Angel in Flight Art Quilt on “A Joyful Embrace: A Memoir”

So I wrote a book entitled, “A Joyful Embrace: A Memoir.” It is now available for purchase as an e-book, paperback, or hardback on Amazon. The book was a labor of love about the rare glimpse into the inspiring and joyful life of my daughter, Mimi, who was born with cerebral palsy. Though wheelchair-bound with the mental capacity of a delightful two-year-old her entire life, her extraordinary social and spiritual gifts challenged what is “normal” for anyone she encountered.

I also designed and made the collage art quilt, entitled Angel in Flight, which graces the cover of the book. My friend, Lisa Taylor, did a beautiful job longarming the quilt. The pdf pattern is available for sale in my Etsy shop.

Profits from the book will be joyfully donated to The Village Learning Center in Mimi’s memory.

2022 Quilt Projects Roundup

In 2022, I cranked out 7 quilts and lots of smaller projects like Christmas stockings, table runners, as well as pillowcases and backpacks for charity. I’ve also learned some new skills in 2022: machine binding, cute little zipper pouches, and a chic sewing machine cover at A Needle and Thread, a local Houston area sewing lounge. I am definitely going to do more learning this year.

But back to the quilts! The collage angel wing quilt was the only quilt pattern I created this year. It can be purchased in my Etsy shop as a pdf downloadable pattern. It is definitely wall hanging size. A photo of the angel wings will also appear on the cover of my upcoming book A Joyful Embrace: A Memoir which will launch on Amazon this February.

My lovely fellow quilter, Noreen (we call her the “Fabric Whisperer”), agreed to be my pattern tester and made the angel wing quilt in pastel colors. I love how it turned out. As always, she continues to awe! Just as she asked, I paid her in jars of homemade pickles.

I re-created Laura Heine’s elephant collage, Lulu. Originally, I was going to give the new quilt to my niece, Karin, a mighty cancer survivor. Instead, I gave her my original quilt over Thanksgiving. I will keep the new version. It is very similar with the yellow background. I love to show Lulu at my trunk shows as the quilt that got me hooked on collage art quilts.

I also created a simple baby quilt with appliqued name for my grandson, Leo, born in late 2022. He is also the cutie pie featured on the angel wing quilt. The zookeeper panel quilt was made for the Michigan grandkids and now hangs in their playroom. The gigantic snowflake quilt was for my daughter, Katie. She loves all things modern! This quilt is totally her style right down to the horizontal quilting. My quilting buddy, Sally, made the amazing quilt label with the snowflakes. Another one of my friends who is at the top of her game.

The cowboy boot quilt is currently hanging in my foyer all ready for when Houston Rodeo season cranks up in late February. I purchased it as a kit several years ago at the International Quilt Festival changing up a few of the fabrics.

I’ve made my list of quilt projects this year and hope to top 2022. I do expect a fair amount of time to be spent marketing my book so we will see what happens. At the top of my list is a Quilt of Valor kit purchased at Stitchin’ Heaven in Quitman, Texas. I have a few of the blocks finished. Let’s just say the directions are great but this one is not as easy as I expected!

Collage Quilting students are the best!

The Christmas Quilt!

Lots of new Kaffe fabric

Lots of blue!

Picking out background fabric

She made a smaller version!

Notice the Tula roses?

Can you find the tuna can?

Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of presenting and teaching for the Tri-County Quilt Guild in Cypress, Texas. This is a large guild with over 300 members and 80+ in attendance at the meeting. I was treated to dinner before the meeting. Not gonna lie. It made me feel like a rock star! Later in the week, I taught a dozen enthusiastic ladies at Bobbins & Threads Quilting & Crafts in Houston.

I have found the heart pattern is the best way to learn collage quilting and the ladies certainly stepped up! It is a large enough image that students gain confidence in their collaging skills to move on to a more challenging pattern. The ladies came ready to work and by the end of class we actually auditioned lots of completed hearts for background fabrics.

Each heart is so unique! This is the first time I’ve had someone try Christmas motifs and it is beautiful! The lady in the hot pink shirt had lots of new Kaffe Fassett fabric. Seriously, I was on the verge of drooling. It was all so new, I didn’t have any of it in my stash. Also, you might notice a Tula Pink vintage tuna can in one of the quilts. I allow students to pick through my secret stash when I teach. I have found quilters to be very good at sharing. It is probably why I always wind up with more great fabric than when I started teaching the class.

Angel In Flight collage quilt pattern release!

While at a recent quilt retreat, I put the finishing touches on my latest quilt hand sewing the binding and quilt label. The quilt measures 42″H by 45″W. The pdf pattern is available in my Etsy shop. I call it “Angel in Flight.”

