Rose Medallion Quilt That Was

This quilt is no longer.  I made it and entered it into a national quilt contest back in 2005 (I think).  It actually looks better in photos than it did in real life.  The roses, stems, and leaves are all hand appliqued.  The saw tooth borders are hand appliqued too.  The three areas are machined together.  I don’t recall the exact measurements of the finished quilt but think it was approx 60 in square.  It was machine quilted.

Here is a close up which shows how stuffed the roses are and some of the quilting.

I wasn’t happen with the quilt, so after the contest I took it apart.  I “harvested” the roses, leaves, and stems and have used them in various projects.  The background I am currently using as the back of a small quilt (40 in X 50 in) which I’ll have finished in a few weeks.  Here you can see where I have begun the quilting.

Happy 5th Blogiversary to Me!

Yes, it’s been five years since I started this blog.  The title underwent a small change this past fall when I closed my plastic surgery practice and took a job with the disability determination service office as an SMAC.  I have found the job interesting, am learning a lot, and have great colleagues.  I do miss surgery, but the positive changes have outweighed the negative.

I have found it difficult to blog about medical stuff on a regular basis but hope that will change.  I have also found with all the reading I do at my new job I don’t find myself reading as many blogs as I did.  I apologize to all you good medical bloggers.  I am happy @bongi1 continues to write at other things amanzi.   Dr. Rob resurfaced this year with a new blog:  More Musings (of a Distractable Kind). 

We lost a fellow blogger this past fall, but this past Monday another fellow blogger resurfaced on twitter.  You may recall the blog Rural Doctoring, she went by @ruraldoctoring on twitter, now is going by @madhungrymind. 

This week is tied to another anniversary for me, the loss of my mother who died three years ago this Saturday.

Thirty years ago this month I graduated from medical school.  Here is a post on a memory from my junior year:  My First Surgery Rotation  (August 7, 2008).

Thank you all for the allowing me to be a member of the medical blogging community.   I truly value your friendship.

Funtastic Baby Quilt

I have finished the baby quilt using a simple  pattern I have come to love.  It was mailed earlier this week to a new grandfather for the grandchild to use.  The quilt is machine pieced using multiple fabrics from my stash, many were scarp pieces or left-over squares.  It is machine quilted in a simple cross-hatch pattern.  It measures 42 in square. 

Here is a close up of some of the squares to show the fabrics better.  Check out the butterflies and the dog bones.

 

Here's another.  It's difficult to see, but the yellow fabric has red stars throughout.  I love the John Deere center in the green block.

And another.  The back of the quilt uses the green fabric from the upper-right square with the black center. 

In Progress

I’m currently working on two projects, one quilting and one knitting.   Here you can see the blocks of a new baby quilt.  I have actually finished piecing it and have begun the quilting.  The quilt will measure 42 in square when done.

 

The knitting project is a scarf using Blue Ridge Yarns Silk Shimmer Lace yarn (100% silk) and the pattern Three Sisters Scarves # Three by Monika Steinbauer.  

 

I know who will receive the baby quilt when it’s done, but I have yet to decide who will receive the scarf.  I am enjoying the process with both projects.

Small Messenger Bag

This is the latest bag I’ve made, a small messenger bag measuring 7.5 in wide X 9 in tall.  I machine quilted two layers of the gold batik.  This one has the optional chevron strip pieced pocket.

This photo shows the Chevron fabric better.  I used some denim as well as cottons.

Here you can see the zippers and the swivel snap for holding keys or small flash light.

 

Here is the back.

Tree of Life Quilt

I made this quilt in 1992.  I combined two pattern – the tree of life (pdf file) and maple leaves.  I used the fabric from a madras plaid skirt/shirt I had and loved, but needed to be retired.  Sorry the photos are better, but they were taken with the quilt on the bed and me standing on the foot board for most of them.

My attempt to get the photo more “straight-on” is slightly fussy.  The quilt is machine pieced and quilted.  I quilted in in sections (the sides, the end, and the main section) and then sewed them together.
The is shaped to overhang the sides of the bed and not get hung up.
Here is a better photo of the maple leaves.
Each maple leave block is 6 in square.
Here is a sketch of the layout with measurements.

Dog in the Yard House Quilt

This is the small quilt I made for the 2012 Alliance for American Quilt “home is where the heart is” contest.  The deadline isn’t until June 1, 2012 so there is time for you to enter if you are interested.

I used multiple techniques to make the quilt, beginning with machine piecing.  I initially screwed up the measurements with the base of the house being 12 in X 12 in rather than the 12 in high X 15 in wide specified by the contest rules.   I had to redo it, but the mistake worked it my favor (thankfully) and it looked better and gave me room for the windows.

