Jellyfish

8 1/4"x10 3/4"
2007

This little piece was just for fun. It's a single piece of fabric, and the jellyfish, bubbles, etc., are "drawn" on with machine free-motion quilting. To free-motion quilt, the fabric is moved around under the needle as it stitches.

Dinwoody and Dinwoody Too

Ink-jet printing on fabric is a great way to add unusual imagery to a quilt-art piece. It takes a little practice, but basically, any image that can be put into digital form on your PC can be printed on fabric. I don't like the iron-on transfer method, so I use a product called "Bubble Jet Set 2000". Cotton fabric is soaked for 5 minutes in the solution, dried, and then cut to a size that will fit an ink-jet printer (8 1/2" x11" or smaller). Iron the fabric onto the shiny side of a same-size piece of freezer paper and then just run it through the printer. Getting it to feed through smoothly is probably the trickiest part, but it's really pretty easy.

The title Dinwoody refers to a Plains Indian rock art tradition found in a very small region of northwest Wyoming. Dinwoody figures are generally very fantastic looking...human-like, but with strange spirit or animal-like features, and very, very lively looking.

My friend Robin, also a quilter, works in the Anthropology Department at the University of Iowa. I made these two pieces as a birthday gift for her. A couple months later I was at her house and beaded them together. Her husband found a nice, small branch, and we hung the whole piece from that.

Churn Dash

For me, this quilt was an experiment with color and pattern. I took about 18 different fabrics and alternately mixed ones that really looked nice together with ones that didn't match well. Some of the blocks I just didn't like, but when the whole thing got put together, it ended up looking very lively. It's also a king-size quilt.

Autumn Rectangles

I love making small quilt projects and used to wonder if I actually had the patience to make a bed-sized quilt. This is the first one I ever made, and as you can see, I stuck to a pretty easy pattern. It's king-size and I really like the way the fabrics work together. It looks nice on the bed in fall and winter too.

Stars and Shadows Pattern

Here are a few samples from my original pattern, Stars and Shadows, or in the case of the tree, Pines and Shadows. The pattern was created for a small project at Barb Raisbeck's annual quilt retreat last fall (Quiltsbybarb.com). I've been selling the patterns at a couple of local shops and will teach it as a class for three days at the 2009 Wisconsin Quilt Expo in September.

It's been fun seeing how many different looks everyone has given to the finished piece, and a great learning experience for me too.

Lewis's Quilt

The pattern for this quilt is called "Stone Cottage", from Judy Martin's "Log Cabin Quilt Book". I started it at a quilt retreat last fall (see quiltsbybarb.com for more information), and finished it in time for Christmas. The blocks were super simple...only 3 pieces... and I used batik or batik-like fabrics. It turned out very masculine looking, which is what I was going for. Barb Raisbeck (of quiltsbybarb.com) quilted it in a pebble pattern, much like one of the fabrics, and it turned out beautifully. I gave it to my father-in-law, Lewis Hyatt, who is pictured here.

Ali and Jerod's Book

This accordion-fold book was an engagement keepsake for our niece Ali and her now-husband Jerod. It has several of their engagement photos and small cards and tags with sayings about love and marriage.