I chose lots of Kaffe Fassett fabric, and a teeny bit of vintage Tula Pink, for the angel wings. Can anyone spot the tuna can? While auditioning the wings at work, Robin, picked out the perfect background fabric. She really knows how to put fabrics together! The ombre background fabric, by Hoffman, is called Southwestern Skies Storm Clouds. It gives the perfect illusion of the angel wings flying to Heaven. Margo, owner of My Favorite Quilt Store (great online fabric store), picked out the binding (Blissful Blooms Navy by Moda). The longarm quilting was done by Lisa Taylor at Kingwood Quilts. The quilt label was embroidered by the lovely Sally, who has been making my labels for the past 10 years. This quilt was truly collaborative. Yep … it took a village to make this quilt and I love how it turned out!

While designing the angel wings pattern earlier this year, I envisioned it being a baby quilt. It would be one where you lay an infant each month between the two wings and snap cute photos documenting baby’s growth and changes. Of course, when the quilt was finished, the first words out of my mouth were “This is not a baby quilt.” But it could be. I have someone that wants to make it with pastel fabric. Stay tuned! It will be lovely!

The photos below basically show the steps of collaging the angel wings. Many of the supplies to make my collage quilts can be purchased at My Favorite Quilt Store such as Steam A Seam 2 Lite, pattern ease, applique pressing sheet, Karen Kay Buckley Scissors (blue handle), fusible glue, and lovely fabric!

Gumball Machines Galore!

I just realized I’ve never posted the three versions of my gumball machine art quilt pattern. It is available for sale in my Etsy shop. The pdf quilt pattern also includes a quilt photo, supply list, detailed instructions and now you have three ways to collage it!

The first art quilt version is a traditional I-Spy quilt in the form of a super fun gumball machine! I call it “I-Spy Gumballs.” It has approximately 50 gumballs and is a great opportunity for little ones to learn language. It would be a great gift for the preschool/kindergarten teacher on your Christmas list.

The second gumball machine quilt used a fraction of my Halloween novelty fabric. Over the years, my eyeballs tended to gravitate toward Halloween fabric. I never knew exactly what to make with it. I call this art quilt “I Spy Spooky.” I love to hang seasonable quilts and was happy to add a whimsical Halloween quilt in my entryway!

Of course, the third gumball machine quilt is a shout-out to Santa Claus. I started with a Santa panel and after a little fusing and cutting placed him in the gumball section of the quilt. I used Christmas fabric that reads “white” for the rest of the gumballs. It was fun to experiment with different shades of red and white for the gumball machine base. I call this art quilt “I Spy Ho-Ho” in honor of Mimi, my special needs daughter, who passed away in 2018. She adored Santa. Due to her limited speech, she called him “Ho-Ho.”

If you are needing to source collage supplies/fabric such as Karen Kay Buckley scissors, pattern ease, Steam-A-Seam 2 Lite, applique pressing sheet, fabric glue, and pretty fabric consider purchasing from my go-to online store: My Favorite Quilt Store.

The adorable model with the completed quilts is my handsome grandson Ben! He’s five.

2021 quilt projects in the rear-view mirror

The year 2021 will go down in my quilting record book as the most prolific. I completed 9 quilts, 20 little Christmas pillows, and a Christmas table runner. Who says COVID and lockdowns have to be boring or non-productive?

Two quilts went to charity! MD Anderson’s Ovarian Quilt Project received the heart collage quilt with the yellow background. This year the auction raised over $46,000 to fight ovarian cancer. Thank you brother for purchasing the heart collage labor of love which honors our sister. Mary passed away from ovarian cancer several years ago. Today, the last day of the year, is also Mary’s birthday. She would have been 67 years old. Happy birthday in Heaven dear sister! The online auction occurs every two years. I’m already thoughtfully contemplating the next one for 2023!

The butterfly quilt designed by Laundry Basket Quilts went to The Village Learning Center’s annual gala. Mimi attended their amazing day center for many years before she passed away. It is a charity painfully near and dear to my heart. This quilt is my favorite for 2021. I love how it turned out. The quilting by Judy Mathis really made it shine. And, of course, Sally continues to amaze with her embroidery design skills on the quilt labels. I called it “A Flutter” because that is what a group of butterflies is called.

I’ve already set my quilting goals for 2022! I start the year by presenting, and teaching, collage art quilting at a couple of local quilt guilds. There are a number of UFO quilts on my list, fabric organization, a baby quilt for my fifth grandchild due in May, two charity quilts, and a quilt retreat to attend! 2022 is going to be a busy, creative quilting year!

Little Christmas pillows!

My late sister, Mary, was an expert at cross-stitch! Her walls were filled with beautiful intricate samplers. I learned after she passed away, Mary had also taken many deep dives on eBay and purchased lots of unfinished cross-stitch projects never taken beyond the stitch phase. The unfinished projects eventually found a home at my brother’s house. It wasn’t until this past fall, I had the opportunity to have a peek at his treasure trove. I guess Carl could tell from my wide eyes, I was overwhelmed, intrigued, and very interested. Needless to say, I was gifted with lots of the little treasures. Some of the almost 20 projects also include little seed beads, metallic threads, and one, a metal charm.

