Quilting Projects

Shortcut Links

to the Galleries
pre-2000
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015


Tutorials & Info Pages
Tin Lizzie
Fold Your Stash
Continous Bias Tape
Joining Double Fold Binding
Envelope Quilt Label
SWAK block
Alternative Finishes
Mitering oddball corners
Mitered corners for napkins & tablecloths
Freezer Paper-piecing
English Paper Piecing preparation
Pirate's Practically Perfect Pillowcases
On the following pages are various quilts that I have made over the years. They are arranged in chronological order. For each quilt, there will be a large photograph, smaller detailed photos and various links that will result in a another tab which will show details of the quilt or an informational web site.

Most of my quilts are machine pieced and machine quilted. I'm not a great fan of doing hand-quilting myself. I have frolicked with 2 small hand-quilted cheater quilts, as well as one baby-sized throw that was all traditionally hand-quilted and decided that eventhough I absolutely adore and love hand-needlework of all sorts, hand-quilting is incredibly tedious and boring. I don't even entertain the thought anymore.

That being said, I have the utmost admiration and appreciation of quilts that are hand-quilted. I know how much time, energy, talent and perserverance is required to do a quality job. Those who hand-quilt are absolutely awe-inspiring.

Addendum in 2004: a long-term UFO was pulled out the pile and was diligently worked on. This was my very first hand-pieced and entirely *hand-quilted* sampler quilt. It's listed in the first section (1978/1979).

It was several years after I began making quilts that I became aware of how important putting a descriptive label on the back of the quilt was, noting such information as who made the quilt, who for, date(s) involved and any interesting tidbits. With that in mind, I created a label for myself using my "pirate" persona. Since the creation of my pirate label, my quilts are now properly documented. I do regret that my previous quilts don't have one of the labels.


Look for stuff just on my site with the box to the right

Gallery of Pirate's Quilts

links are in chronological order, going from left to right, top to bottom.

The Early Years
(the pickin's were slim)
1978? 1979? Log Cabin - first machine pieced -----First Quilts!!------ 1978? 1979? 6 block sampler - hand pieced & hand quilted
April 1981 Maria Rodgers' baby quilt 1985 Spring Angela Branco's baby quilt
after 1983 This Peter Rabbit panel was one of the first baby quilts I made. I even hand-quilted (part) of it! after 1983 Carousel horse wall hanging
1992 Spring Catherine's Brownie Quilt 1993 Spring Amy Rodgers' baby quilt
1994 Summer Quilt of Borders June 1995 Jane Kowalski's Quilt
1996 Summer Woven Ribbons "Weaver Fever" 1996 Winter Irish Chain with Celtic knotwork
1999 Winter Stack-n-Whack December 1999 Log Cabin in a Window
199x sometime Girl Scout Baby Quilt
So, let's total this up: 15 quilted items in 21 years. Man .. that's some slow quilting! However, there were mitigating circumstances: I was heavily involved in doing needlework of all sorts and garment sewing. In 1983, I had my first daughter and in 1988, I had my 2nd & 3rd daughters. My focus wasn't on quilts as an entity; quilts were just another item to be sewn. With three daughters growing like weeds, quilts weren't on the top of my list. However, I did make a TON of clothing! (While I haven't got that section of my website constructed yet, I eventually will do so.)

Under some very suspicious circumstances, I found myself being squeezed out of my sewing spaces, to the extent that towards the end of the 1990's, I was sharing my sewing area in a VERY small enclosed back porch with the laundry room, the pantry, my home-based word processing business. My supplies were scattered all over the house and storage sheds. It was incredibly frustrating. Fortunately, (in one sense), my younger girls had begun middle school and I no longer was sewing clothing for them. On the other hand, I simply didn't have the physical space necessary to sew anything, anyway! Did I mention it was incredibly frustrating?

In retrospect, I think I was a very cranky Mommy for a number of years .. I never realized just how important being creative was to me until I wasn't able to do anything.

Running Totals: Finished projects: 15. WIP: 0
Then BINGO! 2000 happened!

