I decided that it might be important to document my quilting efforts. Here are pictures of the quilts I have made.
I grew up helping my Mom quilt or more frequently, tie a quilt. I don't remember Mom piecing her quilts. And as a child and teenager, I never experienced the whole process of quilt making. I know that I didn't enjoy sitting at the quilt frame. I struggled to make even, small stitches, and didn't get good at it until I made my own quilts as an adult.
The above quilt was the first quilt that I ever made. I made it for Andrea and Ryck when they got married in 1996. We lived in Saudi Arabia at that time, and shortly before their wedding, I realized that I definitely wanted to give each of our children a quilt as a wedding present. Dave's Mom started this tradition when we got married. She made us a pretty red and white, pieced quilt for a full size bed. I don't think that it occurred to her that we'd probably have a queen or king sized bed. People in her generation always slept in full size beds.
When Andrea got engaged, I realized a bit behind schedule, that I wanted to make them a quilt and I had to scramble a bit. I didn't have a lot of time to get it done. Not ever having made a quilt by myself before, I was in a bit of a panic, until I realized that the Aramco Recreation Department was starting a quilting class just at the right time! As it turned out, two of my good friends, Debbie McKellar and Rosemary Beck, decided to take the class as well. So it was a fun experience for us all. This "Log Cabin" quilt was the result of our class. It turned out pretty nice. I knew that I didn't have enough time to hand quilt it, so I hired Kathleen Grover to machine quilt it for me which turned out very nice. The BIG first lesson I learned through this experience was that color selection was very important. I wasn't real pleased with my color choices. Red with purple and pink??????
Joe and Heather got married in 2001 and I had plenty of time to put this quilt together. By this time, I had joined the Dhahran Oasis Quilt Guild at Aramco. It was there where I learned the paper-pieced pineapple pattern. It wasn't too hard, and looked pretty impressive. I also had time to completely hand quilt this queen size quilt. I was quite pleased with the way it turned out.
Julie and Jeff got married two weeks before Joe and Heather, and I had spent so much time making Joe and Heather's quilt that Julie's almost put me in panic. A friend, Kathleen Britton suggested this pattern. It went together fast, and I really liked how there were both white AND red and blue pinwheels in the pattern. I hand-quilted the boarder of this quilt and tied the rest of it.
This is the label that's on the back side of Julie's quilt.
I determined that I also wanted each of our grandchildren to have a quilt. In 2003, my first grandchild quilt was for Zoe. This pattern and fabric were a class that was offered through our quilt guild at Aramco. The fabric was hand-died by the class's teacher, Lane Rhabar. She was an American lady that had married an Iranian man. She always kept her head covered, and she wore an abaya all the time. She had several children, and was happily married. She was a very talented lady that was an expert in dying fabrics as well as quilting. The name of this pattern is "Around the World". I got so that I could match the corners quite nicely. The prairie points around the I used as the binding looked nice. I hand quilted diagonal lines through each row of squares.
Later in 2003, I made this quilt for Leah. I remember looking for just the right lop-eared bunny rabbit to put at the top of the quilt. The appliqued bunny, tumbling hearts and "Grandma Loves You," combined with the pastel nine-patch squares conveyed just the right feel. I hand-quilted the whole quilt.
In 2003, these cute, flannel, raggedy quilts were just the thing for Taytem and Rylee. The colors were bright and they were easy to make. The girls can easily tell them apart because Rylee got the quilt with stars, and Taytem got the heart quilt. It was so fun to make these soft, cuddly quilts for the twins.
Heather picked out this pattern for Gracie, and I made it up just before she was born in the Spring of 2005, I made a pretty big mistake while putting this quilt together. One of the heart squares was placed in the wrong place, facing the wrong direction, but I didn't realize it until the boarders were sewn on. I was soooooo frustrated! I was able to fix the problem by just picking out the heart square, and sewing it in the right way. It was kind of tricky, but at least I didn't have to take off all the boarders. I was lucky! This quilt was hand-quilted.
I didn't realize it at the time, but I can see that I selected easier quilt patterns between the more difficult, time-consuming ones. In 2005, William got a flannel raggedy quilt along with the twins. The stars and the hearts were combined on this one. The more these raggedy quilts are washed, the softer they become. That's an especially good trait for a boys quilt.
