How many ways can you say CAT?

I made this quilt in 1996 for my younger daughter, Rebecca. She had a fascination with cats at that time, obviously. I loved the color combination, especially the black which really sets off the purple, turquoise, hot pink and gold. There is a back story, of course. When I was a young married and lived in our first house, out in the country, we had three cats, Hercules (who jumped out the car window on the way to the vet to be neutered - goodbye cat!), Peaches, a calico and her kitten, Cream. When we moved into town, we brought Peaches and Cream with us and after we thought they had adjusted to the move, we let them out into the yard to do their cat thing. They must have tried to return "home" cuz we never saw them again. Skip forward 10 years. I am now a single mom and we have a new calico cat, Mandy. We are all getting along famously until I get ill and am diagnosed with asthma. The doctor said, clean the furnace runs, clean the carpets and get rid of the cat. So we did. She lived for awhile at Mark's house (the girls' dad) but then was taken to the pound. I have always felt so guilty over poor Mandy Cat's fate. Especially since I have recovered sufficiently to now have two more cats, Buster and Vinnie. I cannot remember if this quilt was made before Mandy was booted out or not. Either way, Mandy and Becky, I am so sorry! More pictures:

A quilt for a grandmother that now lives with a granddaughter

Back before my life was lived in beautiful Southwestern Pennsylvania, I lived in East Moline, Illinois. I was married for seventeen years to Mark Allmendinger and he and I share two beautiful daughters, two wonderful sons-in-law, a grandson, and a lifetime of memories. I was very close to his mother, Phyllis and made this quilt for her in 1983. It has always been one of my favorites! For each of the mothers (or mothers-in-law) who received a quilt from me, I requested they make sure the quilt gets passed down to one of my daughters. I had always imagined Becky would get this quilt and when her dad and stepmom, Pam (another quilting friend) visited this spring, sure enough, they brought her Gramma Phyllis's quilt which I had made in 1983. I was able to see it and photograph it when I was at Becky's house in Plano, Texas in March this year for our sewing marathon. Then we all showed up in California, Becky, Gramma Phyllis and I (and so many more) and I learned the reason firsthand why Gramma chose to give it to Becky rather than Jamie. She thought it was a Texas Star pattern so reasoned that the grandchild in Texas should have it. Well, truth be told, it is NOT a Texas star but I am not going to correct her!

Phyllis promises to give the other quilt I made for her to daughter Jamie and I am embarrassed that that particular quilt will land in Jamie's house. It is made out of...wait for it.... polyester double knit! Yuck! but very colorful and maybe they will find use for it for picnics or something.

Spring is time for pansies

Picked up a nice antique quilt for $35 at a local flea market. One corner is stained but the rest looks very fresh. We will just hide the bad spot (although it is not too bad). As always, I wonder who the quilter was and who the recipient was. What did they mean to each other and how did they get separated from their story? There was beautiful gold and pale yellow postage stamp quilt that I really, REALLY wanted but it was $110 and I am currently on a budget. Oh well, my girlfriend Phyllis bought it instead so I can enjoy it at her house. Here are pictures of my pretty pansy quilt find:

Dean's quilt is begun!

Okay, so quilting hiatus is officially over and I have started Dean's baby quilt. I have planned out the colors and determined what width of strips I will cut tomorrow night. I am ready to rock and roll! Here are a few pictures. Notice the bright eyed cat assistant and the cute monkey face buttons!

Kid's quilts for young friends, Josh and Sarah Parker

I made this quilt for my young friend, Joshua Parker who always reminds me of Harry Potter. We were neighbors to the Parkers until they did a 5 year stint in Nuremburg, Germany. Joshua is now heading to college, hard to believe! The quilt measures 63 x 76 inches and is a strip quilt, meaning it is rows of blocks in strips horizontally across the quilt. Starting from the bottom, there is first a row of patch work cats with hand stitched whiskers and button noses. Mouse faces are quilted into the block above the cats' bodies.

The next row above is made up of maple leave blocks with leaves quilted into the open spaces.

On top of the leaves are chickens, of course! With button eyes, and the letters J O S H U A quilted into their bodies.

Above the chickens we have a row of wild goose chase then puppy dog faces with appliqued noses and button eyes.

Another row of wild goose chase going the opposite direction and lastly, golden stars in the azure blue sky.

On the back is a picture of Josh and a dedication. Also I have put a picture of George and I and a passage about bumblebees, doing what no one said they should be able to do!

Joshua's sister is Sarah and here is her quilt.

It has a floral theme. Again, a strip quilt with the same block repeated in a strip horizontally across the quilt. Starting at the bottom is a row of nine-patch blocks. Above it, a row of patchwork hearts on their sides.

Above the hearts is a double row of four patch blocks with pine trees,

then a very cute block called Nancy's Tulip with rick rack stems.

Above the tulips you will find pinwheel flowers

then Roses of Sharon

and finally on top, houses and pine trees. The quilt measures 59 x 71 inches.

On the back is the dedication and pictures of Sarah and George and I. Sarah is now finishing up high school now. Time flies so quickly.

Where in Western Pennsylvania are all the quilts?