The finished size is 15 in wide X 19.5 in high.  It is machine and hand quilted. 

I used Mistyfuse to apply the fussy cut dog with his house onto the quilt prior to doing the quilting.  I used Textures Magic (my first experience with it) to make the bushes which I hand appliqued after finishing the quilting.

I again used Mistyfuse to add the fussy cut cat.  I embroidered the ivy onto the house walls.
The windows, the door, and this attic window were fussy cut.
Here is the back before adding the ring and sleeve specified for hanging.
This photo and the next show the detail of the quilting better.

Small Voyager Handbag

I recently made this small handbag for a friend.  It is made using the Ghee’s Voyager Handbag pattern.  I used the small size, but made it an inch wider.  Open, as in this photo, it measures 7 in X 11 in.

Closed, as in this photo, it measures 7 in X 6.5 in.
Here’s the back.  It has a clip for keys.

African Whole Cloth Quilt Finished!

I have finally finished!  As implied by the title, there was no piecing of this quilt top.  I loved the fabric so much I just couldn’t cut it into pieces so I just quilted it.  I attempted to do some machine trapunto.  The effect is less than I had hoped.  I think I should have used an even higher loft polyester batting for the trapunto.  I might even should have used it for the entire quilt rather than switching to Hobb’s Heirloom cotton batting.  Still, it is lovely and my photos don’t do it justice.

It is machine quilted in an echo pattern.  The quilt measures 52.75 in X 70 in. 

Here you can see the some of the echo quilting. Notice the animals could use a little more “stuffing.”
Another photo to try to show off the quilting.
Here’s the back (really the fabric is a lovely green)
Here you can see the quilting better.  Again not the animals could use a little more “stuffing.”
Another photo of some of the back detail
I haven’t decided what to do with this quilt.  I have a few options in mind, but am open to suggestions.

 

WIP -- African Whole Cloth Quilt (January 20, 2012)

Family T-Shirt Quilt

I made this quilt for my husband around 1997 (forgot to put a label on it).  He had all these t-shirts from Civil War reenactments, car stuff, etc but not quite enough.  I had some t-shirts from trips for meetings (Chicago, DC, San Francisco) and races (Elby’s 20K in Wheeling, WV and a few local ones).  So I combined them to make this quilt using old blue jeans (both of ours) in an attic windows setting.

The quilt is machine pieced.  It measures 79 in X 97 in.  I used iron-on interfacing to stabilize the t-shirt fabric before cutting it to the finished size.  I did not do the quilting (too thick for my basic machine), but sent it to Peg’s Quality Quilting to be machine quilted.  I did do the binding of thin denim fabric.

The two shirts on the left and the upper right were my husband’s.  The Smithsonian one was mine.
In this set, the two on the left and the lower right ones’ were my husband’s shirts.  The Chicago one was mine.
The upper left one here was my husband’s and the other ones were mine. 
All of these were my husband’s.  I brought the one from San Francisco to him from a meeting trip.
I love the words on the bottom of this t-shirt:  “From the lips of God to the hearts of man, let the past be past. Let the dead be dead now and forever American. Anonymous, 1863”

My Ring Pillow

I’m still working on the whole cloth African quilt, so I thought I’d show you the ring pillow I made in 1990 for my wedding.  I cross-stitched the design (don’t recall the source), then added some ribbons to tie the rings.

Here’s a closer view of the center.
Here’s the back edge with our initials and the year.
Here’s my nephew who was 3 yrs old then, now is a freshman in law school.  He loved the tux and did not want to return it. 

Old Cross Stitch Pieces and An Update

I’m still working on the Whole Cloth African quilt, so I ‘m just going to share a couple of old cross stitch pieces I did years ago.  The first one I did during medical school during my senior year pediatric rotation spent out-of-town shadowing a pediatrician in private practice.  It was good on many levels.  I loved watching him interact with his patients and their parents. 

This piece was framed at one time and hung on the walls of my apartments in Baton Rouge, Wheeling, Pittsburg, Boston, and even here in Little Rock.

This bookmark (one of the problems with e-books is these aren’t needed) I did in Boston during my plastic surgery residency.  I actually took a 6 week sailing class on the Charles River.  I haven’t done any sailing since moving back inland. 

Here’s a small segment of the Whole Cloth African quilt with the corresponding view from the back below.  The colors aren’t true in this first one.  The color is more green.
Here’s from the back.  Making progress, but at the point in the project where it’s seems to be slowed to a crawl.