Patchouli Moon Studio: Patchouli Moon Studio quilts made before blogging

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Quilts I Made Before I Started Blogging

I came across some photos of quilts, and things that I made some years ago before I started this blog, so I thought it might be fun to post those, since all I have left of most of these are the photos...

This quilt is from the Alphabet Quilt Pattern I wrote and designed. (To purchase the pdf pattern see my Craftsy patterns on the right side bar). When I worked at the local library, Tracie, a co-worker needed a quilt for a baby and I made this for her. I changed it a bit from my own pattern, adding flowers in the corners, with the baby's name written on the flower centers.

The border fabric here was from an "ugly fabric challenge" that a small group I belonged to wanted to do. This is the fabric I received and at first I was going in a different direction with what I wanted to do, then it stuck me to make a Stack and Whack quilt. I love those quilts because it's such a surprise to see what you end up getting and I loved how all the hexagons turned out. Hard to believe those hexagons were made from that border fabric. I donated this quilt to Project Linus several years ago.

This is the back of the Stack and Whack quilt. Those red and purple shapes was what I was going to do for the entire front of the quilt, but then decided on doing the Stack and Whack instead. So I added those rows on the back of this quilt.

Close-up of the Stack and Whack hexagon and my "free form quilting". I wasn't too good at free motion quilting then, so I just used a walking foot and went in all directions when quilting this.

I am a vegan and entered a contest several years ago to make a quilt block or a double size quilt block (this one is double sized) about the cruelty of the fishing industry. The contest wasn't to win anything, but they would use all the quilt blocks and make a quilt to let the public know what really happens in the fishing industry. This is my original quilt block. I could embellish it and I did add lots of different embellishments.

Here is a close-up. I used some leaves from artificial flowers to look like seaweed. I added beads, sequins, metal washers, tulle and appliqued the fish. The background fabric I had painted with paint that reacts to objects that you place on top of the wet paint and leaves images. I used washers, a key and other objects on the painted cloth.

I remember making these blocks, but I really don't remember where this quilt went. I imagine I donated it to Project Linus as I donated many of my quilts to that organization.

The blocks in this quilt was made by several women in a group I used to belong to. They each wrote a quote of their choice in the center of the blocks. Again I probably made this and donated it, but I really didn't even remember this quilt until I came across the photo. I wasn't too computer savvy back then and didn't rename my photos with a caption, I just left the number of the photo on it, so now I know better.

These quilt blocks also came from that same group of women where we exchanged quilt blocks. I still have this quilt and use it as my picnic quilt to spread on the grass whenever we go to a park. It's backed with that same navy blue fabric that you see on the top.

I knit this sweater for a co-worker when I worked at the library. Kris' daughter was expecting her first child and thus making Kris a grandmother for the first time. Since I didn't know the sex of the child, I found this soft chenille green yarn.

Purse I made for a friend several years ago. She loves sea turtles and batiks, so this was the perfect fabric combination as both fabrics are batiks.

Back of the purse.

This was a scarf I knit for a friend. I added green eyelash yarn to the regular green yarn to give it that fuzzy look. I sure have come a long, long way since knitting that scarf.

More purses I made that same year I made the black and green one above. These were all gifts I gave away.

I made an all heart quilt in scraps like this (without the house) and it's been on my wall for years. Funny I can barley remember this one. This is only the top, so I have no memory if I even quilted it. Could it be in my pile of UFO's still? If it is I will finish this. If not, where did I give this one to? Oh well, maybe all that is left is this photo. I like making those heart blocks as they use up scraps and are small blocks, but they are paper-pieced, which I am not too fond of doing. At least this is an easy paper-piecing block. *** Okay the memory just kicked on about this one (especially after seeing I signed this)...I made this large block for a quilt guild member who moved out of state a few years ago.

My daughter loves all things Irish/Celtic, so I made her this and it hangs in her kitchen. I used St. Patrick Day fabric for the green fabric and center of the block and this is a double (or is a triple?) Irish Chain quilt.

This was made way, way back in the late 1970's. I was in college and we had to make a final project that had to be 3-D in one of the art classes I was taking. I chose to make a quilt, since I knew how to make the blocks, but hadn't actually made an entire quilt yet from start-to-finish. This was made before there ever were rotary cutters, so this was all stitched by hand and I cut out every piece with scissors after tracing each piece with pencil onto the fabric back using a cardboard template. I used the quilt-as-you-go method to quilt this. I was dating my boyfriend, (who is my husband of 32 years this August) and I took my quilt pieces with me everywhere we went so I could get it done. I did complete it and got an "A" in my art class too. It was our quilt for many years and now my daughter has it, because she likes brown.

A closer look. This the the Grandmother's Fan, set in the Mohawk Trail setting. So many fabrics have faded in this quilt since I made it in the late '70's. There is also a few stains. I have learned so much since that first quilt of mine.

I made this one called The Navajo block. I wasn't good at the quilting part then, so not so great there. I gave this one away to Japan after their natural disasters there a few years ago.

Scrappy crazy quilt. I made so many small blocks trying to use up scraps of fabric and then sewed them all together. I added an off white flannel as a backing (see turned over corner in the right corner of photo). I had intended on donating this quilt after I made it, but my husband loves it. He likes the soft flannel on the back to put on his lap when we watch movies on the telly. Who knew it would be one of his favorites?

I made this when my son was about 11 or 12 years old. Hand quilted it, machine sewed the pieces. My son will be 27 in a few months.

Closer look at the hand quilting.

I was commissioned by a co-worker several years ago to make a tee-shirt quilt using her daughter's tee-shirts from her marathon races. I found the perfect fabric as the backing fabric and the filler fabric on the front of the quilt too. Since so many tee-shirts were all different sizes, I put the small ones in the corners, the center area I placed the same size shirts and figured out out to place the rest using filler fabric around the tee-shirts. I found a red print to add to the border.