The heavens opened up, the sun shined upon me, the Fates were favorable, Mr. Pirate loves me .... we demolished the old enclosed back porch, remodeled it into a new 400 square foot room, subdivided into 3 areas: laundry/pantry, office and A 200 SQUARE FOOT SEWING ROOM!!! I thought I had died and gone to heaven. :-)

By the end of 2000, I could see that I was really going to have a new sewing room the spring of 2001, but I couldn't wait. In a very small area in the living room (where a LOT of the stuff from the demolished back porch was being stored), I set up a temporary sewing area and made a quilt *for me* (what a concept!).

I was estatic! I was thrilled! Just call me "butter" cuz I was on a roll! I was sewing and wasn't going to stop! In the winter of 2000 alone, I made a combination of 6 quilts, 3 blocks for 2 comfort quilts, 5 quilted Christmas stockings and begun my now (in)famous Forever Project. That's FIFTEEN quilty projects in FOUR months! Compare that to the previous 15 quilts in 21 years. :-)

September 2000 Halloween 2000 September 2000.
Finished: July 2007
the Second Forever Project - hand-pieced Cathedral Window
September 2000
comfort block for Hunter September 2000 Train baby quilt (Beta testing)
September 2000 Pigs in Space October 2000 comfort block for USS Cole
October 2000 Lone Star with Celtic knotwork November 2000 Folded Flowers Quilt
November 2000 Beth's shoes wall hanging December 2000 Stained Glass Christmas Stockings
December 2000 - March 2001 Stack-n-Whack with squirrel quilting
Running Totals: Finished projects: 26. WIP: 0
And the quilting train just kept on chuggin' ...
2001
January 2001 Stars and Stripes Zig Zag January 2001 Red, Black, Cream Double Wedding Ring finally quilted in 2009.
March 2001 Sushi Cats May 2001 Celestial Lone Star
May 2001 Stained Glass Christmas Tree Skirt May 2001 Cat block in Cat Fabric swap and Quilt
August 2001 Stained Glass Challenge:
Garden Maze sashing audition
August 2001 Stained Glass Challenge:
Sewing Notions (initial idea)
August 2001 Stained Glass Challenge:
Passing Through Stained Glass (final project)
September 2001 9/11 WTC Memorial blocks
August thru October 2001 "Sew This is What It's All About" September 2001 Kitten table runner
December 2001 Stack-n-Whack Fans December 2001 Chinese Lanterns for Ewe
December 2001 Garden Gate - Eleanor Burns block December 2001 Rene's San Francisco 49'er quilt
December 2001 Rene's 49'er Serendipty quilt December 2001 Family Signature Christmas Tree
2001 produced 16 quilts, 1 memorial block and 1 quilt started that remains unfinished for a total of 18 quilty projects!
Life is good when you can be creative. :-)

Running Totals: Finished projects: 44. WIP: 0

The creative juices kept flowing ...
2002
January 2002 Corsair wall hanging February 2002 Joy Sargent's baby quilt
January thru April 2002 Tesselating T (class at Thimble Creek) March 2002 Mardi Gras Mariner's Compass (class at Thimble Creek)
June 2002 Catherine's Double Wedding Ring July thru October 2002 Falling maple leaves (class at Thimble Creek)
August 2002 Victorian Hanky Pockets (class at Cotton Patch) September 2002 Fantasy Flying Fish
November 2002 New Hampshire Star table runner November 2002 Shawn's pillow
November 2002 a Comfort quilt for Susan December 2002 Jelly Belly pillow
December 2002 Mardi Gras Challenge (an About.com swap) 2002 sometime Batik Cat Squares pillow
December 2002 Rene's quilt for her grandfather December 2002 Lisas' quillow for her great-aunt
2002 burned as brightly as previous years with 16 quilting projects being done. 13 were completed; 2 were done by my daughters and 1 is on hiatus. However at slightly more than one per month, that's really not too shabby. :-)

Running Totals: Finished projects: 58. WIP: 0

Another year turned the corner and new projects were waiting ...
2003
January thru April 2003 West Virginny Moonshine February 2003 Wheel of Fortune block
from Sharon (alas still a WIP)
February 2003 Comfort block for the Columbia Space Shuttle March 2003 Dave's NASCAR bumper protector
April 2003 Little Girl Sewing wall hanging April 2003 Hawaiian Crazy Quilt
July 2003 Arkansas Crossroads
Josephine's companion quilt
July 2003 California poppies pillow
August 2003 Border print placemats August 2003 Vern's 80th birthday quilt
October 2003 Mike's train quilt October 2003 Diane's tropical Stack-n-Whack
November 2003 a school of SLO fish
2003 produced 14 quilty projects: 1 block for a comfort quilt, 1 project on hiatus BUT ... 12 completed quilted items!

