Marion Stolmeier from Sale City, GA, sent me these photos of her newly finished Butterfly Garden quilt. It’s a breath of spring-like air :-).
She wrote: “I just wanted to share my version of your butterfly garden quilt with you and say thank you for the great pattern. I altered it a little bit by turning the rows of tulips on the sides. I made the quilt a couple of years ago but didn’t have the confidence to quilt it until now. I’m so happy with it. Happy Quilting!
Thank you, Marion, for sharing your quilt with us. You did a great job on the applique and on the quilting!
Connie Werner sent me a photo of her completed Birds in Toyland quilt and it is fantastic! She changed the design of the top, center, block making the tree bend over with the big ornament. That is super cute and I wish I had thought of it myself!
Connie was in one of the original live Birds in Toyland classes that I taught on Creative Spark during the pandemic. She wrote: “This is my finished Birds in Toyland. Your class made COVID shutdown much happier. Thank you for all your wonderful teaching.“
Connie, you are very welcome. This quilt made lots of us happy during that long, trying time—and if you haven’t made it yet, it can still make you happy! You can find the online class here, or the book here. Happy stitching!
Peggy Schemenauer sent this photo of her Aunt Millie’s Garden quilt that she machine appliquéd and was long arm quilted by Debbie Ramsey, completed in 2005. The color scheme is happy and the layout has space to let the blocks breathe.
I love the scallops around the blocks! They are similar to but very different from the scallops in Nancy Arseneault’s quilt from a previous post.
Alice Smith sent this photo and she wrote:
“I have always loved this pattern and finally jumped in and made it. It wasn’t quick but I persevered and eventually it was finished. The red background always intrigued me so I wanted to do the same which did turn out challenging. During COVID lockdown I spent a lot of time in my sewing room making the flying geese for the sashing I designed. I am so happy with how it turned out. Thank you to you and Linda for your wonderful patterns. (PS this one was in the AQS 2023 Paducah Show)”
The red background is beautiful and eye-catchiing. I love the way you arranged the colors of the flying geese… they quietly lead your eyes through the quilt. Well done!
I’m in NYC and just visited the Folk Art Museum where a wide variety of old and new quilts are on display. Loved seeing Paula Nadelstern‘s kaleidoscope quilt in the exhibit… I wanted to tell those around me that I know her and how wonderful she is, but I just smiled and kept that inside because it is a museum, after all 🤣.
I spent time with this quilt top by an unknown maker. I love both the structure and the freedom of the design. Notice the way the applique fills most blocks, going right up to the seam lines. There isn’t sashing and there doesn’t need to be. And the leaves and stems are cut from only two fabrics. I wonder if she ran out of one green and had to switch in the middle of making the quilt?
The applique stitches are invisible but if it were judged today, some might find faults…
It is subtle, but you can see the vines and leaves shadowing through the white flowers, outer points on the ostriches are blunt. I like that the hand of the maker can be felt and I think she was enjoying her stitching.
Hanging next to the quilt were some of the original templates which I find to be illuminating.
First, she drew on printed paper that was probably not stiff. She did not require “special” paper. I will say right here that I am happy that I can use heavier paper and I like that I can cover it with peel and stick laminate 🤣.
Second, it looks like she she drew at least some of the shapes by hand and then cut them out. Notice how she adjusted the outer edges to make the shape easier to sew.
The beak is blunt on purpose and the funky toes on the feet of the ostrich are the way she intended them to be. Now look at the block again.
So what are the lessons this quilt teaches?
One big lesson to be learned here is that we are way too judgmental of our own stitching.
We might be too judgy when it comes to other peoples’ stitching as well.
I am reminded once again there can be a lot of freedom in a design that has a tight structure.
While I love working with lots and lots of different fabrics, it’s good to be reminded that you can do a lot with just a few.
I hope you enjoy this quilt as much as I do. Happy stitching!
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 :-).
Piece O Cake Blog 