Category Archives: Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday: Early Quilts

When I showed a picture on my blog a couple weeks ago of a stack of six quilts I had donated to Hopewell House, a hospice care facility in Southwest Portland, some of my readers asked to see pictures of the full quilts. Three of the quilts pictured above were made before starting my website/blog in 2012 so I thought it would be fun to do a “Throwback Thursday” post and show you these early quilts as well as the more recent ones.

We start with the the quilt at the top of the stack — Swinging on a Star, the quilt I pieced in 2005 under Billie Mahorney’s tutelage in Quiltmaking III, the third installment of the Quiltmaking class she taught for so many years at the Pine Needle Quilt Shop in Lake Oswego (current home of the Lake Oswego branch of Montavilla Sewing Center):

Swinging on a Star, 46″ x 58″ (2006)

In this class Billie taught us how to draft blocks (including some from Quiltmaking II) that finish at 9″ square, and how to set them in a “Twist ‘n Turn” technique described by Sharyn Squier Craig in her 1996 book of the same name. At the time I started this quilt my focus was on using up cottons I had accumulated in the 1980s while making charity quilts for babies. Little did I know that setting foot in a quilt shop 20 years later would cause me to abandon all hope of using up that old fabric as I quickly began accumulating a much larger amount of new fabric that would become known as “my stash.”

Swinging on a Star was the first of my quilts that included free motion quilting (FMQ). Billie insisted that we learn how to do that. I stitched in the ditch around the star blocks and did free motion quilting in the borders. Happily the ditsy print in the borders hid a multitude of FMQ sins.

The fourth quilt I am holding in the first photo is Starry 9-Patch, finished in 2007. I took Billie’s Quiltmaking series out of order, starting with the second class. I learned so much in Quiltmaking II and III that I decided to take Quiltmaking I when she offered it again. The basic design was a combination of 9-Patch and Rail Fence blocks but I threw in some Sawtooth Stars to jazz it up a bit:

Starry 9-Patch, 56″ x 63″ (2007)

The bottom quilt in the stack pictured is based on Billie’s original design called Maisie’s Garden. She taught this class at the Pine Needle in 2007 and I happily jumped in, using a palette of blues, greens, and yellows, a combination I still love to this day:

Star Garden, 44″ x 62″ (2007)

The next quilt in chronological order is V8, a quilt I designed to highlight my discovery of kaleidoscope blocks and inset circles:

V8, 55″ x 64″ (2010)

Every circle is a revelation! You don’t know what a block will look like until you have sewn eight 45-degree triangles together. I named my quilt V8 because the colors reminded me of the vegetables that go into the making of the vegetable juice blend.

One thing I can definitely say after posting these photos is that digital photography has certainly improved over the last 15 years!

Number 5 in the grouping of quilts is Simply Dashing, also an original design, this one focusing on four-patch kaleidoscope blocks, the ones I call “4-Patch Wonder” or “faux kaleidoscope” blocks:

Simply Dashing, 55″ x 64″ (2010)

In this quilt the centers of the Churn Dash blocks (on point) and the alternating blocks (also on point) are 4-Patch Wonder blocks.

The final quilt I donated to Hopewell House is a recent one, Tea Time on High Street, finished in 2021:

Tea Time on High Street, 55″ square (2021)

Was it hard to part with these quilts? To be honest, yes. The first three have a lot of sentimental value because of their association with my teacher and mentor Billie Mahorney. The other three represent steps I took in trying out my own designs and/or moving outside my comfort zone. The hospice patients and their families who become the recipients of these quilts may never know their significance in my quilting journey but the fact that they are helping people on a different kind of journey makes it all worthwhile.

 

 

 

Posted in 4-Patch Wonder, faux-kaleido quilts, free motion quilting, kaleidoscope quilts, Throwback Thursday, update | 11 Comments

Throwback Thursday: Give Me the Simple Life (2019)

It’s time for the tenth and final installment in my Throwback Thursday series looking at quilts made in the last decade. Coming up with my choice for 2019 was easy: it was the only quilt I completed last year! Here is Give Me the Simple Life:

Give Me the Simple Life, 95″ square (2019)

The pattern is Hazel’s Diary Quilt by Shelly Pagliai of Prairie Moon Quilts. Regular readers followed the making of this quilt from my very first block (and post) in January 2018 till its completion in September 2019.

