Snowflake Quilts

Here is a closer look at the beading done on my Sunbonnet Sue. I wish my photography skills were as important to me as my sewing.

I just wanted to share one of the pair of antique sunbonnet sue quilts my sister and I grew up with. This quilt was on my bed (in the 70s) and its twin was on my sister's bed. It now hangs over my daughter's bed. My grandmother picked the pair up at a garage sale in Virginia in the early 70s. I think she paid $40 for the pair. Of course back then they weren't really antiques, they were just old used bedding. My grandmother was an amazing sewer and crafter. She got an MBA from Northwestern Univ from the 30s and worked for Vogue magazine briefly before getting married and starting a family. She never formally worked again, but she started a catering business for her church. She catered events at the National Cathedral in DC regularly in the 80s. She was particularly into rug hooking. I am just finishing up a quilt top for my daughter (it will go on the bed below this quilt.) I features a center medallion that is based on a design for a rug hooked chair seat, my grandmother de...

Here are the first blocks I have made as part of the Carol Doak Yahoo Group Quilting Group. I am participating in a Fat8 Swap. We have exchanged fat 1/8ths and then have to make a 12 inch block using each of your 4 people's fabric. Great fun!!

This tabletopper is the very first quilt I made and the very first time I ever used a sewing machine. It was a Ladies Night Out project at a new (in 2005) quilt shop in Williston, VT. We paid $5 and were given a pattern for a block, the fabric to make it, and the use of the store's machines. Within one week I owned my first sewing machine (a mechanical Pfaff). The last week of the series, we each designed our own layout for the blocks we made. The store's owner, June Bugbee, encouraged me to try free-motion quilting on one of the fancier Pfaff's in the store. Since I had only been sewing for about a month at that point, I didn't realize this was often considered difficult. She made it look fun and easy and made me borrow the nicer machine to quilt my finished quilt top. Needless to say, I traded in my mechanical machine for the nicer one with IDT and more stitches 2 weeks later. This is the beginning of what will be my lifelong addiction. I have been really making up ...

I want to share the first quilt pattern I created for my store which was originally designed for a friend who's son was going to Iraq. I wanted to represent America, the homefront, the yellow ribbon, and snowflakes for Vermont. Then I was asked to make the pattern available so I published it with some of the sale proceeds going to the Vermont National Guard Family Readiness Program.

Vermont Seasons with Sunbonnet Sue This quilt was entered as a challenge quilt for the Champlain Valley Quilt Guild. This quilt was an original design resulting from an absolute brainstorm. Originally, it was going to be a quick, simple traditional Sue block with Sue holding an item for each season (eg, a fall leaf for fall). However, I took a class on Accidental Landscapes with Karen Eckmeier this summer. The next thing I knew, Sue had Camel's Hump, a well-known Vermont landscape element, behind her. I also took a class with Nancy Eha on embellishing quilts with beads. Wouldn't you know...my quilt suddenly started sprouting beads everywhere. I had a lot of fun with this quilt!! Great practice for new techniques. Here are some pictures: