Lennon Jane Quilt Pattern…

Just finished a new quilt that I had to share…it has special meaning for me because I made it for my Aunt.  She has been there for me at every crossroads of my life and she is now fighting cancer.  I felt so helpless when I found out.  I live far away from her and my cousins, so I couldn’t even give them a hug!!  So I got busy sewing.  I wanted something that she could pass on to her granddaughter, so it needed to be happy and girly!!

Here is my new design in honor of my Aunt—the Lennon Jane Quilt…

Today is my Aunt’s birthday—go out and celebrate Auntie!!  I love you so much, thanks for being there for me! 

This is my favorite picture of me, my Aunt, and my mom together.

Sew and Show Saturday—#21. Bear Claw Quilt…

My mom made this quilt for my older brother, and it is one of our family favorites!!

The bears on the border are so adorable!!

This quilt hangs in my parents’ cabin, on a tongue and groove pine board wall—which is the perfect backdrop!!  It is the focal point at there cabin which is why it triggers so many fond memories.

I love those little bears!!

Sew and Show Saturday #20—Quilt for Autism…

This is another beautiful quilt made by my mom, and this one is truly all about the heart.  My mom is donating this quilt through a silent auction with the proceeds going to Autism.

Here are some close ups of some of the button, ribbon, and applique details…

The heart machine quilting detail on the border is one of my favorite parts about this quilt…

So appropriate that my mom is giving away her heart quilt—thanks mom for giving your heart to my kids, and especially to Justin!!

Sew and Show Saturday—#19. Star Garden…

My mom made this beautiful quilt for my Little Miss.  I have the best memories of this quilt because it decorated our bare apartment walls before when we had moved away from home—it was a little bit of happiness in a rotten little apartment!!

The nine-patches alternating with the pastel colored, machine-appliqued stars make a wonderful pattern for a little girl’s room.  The meandering vines along the border were always my favorite part!

The shadowed quilting around the vines and stars is exquisite!!

Another beautiful quilt, mom!!

Sew and Show Saturday—#17. Strawberry Smoothie…

This Strawberry Smoothie pattern by Barbara Jones at Quilt Soup is the perfect Sew and Show for Valentine’s Day this week!!

Like I have mentioned before, my mom does impeccable applique work!!

This is such a sweet, cheerful quilt!!  And look at those flowers….still dreaming of Spring!!

Sew and Show Saturday—#16. Whimsical Fall Harvest Quilt

I am in love with Fall!!  I am already craving anything pumpkin and I could eat soup and breadsticks every night!!  If I could have soup, breadsticks, pumpkin bread, and be wrapped up in this quilt of my mom’s—I would be good to go!!

I LOVE the colors in this quilt!!  And my mom is bringing this to me this week when she comes to visit, right mom???  Can’t wait for her to get here—we have some outrageously lofty sewing goals as usual, and then half-way through her visit we’ll get tuckered out and end up watching movies!!  Still can’t wait!!

Sew and Show Saturday—#15. Apple quilt…

The weather was so hot this week, it’s hard to remember it is Fall!!  I want apple crisp, crockpot meals, and sweaters—where’s my cool weather?!?!  Hopefully this week will be cooler!!

Here’s another one of my mom’s quilts that brings back sweet memories for me.  This was displayed in my mom’s family room for a long time.  It was such a cozy room with a fireplace, large windows, beautiful blue walls, and an oversized plaid loveseat that matched the colors of the quilt!!

Such a great fall quilt!!

Sew and Show Saturday—#14. Modern black and white beauty quilt…

Quilting has been a tradition in my family that goes back for generations.  Having that said, I have gained such an appreciation for all styles of quilts—traditional, and modern.  There are so many modern styled quilt patterns being produced now, and I love them!!  So what makes a quilt modern??

• The first thing that makes a quilt modern for me, is the color choices.  When you limit your color selection to two or three colors (black and white, or black and white with a pop of red, or red and white for example) your quilt is going to have a more modern look to it and feel more up to date than a traditional quilt.  The tone of the fabric is a huge factor also being that bright colors will produce a higher level of contrast than pastels.
• The second thing that affects the style is your choice of patterned fabric.  Solid fabrics will always appear more modern, and will also allow you to choose more color variations without looking traditional(for example a quilt of 6+ different color solids will still look modern even though you have broadened the color selection to more than 2 or 3) Within the limits of your color selections, your choice of print can make your quilt feel more modern.  Geometric prints, high contrast prints, and larger sized prints can all help update a traditional pattern to look more modern. 
• The third component of a modern quilt is the actual quilt pattern itself.  There are some quilt patterns that read modern just because of the simplicity of pattern (more geometric lines).  But here’s my favorite thing!!  I think any pattern, even the very traditional quilting patterns that go back for generations, can be updated to look modern.  That is the fun of quilting!!  I love finding one of my favorite traditional quilt patterns and then update it using modern color choices and fabric patterns.

This is why I love this black and white beauty quilt that my mom made…

Again, I think it is the high contrast on this one that makes it more modern than traditional.  Check out the quilting on the white fabrics!!

What would your favorite color choices be for a modern twist on a traditional quilt pattern??

Sew and Show Saturday—#13. Cheery Cherries…

I have always loved cherry designs—all that Mary Englebreit stuff!!  My mom loves cherries too and made this adorable quilt.

I love the high contrast between the black, white, and read.  My mom machine appliqued around the cherries and stems.

Can you see an entire room based on this quilt??  It would be so cheery!!

Sew and Show Saturday—#12. Pocket Full of Posies...

This quilt of my mom’s is one that is very memorable to me.  It was the one that was always on the end of my mom's bed when I would come to visit during the first year of Justin's life.  It became the backdrop for several of his baby pictures!! Now when I visit my mom and see it, it brings back a flood of sweet baby memories of him!!

I have to say I always love a good nine-patch quilt and the applique flowers in-between are a great way to break up the pattern and add more interest.

My mom hand quilted this one with dark colored thread and it contrasts the white background so nicely!

It is such a striking quilt, I love it!!

Sew and Show Saturday—#11. Flag quilt…

One of the great things about visiting my mom, is I can show off some more of her great quilts!!

This Flag of Valor quilt from Moda is beautiful and such a wonderful piece for summer decorating!!

The machine quilting on this one is just as pretty with the intricate star patterns that were incorporated with a meandering floral design…

I could have this hanging up all summer—sew pretty!!

Sew and Show Saturday—#10. My Kaleidoscope Endurance quilt…

This queen sized kaleidoscope quilt is the biggest quilt I’ve ever made, and was one of the first ones I attempted years ago.   This was a quilt that my mom and I  saw hanging in a store and the second I saw it—I knew I had to have it!!  Once I started making it, I realized how hard it was going to be to line up all the triangle pieces…UGH!!

In the middle of trying to finish this quilt, years ago before we had kids, I miscarried.  I was so devastated.  I had so many thoughts running a million miles an hour through my head—it was our second miscarriage over a 2 1/2 year time period and I started to wonder whether we would ever be able to have children.  Needless to say, I couldn’t sleep very well and “turn off” all those thoughts.  So I decided late one night that I was going to dig into this quilt and finish it—because at least I could say I did something positive during my miscarriage.  Sounds crazy, but it helped me get through it—both the quilt, and the miscarriage:)

So here’s my labor of love…

I had someone else machine quilt it for me and then pieced the binding together with different fabrics—my favorite look!!

I love the quilt pattern she chose for the kaleidoscope blocks.  It turned out so happy and cheery—and a nice ending to my endurance quilt!!

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