I’m very proud of this accomplishment, as I made it my goal to become proficient in needleturn appliqué during the making of the quilt. It certainly provided ample opportunities for practice! Longarm quilter Kazumi Peterson did the amazing quilting.

Approved by Coco the Cat Inspector

Give Me the Simple Life will be on display later this month at Northwest Quilters’ 46th annual show, “A Festival of Quilts,” in its new venue, Camp Withycombe, in Clackamas, Oregon. Dates are Friday and Saturday, March 20 and 21. If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by. There’ll be over 300 quilts on display and lots of vendors selling wonderful things (like fabric).

Thank you so much for joining me in this 10-week lookback at some of my favorite quilts!

 

 

 

Posted in appliqué, cats, free motion quilting, Hazel's Diary Quilt, needleturn appliqué, Throwback Thursday, update | 6 Comments

Throwback Thursday: Dutch Treat (2017)

It’s Week 8 of Throwback Thursday. Over the last seven weeks I’ve shown you seven quilts, one for each year between 2010 and 2016. Today’s quilt is my first red and white quilt (though not my last, as you know from my most recent post). Here, representing Week 8, is Dutch Treat:

Dutch Treat, 48″ x 60″ (2017)

Made from the pattern A Mid-Winter’s Night by Cottage Rose, the quilt features a mix of reds and two light background fabrics, all from my stash. The quilting was done by longarm quilter Debbie Scroggy.

Dutch Treat gets its name from the windmill shaped blocks:

Eight weeks and eight quilts down, two to go! I hope you’ll join me next week for 2018’s pick.

 

 

 

Posted in Throwback Thursday, update, Winding Ways quilt block, windmill block | 6 Comments

Throwback Thursday: Dragonfly Kisses (2016)

My plan to showcase one quilt made each year between 2010 and 2019 by posting a photo every Thursday is showing me how quickly time flies. It seems I posted my quilt for 2015 just yesterday but no — an entire week has passed!

We are up to Week Seven of the New Year and I am pleased to show you a quilt I absolutely loved making:

Dragonfly Kisses, 50″ x 59″ (2016)

It’s called Dragonfly Kisses, made from Chic Diamonds, yet another pattern by Sew Kind of Wonderful, creator of the Quick Curve Ruler. The quilt gets its name from the fabric line “Dance of the Dragonfly” from Benartex Fabrics.

I made some changes to the pattern . . .

. . . resulting in more background space, which shows off the beautiful edge-to-edge quilting by Sherry Wadley.

This quilt was given as a gift to a special family member. I have a feeling I will make another version if I come upon the perfect combination of fabrics.

 

 

 

Posted in family, Quick Curve Ruler, Throwback Thursday, update | 4 Comments

Throwback Thursday: Catch a Falling Star (2015)

Today marks Week Six of Throwback Thursday. Each week since the beginning of the year I’ve highlighted one quilt made in successive years beginning in 2010. This week we’re up to a quilt made in 2015.

Choosing my quilt for 2015 was easy. It had to be Catch a Falling Star, my version of Terri Krysan’s Reach for the Stars:

Catch a Falling Star, 84″ x 105″ (2015)

Often when I finish a quilt, there are one or two things I would have done differently. Not with this one. I love every block, I’m happy with every modification I made to Terri’s original design, and I’m thrilled to pieces with the combination of computerized and free-motion quilting done by Loretta Orsborn.

Instructions for Reach for the Stars appeared in seven consecutive issues of Quilters Newsletter Magazine, beginning with the Oct./Nov. 2013 issue and ending with the Oct./Nov. 2014 issue. Sadly, QNM is no longer in publication.

