Flying to the Stars

I made this quilt for a Scrap Challenge for the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association.

We paid $5 to fill a gallon ziplock bag with assorted scraps and then had to come up with a quilt. My quilt was machine pieced and both hand and machine quilted. I paper pieced the small stars in the inner field.

I ended up winning $25 in the random drawing of entrants!

It is reflected in the mirror of a dresser made by my father-in-law BR Smith for my oldest daughter Michaele. Abby our pet cockatoo is enjoying her reflection.

My husband Chris made a Murphy bed for my sewing room to allow a second queen guest bed.
I hung this quilt above the bed.

Tom Sawyer Doll and Antique School Desk

This is my "3 year old" doll, Natalie, that I received as a Christmas gift as a child. She can walk if you manually maneuver her arms. I sewed this dress for her to fit in with the old school theme.
I made this Tom Sawyer doll from a Vogue pattern many years ago. I also made the accompanying Becky Thatcher doll. The face is hand painted. This doll sits on my antique school desk made sometime in the latter half of the 1800's. Tom holds an old school book that once belonged to my husband's grandmother who was a teacher.

Circle of Life

This crib quilt was made from 1930's repro fabrics in May 2006. I originally made the quilt to be used for grand-nephew Joseph Marshall's visit in June 2006.
The quilt is now used in my antique wicker baby buggy where my porcelain doll rides.

1930's Dresden Plate and Fan Cradle Quilt

I machine pieced and quilted this cradle size quilt for my circa 1860's baby cradle using 1930's repro fabrics. My daughter Jessica once slept in the cradle, but now it holds a newborn size baby doll until I have a real grandchild to place in it!
Close-up of quilt squares and quilting.

Prairie Tulip

This is a quilt from my first quilt class. It is handpieced and hand quilted. I made it to fit an antique cradle.

Country Charm

Made in January 2007. Design by Kim Diehl in American Patchwork and Quilting Issue 76.

I used charm squares purchased from local quilt shop.

Machine pieced and appliqued and hand quilted.

School Days Quilt

Close-up of Isaac Newton Christian Academy block. The school in Cedar Rapids, IA is constructed of red brick and has tan doors. Michaele attended grades 1-8 and Jessica attended preschool to 4th grade.
I designed this wallhanging in celebration of my two daughters. The two schoolhouses represent their schools.
Valley Christian Schools in San Jose, CA (Michaele attended high school and Jessica attended both junior high and high school). The school is gold stucco with blue doors. They were both involved in sports and so spent many hours riding the school's bus to games.

The decorative buttons were taken off a dress I made for Jessica in 1st grade that were purchased in the Amana Colonies in Iowa.

Cottage Garden

Made in Winter 2006 from Connecting Threads kit and pattern.

Crow's Feet

Made in Winter 2006 from pattern in Love of Quilting Jan/Feb 2006 issue.

Butterfly Garden

I made this quilt in April 2004. A student in my 2nd grade Sunday school class gave me the blue border fabric for a Christmas gift and the butterflies are made from charm squares from a local quilt shop. The pattern is from an American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. I made the butterflies smaller than the pattern to accomodate my 3 inch charm squares.

Patriotic Quilts

This is a flag quilt I made in summer 2002. I originally made it for a fundraising sale for daughter Michaele's marching band trip, abut learned that people aren't willing to pay what something is really worth at a rummage type sale and so kept it for myself!

This is a Teddy Roosevelt Bow Tie quilt. It was a block of the month at my guild.

Pianist with vintage Etude magazine (Brandon's Quilt)

Chris took this view of Brandon's Quilt with a vintage Etude Music Magazine, March 1923.

Conducting the Messiah (Brandon's Quilt)

Chris took this picture of Brandon's quilt with a copy of The Messiah that belonged to his grandmother.

