Kaleidoscope Sport - One of several of Ricky's Kool Kaleidoscope quilts I have made.

I Heart You - I love hearts. I did change a few things, made it bigger, matched up the blocks, digitized the applique hearts in Bernina embroidery software. All the quilting are heart designs.

The Music will Never Die - This is the front of the quilt. Ricky, I just want to Thank You with all my heart for giving me permission to make this quilt. Words can not describe how much delight you have given Dave and Christine when they saw this. I think this has closed a very difficult time during their lives and opened a new chapter to better times ahead. -- The back of the quilt is just as beautiful as the front.

Beautiful fabric inspired this spiral lone star quilt pattern from Jan Krentz's Lone Star Quilts & Beyond pattern book.

This is the 2016 BOM from The Quilt Show using William Morris Jewel Tone fabrics.

Original design using mariners compass paper piecing patterns and the Wedge ruler. Second quilt in a series of three.

This is a scrap quilt -- an effort to use up tiny scraps saved from multiple projects -- randomly pieced and free-motion quilted.

Calypso is my version of Jacqueline De Jong's Brilliant Beauties of Joy quilt. I used my collection of grreen fabrics and a couple of Ricky Tim's hand-dyed scraps packages.

I took a class with Jacqueline to get going on this quilt.  She has seen the pictures of it finished - not her colours :)

There is a lot of paper piecing, but it was fun! So happy it's done.

Lora Nale did an awesome job quilting this for me!

This is a quote from my grandson Aiden as he tried out his new birthday gift.  5 year olds believe anything can be accomplished. A photo from that day was my inspiration. I painted the face and hands and the quilt is hand appliqued. I also hand macraméd the butterfly net so that it would flow free.   As the appliqued boy was being assembled it hung on my design wall next to another partial pieced project, I noticed how well the disappearing hour glass fit with the image and the theme.  At age 13 Aiden thinks the statement was silly. 

Original design by Beth Collins. Phish is my son's favorite band. Look for a fish that spells Phish. Background is a strata of different values. Gillions of whimsical fish and sea creatures were appliqued. Some from fabric. And some I dreamed up. Thread painting. Tulle over all. More thread painting. The horizon up was a piece of white fabric which I painted. Then I added reflections on the water using paint. This wall hanging has won best of Show for original design.

Custom design, raw-edge applique on solid white background.  46" w x 42" h.  Designed on EQ8 software.  Longarm machine quilted, computerized and hand guided. 

 

“Change” is one of fifty-two quilts in the series "52 Yarns of Lyme - The Lyme Dis-Ease Series" by Susan Jaenen-Griffin that includes traditional quilts, contemporary art quilts, 3d fiber pieces, abstract and mixed media pieces.  The series tells the 'yarns' or stories of my journey with Lyme disease and how engaging in fiber art assisted in my recovery.  The following is the artist statement for the quilt:

Diwali celebrates the good over evil, light over dark and knowledge over ignorance.  The inspiration for this piece came from that philosophy and a gold coin by the Royal Canadian Mint.   I envisioned fireworks sparking a change and the light outshining my brain fog.   Dragonflies are included for their association with change and light.   Rangolis are colorful designs that are drawn on floors to welcome guests during this festival of lights.  I encompassed my healing mantra into the Rangolis.

          Made for Magic City Quilt Artists challenge: I Always Wanted To Be. After suffering from panic attacks for most of my life, I decided that the one thing I always wanted to be was Calm.

 

Miniature quilt just 7.5 inches square. 

Heartbreak - When my son and his family took a job in New York I was devastated. The twins were five and the next son was 4, so I decided to make a quilt to remind them of all the good times we had together as a family in Michigan. They have modular furniture and every night before they go to bed they all watch a movie. I thought this would be perfect for their "snuggle pit". Now when I visit, the boys and I go over all the words together....

It's A Great Life If You Don't Weaken - This is one of a series of 4 quilts made for a class with Linda Scmidt at www.quiltuniversity.com called Elements. This is the Fire piece of the series. It is based on paintings by Frieda Kahlo. The movie Frieda came out around the time I had my first hip surgery in 2003. Frieda had a bad accident and lived in pain her whole life. One of her paintings is of her left foot painted from her angle while lying in bed. I just happened to have taken a photo of my right foot the same way while I was recovering in bed. You can see my right foot in the upper left. There is a photo print of part of one her paintings in one of the flames. The flames represent the pain.

BLACK PEARL - This was a guild challange. Our favorite Movie. My movie Pirates of the Carribean

Is This Heaven? - A collage quilt taken from a photo I took of my two sons back in the 90's when ewe were at an AAU baseball torunament in Iowa. If you have seen the movie "Field of Dreams "you will get the connection.. "Is this heaven?...No ,it's Iowa"