Almost every month I receive a request from a quilter wanting to know how to get directions for Reach for the Stars. A few years ago I could point to eBay or Etsy for the needed issues but copies are getting harder to find. My advice nowadays is to check with a local quilt guild to see if any member has these seven issues and would be willing to lend or sell them to the person wanting to make the quilt.

Catch a Falling Star was my first ever sampler quilt. I wasn’t sure I would ever make another one. But I did. You’ll see that one when I reach Week 10 of Throwback Thursday.

Thanks for joining me on my weekly trip down Memory Lane!

 

 

 

Posted in 4-Patch Wonder, faux-kaleido quilts, free motion quilting, mitered corners, Reach for the Stars sampler quilt, Sew-Along, Throwback Thursday, update | 4 Comments

Throwback Thursday: Square Dance (2014)

Throwback Thursday already?? It seems impossible but we are in the final week of January, Week 5 (and Year 5) of my 10-year-lookback at quilts. I started with 2010 at the beginning of the month and now I’m up to 2014.

In Square Dance you see my interpretation of the classic Twist block. Every Twist quilt I’ve ever seen features a solid fabric in the center of each block and two fabrics for the lattice. My version incorporates a lovely folk art floral in the center of each block and 12 fabrics in the lattice — four each of rose, green, and purple:

Square Dance, 55½” x 64½” (2014)

It was quite a challenge getting the balance of fabrics just right but I was very pleased with the outcome.

The beautiful quilting by Melissa Hoffman of Fiddlestitches is hard to see so here’s a close-up:

I remember Melissa telling me she had to wear a headlamp to stitch the free-motion filigree design in the interior of the quilt. Black thread on solid black fabric: what a challenge that must have been!

Square Dance is one of my quilts in rotation on the back of the couch in our living room. In fact, it’s there right now, and I managed to get a shot just now while the sun was briefly shining:

 

 

 

 

Posted in free motion quilting, home dec, snowball blocks, Throwback Thursday, update | 4 Comments

Throwback Thursday: Honeymoon in Paris (2013)

Here we are at Week 4 of Throwback Thursday, in which I’m looking back at quilts I’ve made over the last 10 years. By coincidence, my choice for 2013 is, like last week’s pick, a design by Sew Kind of Wonderful using the Quick Curve Ruler.

The pattern is Metro Rings, which I believe is Sew Kind of Wonderful’s #1 seller. Here’s my version:

Honeymoon in Paris, 56″ x 75″ (2013)

This quilt was so fun to make! Instead of laboriously sewing individual curved pieces together for the rings, you sew strip sets and then cut them into curves. I used a variety of black and white fabrics, several of them French-themed. The quilting motif I chose included fleur-de-lis, another nod to France:

Honeymoon in Paris was beautifully quilted by Debbie Scroggy. The French-themed fabrics, combined with the fact that the pattern is based on the traditional Double Wedding Ring block, led me very easily to the name of the quilt.

Little did I know how significant the title would turn out to be!

You see, during the following year my dear friend Lisa received a proposal of marriage from her longtime beau, James. The proposal was followed by a lovely garden wedding and —  you guessed it — a honeymoon in Paris. This quilt was destined to be Lisa’s. My sister Diane is the one who introduced me to Lisa and together we gave this quilt to Lisa and James as a wedding present.

 

 

 

Posted in family, Paris, Quick Curve Ruler, Throwback Thursday, update | 6 Comments

Throwback Thursday: Marta’s Quilt (2012)

Continuing my look back at quilts I’ve made over the last 10 years, we come to Week 3 and this baby quilt I made in 2012 for my great-granddaughter Marta:

This is the first of 11 quilts I’ve made using the Quick Curve Ruler designed by Jenny Pedigo of Sew Kind of Wonderful and one of her very first patterns, Urban 9-Patch. The fuchsia diamonds in the interior of the quilt were my additions to Jenny’s design.

Three of the fabrics are from the “Party Dress” line, Portlander Mo Bedell’s debut line for Blue Hill Fabrics. Lucky me, I still have a few pieces from the line that I’m saving for other projects.