Thankful for the Memories Quilt

I made this wall quilt from fabric used on many other projects over the years. They are from my "country blue, rose and tan" period of the 1980's. Fabric from my daughters' baby quilts, nephew's baby quilt, mother-daughter Easter and Mother's Day matching dresses, baby bumpers, numerous daughters' dresses, and many other quilts or handmade crafts given to friends, family, and kept for myself are included. The pattern is from an American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. The original pattern called for larger pieces, but some of the scraps I had were too small, so I decreased the size of each piece. I intended to make a twin size quilt, but the small pieces were taking so long I decided to just make it a wall hanging size instead! I machine quilted it using a Baptist Fan pattern that I drafted. Completed in Summer 2008.

Madison's Quilt

I made this quilt for our Sheltie, Madison. She loves to lay on quilts. Almost all the fabric was free. The center panel came from a scrap I found at my quilt guild. The other dog blocks and the border print were from fabric being discarded at my church quilt group. The backing was from fabric given me by my mother-in-law. Madison with her quilt.

Pinwheel and Squares Quilt

I wanted to make a table covering for an antique side table for my family room and thus chose burgundy, gold, and green prints. All of the squares are from a charm packet purchased from a local quilt store in Sunnyvale, CA. The quilt is handquilted with my original quilting design in the body and a stencil design in the borders.

Tree of Life Quilt

I made this quilt for the 2005 Santa Clara Guild quilt show. The center medallion is called Tree of Life and each surrounding block has a biblical name. The border is called Rose of Sharon. On the back of the quilt is a drawing of the quilt with each block named and a Bible verse to go with each one. It was quilted by Ohana Quilts. The border fabric is from Jenny Beyer.

A close-up view of the center medallion.

Mom's Quilts

These quilts are made from repro 1930's fabrics and embroidered squares made by my mother Frances Coomer Small probably in the 1940's. She made 12 squares and never put them into a quilt. After her death, I divided them and put 6 each into 2 quilts: one to give to my sister Susie and one for myself. The above quilt is the one I made for myself and the quilt below is the one I gave to my sister Susie.

Snowman Quilts

I made this quilt for myself. The striped fabric matches daughter Jessica's Christmas stocking.
This quilt was made for niece Tami.

This quilt was made for niece Mandie.

Gondola Quilt

This is a quilt I made for my Hugs & Stitches group at Hillside Evangelical Free Church. We give quilts to hospitals, a crisis pregnancy center, nursing homes, and missionaries.

Bassoon Block Close-up of Brandon's Quilt

An original design based upon photos from Senior Recital held in Torrey-Gray Auditorium at Moody Bible Institute. I used silver metallic thread for the mouthpiece and parts of bassoon.

Soloist Block Close-up of Brandon's Quilt

Original design based upon photo from Senior Recital held in Torrey-Gray auditorium at Moody Bible Institute.

Conductor Block Close-up of Brandon's Quilt

"Super Conductor" pattern from Jazz Attack series. I used a panel of musical instruments at the top to simulate an orchestra.

Piano Block Close-up of Brandon's Quilt

Based upon pattern "Piano Boogie" from Jazz Attack series. I used a panel of classical composers for top and bottom borders.

Brandon's Music Quilt

I made this quilt for my nephew Brandon upon his graduation from Moody Bible Institute with a degree in music. I tried to capture his interests: bassoon, piano, singing, and conducting.

I collected the fabrics over several years.

The conducting and piano blocks were from Jazz Attack designs, while the bassoon and soloist blocks were my own original designs based upon his senior recital photos.

For My Sister

My sister was given this heart quilt top and she asked me to quilt it for her. Since it was a sampler quilt, I used a different quilting pattern in each block. Most of the quilting patterns were my own original designs. It was entirely hand quilted.

Rose Star Trellis Quilt

I made this quilt for my husband's study from an American Patchwork and Quilting magazine from 1996. Originally this pattern was for a wall hanging and so I increased it to a twin size. I used Wuthering Heights collection fabric from Moda and also used a coordinating plaid for the bed skirt. In addition to the pillow shams, I made a Roman shade style valance for the window.





This photo shows the quilting detail
(quilted by Jenny Michael).