It's Not Over Yet...More Small Quilts

They just keep coming. I know you are weary of them, but I can't stop. Most are no longer with me, and this way I get to see them again!

I made this wall hanging for a minister's 14th wedding anniversary. The applique pattern was from "The Quilted Cross". Hand appliqued and quilted.

 I bought some images on fabric at a quilt show and made little hangings for my room.

 Then I got smart and printed images on fabric with my computer!

 I bought a book of Klee's art and was inspired to see what I could do. Fused fabrics, machine quilted.

 A class with Gwen Marston taught us to create our own applique patterns. This was my quilt from that class. Hand appliqued and quilted.

 This cute pattern using handkerchiefs called Saucy Senorita always gets attention. Hand embroidered,  hand appliqued, and hand quilted.

 This handkerchief quilt is simple but vibrant. Recently gifted to a friend. Machine quilted.

I found the vintage blocks in an antique shop and set them with vintage plaid fabric. Ain't they cute?

 My first quilt guild in Jackson, MI had a Christmas fabric exchange...and a challenge using a printed on fabric poem. I used a pattern from a quilt magazine. Hand appliqued and quilted.

Do you enjoy making small quilts?

Downsizing Means Quilts Must Go

In a little over a year my husband will retire and we will leave off parsonage living and settle into our retirement home. I inherited my family home, a 1969 ranch, and we have been fixing it up for several years. It is much smaller than the housing we have lived in. SO we have to be very thoughtful about what we can keep.

Which means I have had to carefully consider which of my many quilts I can keep and which must find new homes. I have been quiltmaking since 1991 and over the years had to try many new techniques and patterns, resulting in small quilts. I have given away or donated a hundred quilts over the years. But my closet is still full.

Today I listed quilts on my etsy store, Rosemont Needle Arts. There are quite a few handkerchief quilt wall hangings. I started collecting hankies in 1993 and have 800 in my collection.

Radiant Orchid is the Pantene color of the year, and it appears in this mid-century handkerchief. It is machine quilted.

 



A 1940s pin-up girl hanky is featured in Lady Eve, surrounded by vintage clothes choices. The hand quilting patterns are traditional Japanese Shashiko.

 

 

 

I later used the vintage handkerchiefs in a different way, bringing the motifs out into the borders. This 1970s handkerchief is surrounded by borders and appliqued sunflowers, and embellished with silk flowers, buttons and a bumblebee pin.

 

One of my earliest finds, and most favorite handkerchief, is this mid-century linen hanky with Franz List's Liebestraume, which I learned to play on the piano as a girl. I used some vintage fabrics in the piecing and for the backing.

 

 

This old hanky pictures Indian head pennies! I used 1930s reproduction fabric. It is hand quilted.

 

50s Christmas handkerchiefs and a pattern from Sharon Newman's book Handkerchief Quilts were often on my table during Holiday season. It is hand quilted.

 

I also have listed some original quilts such as my Barbie Portraits. The third in a series of Barbie quilts I made, this one is young and fun.

 

 

My Morning Glory Flower Fairy image was from a 1920s book which I blogged about a few weeks ago. It uses crayon tinting, embroidery, silk flowers, beading, and has a sheet net overlay, all on silk fabric.

 There are even more quilts listed for sale. I am ready to let these children go as a part of moving on to the next stage of my life.

 

Handkerchiefs and Old Lace

Some years ago I started making collages with vintage hankys and other handwork items. I embellish with buttons, pins, tatted gloves, ribbons and trim--- anything I can find. I love making these small quilts.