandchild to sew.

All of the other grandchildren have sewn and quilted their own quilts and now the littlest one is on her way. You can see her serious concentration as she sewed.

 I have learned, from many classes with children, that sewing short strips together is the fastest way for them to learn to use a sewing machine.  #Children'sQuilt

 

For her first project, my Granddaughter chose to sew just one row of strips. Her next project is sewing checkerboard patches. 

Can't wait to see her first finished block.

Best of luck with your sewing projects

for the New Year.
Happy quilting
Denise

Last Quilt

The last quilt of the year is a quilter's delight, 

lots of open white space.

 

This quilt was embroidered by volunteers for the benefit of the Latimer and Quilt and Textile Center. The title is American Ships and includes 12 different boats seen in America over time. 

It will be the Center's raffle quilt for 2015.

I am filling the white spaces with pillars, acanthus leaves, 

scrolls and anchors.

This quilt will be complete and raffle tickets available at the Latimer Center after the first of the year. Watch for upcoming info on machine quilting classes by Denise in March.

Happy quilting.... Denise

Modern Quilt

Looking back over summer projects, this one was a special challenge because it was one of my first "modern quilt" projects. The top was made by Carol Berkey. It was her first "modern quilt", too. 

She pieced the top with fabrics and a pattern that her daughter chose. 

The challenge was to create quilting motifs 

 that complimented the geometric fabrics.  

We were both pleased with the finished product. I hope her daughter liked it, too.

Since completing this "modern quilt" I have quilted several. Traditional or modern I love them all!

Summer thoughts

Well, the NVA show at the end of August was a great success. Artists from our local area came together to share our work inspired by the beautiful Oregon Coast where we live and work. 

      

Thank you to all the friends who came by to say "Hi". It was so fun to visit with old friends and make new ones, too.

Baby Quilts

 Fabric Post Cards 

and Talking Pot Holders 

were the some of the 

week-end favorites in my booth.

Now I'm busy with lots of customer quilts and

making another indigo quilt... details coming soon.

Summer time and.....

Oh my goodness... it's been so long since I have written...too many things going on... places to go, people to see, things to do. One of the first events this summer was Slug Soup - a local summer art camp as they say "Art for Young People with Uniques Tastes"

                                           

I had a bunch of wonderful youngsters in two classes. Calligraphy and quilting were our subjects of study. 

What an adventure we had. 

Working with these children was a pure joy!

On Memorial Day Week-end we attended a 

family wedding in Seattle and were happy to add 

a lovely young lady to the family.

The rest of the summer has been spent on Road Trips in our little TR6. A surprise trip for me was to the Oregon Caves and a night at the Chateau there. The next day was a visit to the gracious Magnolia Inn B&B in Jacksonville. Since then the little car has gotten an all new brake system and we are ready for the car show in Tacoma.

In my spare time I've been quilting up a storm. These two quilts were entered into the Tillamook County Fair by their owners. The first was the beautiful "Words to Live By" pieced and appliqued by Gail DesJarlais and the other was the bright pastel quilt piced by Karen Downs. My customers give me the most beautiful quilts to quilt! 

Both took home ribbons. Congratulations ladies!

The next big event is the NVA show in Pacific City.

Saturday & Sunday August 23 -24, 10-5pm

Come see us at the Kiwanda Community Center 

for great local art and artists and my friends.

An Alaskan Frontier

Finally finished, a big quilt with a big heart, brought to me for quilting by Betty Gordon. She created this quilt, for her sister, with fabric suggesting Alaskan motifs. 

 

The pieced central medalion is surrounded by four black ravens and bordered by the theme print.

When Betty and her friends came to pick up the quilt, the photo session became an adventure as a gust of wind almost turned the quilt into a sail. 

Thanks Betty for allowing me to be part of this project.

Happy quilting

Denise

Checkerboards and Drawings

While sorting photos, I ran across a #Children's Quilt made in a class that I taught at the Newkowin Valley School last year.

Students K-8 learned about American quilts and how to sew pieced blocks. The children chose their own colors and volunteers helped either by sewing the blocks or teaching them how to use a sewing machine.

These blocks were made by 

sewing 2-inch strips into sets of four,

slicing the sets into 2 inch strips,

mixing up the strips and sewing four of them into a checkerboard. 

Their drawings of local plants and animals were done on another day. I stitched the blocks together and quilted the finished top. I love the finished product and the children were very proud.