Running Totals: Finished projects: 71. WIP: 0
Another year .. more projects ...
2004
January 2004 Aurora Pinwheel (small) January 2004 Over the Edge wall hanging
April 2004 Arizona Quilting Retreat Signature Quilt May 2004 7 Curved seam projects
updated: November 2008
May 2004 Lisa's Wizards and Warriors June 2004 Sewing room window treatments
July 2004 Alex's wedding quilt July 2004 Early American tinware
July 2004 Deco Crystals - Shades of Tiffany September 2004 Get the Lead Out Stained Glass
September 2004 Butterfly pillow for Angela December 2004 the Practical Christmas tree
for apartment dwellers
2004 count: 18 projects.
Now, I feel compelled to add at this point that in November 2004, I bought myself a Janome 300e embroidery machine. I had been having waaaay too much fun with this new toy and doing embroidery projects. You can see those projects on the Machine Embroidery page.

Running Totals: Finished projects: 89. WIP: 1

The next year:
2005
January 2005 Kanjii friendship pillow January 2005 Look Boris! It's Moose! (no squirrel) pillow
April 2005 woven pillow from Grandma's scraps April 2005 Tucking in the round pillow
May 2005 Could be Celtic pillow May 2005 Zundt Corners
August 2005 Rail Fence baby quilt August 2005 Four Star quilt for Clete
August 2005 Cathedral Window pillow August 2005 1 blanket & 3 quilts for Kevin Sanders
2005 count: 12 projects.

Running Totals: Finished projects: 101. WIP: 1

Moving right along to:
2006
March 2006 the Together quilt
(or Quilting the Golden Gate Bridge)
April 2006 Chiclets Quilt
(or who knew a king-sized quilt would be THAT big?) top completed but still unquilted.
April 2006 Garden Twist pillow Fall 2006 Fuchsias for Eddie & Anne
fuschia flower fabric and machine embroidered fuschias make a very belated thank-you gift for my cousin.FINALLY quilted in 2009 (!)
updated: April 2009
Winter 2006 A Machine-stitched Cathedral Window.
Let's see ... the "Together Quilt" is the only completely new & finished quilt this year; Chiclets is still an unquilted top and hence, technically speaking a UFO. Garden Twist was a UFO that was finally finished. Other UFOs that were completed in 2006 but already had an listing in a different year are: (2000) Lone Star with Celtic applique, (2004) Early American Tinware and (2004) Deco Crystals-Shades of Tiffany.

Running Totals: Finished projects: 104. WIP: 2

2007
What DID happen to 2007's quilting? I was sure I hadn't done any quilting whatsoever, but in looking back through my computer files, I find that I actually DID do exactly 4 quilting projects in 2007, with one a continuing WIP.
July 2007 The Second Forever Project. The biggie is that I actually FINISHED my Cathedral Window Forever Project! 7 years in the making .. stick a fork in it cuz it's DONE! August 2007 Peace wallhanging, a hand-appliqued Asian character
FINALLY! a hand-applique method that is practically fool-proof! No templates, no freezer paper, no glue! This method is AWESOME!
August 2007 Toile Duvet cover Rene's high school graduation bed covering Fall-Winter 2007 AHH! Real Monsters! Top completed, but still unquilted. Applique!

But 2007 is a big, ol' long stretch of time for a mere 4 projects. You probably think I was watching the soaps and eating bon-bons. HA! My ::ahem:: dear daughters have, once again, pressed me into service for sewing garments for them. You'll need to go to my sewing page to see what was taking up the majority of my time in 2007.

