The Very Best and Very Worst Afternoon - I intended to enter the Novel Idea Challenge in Quilting Arts Magazine but didn't finish on time. Months later I dug it out and finally finished it. Anyone who has read "Memiors of a Geisha" will recognize the moment in which this image illustrates. A GREAT read! I read it 4 times! In this small quilt I was beginning to get comfortable with free motion sewing and thread painting. Since the piece is small I was able to breath and relax a bit. I used Jaquard irridescent and dyna-flo dyes on silk for the basis of the thread work. The geishas are all appliques made by bobbin sewing with a slightly metalic black floss, cutting away the fabric edges after sewing. The 'ghost' images of her memory were also bobbin sewn onto tule. I used water soluable stablizer on all applique pieces.

Fascinatin'Rhythms - Three layer quilt in Katie PM's "ghost wash" style . Three musicians faces overly a quartet of jazz musicians playing piano,horn, sax, and bass. The third layer is musical notes which provide the color changes that affect the values of the other layers

Sweet and Sour - This quilt was designed and partially executed in a class taught by Katie Pasquini Masopust using her Ghost Images technique. It took me almost another year to finish it.

Om - Design uses Katie Pasquini Masopust's Ghost Layer technique. Quilting: Sanskrit chant from Yoga class in cursive.

Savannah and her six string - Original design from picture of my niece playing her new guitar.

My Music Man is 60! - Special gift for my husband's 60th birthday. All hand dye fabric

Guitars - Abstract guitars - made in an applique class at local sewing shop.

Mini-Pineapple Quilt - I really liked this pineapple block pattern because of the fabric change in the corners. With this change the quilt looks different from close-up and seems to change at a distance. There seems to be a secondary pattern going on with this small change in the block. This quilt is 15 inches square.

Big Five Pineapple - This is an original art quilt design and machine embroidered by me. As with all my artwork, it is a complete original. I create all my own embroidery designs from scratch (no stock designs for me thank you). I wanted this quilt to have that fruit crate label type feel to it. It's one in a series of 4 I am doing right now.

Scrap Pineapple - I used Lynn Grave's Pineaaple Foundation sheets for this quilt. It was made to fit an extra long twin bed.

Vicksburg Quilt - I started this quilt at a Bonnie Hunter workshop sponsor by my local quilt guild - The Newtown Quilter Guild.

Productive Timeburst - Miniature quilt 17"x17", 1252 pieces.

This was made for my Italian Exchange Student.  The colors are his favorites.  Some of the blocks have meaning:  Card Trick, because he liked to play cards and he could do card tricks, Jacob's Ladder because that is my husband's name, Marion's Choice because that is my name, Cat's Cradle because the cat loved being in his room.  I also found some blocks entitled Roman Stripe, Roman Cross, and Italian Tiles.  He is a typical Italian:  he was appalled not only that we put pineapple in pizza, but also hamburgers, chicken burgers, roast ham...so there was no choice but to put 4 large Pineapple blocks in the corners!

  In a world of uncertainty: I hoped to express my feelings with a bit of humor. Photo copied on ExtravaOrganza  fused to white cotton background and thread sketched.

This quilt is inspired by a wonderful painting by Joel Christopher Payne, a Disney artist, from whom I bought the rights for making one show quilt.  I loved his painting, but it was darker and did not have much of the Spanish Moss.  So it is not a copy of his painting, but an inspiration from it.  I had made a collection of wood print commercial fabrics over the years and used every one of them in the making of this quilt.  The cabin and the houseboat are made by cutting "planks" of wood and "building these two homes with stitched, raw-edge applique.  The big trees are made by using a variety of wood-bark fabrics and are turned-edge machine stitched appliques.  The limbs of the trees and the weeds and bushes in the water are free-motion couched on wool yarn of various colors. I then free-motion embroidered the Spanish moss using Aurifil's 12 weight wool thread.  I had to make small straight marks to keep the direction of the moss hanging properly.  The fireflies are made with a back drop of Neon Nights UV Fabric black light paint and topped with tiny hot fix tangerine and yellow crystals.  The reflective water is made with raw edged applique that has been overpainted to blend into the water background, and top painted to highlight the ripply look.  This was great fun to make and I expect to make more landscape quilts using some of the same techniques.

The Jellyfish Hexie Quilt

Completed in 2015. 100% Hand-Stitched: piecing, quilting, and binding.
2522 total pieces.

Original design and stitching by Gail Lizette Weiss.

      I found these little animals beautifuly odd . After researching tamarins, I learned that they live in South America and are becoming rare. This quilt is my atattempt to "capture" one. It was made for donation to Southwest Solutions to be auctioned.      

 Worked on this quilt for two years. I made the quilt as a wedding present to a couple who climb mountains and are outdoor athletes. Their favorite color is blue. I saw the mountains in "Twist-and-Turn Bargello Quilts" by Eileen Wright. I only did the mountain peaks and down the side of the mountains. I used McKenna Ryan fabric "Starry Night"  for the sky. The gradients fabric worked perfect for the sun coming up or the sun setting. I cut strips,sewing them vertical instead of bargello the fabrics. The Lake, I found fabric that I thought looked like a water, these strips of fabrics are sewn horizontal. Clip art on the computer aided in pine tree design, bear and deer. I printed out the design I liked. Then drew the design on Heat n Bond. Ironed on fabric I would like to use.  Then ironed on the Quilt. I Thread painted a eagle in the quilt between the pine Trees. The flying geese I thought was a good idea for the border with the outdoor theme. Meckeena Ryans gradient fabric used to make the center of all four sides white and gradually gets darker blue to the corners.  The quilting I had ideas and the long armed did a great job. I did swirls for the white snow tops with a different bead sewn in each swirl. Four different beads used to had shine and sparkle. Flang is used to separate the center design to start the borders. Black piping done to end the borders with a dark blue binding.