~Among Brenda's Quilts~

A Garden of Hearts 85 x 103”, 2004

Designed by Sandy Bonsib with the pattern from the book Potting Shed Patchwork published by That Patchwork Place. The Huron Perth Quilters Guild has produced this quilt in reds and whites as a charity quilt for The Quilt Project in Stratford, Ont. to raise money for breast cancer. The guild quilt is entitled Hearts A Glow. If you follow the link you will see my block, second from the left in the second row. Embroidered on the block background are the words “love true, love strong” I think of my choir friend Raija who recently began her radiation and chemo treatments.

A Quilter's Garden Fall 2002 81x98"

Here’s a block of the month project you have probably run into at shows in practically every area of North America. The colours attracted me. Designed by Lynette Jenson of Thimbleberries and hand quilted by The Strathroy United Church Quilters.

Australian Leaf (99x82" finished 2003)

From Australian Patchwork and Quilting, vol.8 No. 2. I thought I'd do this quilt in brighter colours than the browns and yellows used in the example with flashes of colour added to the leaf borders. The border fabric shows leaves on water. I was very pleased with the outcome of this top and had it machine quilted with swirls representing wind, or water movement. I changed the corner block tipping the leaves with the same slashed border.

Cat's Cradle Quilt 53 x 67”, 2004

From McCall’s Quick Quilts, Jan. 2001 edition. Pattern entitled I’ll Fly Home For Christmas by Joy Hoffman. I hand quilted this while recuperating over a 6 week period from double bunion surgery. Fussy cut cats in a Debbie Mumm fabric. .

Lost In The Cornfield, 36 x 48” , 1998

Designer Kris Kerringan from Fons and Porter’s, For the Love of Quilting, Sept/Oct 2000 edition. This quilt remains one of my favourite fall wall quilts. Perky little chickens pecking up button corn in the fields. Machine quilted on my Pfaff home sewing machine.

Feathered Log Cabin 63 x 63”, 2006

I had wanted to try my hand at machine quilting feather plumes for some time and this unfinished quilt top was the medium I choose to practise on. The stitching was done in a lightweight monofilament thread to hide the inevitable errors. I followed instructions for machine quilting from the book Machine Quilting, A Primer of Techniques by Sue Nickels. The quilt was washed upon completion to provide an old fashioned, slightly shrunken look.

Home for the Harvest 63 x 15”

By Nancy Smith and Lynda Milligan of Possibilities Publishing. Fusible web with buttonhole stitching. Honestly this was a tedious project with all the buttonhole stitching. Some day someone will invent a fusible web that really works.

Irish Chain 2003

From Start Quilting 2nd Edition by Alex Anderson, CT publishing. A simple beauty. Hand quilted by myself.

Lone star and Stripes 58x58", 2006

This vibrant wall hanging was inspired by the pattern of Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins of Piece O’Cake designs. Their quilt used fusible appliqué in the corners making an easily completed piece. The quilt was featured on the cover of American Patchwork and Quilting Aug. 2003 issue. I decided to do the flowers using a three dimensional look that had been taught in a Huron Perth Quilter’s Guild workshop by Renske Helmuth of Moorefild Ontario. See Renske Helmuth Quilt. I also used a design for the secondary flower from the book by Kumiko Sudo entitled Folded Flowers. My idea with the 3D look was that it would be less time consuming than regular needle turn appliqué. Not true! The appliqué in the project was completed during 2 years worth of camping trips to Restoule Provincial Park and a retreat to the Ottawa area. Hand quilted by myself with shadow quilting and a leaf motif in the stars diamond.

Mad About Plaid 70 x 54”, 2005

From the Book of the same name by Debbie Bacon, publisher That Patchwork Place. The technique used to make this quilt was taught to our guild by our program director Susan Christie. This is a great way to use up scrap. Finished with a piano key border and machine quilted on my Pfaff home sewing machine.

Renske Helmut Workshop Quilt 31” square, 2003

Renske came to our guild to teach a workshop. An accomplished quilter and teacher, her class was well received by guild members. Renske is affiliated with Mennonite Relief Fund in the Kitchener/Waterloo area. I would recommend her to any guild for her teaching and trunk show/ lecture. As well as the three dimensional flowers done in fabric, Renske instructed us on how to create pansies using wired variegated silk ribbon. I am still trying to find a supplier for that ribbon!

Strawberry Runner 21 x 30” 2005

Strawberry Garden, Another penny rug, this time by Pat Sloan & Co., design by Anna Weber. The pattern showed a lovely hand dyed pink/red felted wool for the strawberries. I couldn’t find anything like this anywhere. It would be nice if the odd store devoted some space to that sort of product.

Teapot Table Topper 32” round, 2004

Here’s a bigger project by Robb’n Graves Designs. The company has also developed a similar project for dog and for cat lovers.

We Three Kings (2) 17 x 27 ½” 2005

From Quilters Newsletter Magazine, Quilt It for Christmas, 2005 by Dilys Fronks. Each year this magazine offers a new appliqué silhouette Christmas project from this designer. Note that you get two images, one positive and one the negative image. Quick and easy to complete. Keep one and give the other away.

Washington Cherry Basket 80 1/2 x 97 1/2” , 2006

Designed by American Quilter Nancy Rink and featured in Quilt Works Today Oct/Nov 2003. A study in value in red and white this quilt’s toile fabric ties the design together. I love toile and the colour red. I also have an attraction to 2 colour quilts. Machine quilted by Tim Bobier of The Marsh Store in Coldstream, Ontario.

