Category Archives: Quilts

Sunrise and Sunset

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I’ve recently finished these two commissioned quilts. My client has two spare bedrooms with a bathroom in between. She wanted two related quilts and I was originally going to use some Ghanaian fabric that her daughter had purchased in Ghana. My ideas for incorporating the African fabric were not resonating, so my client decided to ditch the idea of African themed quilts. When I showed her photos of my Tropical Matrix quilt made from my template-free Op-Art Kaleidoscope blocks, she loved it and decided that she’d like similar quilts. I’ve been collecting hand-dyed fabrics for several years, mostly purchased from Judy Robertson who would come to our local annual quilts shows as a vendor. The block design lends itself well to using these fabrics. The border fabrics are also hand-dyed and were from Cherrywood. Sunrise has a soft color palette with a blue border, and Sunset with purple borders tends more towards the brighter oranges. The quilts are around 75″ x 75″ and sit on top of the king sized beds. They were both beautifully long-arm quilted by Wanda Rains. The Op-Art Kaleidoscope technique is illustrated in my videos and the pattern is available at my on-line store.

Teddy Bear and Doll Quilts

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I’ve used most of my left over rogue quilt blocks and a few odd samples from workshops that I’ve taken to make little teddy bear and doll quilts. These are a great way to use up scraps and I also had several odd four-patches ready to go that were left over from all the baby quilts we made to send to Mongolia last year. My local quilt guild, Kitsap Quilters’ Guild, collects these from our members and donates them to Kitsap Community Services. We wrap teddies and dolls in these little quilts and our local police, firefighters and social workers give them to kids who are in distress or in traumatic situations. I recently delivered this pile of 13 quilts to our guild representative who coordinates this Kitsap Snuggles outreach project.

Maggie’s Sampler Quilt

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During our Stay Home, Stay Healthy orders, I’ve been attempting to tackle some long overdue projects and the clearing of storage bins in my garage. In my last blog, I showed you a quilt made from friendship blocks that were given to me. The sampler quilt here was made from blocks mostly accumulated over the last 20 years or so. For a while, I taught a Block of the Month class to a small group. Many of the blocks were created as demos to teach a variety of patterns and techniques. A couple were given to me by Joanne Bennett and Marcia Barrett. The fan on the bottom row is much older. It was a gift to me from my dear friend Anita Hejtmanek for my 30th birthday in my very early days of quilting.

The nine blocks placed on the diagonals, (variously named as Courthouse Square, Grandmother’s Pride and Beggar Block), were given to me by June Campbell. I loved the blocks and was surprised when she offered them to me. When I came to piece them together, I discovered the problem was that their unfinished sizes ranged from 11.75″ to 12.5″. The solution was to frame every block and then trim them all to the same size. This was successful and these small discrepancies in block size are not noticeable. The quilt is 84″ x 84″, and beautifully machine quilted by Wanda Rains.

Maggie’s Friendship Quilt

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I’ve been rescuing unfinished projects from bins in my garage and am making efforts to get better organized. It’s amazing what you find when you start digging around! I’ve recently finished this double-sided Friendship Quilt. When I was President of Kitsap Quilters’ Guild about 12 years ago, members gave me 16-patch blocks. I clustered in these in groups of four to make the 16 large blocks of 64 squares. The border took a surprisingly long time to complete. I cut scraps into 2½” squares and I needed over 550 of them to make the borders three squares deep all the way around.

The back of the quilt is made from blocks given to me in 1988 when I left Fayetteville, AR. They were made by members of Quilters United in Learning Together (Q.U.I.L.T.), my first quilt group in Northwest Arkansas where I learnt to quilt. Some of you receiving this newsletter may recognize your blocks! Thanks to Wanda Rains for her fantastic long-arm quilting and Joanne Bennett for instructions on two fabric double-sided binding (red on top and blue on back, the first time I’ve done this).

Farewell, Retro-Radiation

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I recently gave this bed quilt, Retro-Radiation, away to a friend who lost most of her belongings when her apartment caught fire a few weeks ago.

I gave her a choice of two quilts and I accurately predicted that this would be her pick. She loves the colors and since she is a piano tuner, the piano keys borders seemed most appropriate. Here you can see four of the 16 Op-Art Kaleidoscope blocks. These blocks are made using my template-free technique (see my video) which is very easy and fun. I have patterns available at my on-line store. Look closely to see the awesome long-arm quilting by Wanda Rains.

Below, the border is illustrated. The wavy line which looks like rickrack is a fussy-cut fabric. The piano keys border features all of the fabrics from the center field of the quilt. In the lower left corner, you can see the small Kaleidoscope block which is in the mid-point of the side. This looks like a radiation warning sign.

Kitsap Quilters’ Guild Show, May 2019 (1)

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Our rescheduled Kitsap Quilters’ Guild 33rd Annual Quilt Show was very successful with good attendance and all of the logistics running smoothly. My only entry, Lauret’s Stars, was awarded first place by our peer judges in the Large Pieced Group category. Group quilts are those made by more than one person. For my entry, I did the designing and piecing and the quilt was exquisitely long-arm quilted by Wanda Rains. This quilt was commissioned and I was fortunate that my client allowed me to borrow it from her for the show.

