Georgia Bonesteel Lap Quilting

[Eileen K.]

I have been watching Georgia Bonesteel's LAP QUILTING SHOW on Create TV (PBS)

I got to wondering have any of you ever made a lap quilt...

What would you need to know in advance of such project?

Have any of the lap quilts won a prize at a major quilt show?

Is this a style of quilting that is new or is it old fashion?

I could see the advantage of me doing my own machine quilting instead of sending it to a long-armer which seems to be the current method of having quilts quilted.

Please post your opinion and comments.

[Hannelore N.]

Mmmmhhh...... I thought any quilt can be a lap quilt. It's a question of size. If you can put it on your lap to keep your knees warm, and it's too small to cover a bed, then it's a lap quilt. Or have I got that wrong?

Lorchen

[Betty J.]

LadyRags,

I do my own quilting for most of my quilts which are about what I think you are thinking of as "lap quilt" size. If they get much bigger than 50 or 60 inches square, though, I find them a little hard to manage on my domestic machine. Medium-sized Wall quilts, table runners, smaller lap quilts, baby quilts, quilted vests and jackets, all work very nicely on a domestic machine, I think. Then there's the intriguing "miniature" quilts I've been experimenting a little with. (The American Quilting Society categorizes those as smaller than 25 x 25 inches--they don't have to be square of course, but can't be wider or longer than that).

I really think these are loads of fun to make.

[Annis C.]

I've made several quilts using Georgia Bonesteel's lap quilting technique dating back to the late 70's if you're talking about quilting each block before assembling the quilt. I don't think it would go out of style. I have her book "Lap Quilting Lives!" from 1999. There is a considerable amount of hand sewing on the back of the quilt but you get the bonus of a pieced back when you're finished and it is much easier to quilt the blocks separately. I've never entered a national show but did win a 3rd place ribbon in a local show with one of these quilts done in sections instead of blocks. They liked the fact that I used more than one fabric on the back.

[Susan B.]

Marti Michell has a book Machine Quilting in Sections which may be of interest to you if that is the aspect of Lap Quilting (different from lap quilts, which is just a size) you are pursuing.

[Susan B.]

I've got a few of her books from my MIL and do like her patterns. I have made 4 lap quilts now as gifts. Three were wedding gifts. I find the size perfect for curling up on the couch with after dinner, though what the size exactly is, I'm not sure, but it's smaller than a twin and larger than a crib size quilt. Also quite easy to machine quilt with a regular machine.

[Lynn K.]

I learned to hand quilt from reading G. Bonesteel's books about 15 years ago. I thought the name came from the fact that we were quilting in our LAP! My first one was a double bed size and I quilted each block separately then joined them in rows and then joined the rows by her method of seaming the quilt top then hand whip stitched the back seams. It's the quilt in my profile that's Amish.

Lynn