Running Totals: Finished projects: 107. WIP: 3
Look what snuck up on me:
2008
January 2008 God's Eye scrap quilt
a desperate attempt to subdue my scrap basket. (It seems to have multiplied since the Chiclet quilt of 2006). Finally quilted in 2013!
February 2008 Twist-n-Turn scrap quilt
finally quilted 6/2009
April 2008 a Pirate Stack-n-Whack quilt
another quilt whose size got away from me. Humungous top complete but still unquilted
April 2008 an airport playmat, personalized for the Sanders' boys
April 2008 an airplane cockpit panel quilt June 2008 stained glass placemats
and napkins and coasters! and reversible!
June 2008 a Family Tree wallhanging for a wedding gift. July 2008 Teahouse Garden
Drunkard's Path block using Asian Fabrics
August 2008
non-embroidered, alternative layouts for Zundt Corners (original done in May 2005) September 2008 India via Inverness a souvenir from a weekend trip turned into a quilt.
October 2008 4-Patch and Rail Fence
a scrap project that created a cozy throw
October 2008 Schizophrenic Buzz Saw
a flannel throw using leftover blocks from another project
October 2008 Charity Quilts
4 baby-sized quilts created to practice my longarm quilting
October 2008 Looking Glass View
a hand-appliqued stained glass wall-hanging (well, it's gonna be). Top completed but still unquilted.
October 2008 Class quilt from Houston
a class taken at the Houston International Quilt Show in *2004* finally gets quilted in 2008.
October 2008 A mystery quilt from the 2005 Arizona quilting retreat
another top that waited very patiently in waiting for its turn in the sun to be quilted.
November 2008 Store demo/display quilt.
a curved seam top made in *2004* finally gets quilted in 2008.
November 2008 I thought I had used up most of my flannel lefovers. I was wrong.
A quilt pattern of pinwheels and appliqued vines from McCall's Quilting, August 2008 issue, done in more leftover flannels.
Running Totals: Finished projects: 124. WIP: 7
2009
January 2009 Disappearing 9 Patch.
a queen-sized commissioned quilt using the client's scrap fabric.
January 2009 Maniacal Puffer Fish pillow
Really. How ugly can a fabric be?
January 2009 Kyoto - a color block quilt. using squares leftover from the Disappearing 9 Patch.
finally finished: 8/2009
January 2009 Kyoto pillow
a ginormous pillow using the Kyoto layout, though not a companion to the quilt.
January 2009 Cat Nap.
a strip quilt with appliques, using Patrick Lose's "Cat and the Canary" fabric line.
February 2009 Journey to Phoenix
My memento quilt of the 2009 Arizona Quilting Retreat.
teaser photo - top completed but still unquilted.
March 2009 Wonderful 1-Fabric quilt.
you'll never believe how easy this complicated-looking quilt is.
April 2009 Fuchsias for Eddie & Anne
fuschia flower fabric and machine embroidered fuschias make a very belated thank-you gift for my cousin.
June 2009 Memory quilt for baby Logan Lee July 2009 Forever Project: the Diggin's quilt.
The webpage is LONGER than usual, if you can believe that! It might take you forever to read it.
July 2009 Heritage quilt for Alan Sanders July 2009 Disappearing 9-Patch I-Spy for Alan Sanders
August 2009 I-Spy quilts made for a client's two young boys. September 2009 A quilt made with Corvette focus fabric for my older brother. What a car! :-)
October 2009 An oversized body pillow made from extra Double Wedding Ring blocks. November 2009 A high school graduation quilt, long-deferred, for my favorite middle daughter. :-)
November 2009 a Triple Irish Chain with appliqued butterflies for my niece. November 2009 A star block sampler made from a 15-month Block of the Month kit, purchased in 1999-2000. Yeah, it finally got done. :-)
Running Totals: Finished projects: 140. WIP: 9
2010
anytime during 2010 Charity quilts. I support the Bay Area Crisis Nursery, a local charity, by donating kid-sized quilts. anytime 2010 Amazing! Other people commissioned me to quilt their quilts! I'm so jazzed!
January 2010 A rainbow quilt made from a kit of bundled hand-dyed fabrics. This is the first quilt I used feathers as an all-over design and I am simply *thrilled* with the way it turned out. :-) January 2010 Nabi Garden, a companion quilt made of leftover blocks and fabrics from Lisa's high school graduation quilt (which was done in 11/09).

This top was quilted in March 2010.

