Welcome to Loving Quilts!

I just had the privilege to work on a silk wedding gown from the 1930’s. The gown was a real treasure and was worn by a beloved aunt for her wedding. I was asked to take the gown apart to make two baby quilts for coming babies in the family. The gown was in great condition with no silk rot—this can be a real issue with old silk.

The owner and I picked out some beautiful batiste for the quilt backings and we decided to use soft 100% cotton flannel between instead of batting. Once the skirt of the gown was removed I hand washed the silk with a vintage textile soak to remove some of the surface soil. Eighty years is a long time—the fabric of the gowned cleaned beautifully. I allowed the pieces to air dry and then pressed them with the silk setting on my iron.

I prewashed the batiste and flannel too in order to prevent shrinkage.  Now I was ready to quilt the two large pieces of the train of the gown. The owner picked a beautiful variegated thread in 100% cotton and chose her quilt pattern. The quilting process went very well. I was not much different than working with quilting fabrics. The quilting was done on the two skirt sections that were irregular in shape. After quilting the two sections I had to cut the sections in the shape for the baby quilts, essentially squaring up. From remaining silk pieces I cut side bindings and applied them to the quilts, and hand sewed them down. I also cut large ruffles from silk for the top and bottom of each quilt. These were folded in half and not pressed. I removed some beautiful lace from the petticoat and added two sections to the bottom of each quilt. The labels were done on my embroidery machine using the same variegated cotton thread that had been used for the quilting. What a loving way to remember a beloved aunt! Years from now these babies will hear the stories from their family.

Category: Wedding Gowns with Future Lives | Leave A Comment

Several years ago I saw a very interesting quilt top on Ebay. I decided to bid on it and won the auction. Several days later it arrived and I was dismayed to see how badly it was pieced. This had not shown up on the quilt photos on Ebay. My first reaction was anger—I was going to give bad feedback to the seller. Before I could do that she sent me feedback and said “God bless you for buying my quilt top”. My anger was instantly gone and I knew that it was probably her best work and she needed the money.

Next came the issue of what to do with this quilt top. It was constructed with tucks and pleats and areas that would not lay flat. This was a very large quilt top and I did not think I would ever be able to fix everything wrong with the top. I even took the quilt top to retreats and my friends and I would lay this top out on the floor and no one had a clue on how to fix this quilt top!

Last year I upgraded to Statler Stitcher after trading in my first Gammill. In the first few weeks after the delivery of my Gammill I decided that I was going to tackle this quilt top. I had a very nice looking graphic black and white fabric on hand and loaded it for the back of the quilt. With the knowledge that I had a quilt top with many flaws, I loaded 2 layers of 5 ounce polyester batting. I chose a very dense quilting pattern that came with my Statler Stitcher and got going. It felt like a miracle—the tucks and pleats got pulled in as I was stitching. My dense quilting took 2 bobbins to complete a quilt row. Needless to say I went through lots of thread. My end result was a great quilt which now belongs to our little granddaughter Mackenzie. This pattern is called the Eye of God. I will bet there are lots of you out there with challenging quilt tops. This was a solution for me.

Category: Problem Quilts | Leave A Comment

I was asked to create a soccer memory quilt for a young man soon to graduate high school by his loving mom. We picked out some great black and white soccer fabric to border the quilt with red and white accents. I made the quilt top to emphasize the great colors. Every block was done with a different quilting texture. Every project is fresh and new. I never get bored in creating these quilts. Even the threads for quilting let me express creativity. In this quilt I used a gorgeous cotton variegated thread which ranged from black to silver to cream. This thread added some extra dimension to the overall effect of the quilt design.

Category: T-Shirt Quilts for Graduations | Leave A Comment

June is the month for weddings. I had the joy of creating a wedding quilt for a young couple's marriage. In the creation of the quilt I used embroidery, applique, and lots of fun quilting textures to commemerate their special day. I worked with items from loving relatives given to represent them and their love. It was important to me to make each item stand out individually.

Years from now this quilt will remind the couple of the caring family who surrounds them.  Possibilities are endless in creating memory quilts. I love the unique items for each memory quilt. Every project is a new adventure.

Category: Creating a Memory Quilt | Leave A Comment

One week ago we lost our beloved Samanta due to liver disease. It has been a very heartbreaking time to go on with her gone. She was always with me in the quilting room and listened patiently to me planning projects and working through problems. Many of you who have lost a dear pet can find common ground with my pain. Samantha was a small dog and loved to wear little t-shirts. I plan to make a memorial quilt for our Samantha with her photograph and her t-shirts as well as embroidered little sayings we said to her. Samantha became ours last year when our dear friend Ann passed away. We knew that we would only have so much time to love her since Samantha was already over 10 years old when we adopted her. We can't say enough about what a treasure Samantha was. There are so many older dogs who need a loving home. Please always think adoption. The joy was all ours.

Category: The Loss of a Pet | Read 2 Comment(s)