When my Uncle Al was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease I decided to make him a quilt. Since he always loved fishing, and after acquiring some digital embroidery designs of fish, I made a "fish" quilt. He was so touched when I gave it to him that his eyes welled with tears. He died within a month of receiving the quilt, and his family chose this quilt as a drape for the coffin at his funeral services. I was so touched. Inscribed in the center of the quilt is "I'd rather be fishing".

I have designed several of my own mystery quilts to share with friends.

I just realized that it has been sometime since I have posted...guess I have been too involved in the quilting rather than the "showing". Since doing my first B.H. mystery quilt, Orca Bay, I have completed several more.Easy Street,Celtic Soltice (in progress), Jamestown Landing and Lazy Sunday are pictured here.

In checking my blog, I realized I never had posted the fourth of my Nova Scotia quilts made in 2010. This one is called "Irish Whiskey." I let my sister choose which of the four she would like to have, and she chose this one.

End of the Mayan Calendar mystery

Scrap quilts are still always my favorite.

Several months ago I came upon a mystery quilt that had been presented by Bonnie Hunter in 2011 (to be finished in 2012.) By the time I came upon it , it was no longer a "mystery." The quilt was already unveiled, and is no longer available on her website for free, because it is coming out in one of her books sometime this summer. It is called Orca Bay.

Because I am always fascinated by history and enjoy reading about early civilizations and how they relate to where we are today, I thought it would be fun to do this as a "End of the Mayan Calendar" quilt...I chose bright colors that might depict some of the Mayan artwork I have seen in books. I found an Indian piece for the background...not Mayan, I'm sure, but still Indian. I'll embroider a label, attach it, and then enjoy it for myself as a remembrance of December 21, 2012...the end of what???????

Our world is changing at an ever increasing speed, and certainly every year will see major changes. We are living in a historically tumultuous era. Hopefully December 21, 2012 will roll by without great problems.

High School graduation quilts for grandchildren

In 2007 my grandaughter Meg Henning and grandson Matt Ruppel graduated from high school. I found the printed "sayings" in a booth at the Chicago International Quilt Show ...and designed a quilt for each of them centered around a sketch that was made from a photo of them. Matt's quilt has a lot of Japanese prints, as he traveled in Japan and is very interested in that culture. Megan's quilt is bright and cheery...lots of color for the beautiful young lady that she is. Both Megan and Matt have now graduated from college. Matt is in San Diego working on a doctorate (already) and Megan is a graphic artist in Iowa City. I'm proud of both of them.

The verse on the quilts are William Blake quotes...

To have Ideas is to gather flowers
to think is to weave them into garlands.

To see a world in a grain of sand
and heaven in a wildflower

A life of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds...

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

Peppermint Candy

My sewing room, like that of many other quilters, has baskets or zip lock bags of little pieces for  projects not yet started…this on top of the many unfinished projects hidden behind a cabinet door.
My latest little collection consists of half square triangles cut from strip tubes of Christmas fabrics (good way to use up a lot of Christmas remnants) and then sewn into little 5” finished pinwheel units.
I had a lot of fun putting these three quilts together last winter. The holidays to me are best enjoyed listening to Christmas music and sewing with Christmas fabrics. Snow flurries outside the window only enhance the experience.