I’m not sure what prompted me to get started so early, but I began this quilt in January 2021, finished it in May, and finally gave it to my in-laws for Christmas. It’s double sided because I couldn’t decide between a solid version and a print version so I did both. The color palette came from a bundle of solids that I’ve had on my shelf for years (it’s Pond by Elizabeth Hartman). I tried to match the colors of the prints to the colors from the bundle. On the print side, I used a paint by number print and as many florals as I could cram in, both nods to my mother in law’s hobbies. I went with a simple sawtooth star pattern because I think it’s so classic and I wanted to make something that would look good in my in-laws’ beautiful house. I quilted it by hand, using a Baptist fan motif and some perle cotton thread. Jim and Deb have always been so good to me, and they’re the last members of my family who didn’t have a quilt from me. It felt good to finally give them one! Measures 48”x58”. Pictures by Mitch Hopper.

This quilt was born from a pile of scraps and patchwork left over from another project. I often make more patchwork than ends up going into a particular piece, and that was the case for this mini quilt I made for a guild swap. Once that mini was finished, I had some blocks left, and I was still really loving the color palette. I decided to keep going. I made some standard nine patch blocks and some disappearing nine patch blocks, just having fun with the scraps and the colors. Finally I gave each block a partial border in varying widths. This quilt gets a lot of use on our couch. It’s a good lap size. Molly Kohler quilted it for me. Mitch Hopper took final pictures. It measures 55”x71”.

Star Quilt for Jim and Deb

Disappearing Nine Patch and Leftover Stars