March 2010 Madeline, a layout available from Electric Quilt. My version is rendered using a floral stripe with mitered corners and machine embroidery in the centers of the Economy Block.
Finished: June 2010.
March 2010 Rainforest Rings, a pieced placemat pattern. I also made coordinating machine embroidered napkins. (Lots of cool links inside!)
April 2010 Flower Power, a 9-patch pizazz variation, was a comfort quilt for a cousin undergoing cancer treatment. April 2010 Royal Mendhi Crystals is a free pattern that I executed using a turquoise charm pack.
May 2010 An "antique" block is replicated in order to use up a whole bunch of bonus half-square triangles. June 2010 Cage liners for our Veterinarian I needed to doodle and practice some longarm quilting but didn't need the doodle cloths afterwards. With sturdy fabric as a backing, some thick loft batting and muslin, these doodle cloths made excellent cage liners for the animals to lie on.
June 2010 Equilateral Triangles. Using my newest, most favorite ruler set :-), I've been creating oodles of blocks. Now I need to actually use them! July 2010 French Braid. I finally made a quilt for myself from this fantastic pattern.
Finally quilted in March 2012.
July 2010 Friendship Braid. This was another comfort quilt for another cousin undergoing cancer treatment. August 2010 4-Patch and Straight Furrows. This is an adaptation of a free design, which I made to use up MORE of the hand-pieced 4-patches (which originally came from the 7/2009 Diggin's Quilt).
quilted in February 2011>
August 2010 Teacups and Desserts. Using 2 wonderful focus fabrics and blenders, this *one* block pattern is very easy to construct. August 2010 Dress Me Up. This pattern features 12 blocks of hand-embroidered 1950's dresses on mannequins.
August 2010 Underground Railroad. Inspired by "The Runaway Quilt", a series of books authored by Jennifer Chiaverini, this quilt uses up even MORE of the hand-pieced 4-patches originally used in the 7/2009 Diggin's quilt.
Quilted in February 2011.
September 2010 Annika's Cat quilt. Annika is Mr. Pirate's grand-niece, a whole 2 years old. This quilt was created using a pre-printed cat panel and trapunto'd cat appliques.
September 2010 Woven Ribbon Trees. A variation of the traditional Rail Fence uses triangle blocks (the same ones as in the June 2010 Equilateral Triangle quilt) as trees. November 2010 Gone With The Wind. A variation of the free pattern to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the film, "Gone With The Wind".
November 2010 Carpenter's Wheel. I used up the bonus half-square triangle blocks from "Gone With The Wind" to make this quilt. November 2010 Lumiere de Noel. A free pattern from Moda to showcase their new fabric line. I made my version from my stash. It retains the look-and-feel of the original design without breaking my bank!
Quilts finished in 2010: charity (16), personal (16). Total finished; 32.
Quilts still needing quilting: charity (2), personal (8).
Running Totals: Finished projects: 172. WIP: 10
2011
January 2011 A set of throw pillws made from leftover diamond shapes and shapes from Sizzix die cut. These are sill a WIP. January 2011 Inspired by Jane Austen, this WIP purple quilt is going to take a VERY LONG TIME to complete.
March 2011 Apple Core. I had made some Economy Blocks for a friend's quilt and as a thank-you, she sent me 25 die cut apple core pieces. March 2011 Josephine's Memory Quilt. My Dad's lady friend turned 85 and her daughters asked me to make a memory quilt for her.
March 2011 The zipper quilt. Mr. Pirate has commented that my quilts are "defective" because they don't have a zipper. This quilt corrects that oversight. :-) April 2011 Jelly Parfait, using up more of the leftover Jane Austen diamonds. Finally quilted in August 2012!
April 2011 Jelly Roll from Oz. Our middle daughter spent a semester at an Australian university and came back with a jelly roll. This still needs to be quilted. May 2011 Lone Star made with hand-dyes. A fantabulous bundle of hand-dyed fat quarters was used to make this Lone Star. The maroon is NOT part of the quilt .. that's the design wall! The setting triangles & squares will be black New York Beauty style blocks. Very much still a WIP.
May 2011 Madeline's baby quilt. The newest member of the Rodgers' family received a baby quilt made from a pre-printed panel and a custom-fit dogtooth border. October 2011 Chicken Placemats. And a center mat! And coasters! Oh my. :-) Printed squares of colorful chickens are the focus of these placemats for a round table.
October 2011 Sedona's String of Pots. A memento of a vacation trip to Arizona. November 2011 A Christmas stocking for Forrest. A new member of our family gets his own Christmas stocking.
December 2011 Smitten with Neutrals. An unexpected Last Hoorah project of 2011.
Ya know, I'm getting all tangled up in my underwear (so to speak)! I'm finding it difficult to keep straight if older projects were counted when they were first created or if they are supposed to be counted when they are finished! I think I'm just gonna abandon the statistical counts. ;-)
2012
started in 2012 Grapes. This is a needleturn applique wall-hanging that I'm keeping for us. January 2012
Oh My Stars!. A blogger presented this as an online Quilt Along. I was able to make a bonus baby quilt too.
February 2012 Robots. The 4-patches were received as a UFO and I finished them into this quilt. February 2012 Kolbe-Trinity fundraiser quilt. I designed, pieced and quilted this queen-sized quilt for a fundraiser for the Kolbe Academy and Trinity Prep schools in Napa, CA.
