Thursday, April 19, 2012

Q is for (what else) Quilting

Hello.
My name is Tammy.
I am a Quiltmaker.

This quilt was hand embroidered by my mother
and hand quilted by my great grandmother.
I've been wrapped in the love of quilts from
the very beginning!
When I was a little girl and dreaming of 
"what I would be when I grew up"
I always thought that I wanted to be a 
wife and a mother.  

Quilt made for my granddaughter

As I got a little older I considered the other options open to me.......
Nurse, Secretary, Teacher.
As a child growing up in the 60's, 
living in a very small, rural
town in Southeastern Ohio with very traditional values this is what I saw as my choices.

Maple Island BQ2 quilt design

High School in San Diego saw me taking typing, business and accounting classes.
Yep, I was going to be an accountant. 
Talk about fitting a square peg in a round hole!

This quilt was made to place on the floor so my grandbabies
have a clean place to play

Fast forward.....I DID become a wife and mother and 
I DID work in the accounting field and I DID work in the school system,
but never a Nurse.  (too afraid of needles!)
Ironic since I now work with needles ALL the time!
I just don't stick anyone with them.
(My husband might disagree with that.....his feet always seems
to find the needles that I drop on the floor!)

Quilt still in progress.
I need to finish this one!

What I didn't realize was that my work training began in a tiny little house in the attic where I
sat under the quilting frames of my great grandmother.  

Small quilt made for a Breast Cancer fund raiser.

Every day on my way home from school I stopped by grandma's house
to watch Dark Shadows.  
Speaking of Dark Shadows....I'm not sure I'm going to like the
new movie that is coming out.  Looks
like they are going to be making a spoof of the original,
but I digress.....

Before I left gramma's house
it was my job to thread 7 or 8 needles so she could hand quilt in the evening.  

Harmonic Convergence quilt made for my son when he got married

I had free access to her scrap box that resided 
under the bed in the attic.  
I can still remember cutting heart shapes from the fabric, 
sewing them together
then stuffing them to make little pillows.  

Engagement quilt

My love of quilts and quiltmaking began with my 
great grandma Lizzie,
but my "formal" training began in a 6 week quilt class 
in Secunda, South Africa.

This little quilt hangs in my husband's office.

That was it!  I was in love and have been quilting
for the last 30 or so years.
The last 6 years it has been my profession.


Quilt I designed for my daughter when she graduated high school
Each of the larger squares contain a picture.

I worked at a quilt shop for several years until I 
purchased a professional Longarm quilting machine.

High school quilt for my son

Following in my grandma's footsteps I
 now I put the decorative quilting stitches on other people's quilts.
Only I use a machine....she did it all by hand.


Quilt design was inspired from a postcard made by
New Orleans artist Jamie Hayes

All of the quilts pictured here are ones that I have 
pieced and quilted.
(with the exception of the very first one pictured)

Mariner's Compass Wallhanging.

Some of them are patterns from a book,
or a class
and others are ones that I have designed my self. 
Scrap quilt made for my parents.
Hey mom......are you using this quilt?

This is just a small sampling of the quilts I have made.
It doesn't include any of the t-shirt quilts
OR any of the customer quilts I've quilted.

Baby quilt I designed

The majority of the quilts that I make are quilts
that I want people to use!


Bullseye Quilt.
Totally made from scraps.
My kids used to take this quilt to camp!

Quilts to cuddle up with 

Class taken in Durango Colorado

and hopefully feel the love that I've stitched in to it


Double wedding ring
HAND QUILTED!

and hopefully feel my arms wrapped around them.

Lover's Knot


 Some of my quilts are Art Quilts.
Quilts that are made mainly to hang. 
Teacup exchange quilt
Each teacup was made by a special friend
Their name is written under the lace of each cup.



Definition of QUILT

1
a : a bed coverlet of two layers of cloth filled with padding (as down or batting) held in place by ties or stitched designs

This may be the dictionary definition of a quilt,
but my definition is :
Quilt = Love









9 comments:

  1. very good daughter. No, I am not using my quilt at this time but should put it back in the swing. The swing sure needs something.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Mom............Get that quilt out and USE it!
      Love you!

      Delete
  2. Oh Tammy -- These are just so wonderful (of course, you already know that). I love traditional quilts, but I do enjoy looking at new styles of quilting. I used to enjoy watching Alex Anderson on tv -- if she's still on, our stations don't carry her. (And yeah -- I love Johnny Depp, but not so much Tim Burton -- like you, the previews of the movie don't make me want to buy a ticket.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was so excited to see that they were doing a Dark Shadows movie!
      The opening music alone stirs up so many memories for me.

      Then I saw the previews...............makes me sad.

      Delete
  3. Oh my... your quilts are GORGEOUS!!! So many different styles and colors and they all look beautiful! I have little girls so I love Mia's teddy bear quilt, and giraffes are my favorite animal, so that baby quilt struck me, as well. I just discovered your blog today... looking forward to looking through your older posts, as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by Kat!
      I appreciate your comments on my quilts.
      I'll be visiting you very soon!

      Delete
  4. Exquisite Your quilts are just breathtaking and so very beautiful.. so very happy to have visited blogging from A to Z

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, Tammy, your work is beautiful and exquisite! I have always wanted to do this, but haven't gotten there yet. I make baby blankets, but haven't gotten to the real quilting. My Grandma J. was great at it, and I even have one that my Great Grandma Johnson made for her and Grandpa's wedding gift 76 years ago. It hangs behind our headboard.

    Thanks so much for all of your visits, and I am so happy that you found a copy of the Oregon Alphabet Book. My sister gave that to my girls years ago.

    God bless,
    Kathy M.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great quilts. Love how you changed careers so often, I did too. My mom was a nurse and wanted me to be one. No can do! I was a teacher, now a mom and writer. Love both jobs.

    ScribblesFromJenn
    Happy A to Z-ing!

    ReplyDelete