Quilt Turning On The Studio Bed

There has been a lot of interest recently about how people store their finished quilts.
I am sharing how mine are stored on the bed in the studio. This has been a perfect way to store them.

As I put the quilts back on the bed in the studio this past summer I photographed them on the bed as I added each quilt. I did this so it would make it easier to find any particular quilt.
This shows the bed before I started layering on the quilts. You can see the trolleys under the bed with the small quilts. On the left in my antique treadle sewing machine, another story, another time.

This is a sampler quilt I started in the late 1970's. At that time there was a very limited selection of quilt fabrics available to us. There are only 5 different (3 different print patterns) fabrics in this quilt. It was done quilt as you go. The borders are cut and ready to add but this in not high on my priority list to finish, even though it won't take a lot of time.

This is a 1920's quilt. I became the custodian of this quilt top that my great Aunt Alma had pieced. I had it quilted by an anonymous Amish quilter. All it needs is a binding. I just need to find the correct fabric to bind it.

I also became custodian of this quilt top pieced by my paternal grandmother Matilda Gruenwald Koeper. She was the sister to my great Aunt Alma.
If you have seen Julie Silber's lecture "The Grandmother Connection" you have seen this quilt top. If you haven't seen Julie's lecture, book it for your guild or conference. It is probably my favorite quilt lecture of all time, not just because I am one of the featured quilters. You will love it. I found a quilter who's work I felt was the quality I wanted to do the quilting on this. She started the quilting, but had to stop when her wrists gave out. I am still searching for someone who can complete the quilting with the same quality of work.
Please stay tuned as there will be several more posts to complete the layering of the quilts on the bed.
If you look at both of these quilts it looks like the sisters shopped together or traded some fabrics. The bed that holds the quilts is an odd size antique East Lake Bed. It's close to 3/4 size but I had to have a special mattress made for it.
Over 45 years ago when we lived in Ohio I passed up a chance to buy one of these along with 4 crazy quilts for 25 cents at a country auction. I still kick myself about that.
I paid a whole $10 for this 30 years ago! We had it stripped and we refinished it.

I made this quilt in a class I taught "Quick Kid's Quillts". It turned out to be so much more than a simple kid's quilt.

This Amish Shadows quilt is one of several I have made.

Another Amish Shadows with blocks made at the same time. I didvided them into two groups. This was made from the group that contain yellows and golds in the blocks. The blocks in the previous one contained blues and roses.

This quilt also originated in the "Quick Kids Quilt Class". I call it Amish Pathways.
It uses a very unique color palette, even more unique when I created it.
Some of the quilts I have made are too large for the trolleys under the bed and yet not nearly bed size. This is a replication of an Amish Trip Around The World quilt.

Five Forever is the quilt I made for the Quilters' Express Trip to Japan competition.
It won first prize and was exhibited at the Yokohama Quilt Festival.

This Origami Bow Tie Quilt was so much fun to make.

Cubic Jubilee was made from hand dyed fabric gradations. It was a challenge to make, but turned out to be very successful.
Amish bricks is a replication of an Amish quilt. If you look closely you will see there are many variations of each color. It also has the appearance of a scrap quilt with so many different solid colors. There is color progression and contrast in this quilt. It is hand quilted.

This quilt was designed for a Mystery quilt weekend I offered. It is my adaptation of an antique quilt I saw somewhere. It is long and narrow like a hired man's quilt.

This started as an antique quilt top I purchased. I fell in love with it when I saw it. A friend who did some of the best hand quilting I have ever seen quilted it for me.

This is one of my early bed quilts. I had someone quilt it with a long arm machine.

This is actually a very large wall quilt I made for my husband's office. Since he retired it is either on this bed or hanging over the stairwell. It is a combination of commercial fabrics combined with the shaded hand dyed gray fabric. I dyed the fabric myself. I had hoped to use these photos to keep track of what layer a particular quilt was on to make it easier to find it. This worked for a while, but as many of them have been acquired by quilt collectors this no longer works to find them.
I do often change the order of them and maybe next time I need a new series of quilt turning photos.

National Quilting Day

I have decided my contribution to National Quilting Day will be sharing some of my favorite traditional quilts I have made through the years.

