1990-Sam's Ties

Because Sam buys neck ties like I buy fabric, his ties were beginning to take up large portions of his closet. One day he innocently ask me if I could do anything with some of his old ties.

I didn't waste any time in accepting that offer.

I made four quilts using his ties, one for each of the children and one for us.

1989-Charlotte's Web

Charlotte's Web with its three dimensional spider hung in the middle school library where Sam worked for fourteen years.

1988-Copperpenny

I designed this wall hanging to represent the dove-of-peace flying in the night sky over the house we lived in on Copperpenny Road.

1987-Table Top Sampler

This one yard square table topper was probably made from fabric left over from my first quilting lesson.

1987-Sam's Attic Windows

This full sized attic window design is also made from double knit left overs from the dress industry. It is definitely a utility quilt which will withstand much use and many washings.

1987-Diamond Tree Skirt

This tree skirt is also made from some of those double knit scraps.

1987-Comfortable Spools

Remember double knit. Members of my family and I made quite a
few utility quilts from double knit fabrics left over from a nearby dress factory. I put together enough scraps to make this bed sized spools pattern.

1986-Ocean Waves

When I discovered that maintaining a live fish tank was far more work than I had anticipated, I constructed this little ocean waves quilt and some fabric fish which take much less time.

1986-MS to VA

When we purchased a house with a cathedral ceiling, I constructed this quilt with a mocking bird and magnolias to represent Mississippi, Sam’s birthplace; and a cardinal and dogwood flowers to represent Virginia, my birthplace. The rock wall surrounding the fireplace needed a quilt. Although we moved from that house in 2003, the quilt now hangs above the fireplace in our present home.

1986-Jaron's Clowns

I appliqued this colorful clown quilt for Jaron, our first
grandchild.

1986-Arden's Flower Garden

Each hexagon was constructed separately as a small pillow and
then sewn together by hand. Since this is a queen sized quilt, the photograph does not show the entire quilt.

1986- Blue Sampler

Finally in 1986 I had an opportunity to take a beginning quilting class to learn the basic rules of quilting. For this class, we made sandpaper templates, drew around each one on the fabric, and cut each piece out with scissors.

1985-Yellow Tulips

This hand appliqued and hand quilted quilt was draped over a
very cheap round table and used as the focal point in our living room for many
years. The space under the table made a very good storage area.

1985-Christmas Watermelon

The name of this pattern was "Watermelon," but I think it also makes a nice Christmas quilt with its red and green colors.

1985- Juliana's Star

Since I did not know the short cuts for consturcting an eight point star when I make this Eight Point Star quilt, I cut each piece separately and struggled quite a bit to sew them together. In addition, I quilted this full size quilt on a regular sewing machine.

1985- Juliana's Star

By sewing together scraps from various projects, I made five quilts with very long zippers on three sides to use as sleeping bags for the family on our camping trips.

I only have photos for three of them, but they have all been used many times even for grandchildren visits. Some of these fabrics were from my cousin who worked in a clothing factory and shared many left-over scraps with many members of the family, especially the quilters.

1970 Nativity

I used the cover of a religious magazine to design this very primitive wall hanging made from double knits and velvets.

1953-Early Nine Patch

I made this nine patch quilt from left-over material from clothes I had made for myself and my sister when I was about fifteen years old