"A Peaceful Refuge" Wall Quilt

Along with reporting "life in this Nest" to you, I have also pledged to show you some of the work of my hands. This work includes my quiltmaking. I consider myself a quiltmaker/embroiderer, so my passion is divided among the two, although I can do many other types of needlework.

So, here's a small wall quilt that I have named "A Peaceful Refuge." It is 17 1/2 inches by 23 1/2 inches. An original design, along with several other landscape quilts I have made over the years. It's not the biggest landscape quilt of mine, which would be approximately 74" x 76," nor the smallest, which would be 2 1/2" X 3 1/2". (I actually like the tiniest ones the best.) I began this little quilt with the sky fabric. It was hand-dyed by my good friend, Mary. I also made another quilt from this sky fabric called "Peace in the Valley" which you can see on my flickr photos. Maybe I'll write about it one day also.

I loved designing the little appliqued church. I actually designed the church for an article in our guild newsletter some years back. I really liked it, so have used it in varying sizes on several pieces. Another aspect of this little quilt, that I have repeated on other pieces, is the tree. Trees are among my very favorite things on the planet. If the trees and branches are large enough, I applique them. If they are small, I usually embroider them. If they are just really tiny, I use permanent ink to draw them in. The leaves are embroidered with three diferent colors of floss in a lazy daisy stitch on this piece, but sometimes, I just use two strands of the same color floss. On a really large tree, I would applique the leaves. And, you never, know, I could use all the methods on one tree if I wanted!

Applique and embroidery are my "specialties" and consequently, appear on most of my work. The pieced border is made from leftovers from another quilt. That quilt is called "Ups and Downs" and is currently one of the items in my etsy shop. This small quilt was just listed there today also. Oh, I must tell you, I LOVE the fabric on the back!

All my work is hand-quilted. Well, in my life, I have made two small quilts that were done completely on the machine, but, that was only because my friend, Jim, challenged me to make something totally on the machine. So, I did! Really, I don't have an aptitude for that kind of work, so I didn't enjoy making them. I love to do handwork! (As a side note, Jim now owns one of those two machine made quilts and could possibly end up with the other one too.....or, I may list it...we'll see.)

I have never wanted to sell my work until recently, when I came to the conclusion that I can't save everything, so some of it has to go...putting this quilt on the list. Hopefully, they go off to a nice home, but, if not, well then, one day my daughter is going to have to deal with all my work, and it's really not her cup of tea, being a minimalist, an abstract painter, and a no "frills girl." We do not share the same taste at all. As a matter of fact the three traits we share most is that we are both obsessive/compulsive, we like things to be neat and we are creative. Her looks, her outgoing personality, her brains...oh, gosh...they came from Dad!!!

So, here you are...a small wall quilt from my collection. You'll be seeing more as time goes by. I hope you enjoyed the visit. Pat