Every once in awhile in your life, you get the opportunity to take inventory. And that opportunity can come to you from the most unlikely places. I have been on quilt making hiatus for about two months now (time to get going again) and had just sent off the quilt entries for ROAD TO CALIFORNIA for the AQS Grand Rapids, Michigan and Des Moines Iowa shows when a friend at the Museum brought me a post card last Monday morning. Addressed to no one in particular, it was entitled "Quilt Documentation Days." A group of textile historians from the Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation and Saint Vincent College's Foster and Muriel McCarl Coverlet Gallery are sponsoring a two day event, asking the owners and makers of quilts in the region to bring their quilts to the gallery on June 1 & 2, 2012, to have them documented and added to the National Quilt Index (www.quiltindex.org). Of course, I immediately went to the web and checked out the quilt index. Yep, you betcha. I want my quilts as part of this source. So, before calling and making an appointment, I thought I should make a list of all the quilts I have made and I currently own, all the quilts I have made but given to others who live in the area, and all the quilts of my foremothers that I did not make but have the privilege to own for now, all which reside in our old house on Tremont Avenue. Here is the list: Quilts at home (my own): 1. Halloween cross stitch 2. Christmas cross stitch 3. Benny’s quilt 4. Watermelon quilt 5. Crown of thorns wall hanging 6. Ramona’s first quilt 7. Mom Long’s first quilt 8. Small Christmas quilt 9. Fall wall hangings (1) 10. Fall wall hangings (2) 11. Thanksgiving cross stitch quilt top 12. Ati’s star and log cabin quilt 13. Three hearts wall hanging (small) Quilts in the area (my own): 14. Phyllis Knupp Ligonier Valley Historical Society 2007 15. Vera Hisker Gramma’s quilt 16. Josh Parker pet quilt 17. Sara Parker spring quilt Family quilts: 18. Great Gramma White’s flower garden 19. Gramma Taylor’s maple leaf 20. Ruth’s mother's Texas star Collected quilts: 21. Yellow and purple pansies (bought in Adamsburg, PA) 22. Small pink Dresden plate (bought in Greensburg, PA) 23. Hand pieced quilt top 1 (bought in Greensburg, PA) 24. Hand pieced quilt top 2 (bought in Greensburg, PA) 25. Hand pieced quilt top 3 (bought in Greensburg, PA) 26. Hand appliquéd quilt top (bought in Ligonier, PA) 27. Birds in Flight w/black (bought in Pleasanton,CA) 28. Men’s shirt quilt (bought in Pleasanton, CA) 29. Blue yo-yo quilt (bought in Pleasanton, CA) 30. Monkey wrench in aqua and white (bought in Monterey, CA) 31. Sunbonnet Sue on pink (bought in Greensburg, PA) 32. Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Sam (bought in Greensburg, PA) 33. Robbing Peter to Pay Paul (bought in Greensburg, PA) 34. Brightly colored quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 35. Boston Commons Arch quilt (bought in Latrobe, PA) 36. Cross stitch rose quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 37. Whole cloth blue quilts 1987 (bought in Greensburg, PA) 38. Half square quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 39. Leaves appliqué quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 40. Flowers appliqué quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 41. Rustic log cabin quilt (bought in Latrobe, PA) 42. Rustic patchwork quilt (bought in Latrobe, PA) 43. Double wedding ring with swastika fabric (bought in Latrobe, PA) 44. Flower basket quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 45. Cross stitched flower quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 46. Triangles puff quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 47. Pastel Dresden plate (bought in Greensburg, PA) 48. Pastel patchwork (bought in Greensburg, PA) 49. Wool nine patch (bought in Youngwood, PA) 50. Red and yellow patchwork (bought in Latrobe, PA) 51. Sunflower quilt/tied throw (bought in Greensburg, PA) 52. Tiny blue patchwork wall hanging (bought in Greensburg, PA) 53. Amish wall hanging (bought on ebay) 54. Small green and wine wall hanging (bought on ebay) 55. Purple mountains majesty wall hanging (bought on ebay) Yikes! 55 quilts, quilt tops or quilted wall hangings. Far to many to haul to Saint Vincent so I called my friend, historian and fellow quilter, Karen Kehoe, to ask for some advise. She came up with a brilliant suggestion, call the historians and see if they will come to me! So I made a call to the Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation and met a historian named Brenda Applegate who told me their goal is to document every, EVERY quilt they can find in Western Pennsylvania! Audacious, I said. I want to help you out, I said. I can show you 55 quilts in one day, I said. Will you come to me? So, yes, they are coming, not sure when, and we will make a day of it. They measure, describe, photograph and identify patterns when looking at these quilts so it will be great to learn the names of some of my beauties. I will set up the table extender on the dining room table (they asked if I had a space big enough) and open all the shutters (they asked if there was light enough) and feed them lunch to boot! My friend, Phyllis, also wants to bring her quilts so I am wondering, how long does it take per quilt? 5 minutes, 10 minutes? This could be a very long day. I have started calling local folks who have some of my quilts here in Pennsylvania and their quilts have started returning home. This weekend, Josh and Sarah Parker's kids quilts arrived. See my next post for pictures and info on them. I am expecting a quilt from my friend Vera and have to go pick up one from an acquaintance in Ligonier who received the 2007 Ligonier Valley Historical Society quilt in a silent auction. It is so cool to see these children of mine again and amazing how much I forget about them! Are we having fun yet?

Get up, get out of that funky place!

I am in a serious funk. Seriously, I am feeling a bit crappy lately and I think it is time to start a new quilt. I know I am much happier when I am fueling those creative parts of my soul and that has just not been happening lately. So. Tonight it begins again. I will start on Rockstar Monkey for my great nephew Dean, son of Laura and Rob Mitchum and get myself out of this total down place. Actually, Beck and I have already started this quilt. We have drawn the pattern and she has been doing her usual cross stitch speedy magic. All 26 letters of the monkey alphabet are done and currently she is working on the monkey border. I have determined what the appliqué monkey will look like (actually, I am down to two finalists) and the background block has been selected (monkey wrench, of course) . Tonight I will begin to cut the fabric and sew the background blocks. Let’s set a goal date – shall we say finished in time to take home to Illinois for Angie’s wedding weekend, August 9-12? That may not be enough time for Becky to do the large cross stitch piece for the back. I will need to check with her but certainly, I can have my part done by then.