Show and tell, Birds in Toyland…

Amy Fisher sent in this photo of her newly finished Birds in Toyland quilt. I love that she embraced the applique, embellishing, and hand quilting to make a wonderful quilt that she and her family are sure to treasure. Read more below…

Of course, life happened… but I finally finished my quilt on Monday. I enjoyed the entire process. I’m not the best hand quilter, but I got better by the end.  I had never done well at appliqué, but I got better the more I did. I absolutely loved figuring out how I wanted to embellish each piece. And I loved the embroidery part. I used a turkey stitch on many of the hats. But I would never do the lettering the same again…even though I like how it turned out: all those French knots and beads! Took forever!

Thank you so much for all of your videos, all of your clear explanations. Your friendly personality is what simply makes it all special.

Amy Fisher

Thank you, Amy, for sharing your quilt and the story with us! If you are interested in the book, click here. Click here for the online class on Creative Spark.

Show and tell…

Jill Isakson sent these photos and the story about this lovely ribbon-winning quilt made by her, Linda Neal, and quilted by Richard Larson The oak leaf border is from my pattern, The Anniversary Quilt. which is in our ebook, Flowering Favorites.

My Lucky Stars, whose applique border is based on your design from the Anniversary Quilt has received a 3rd place award at AQS Quilt Show in Paducah, KY. I did the fabric selection, overall design and piecing, Linda Neal appliquéd our adaptation of your border design, and Richard Larson did the fabulous quilting. Thank you for your inspiration and beautiful border design. It truly is the icing on the cake.  

Regards – Jill Isakson

Well done Jill, Linda, and Richard and thank you for sharing your exciting quilt with us all!

Show and tell…

Jean Moore sent this photo of her very cute quilt top and said…

Not sure how many years these flower squares waited for attention. Here they are!

Jean, I can help with a date! The blocks are from our pattern, Garden Blooms, that was first published in American Patchwork & Quilting in 2008. It has never been in a book but you can find it here.

Thank you, Jean, for sharing your very happy quilt with us! I look forward to seeing when you get it quilted :-).

Show and Tell, Whimsical Quilt Garden…

Fazie Mohamed sent me this photo of her wonderful quilt and the story to go with it… This is her first applique quilt!

I love all your patterns and I am a new applique quilter. My quilt guild had an exhibition in February 2023 and when I found out about the exhibition last June, I challenged myself to make my first applique quilt to enter into the exhibition.

With your pattern and help from my quilting friends, I was able to finish my quilt and entered it into the exhibition. 

Attached is a photo taken at the exhibition and my quilt won an Honorable Mention award. Thanks for inspiring me with your wonderful pattern. I added a whimsical tree, birdhouse, lots of crystals, etc.

Fazie Mohamed

Well done, Fazie! You made a lovely quilt and I love the border you added to it! Thank you for sharing it with all of us :-).

Click here if you are interested in making your own Whimsical Quilt Garden quilt.

Show and tell… Whimsical Quilt Garden

Renee Thompson wrote to say that she thought I might enjoy this—and she was right! Thank you, Renee for sharing your Whimsical Garden quilt with us :-).

I started to appliqué these blocks when I retired, with fabrics that I purchased ages ago. It’s really out of my wheelhouse now, since I work primarily in 1800’s reproduction fabrics.

I really enjoyed every bit of the handwork; and this is my favorite surface quilting project because of the wide open spaces. 

It’s currently in my dining room, amid the primitive decor, just because I find it delightful during the dreary months of March and April in Wisconsin!

Renee, I love the way you set your blocks—the sashing is perfect. And I also like the floating hexie flowers in the border. Nice choices all. Thank you again for sharing.

The blocks are from our book, My Whimsical Quilt Garden, that is now only available in an ebook format.

Show and tell…

Gail Rowland wrote to say:

I wanted to email you long before now. I truly enjoyed making this quilt with all my heart. I’ll admit I made some errors…. The biggest was jumping in without all my fabrics selected. Some struggle in that area but learned some much. 

Thank you for designing a wonderful very versatile composition. I have seen your pattern done in many color ways with much success. I can imagine that feels so good. 

Gail’s quilt was a winner in the Dallas Quilt Show where I was a judge. Her quilt is as pretty in person as it is here! Below is a photo of the quilt wearing it’s ribbon:

Gail embroidered around many of the lighter applique shapes which helped them to be more visible against the background. It is a nice touch!

Thank you, Gail, for sharing your quilt at the show and here! FYI: the pattern is Aunt MIllie’s Garden and you can find the epattern here.