Sharon's Quilt Gallery

This is the last quilt I made in our old home in Vermont. I hand tied it, but after meeting my boss, Linda, I picked out the ties and she machine quilted it. I displayed it on a guest room bed [when we had a guest room!] but decided it needed to live with my younger sister. Eggnog posed with it before I sent it to a new home.

Teasel and Mrs. Beasley felt they should be photographed on the appliqued snowball quilt.

Detail of the applique. I didn't think I could do this, but a friend who works part time for the quilt shop does meticulous hand work and kindly headed me on the right path.

I saw this pattern in an ad for a fabric line.  I looked at a similar pattern to judge the sizes of the individual components and borrowed J.'s construction calculator and several huge sheets of graph paper.  It took me  three sessions to draft the pattern and write out the cutting specs.

This quilt has a story. We lived in the first house J. built in Wyoming for about six years--and then sold it, having to move at the end of January into one that was unfinished. We stayed, with the cats, in a tiny camper borrowed from our son until the kitchen, bath and a bedroom were ready to occupy.  Our belongings were packed into a huge storage van. Being rather more organized than usual, my quilting fabrics were in big bins sorted by color groups. Staggering through the mud and snow of a winter construction site, I brought the bins into the half-finished house, set up my sewing machine in the kitchen and made this quilt. It was machine quilted by a very creative woman in town.  This is a quilt I expect to keep--just because I used some of my prettiest fabrics and making it gave a sense of normalcy to weeks that were otherwise an upheaval.

I made this Bear Paw variation for daughter G. the year before she and her family moved to Wyoming.  Math is not my strong point and when calculating the number of those beastly triangle/squares needed, I temporarily over-looked the fact that each BLOCK was composed of FOUR UNITS.  Getting this done was a labor of determination.  G. needed to remind me several times that she was due for a new quilt, before I produced the one she will have for Christmas.

How I would love to have a "studio" space and a proper "design wall."  Here a Buggy Barn pattern, "Crazy Hearts," hangs on the flannel backed tablecloth which J. pinned to the bedroom wall as a layout space.

I don't delude myself that if I had a "studio" it would be tidy, but one can dream.

I mailed this a few days ago to a dear cousin in New York state who is facing surgery and chemo. I'm always at a loss for words to tell someone that I care when they are facing illness or injury.  I hope that the gift of a quilt I have made sends a warm hug.

Teasel as a young cat, enjoying the Bear Tracks quilt.

I made this as a belated wedding gift for friends.[Belated because once again we moved into an unfinished house!]   The pattern called for an appliqued center block and at the time I hadn't attempted applique, so substituted a pieced center.

A little quilt made in March for a much longed for baby in the family.

This batik quilt was made as a "challenge" for our quilt group. It was quilted by the artful lady mentioned above. I displayed it at the shop and it was purchased last December as a Christmas gift.

A huge Log Cabin Star which I made for our king-sized lodge-pole bed--and then decided it was really too special for this tribe of cats to use as a climbing aide when they want to be on the bed.

I made this Log Cabin Star in the weeks after we had made an autumn visit to Vermont several years ago.  I was  homesick for the colors of a New England autumn and hauled out all my fabrics which represented that season.  This one was also displayed at the shop and found a new home in Germany.

The house sampler made for the genealogist cousin who shares my families' hometown roots in upstate New York.

Teasel on the Leaf quilt--one of the first ones I had finished at the shop where I now work.

It is maybe a bit of a "brag session" to post  photos of my quilts.  I beleive strongly that people who create, in whatever medium and at whatever level of skill, are more content than those who never attempt to learn a craft or challenge themselves to work through the intricacies of a project. Admittedly, the urge to "make things" can get out of hand!  I enjoy working with good fabrics, playing with colors.  Reviewing past successes may jump start me to bring out another stack of fabric--after my machine has had an inspection by the "Sew Fix-It" doctor who will be spending the week at the shop.  And no, nothing else will be completed before Christmas!  Maybe Ground Hog Day--or the first day of Spring.