Category: Quilting

Fading Freedoms

Leave a comment

I feel our First Amendment freedoms are under attack, and they are slowly fading. I made this quilt to look at the words carefully and to remind me and viewers what the amendment plainly says. It gives rights to the people against government censorship and prohibits the government from preventing us from protesting peaceably.

The quilt was part of Central Virginia Modern Quilt Guild’s exhibit Censorship: Stitched Narratives of Modern Quilters at the Richmond Main Library through Election Day.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

A Magical Jog

1 Comment

This is my entry for Pick-a-Color Scrappy Challenge for QuiltCon 2027.

A Magical Jog

I store scraps by color, and although my biggest color collection wasn’t green, I knew it would be green. It reminds me of home in the mountains and reminds me to continue to grow.  I try to use my scraps as close to their shape as possible and therefore I end up with lots of straight lines.  Then, the process pushes me to add some curves. Then, I take the path of least resistance to stitch those sections together. Almost every bit of green scrap I owned found its way into in this quilt from wool to cotton to knit.  A friend said the top left “jog” was magical. It feels that way.  

I kept track of the process. You can see how parts remained the same while others didn’t make the final quilt.

I used different weights of thread and stitched mostly in the seams, wanting to celebrate every piece of scrap. It’s 42” x 42”.

THE LIFE OF A SEWGIRL

2 Comments

Our quilt guild hosted a quilt challenge based upon the colors in Taylor Swift’s album, THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL. The main colors are orange and mint.

I improvised with mostly scraps in orange, green, purple and pops of other colors.

Dancing through the Lightning Strikes

I also used a fat quarter of Carolyn Friedlander’s Polk line; it’s linen and cotton. It feels watery which felt like the album cover.

During the making of this quilt top, I developed tennis elbow in my right arm. I took corticosteroids, did stretches every day and rested for about six weeks. It worked.

The finished top looked like this:

After I basted it, I didn’t like the straight line created at the bottom so I rotated it and cut sections, then resewed them back.

To make it feel like a vinyl album, I quilted a circle around the center (sorta center).

Dancing through the Lightning Strikes

It measures 40” x 43”.

It was part of the Central Virginia Modern Quilt Guild’s exhibit, The Life of a SEWGIRL.