This is a miniature Amish Bars quilt I made. It is about 8 inches square. I hand quilted it.

This is a very simple 9 patch with stars quilt that was part of my Historic Concepts series.

This basket quilt was made in the 30’s style with a muslin background and what I call mattress pad style quilting. I photographed it before I removed the markings so the motifs between the blocks would show up better.

This pattern is called Lady Of The Lake. I titled this particular one Gardens of the Grand Hotel as it reminded me of the way the flower beds were laid out at The Grand Hotel in Mackinac, Michigan.

This is an original block I designed for a 15th anniversary. Although it is original, it has the feeling of a very traditional design.

Threads Through Time is a log cabin block that is a tribute to my ancestors. It is hand quilted around each individual log.

Through The Years is an original design using 3 different traditional blocks. It is the only quilt I am showing you that is machine quilted.

This Trip Around The World quilt was made entirely with silks. It just glows and works well in a dark spot.

Silk takes color so beautifully.

Since I started as a traditional quilter these are just a small portion of the traditional quilts I made.

I had no idea when I started that there were any other types of quilts.

Body Of Work

Throughout This post I am going to attempt to share some work I haven’t previously shown on my blog.

If you have seen any of these before, just humor me and pretend you haven’t!

Winter Garden

One of the things I have been working on recently is trying to document as many of the quilts I made made as possible.

I did not photograph my quilts when I first started quilting.

When I did start photographing them it was not done with a digital camera.

Yes, I have been able to scan those photos but they are not the quality of recent digital photos.

Shrine To A Polymer Clay Goddess

I will soon be putting out a call to my family asking them to bring the quilts I do not have pictures of to be photographed.

School House

Some of the quilts I have made have been given away, never to be seen again.

Others have been used up, worn out and probably tossed in the garbage.

I have finished 379 quilts to date. I started quilting in 1959, but didn’t take it up seriously until 1977.

After that there was no stopping me, even though their were periods of time when I had other priorities that slowed me down.

If you have been a regular blog reader you know I have been working hard recently to finish Works In Progress.

I have finished 18 so far in 2012 which pleases me. I hope to finish quite a few more.

As you have viewed this post you can see my style or work has changes over the years and I expect it will continue to change as I continue developing “MY” style.

Red And White Quilts - Infinite Variety

This is a design I created for a red and white quilt with Corel. Seeing the exhibit makes me think I should create this in fabric soon.

I am guessing many of you have heard about the exhibit of Red And White Quilts in New York, Infinite Variety. This is the collection of 651 red and white quilts all collected by one woman, Joanna S. Rose. The exhibit is her 80th birthday present to herself and a gift to New York. The exhibit that runs through March 30, 2011.

The way they are displayed is a work of art in itself. You can find more about this show at: http://http//www.folkartmuseum.org/infinitevariety

It is also available to download to your iPad or smart phone.

I have made ONE red and white quilt and I can't even find a photo to share with you.

That's What Friends Are For

The other girlfriends heard how much fun their friends were having at Granny's quilting bee and asked if they could come.
Quilters are very social and welcome everyone.
Looks like the June bride must have come straight from her wedding. I guess the honeymoon will have to wait.
Kay the quilter is ready to quilt and brought her basket of supplies as well a quilt in the hoop ready to be quilted.

While they were busy at the quilting bee I spent some time photographing some more of my works in progress.



I don't do hand applique and I don't do block of the month quilts unless they are ones I designed.
This quilt is an exception to both of these statements.
Marion Vernon and Carlene Buck found these applique patterns on old 19th century quilts. Marion redesigned and simplified them.

I thoroughly enjoyed making each and every block and also assembling the quilt.
It will be hand quilted and finished with a binding to match the outer border.



I was able to effectively use the design on the fabric for the basket texture.



This is another one of my favorite blocks. Since this was done in a folk art style imperfections in applique are just part of the charm..

Enjoy this puzzle I created for you.

Turkey Tracks

This is about as traditional as you can get. It is a traditional pattern done as a bed size quilt.
You see it here as part of the stack of quilts on the bed in my studio.

It is made from what I call "cutsey calicos". You may notice the blue print is different in the 4 center blocks. I cut out the quilt, started to assemble the blocks and then put it aside while I did other projects.