The quilt is king-sized, 105″ x 105″, which is very large. Our guild has a few extra tall quilt stands for the really big quilts and it was great to be able to see it in its entirety. I spent more than 200 hours piecing the quilt over a period of 18 months. My client was extremely patient when life got in the way and my time was eaten up helping to care for my twin grandchildren as well as traveling to teach. I had a push to finish it by February for the show, which was then rescheduled to May because of the snow. Here’s a detailed shot showing the lovely machine quilting and the blue ribbon.

Baby Quilts for Mongolian Newborns (2)

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The response to my request for baby quilts for newborns in Mongolia has been fantastic and we have received over 100 quilts! I’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity and support of the quilting and my church communities for this project. Thank you to you all. Quilts have come not just from my local area, but from as far afield as CA,IL and OR. We’ve also received some crocheted baby blankets. Special thanks goes to Wanda Rains, who long-arm machine quilted 50 of the quilts. On Sunday we covered the pews at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Bainbridge Island, WA with quilts for our 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. services and the parishioners laid their hands on them for a special blessing. Everyone was delighted to see the quilts and the church looked especially beautiful.

These quilts will be packed in boxes this week to be shipped in a container leaving for Mongolia next week, (6th May, 2019). They should arrive in early July. We will display them at the 3rd International Mongolian Quilt Show at the State Department Store in Ulaanbaatar on 1st-3rd August. This quilt show will celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Mongolian Quilting Center. After the quilt show, we will travel in the Mongolian countryside and distribute the quilts to babies in rural hospitals.


Baby quilts arriving here after tomorrow and before the end of June, will be carried in our suitcases when we go to Mongolia in July.

5th Grade Quilt Project (2)

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Earlier this year, I spent time at Chestnut Hill Academy in Bellevue working with 5th Grade students to make two quilts. This blog features one, The Rain Forest, and my blog last week featured the other, The Ocean. In their science classes they were studying different habitats and each child selected an animal for detailed study. They made line drawings of their animals on 10″ quilt blocks and then spent 2-3 weeks hand embroidering.


We were delighted with the results and the enthusiasm with which the kids embraced this project. The embroidery was challenging for some, but they all enjoyed it and persevered. When the blocks were completed, I took my sewing machine to school and worked individually with each child as they machine stitched the block frames. They were proud of their work and so were we. Here are a couple of detailed shots.

The children determined the block layout and decided to arrange it according the height of rain forest which each animal occupied, hence the canopy dwellers are at the top of the quilt and the ground dwellers at the bottom. I assembled the quilt top and Wanda Rains machine quilted it. The quilt was auctioned at a school fundraiser the proceeds of which go towards special projects and field trips to enhance the curriculum. The two quilts raised just over $5,000! For me, the educational value was enormous and the money generated at the auction was just the icing on the cake.

5th Grade Quilt Project (1)

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Earlier this year, I spent time at Chestnut Hill Academy in Bellevue working with 5th Grade students to make two quilts. This blog features one, The Ocean, and my blog next week will feature the second, The Rainforest. In their science classes they were studying different habitats and each child selected an animal for detailed study. They made line drawings of their animals on 10″ quilt blocks and then spent 2-3 weeks hand embroidering.

We were delighted with the results and the enthusiasm with which the kids embraced this project. The embroidery was challenging for some, but they all enjoyed it and persevered. When the blocks were completed, I took my sewing machine to school and worked individually with each child as they machine stitched the block frames. They were proud of their work and so were we. Here are a couple of detailed shots.

The children determined the block layout and decided to arrange it according the depth of ocean which each animal occupied, hence the surface dwellers are at the top of the quilt and the deeper dwellers at the bottom. I assembled the quilt top and Wanda Rains machine quilted it. The quilt was auctioned at a school fundraiser the proceeds of which go towards special projects and field trips to enhance the curriculum. The two quilts raised just over $5,000! For me, the educational value was enormous and the money generated at the auction was just the icing on the cake.

Baby Quilts for Newborns in Mongolia

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In August, Elaine Percival, Barbara Peterson and I will be traveling with Selenge Tserendash in rural Mongolia after assisting at the Third International Mongolian Quilt Show celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the Mongolian Quilting Center in Ulaanbaatar. We plan to visit rural hospitals and take baby quilts to the maternity wards to give as gifts to mothers for their new babies.

Would you like to make a baby quilt to send to Mongolia? We are hoping to make 50-60 quilts, so would love your help. The quilts should be completed by the end of May and will be sent to Mongolia in a container in early June, taking about a month to get there. Any late arrivals will be carried in our suitcases, with the final deadline of 10th July.

The recommended size is in the range: 32-38” x 36-48”, square or rectangular. The Mongolians love brightly colored prints, which of course are unobtainable in Mongolia. Please contact me if you are interested in participating in this project. If you live locally, (near Bainbridge Island, WA), and need help getting started, you may visit my studio and I’d be happy to supply the fabric and a simple pattern.

Update, 18th April, 2019

The response to this project has been amazing! Thank you to all of you who have contributed baby quilts. Our goal of 50-60 has already been exceeded! The container for Mongolia is actually leaving in early May, and not June as stated above. The completed quilts will receive a special blessing on 28th April before being packed in boxes to go into the container. They should reach Mongolia by mid-July. They will be displayed in the quilt show before we distribute them to the babies. Any baby quilts that I receive after 1st May will travel in our suitcases. Thanks again for your support.