About me and my quilts I began quilting in 1974 while working at Minnesota Fabrics in the Washington DC area. The home economist was required to do a quilting demonstration and was looking for help.  It sounded like fun to me, so I volunteered. My first pattern a Lone Star, which was not a good beginner's project. As soon as I realized I was over my head in skill level, I picked another pattern, a log cabin. That went quite easily, so I picked another one, a churn dash. Before the demonstration was held I had finished four different quilt projects, but not the Lone Star. (That was finished after the demonstration.) To say I was hooked was an understatement. I've been quilting ever since. I started teaching in 1983 when a friend asked me to show her how to make a Dresden Plate. Then I showed her friend, and then another, and so on. I “retired” from teaching in 2010 due to heath issues and now do all of my teaching on line and at the Retreats. Seeing a student's satisfaction when finishing a quilt gives me great happiness. I find more personal satisfaction teaching someone else to make a quilt than making it for them. However I am occasionally talked into making a quilt for someone. Quilts that I make for classes are given away as gifts to family and friends, and to local charities. I don't make museum quilts, but quilts to be used. It gives me great pleasure to see my quilts worn out Due to health issues I was not able to quilt for almost a year. I did some serious designing in that time, but was unable to sew any samples. When I was on the road to recovery I started catching up. One quilt I designed in that time was November Stars (Mystery #17) for the 2010 November Quilters Retreat. I liked it so much I made a second one. Quilt on the left belongs to Miriam in MD       After not sewing for almost a year, I was pleased to finally finish my Quarter of a Courthouse (Mystery #11) which was designed for the November 2009 Retreat. I finally made mine and finished it at the 2010 November Retreat. The pattern for this is on my pattern page. This quilt now belongs to Jon and Steph       Two quilts I made for fun are my Split Shoo Fly (Mystery #8) and The Cowboys Quilt, both donated to a favorite charity, Margaret's Hope Chest (Both were finished before I donated them, I just never got a picture of the Split Shoo Fly finished.) Here are another two quilts which were designed for my Mysteries For Relay group. When I made the pattern I wasn't sewing so my Super Duper Easy (Mystery #13) was made after everyone else had made theirs. However, I made my Any Size You Want (Mystery #15) along with everyone else as they sewed, although I knew what I was making and no one else did.   Super Duper Easy                                     Any Size You Want       This is by far one of my favorite quilts of my own, and as much as I love it, I have it for sale to benefit Relay For Life. The quilt is 77 by 95 inches and would fit a double or queen size bed. More details and photos can be found here. Here is my bright Simply Squares, one of my favorite quilts. The pattern is available on my patterns page.       These are new to Delaware Quilts patterns which I presented as mystery quilts on Mysteries For Relay, my latest fundraising gimmick... err Yahoo Group. I'm making wall hangings or baby quilts as my samples, but give everyone all the directions to make which ever size quilt they want. Of course I can't show all them yet, but I will post photos as soon as the group finishes each mystery. (Right now I have five new mystery quilts in progress to be presented later!)             Mystery #2 was Crooked Baby Stars, a variation of my Crooked Stars pattern. (Not included in the Crooked Stars pattern) I liked it so much I made three samples, here are two which are finished. PDF pattern available here                         Mystery #3 was Old Maid's Puzzle. (left) This block had many possibilities for finishing; this is how I decided to do mine. Mystery #4 was a Double Irish Chain, (right) very easy when you don’t know what you are making and can not be intimidated by the number of small pieces in it.                   This was a New Year's Eve mystery quilt designed by Ann Smith. I chose seashell fabric, and it came out lovely if I do say so myself. Kathy quilted it with a sea shell motif which only added to the beauty. This quilts is for sale, click here for more information. Links to More Quilts: Bed Quilts.. not just for keeping you warm Log Cabins.. still a favorite quilt to make Samplers... a variety of different blocks Crooked Quilts, who says we have to be perfect all the time Scrappies... what to do with left overs Miniatures... another favorite way to use up scraps Speedy Strips... my own technique |Home| Family| Quilts| Blocks| Retreat| Email| Updated Jan 7, 2011 Copyright © 2011 Delaware Quilts. The content on these pages, including text and images are the sole property of the Delaware Quilts and may not be used or reproduced in any manner without consent. All Rights Reserved. 1037