When I took it out again I was short blue fabric. Without realizing it I had used it in a different project. So being upset with myself for doing something so stupid I came up with the idea of using a second blue print. It did make the quilt a little more interesting. This is one of a few quilts I have had quilted by a long arm quilter.

Double Wedding Ring

Years ago Mary Ellen Hopkins wrote a book that made it easier to make a double wedding ring quilt. You have already seen my version with the pieced arcs.
This one is done with a print for the arc piece.
This saves you all the work of piecing the arcs. If you choose an interesting print this can be a very effective quilt.
The solid black is polished cotton and shows off the quilting well.
This is in a private collection and the owner gave me the photo showing it hanging in their home. It is perfect in their country home. Their collection includes several quilts I made.
The photo is clear enough that you can see the quilting if you enlarge it. I believe the quilting design in the black sections is from her book if I remember right!

I've used a circular cut here to go with the circular effect of the rings in the quilt.

Black and White Bricks - Historic Concepts

You have now seen all the quilts from My Historic Concepts - Contemporary Systems series. If you have missed any all you have to do is put Historic Concepts in the box at the top left corner on the blog page and they will all show up.
This quilt was done with strata and a tubular piecing technique making it super easy to construct.
The hand quilting is simple diagonal lines that relate to the the corners of the bricks.

I've used my tension curtain rod trick to hang this quilt in a guest room to hide a lot of things that are not meant to be on display!

I believe the appropriate cut for this Black and White Bricks quilt puzzle is the bricks cut. Enjoy!

Annie's Choice - Historic Concepts

The quilts in my Historic Concepts series are replications of antique quilts. They are not bed size quilts. They are all meant to hang on a wall.

These were done before the manufacturers started making reproduction fabrics. I collected fabrics that would have the effect of the fabrics in the original quilts for years before I started this series.
Had I done these with reproduction fabrics they would not have had the same effect.
People would have looked at them and said "Oh, Suzie's Feedsack line, 1998".

When I showed someone this blue Annie's Choice quilt he thought my quilt was the original one in the picture that had inspired it. I considered this a big success.


Although the original in the magazine was blue, this quilt also lent itself to being made in brown and burgundy. I haven't finished the burgundy version yet, although many others have.

Since the blue version is the original I chose that for tonight's puzzle.

Everything old is new again - or is it?

Quilting is a journey.
I almost hesitate to show you some of these quilts as they are so common and elementary. Without these stops on the journey I would never have reached today's destination.


This quilt is from my Historic Concepts series. These are replications of antique quilts. As simple as this is it is very graphic and each corner matches perfectly so you are not distracted by mismatched corners.



This School House quilt was made from a design in an Eleanor Burns booklet. I made it for my husband's office. He spent 38 years in education. I chose the masculine homespun plaids as I felt those were appropriate for a man.



When I first became connected to the internet I heard about a swap making cat blocks from homespun fabrics. I decided to participate and these were the blocks I received. My granddaughter Heidi worked with me designing the quilt. She was probably no more than 8 at the time. She drew up the letters and I pieced the letters, the quilt and borders, quilted and bound it. SOLD


What precipitated this post? I was vaccuuming my studio today (chasing around my Roomba so it didn't get lost under something) and decided I needed to do some rearranging of my quilt storage. While I had the quilts out I photographed some that I did not have photos of on the computer.

I know many quilters and others love cat's so tonight's puzzle is for you.

What to do with more orphan blocks?

When I taught sampler quilt classes I would have to make the same block several times. I came up with a way to use these blocks. I used similar fabrics in each block and put full blocks and parts of blocks together to make a new design that could stand on it's own.



Panchatantra is made up of one full block and 4 partial blocks. By making careful choices of fabric placement it is hard to see where one block ends and another begins. This is why I added the yellow and green outlines for you to see this. (In private collection)


Minarets was done with the same group of fabrics in a similar manner.


You can see how I used a whole block in the center, 4 half blocks around the edge and 4 quarter blocks in the corners to make this quilt.

Both of these have been enriched by using a border print to frame them. These are both hand quilted.

I'm using my favorite cut, lizards for tonight's Minarets puzzle.