Appliqué

I've been intimidated by and interested in appliqué for a long time. I finally screwed up my courage and machine appliquéed this quilt in 1995. I used a pattern for most of the dogs, but I designed the Doberman myself and made other changes that would reflect the dogs I've known and loved. They are in an Attic Windows setting to give them their own spaces. The dogs are echo quilted by hand, and they have a supply of dog biscuits quilted in the borders. The pattern I used was called "Family Dogs," created by Critter Pattern Works, and the quilt is roughly 45" x 44".

I like tea, so when I saw the pattern for this quilt, I just couldn't resist! This was done using the same technique as for the dogs. That is, the pots were fused and then machine satin stitched. However, instead of hand quilting, I machine quilted this piece. It was only the second time I'd done free-motion quilting on the machine, but the quilt won a blue ribbon in the 1998 county fair. What a lovely surprise! The quilt measures 34" x 32".

And here's a detail of the center teapot:

Celtic Table Runner

This is hand appliquéed and the hand quilting echoes the appliqué motifs both in the "ditch" and 1/4" away. Here's a close-up of the quilting:

It measures 13.25" x 47" (tip to tip) and was finished in June, 2005.

Cabo San Lucas

This is not only appliqué; it's also drappliqué! I took a class from Pam Holland at Quilt Camp in the Pines in July, 2005, and her technique combines machine appliqué with drawing on the fabric with special pens to make the fabric look the way we need it to look. The quilt is entirely machine appliquéed and quilted, measuring 19" x 23". I finished it in September, 2005. I didn't actually do that much quilting, since the appliqué was combined with the quilting in the main part of the piece. The wide border is quilted in a stylized wave pattern.

And here is the photo that inspired the quilt:

Gazebo

And here is the second piece from a Pam Holland class at Quilt Camp in the Pines in 2005. This one is also drappliqué; the gazebo itself is machine appliquéed in place, but all of the plants and pots are drawn onto the fabric with the same special pens as were used in the landscape quilt.  I machine quilted this one, too, with flowers in the blue borders and leaves in the green cornerstones, stippling the muslin background. It measures 23 1/4" x 26 3/4", and I finished it in September, 2005.

Hummingbird Quilt

This isn't exactly appliqué, but it's sort of related. <G> It's called "appli-bond", a technique developed by Joan Shay. I took a class from her at Quilt Camp in the Pines in 2006 and finished the top reasonably soon afterwards. However, I didn't get around to quilting it until August and September, 2007.

Each flower petal and leaf, as well as every feather on the hummingbird, is a separate piece. Each is double-sided, stitched on separately, then curled with a hot iron. These pieces all had to be sewn on by hand, using a leather needle. Here is a detail of the hummingbird and some of the quilting:

I machine quilted leaves and vines to continue the idea of the flowers and leaves. The quilt measures approximately 31 1/2" square, and the piecing and quilting were all machine-done.

Dragonflight

After a machine appliqué class from Sharon Schamber, I used her technique to make this small quilt. It's a gift intended for my eye doctor, who has gone above and beyond for the past few years to get my eyes to work in a more normal fashion. The dragon on the quilt came from a pattern by Carol Bruce, and I added double corded piping between the quilt and the binding. I machine quilted the piece using a variegated thread in shades of lavender and raspberry to do feathers, small pebbles and flowing lines.

Here is a close-up shot of some of the quilting:

Spring Daffodil

This quilt is the result of the class with Sharon Schamber on machine appliqué; I took it in order to be able to make the Dragonflight quilt, above. I didn't have enough fabric to make binding, so I experimented with making a facing instead, and I'm quite happy with the result. I began the quilt in July, 2008, and finished it in March, 2009. It is entirely machine appliquéed and machine quilted on my home machine, and it measures approximately 16" x 29". 

Below are a couple of close-up shots of the quilting. I used lots of feathers and several different styles of stippling to make the feathers show easily.

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