Rising Sun Wallhanging, 42 ½” square, 2004

Designer Carol Gilham Jones. From the book, Americas Printed Fabrics 1770 –1890 by Barbara Brackman. Who hasn’t been attracted to the New York Beauty block? A nice small project to satisfy you need to make a New York Beauty Quilt. Beginners, be forewarned that this kind of work may be a year or two into your future. Machine quilted on my Pfaff home sewing machine.

Hare Affair Wallhanging, 29 x 34”, 2005

Designed by The Rabbit Factory. I used three types of appliqué to complete this attractive little bunny, needleturn, fusible and pocket appliqué.

Snowflakes, 2005

Designed by Eileen Bahring Sullivan. Each snowflake took 6 hours to complete. A mammoth job but nice results. I added a few sparkly seed beads to the snowflakes and gave this table topper to my Mom for Christmas.

Love Never Melts 2004

A cute penny rug designed by Sew Unique Creations. I bought an old wool blazer at the local thrift shop and felted it (washed it numerous times in hot water and dried it in the dryer) for the patterned wool. Do be careful with purchased wool off the bolt. The dye in it very often runs horribly.

Candy Corn Rug, 14 x 22” 2004

An autumn penny rug which is quick to make by Pat Sloan in Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting Sept/Oct 2003 edition

Star Light Star Bright Quilting Tote, 19 ½” x 25”

Designed by The Button Bush with button and embroidery embellishment and fusible appliqué. A super simple bag to put together with lots of country appeal.

Paul’s University Quilt, single bed sized, 2004

Paul’s University Quilt, single bed sized, 2004 (no pic yet) My son Paul went off to University in 2004 and I sent along this quilt especially made to fit his residence bed. Done in civil war type prints it has a manly feel to it. Machine quilted by Mary Anne Charlton.

The Sweatshop Boys Project, 50 x 50”, 2006

Follow this link to the sweatshop boys to hear about the fun project I did with my nephews. Pattern, Crazy for Flannel from Fons and Porters love of Quilting, Jan/Feb, 2005. This is a simple flannel rag patch quilt that I made with my 3 nephews when they came for a weekend sleepover. Each had a sewing machine and worked away at the sewing - something none of them had ever tried before. Sometimes they had to wait for the next piece and during this break they watched our extensive collection of old Rocky and Bullwinkle videos.

Mom’s Sofa Quilt, 41 x 53”, 2004

From Nap Time by Kelly Corbridge from McCalls Quick Quilts, March 2001 edition. I have made this quilt several times in a fish, teddy bear and kiddy motif. I gave this one to my Mother. Mom doesn’t come from a quilting heritage and thus uses her quilt to “protect her new sofa from UV rays”. When not doing UV sentry duty the quilt simply covers the seat of the new sofa so that the sofa is protected from dirt. Ugh!

• Lesson 1. Make sure the recipient of your quilting gift has some idea of what you are giving them.
• Lesson 2: Mom’s can get away with anything.

Hand quilted by myself.

Pinwheel Table Topper, 34 x 45” 2003

From McCalls Quick Quilts, Winter 1997 by Kelly Corbridge. This was a nice small piece to do some hand quilting on. It covers the ring on my dining room table.

Pennies From Heaven Quilt, 63 x 75”

Practically every evening my Labrador Retriever Hershey insists that I walk her in a clover field near our home. The sun shines right at us from the west as we walk in those purple and green fields which are aflutter with bugs and butterflies. That’s the inspiration for the design of this quilt. The name of the quilt occurred to me on one of those quiet thoughtful walks. We often forget that the “pennies from heaven”, the little wonders of life like butterflies and sunshine and good company are much more important that our worldly pursuits. The central sun motif was created at a local guild class for the New York Beauty block taught by Judith Elder-McCartney of Design Concepts in Seaforth. Not wanting to complete an entire quilt using this method, I designed to suit myself around the sun. The three dimensional dragon fly figures are taken form the book Folded Flowers by Kumiko Sudo. Machine Quilted by Mary Anne Charlton, hand beaded by Heather Campbell both of Strathroy.

Country Nites Jacket

Here's a scrappy country jacket I've made that gets a lot of use and doesn't look too bulky. Country Nites Jacket by A Little More Effect Inc. (10736-124 Street Edmonton, Alberta T5M 0H1). Pattern #0520. The one pattern gives you sizes 8 to 24. I made mine a size bigger than usual to fit sweaters underneath.

Love in the Cabin, 2006

Handquilted. I've been working on this one for some time, dragging it along on vacations in the woods, and handquilting it in front of the tv every so often. It was the perfect wedding gift for Ginnie and Nate. I finished it just a couple of weeks after they came back from their honeymoon. So much for deadlines. Oh well, they didn't complain -- to me, at least.

Roosters & Sunflowers - finished Feb.2007

Here is one of those 'stalled projects' that finally got completed. I really liked these roosters when I bought them on a guild 'shop hop' from some store up north. This was a paper-pieced and applique wallhanging designed by Kathy Love of Love Quilt Patterns. I had the thing pieced and sitting in the back of my closet for about four years (!). I had left it there because I wanted to do a nice job on the quilting, but there were just so many other projects on the go. Priorities, priorities. I had actually approached a couple of people to hand quilt it for me, but there were no takers. It got to the point where I needed chickens, I must have chickens, so off it went to the machine quilter! Tim Bobier of The Marsh Store did a nice job with it.

New York Beauty - finished Feb.2008

My sister-in-law needed a quilted wallhanging to give as a gift to their friends, to go along with a quilt rack that my brother had made in his woodworking shop. I had this one almost finished, and I was willing to part with it. The 'New York Beauty' block reminds me of the crown of the Statue of Liberty, but curiously, I think the quilt block is actually older than that famous gift of the French to the Americans. This one was quilted by Tim Bobier of The Marsh Store, and I finished binding it in Feb. 2008.