March 2012 Golden Angel. This wall-hanging was designed around a Michael Miller printed panel. The letters are machine embroidered and the small angel in the bottom corner is a machine embroidered free-standing lace design that I used as an applique. March 2012 a single Christmas placemat. I had these cute little Christmasy blocks leftover from something, so I made a single, solitary placemat around them.
March 2012 Slithery Snakes. One of our nieces had a baby (a boy this time!). A baby quilt with slithery snakes was appropriate! April 2012 Ninja Throwing Stars. A blogger's "Festival of Half-Square Triangles" provided the inspiration to use up a messload of HST leftover from a previous project.
June 2012 Evening Flight. Another wall-hanging, this time of hot air balloons in the evening. June 2012
Gimme Diamonds. Based on a commercial pattern, my version is only slightly different.
July 2012 Peace. This is a needleturn applique wall-hanging. It is a duplicate of the one I made in 2007, but this one is for *me*! July 2012 Friendship Braid. Another Friendship Braid using half-hexagons.
August 2012 Scrap Assassin. This top was started in 2004 and has languished until now. It really did use up a lot of scraps!. Finally quilted in 2013. September 2012 Two throw pillows. These were commissioned to be companions to a king-size hand-quilted quilt (that I did NOT do!)
October 2012 "Whole Cloth" blankets for two brothers. October 2012 Vertical Diamonds. Another quilt using the hand-pieced 4-patches. This one is also hand-quilted ... although not by me!
December 2012 Quilted Placemats. December 2012 A mini-quilt for a special friend.
2013
February 2013 Podcats. This is a block of a larger quilt pattern. I opted to make ONLY this block as a throw pillow. April 2013 Just Ducky! An almost instant baby quilt for a new member of the family.
May 2013 Pinwheels. A new-to-me technique for making half-square triangles for a pinwheel block produced this quilt. July 2013 Skinny Strips. A "manly" quilt for a young male cousin.
July 2013 for Jolene. The previous Skinny Strips quilt was for Jolene's brother. She gets equal time! July 2013 My first hexagon Forever Project. It started on a whim, just to see if I would like working with hexies. I finally finished the top in March 2015.
August 2013 Oink-a-Doodle-Moo! Using a panel print as the foundation, a baby quilt was made for the next newest member of the family. August 2013 A commissioned quilting. I did the quilting only on this quilt. A pantograph confined to the interior center medallion is a bit tricky to do!
2014
January 2014 Disappearing 9-Patch. This is one of the 4 flannel quilts I felt I needed to make, for no good reason at all. It turned out to be an ideal candidate for a fund-raiser quilt. January 2014 Framed 4-patches. This is the second of the January flannel quilts. It also became a candidate for a fund-raiser.
January 2014 Picture Frames. This quilt is a combination of flannel and quilting cotton and was third of the January flannel quilts. January 2014 Strips and Squares. This is the fourth and last of the January flannel quilts. From pieced top to quilted and bound quilt, only four months! Amazing!
February 2014 Eclipse. This was the quasi quilt-along project at the Arizona 2014 Quilting Retreat that I go to every February. I got all the blocks done and there they sit. [the thumbnail is NOT my version; it's from the pattern.] June 2014 A baby Urban Abacus quilt for a new grand-niece. It really does kinda look like abacus beads! :-)>
July 2014 A zippered hexie bag. Hand-pieced using the English Paper Piecing technique and hand-quilted, this small bag features a "wide open" opening. October 2014 Cat Stairway to Heaven. A memorial quilt for a dearly beloved cat, who was a companion for a friend of mine.
A nifty layout for hexagons, in a modern looking quilt.
2015
January 2015 A quilt for Mia. A serendipitous 49er quilt for baby Mia. January 2015 From Paris with Love placemats. My own baby girl was moving far away. Placemats to make the new apartment more like "home".
February 2015 Illusion quilt. One of my cousins adopted brothers. This is a quilt for one of them. February 2015 Jar I-Spy. and this is the quilt for the other brother.
February 2015 Spiral Columns. A Rodgers niece had a baby boy. Time for a baby quilt! April 2015 Chickadee in the Spicebush. Made from Cuddle fabric, this personal size quilt is UNBELIEVEABLY soft.
May 2015 Science Fair hexagons. June 2015 Pillow from hexagons. I used up some leftover hexagons to make a throw pillow.
June 2015 Space: Above and Beyond. An outer space fabric called for me to make this panel quilt. July 2015 Ang's Placemats. A crafty friend had her kitchen wonderfully remodeled. This is a "welcome new kitchen" present from the rest of us.
July 2015 It's Raining Hexies. An unusual use for printed hexagon fabric prompted me to make this quilt. July 2015 Hexagon placemats and table runner. More leftover hexagons and an aged UFO become my latest finish.
September 2015 Sheep in the Meadow. A baby quilt for the newest member of the extended Rodgers/Smith clan! Donation quilts Donation quilts for 2015. Experimenting with layout ideas or just a wild hair up my bonnet ... these turned out to be donation quilts.
2016
It was around this time that I began to experience an overwhelming sense of lethargy when it came to doing write-ups for my quilts. To be sure, I was still piecing, quilting, taking notes and photographs but just not documenting them here.