Marta’s quilt finished at 47″ square. I quilted it myself and bound it in the same fuchsia fabric (polkadots!) used in each block:

Did you happen to notice one of the blocks is different from the others?

 

 

 

 

Posted in baby quilt, family, Quick Curve Ruler, Throwback Thursday, update | 4 Comments

Throwback Thursday: I Love Paris (2011)

I’m taking a look back at some of the quilts I’ve made over the last 10 years, showing one every Thursday.

Last week I showed you Dianthus, a quilt I made in 2010. This week I’m featuring I Love Paris, made in 2011:

I Love Paris, 58″ x 64″ (2011)

The owner of the quilt shop where I was teaching at the time handed me a Lil’ Twister acrylic ruler by CS Designs and asked me to make something with it. This quilt was the result.

And the name? The heart-shaped design, the Eiffel tower, Paris map and French poodle fabrics . . . what else could I call this quilt but I Love Paris? Even the white background fabric has hearts on it, and there are different heart motifs in the quilting (beautifully done by longarm quilter Melissa Hoffman of Fiddlestitches).

Here’s a closer look at the fabrics and the quilting:

I wish I still had this quilt. A few years ago I sold it (reluctantly) to a family friend who wanted to give it to his girlfriend. He’s now married to someone else. Do you suppose the former girlfriend kept it?

Happily, some of the fabrics used in I Love Paris are still in my stash. I have no desire to make another quilt using the Lil’ Twister ruler but I would love to make another black-red-white quilt featuring the same fabrics.

In keeping with the theme, I made a heart-shaped label:

One of the first tutorials I posted on my blog when I launched it in 2012 was for I Love Paris. Just in case you’re thinking of whipping up your own version in time for Valentine’s Day (a mere five weeks away), you can find the tutorial here.

Thank you for stopping by on Throwback Thursday!

 

 

 

Posted in Paris, Throwback Thursday, tutorial, twister, update | 2 Comments

Throwback Thursday: Dianthus (2010)

First things first:  Happy New Year!! Can you believe it’s 2020?

I’m taking a look back at some of the quilts I’ve made over the last 10 years, starting in 2010. (I got the idea from Thelma at Cupcakes’n’Daisies who posted on Instagram yesterday with photos of 10 gorgeous quilts she made between 2010 and 2019. Check out her beauties at instagram.com/thelmacupcake.

For 2010 I chose this quilt, Dianthus:

Dianthus, 57″ x 67″ (2010)

The pattern is 4-Patch Stacked Posies by HD Designs. I had recently discovered the four-patch kaleidoscope block and was having great fun investigating the possibilities with other fabrics and other settings. Here you see a large strip of the focus fabric as well as the blocks that didn’t make the cut for the front of the quilt:

I quilted this one myself and I don’t mind telling you I was a bundle of nerves during the process. Here are a couple of close-ups:

I used a variegated thread of green and lavender. The color variation is very subtle, which is just what I wanted.

Why the name Dianthus? The fabric is a gorgeous melange of blossoms including tulips, hydrangeas, and carnations. Dianthus is the Latin word for carnation. The quilt wound up at the home of my twin sister, Diane. ‘Nuff said.

When Diane’s grandson Edward was a baby, the quilt was used in his bedroom at her home:


Edward is now 10 years old. (How did that happen?) He’s still a frequent overnight visitor but as you might imagine his room looks very different today. The crib has been replaced with a trundle bed, for one thing.

And the quilt? Nowadays it’s folded at the bottom of the bed in the first floor guest room and is often pulled into service for a lap quilt while watching TV. The 57″ x 67″ size makes it a good candidate for that.

Thanks for stopping by on this second day of the New Year. Do come back for next week’s Throwback Thursday to see a quilt I made in 2011.

 

 

 

Posted in 4-Patch Wonder, baby quilt, family, faux-kaleido quilts, free motion quilting, home dec, kaleidoscope quilts, Throwback Thursday, update | 4 Comments