In 2007 Jane Eleanor Alexander was the recipient of the above quilt. This was the first quilt that I made where I put the squares "on point". The nine-patch squares were turned on an angle. I like how it turned out. This quilt was also hand quilted.
Stanley Pope, our second grand son, was given this "Snakey" quilt in the summer of 2007. Again, Kathleen Britton helped me find this cute, very "BOY" pattern. I had a really fun time putting it together, and finding the perfect boarder fabric. The snake tongues are pieces of grow-grain ribbon, sewed into the seam, and forked at the loose end. I hand quilted this snakey quilt.
In the fall of 2010, I decided that my next baby quilt would be "Jungle Walk". Heather picked out this wonderful pattern for our 9th grandchild. Robyn Suzanne was born on February the 8th, 2011, but since I was in China at the time (teaching English), without a sewing machine, the quilt making process was delayed significantly.
I purchased the fabric (most of it) in American Fork, before leaving for China. I took the pattern and fabric to the Orient with me, and during the second semester in China, during my spare time, I cut out all the pieces and adhered them to the background squares. After we returned to America, I found one of our Saudi Arabian friends who was on vacation to take the quilt squares to Khobar, (Saudi Arabia) and have Jimmy do the applique work for me. I'm so lucky that I was able to find a way to get the applique work done the easy way!
When the squares were returned to me in August, I put it together with sashings and boarders, and then I had it machine quilted, just in time for Christmas. It's good that Robyn was an infant and didn't realize that she got her birth quilt almost a year late and she got short-changed on her Christmas present.
I loved putting this quilt together. I enjoyed the creative process of deciding what fabrics to use for each little part. Dave helped me design the turtle's shoes, because I didn't like the ones the pattern included. It was really fun to do. I certainly can't say that I made this quilt all by myself. And it's the only quilt that was worked on in three different countries. But it was all coordinated by me and has all the love of grandma to baby just as the other baby quilts I've made.
The best quilter I think that I've ever met is Kathleen Britton. She was a major contributor to the success of the Dhahran Oasis Quilt Guild. One of the classes she taught there was this twelve days of Christmas, applique quilt. She provided many of the fabrics, and she also made the two inch square corner stones for me. I probably wouldn't have ever finished the quilt if it hadn't been for her help. I hang this quilt in our entry way every Christmas. I can't remember for sure when I made this quilt. I'm guessing that it was around 2004 or 2005 or so. Jimmy, in Khobar did the applique work and machine embroidery on this one.
My "Three Wise Men" quilt was also a Dhahran Quilt guild class project. Kathleen Britton taught this class as well. It's only about 18" X 28" or so. Jimmy did the applique and machine embroidery of "Wise Men Still Seek Him". I had it machine quilted. This Christmas wall hanging was made after the twelve days of Christmas quilt above.
I loved making this Christmas wall hanging. It was made in Dhahran, in 2007 (?) when Susan Ross was the president of the Quilt Guild. Susan provided a lot of the fabrics and the instructions for this quilt. We did one block each month. I, myself, actually did some of the applique work on some of the squares. I admit that I took it to Jimmy, in Khobar to have a few of them finished. The pattern we were given didn't include the names of the Christmas songs. That was my creative adaptation. I love how it turned out! I gave this quilt to Andrea, our oldest to decorate her home for Christmas.
Just before we left Saudi Arabia, in 2009, someone presented a Christmas square for the "Block of the Month" for our Quilt Guild in Dhahran. I'm not sure exactly when. (?) But I won the drawing at the end of the month and was awarded 24 or so squares! Pretty lucky! It wasn't until 2011, when I finally got around to making a few more squares and putting them together with the sashings and corner stones. It was finally bound with a black binding, and machine quilted in January of 2012.
My next quilt is my first flannel quilt. I've got the scrappy top put together, but haven't decided yet how I'm going to quilt it. Maybe I'll just tie it. It's very "cabin" style or something you'd see in a lodge. It's all flannel, and will be very cuddly and warm. Stay tuned to see it in another blog. . . maybe. Maybe not. . . .
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