I did 42 projects in 2016. This section is a placeholder for those quilts.

2017
I did 11 projects in 2017.

Why so few? Well, my focus dramatically shifted. It occured to me that since my parents, all of my aunts and uncles and most of my cousins have passed on, *I* am the Keeper of the Memories. That realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I have always been interested in family genealogy but at this point, I realized that it was a crucial juncture. If *I* didn't put all my memories and research into hard form ... such as heritage photo scrapbhooks ... all the research, information, documentation, and identification of photographs would be lost when I died. Yeah, that's a morbid thought but totally realistic.

So, I switched my energies from working on my still substantial but dwindling pile of quilting UFOs to creating heritage scrapbooks for all my family lines, as well as the family lines of my husband. My intent was to document, as thoroughly as I was able, the backstory and memories of my and his families so that our children (and tangentially, our nieces and nephews) would know of their history.

To my dismay, I discovered that this was one area where I simply could not multi-task: if I was quilting, the scrapbooks were neglected. If I worked on the scrapbooks, no quilting was getting done. That's just the way it is.

This section is a placeholder for the 2017 quilts.

2018
I did another 11 projects in 2018. This section is a placeholder for those quilts.
2019
I did 8 projects in 2019. This section is a placeholder for those quilts.
2020
I did 4 projects in 2020. This section is a placeholder for those quilts.

The projects above that don't have a live link either aren't completed yet or the write-up hasn't been completed yet. They'll eventually get done. Sometime. :-)

Pirate's Informational Pages


Tin Lizzie 18In July 2006, I bought a Tin Lizzie 18, a longarm quilting machine. Mine is the original model and came "bare bones". This section shows how I have set up certain things with Lizzie.

I have verbage on how I put the leaders on my rails, my method of side tensioners and using the Sidewinder with Lizzie. I will expand the content as I get around to taking more pictures and documenting them.