I’ve been noodling ever since trying to figure out how to honor my sister’s great taste and the anonymous eBay stitchers! I even watched a few YouTube videos for inspiration.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve trimmed each project down, framed them in strips of Christmas fabric (1-1/4 inches wide), then backed each with something different, leaving a hole at the bottom, added stuffing, and some slip stitching. I am happy with the results!

Quilt Festival Houston 2021 was awesome!

The final day of the International Quilt Festival in Houston is today! My sister, Gretchen, and I had a blast! While there were only about 400 vendors, due to COVID, we still managed to fill up on interesting fabrics, patterns, pre-cuts, demonstrations, and even a couple of gadgets. We noticed the usual crowd of ladies testing sewing machines and longarms.

My sister and I made wonderful memories! Among them were the Day of the Dead Skulls sprinkled around town. Also, sharing downtown Houston during Game 2 of the World Series Astros vs. Braves. We won that one! Our favorite was dinner with my awesome brother, Pete, and nephew, Peter, at Shake Shack. Gotta love their fries!

The display of winning quilts and interesting quilt exhibits like the Tula Pink Challenge made us linger and ponder our craft. If I had been in serious “reporter mode,” I would have taken notes to share details of who made what quilt.

The Princess Diana tribute small quilts was a Cherrywood Challenge and quilters stepped up! I’m guessing maybe a hundred entries and all were lovely.

I adored the small rectangular “eyeball” exhibit message. It was called “Eye Contact: Creating a Connection” encouraging us to “Lift up your head, gaze into someone’s eyes, and make a connection.” Hopefully, with COVID in our rear-view mirror, more of that will happen. I’ll do my part, if you do yours!

My favorite quilt exhibit was the “Dear Jane” quilts. Named after Jane A. Stickle, who in 1863 created a most impressive sampler quilt, with 169 miniature blocks with an impressive pieced border. This particular exhibit is from a group of over 50 who, in 2014, decided to all make “Dear Jane” quilts. It took four years, but 52 completed their quilts, all in different colorways. I didn’t count the ones on display…maybe 10 or 15… but beyond impressive. Most of the quilts had the “signature” scalloped edges, although not all. I photographed my favorites.

My sister, Gretchen, makes mostly Hawaiian quilts so, of course, I snapped one of her standing in front of one. She is in the middle of making one as we speak. It is going to be amazing!

You might notice the dinosaur quilt with the battle shield. That one is for grandsons Jacob and Ben. Just for fun, I texted them a couple of quilts while at festival. Ben thought the dinosaur was silly holding a shield.

I can’t wait till next year!

“I Spy Gumballs” new art collage quilt pattern!

• 

  Art Quilt ready for a background

• 

  Finished quilt top

• 

  Lots of gumballs

• 

  All finished except background

• 

  Isn’t the frog cute?

• 

  Adding background

• 

  Pining gumballs to pattern

• 

  Adorable Quilt Label by Sally

The making of “I Spy Gumballs” art collage quilt!

I’ve been working on this new collage art quilt pattern for a while now and it is finally ready to release! But first … the reason why I chose a gumball machine! In the past, I’ve enjoyed making “I Spy” quilts for the grandkids, and charity, from a pattern that utilizes lots of little mason jars. Each “jar” is a different novelty fabric. So adorable! But then I thought … what about an old-fashioned gumball machine with each gumball being a novelty fabric? How much fun would that be? The prototype “I Spy Gumballs” quilt is in line to be longarmed at A Needle and Thread. My friend, Sally, made the adorable quilt label! She is so talented and enjoys surprising me with a new embroidery design. Since the quilt top is complete, I am releasing the pattern.

This quilt would look amazing hanging in a child’s room, playroom, or classroom. The finished quilt size is 34 inches wide by 50 inches long. There are approximately 50 novelty “gumballs” in the quilt. Lots of opportunities for a child to learn language! Each gumball is 3-1/4″ in diameter. The PDF pattern can be purchased in my Etsy shop and, as always, a portion of the proceeds goes to charity! This quilt is so much fun to make and I can’t wait to teach it!

I’m currently making the quilt again. This time with a Halloween-theme in mind. Stay tuned!

Shop Now

Quilted, Bound, and Labeled … “Peace Crane” Collage Art Quilt

• 

  Ben with “Peace Crane”

• 

  Katie models “Peace Crane”

• 

  Close-up of Erica’s quilting

• 

  Close-up of Erica’s quilting

• 

  Close-up of Erica’s quilting

• 

  Background quilting

• 

  Quilting on the back!

• 

  Sally’s awesome quilt label!

There is something quite satisfying about putting all the finishing touches on a quilt! This art quilt was no exception. It will always be my COVID quilt. The one I struggled with during a difficult time. The long arming is complete (thanks to the lovely Eric at A Needle and Thread), the quilt’s binding and hanger is hand sewn on, and lastly, the quilt label (Sally keeps surprising me) seals the deal. In an instant, the quilt project goes from being a UFO (quilting acronym for “Un-Finished Objects”) to a finished quilt!