quilt for no. 1

A School For My Mermaid, 2009, 45" x 69"
COLLECTION OF ELIZABETH STONE

For Christmas, Liz received an oversized lap quilt from me. The fish fabric is vintage, probably from Scandanavia. The modern polka dots are from Maurine Noble. Connecting the two is a wavy strip of hand-dyed fabric, made with three 70" pattern pieces—one for the red stripe and ones for either sides.

Hand stitching encircles each fish while the side border is machine stiched-in-the-ditch. Cozy navy flannel backs the quilt.

dachshund circus quilt

Dachshund Circus Quilt, 2008, 52" x 42"
GIFTED TO MADDY JOHNSON

The inspiration for the Dachshund Circus Quilt came from vintage fabric I bought in Astoria last January. With a turquoise background, the pattern includes a big top, freak show, balloon man and Ferris wheel.

The whole cloth quilt has an appliqued dachshund and big ball. I pieced the appliques with fun, bright fabrics. Maurine Noble helped me by satin stitching a pale yellow thread around the two shapes with her fancy Bernina sewing machine.

On my machine (a 20-year old borrowed Pfaff), I free-style stitched around all the circus elements in the background. It took almost 40 hours! Just trimming all the threads took another three hours.

My big learning with this project had to do with contrast. Due to its patterning, the dachshund applique did not show up well. I added an eye with a highlight and little black nose to make the colorful blob look more like a jumping dog!

The quilt now belongs to baby Maddy, the daughter of a designer at my workplace.