Fold Your Stash Efficiently!:I found (someplace) a really nifty way of folding my quilting stash. You will be rewarded with uniformly folded fabric and an easy way of estimating how much yardage has been folded. It is much easier to organize your fabric if it is all folded to the same dimensions. This method will also make it very easy for you to cut strips from the folded stash WITHOUT completely unfolding it! It took me several nights of watching many TV shows but I eventually got all of my quilting fabric re-folded in this manner.
Continuous Bias Tape:Ever wonder why you should use bias tape for binding instead of straight-of-grain? Ever wonder how to make yards and yards and yards of continuous bias tape easily? Click here for an explanation, yardage requirements and construction technique.
Joining double fold binding - the simple version!Here is a foolproof method on how to join the ends of double fold binding so that the seam is FLAT and the length of the finished binding is exactly what is needed for a perfect fit.
Envelope Quilt Label:Here's a clever quilt label that resembles an envelope. You open it up, unfold it to read the label ... and there's lots of room for writing!
SWAK envelope block - the BETTER directions!:Here are much better instructions on how to make the SWAK (Sealed With A Kiss) block. This is a revamping of the less-than-clear instructions given on the HGTV webpage that accompanied an episode of Simply Quilts.
The Alternative Finishes Series.Tired of your quilts all having the same straight edge finish? Want to have your consciousness raised so you know there are alternatives to a traditionally bound edge? Want to put some pizzazz on the edge of your quilt? Then this is the series of handouts for you!

The Alternative Finishes Series is a set of 4 pdf handouts that I use in the classes that I teach.

  1. Alternative Finishes 1: Bound Edges, Knife Edge. Shows simple techniques to jazz up a traditionally bound edge quilt and four different techniques of knife edge finishes.
  2. Alternative Finishes 2: Wrapped Edges, Scallops. Shows two variations for a wrapped edge, where the backing fabric is brought forward to show on the front, and two techniques for finishing scallops.
  3. Alternative Finishes 3: Prairie Points (part 1): Individual, Strip pieced, Continuous pieced. Shows the traditional way to make prairie points and then two alternative ways to create a whole string of prairie points in one or two colors.
  4. Alternative Finishes 4: Prairie Points (part 2): Piped, Reversible, Two-color. Shows to make accented prairie points, prairie points for two-sided quilts and bi-color prairie points. Knowledge of information presented in part 1 is nice but not strictly necessary.
How to miter oddball corners.Now that you've mastered the 90° corner miter, what about those wierd corners, like 60° corners? Well, you are in luck. It's the same technique but with a very small variation. Look here for instructions and pictures.
How to do a mitered corner for a napkin.If you make your own napkins to coordinate with placemats or a tablecloth, you will want to miter the corners for a beautiful look. It's not difficult and you won't have that nasty lump at the corner, which you WILL get if you simply fold up the edges of the napkin.

No webpage of instructions but a PDF version is available. Left mouse-click to look at the PDF; right mouse-click for download.

Freezer Paper Piecing Do you love the precision of paper piecing quilt blocks? Do you really, really hate tearing the paper away when the stitching is done? How about a technique that combines the best of both worlds .... precision piecing, no removal of the paper foundation afterwards AND you can re-use the paper template? Sounds too good to be true?

In this case, it really is true .. come and learn this technique, popularized by the diva of Mariner Compass construction, Judy Mathieson, who uses this technique exclusively.

English Paper Piecing preparation There are MANY ways to prep your hexies (or other shapes) for English Paper Piecing, most of which simply did NOT work out for me. But when I discovered the thread basting method that leaves the basting thread *in* the hexie, my enthusiam was boundless. Here is a written tutorial on how I do prep my hexies. It contains a link so that you can print out the tutorial as a PDF and also contains links for a video where I show you in real time, how I do it.
Pirate's Practically Perfect PillowcasesLike so many other seamstresses, I've made my share of special pillowcases. I've used many different directions with many different techniques. Over the years, I have cherry-picked the best pieces of all of them into my own set of directions, so that *I* am happy with the finished pillowcase. What I like about my directions are:
  • All the seams are finished or enclosed. I HATE, HATE, HATE seeing the seam allowance showing at the edge of the pillowcase. It looks UGLY. Yes, it's faster to sew the decorative band on first then do the side seam, but if you're making something, why on earth would you want to make something that doesn't look nice?? If you're under a time constraint and can't get a beautiful gift done on time, give the recipient an "I owe you one pillowcase (in progress)" coupon. Or start sooner. :-)
  • The accent strip is a separate piece of fabric, allowing you to coordinate it with the body and the bottom band. I've used directions that use a tuck for a faux accent strip. That works, of course, but I like the accent strip to be noticeable.
  • I have been taught to make the inside/reverse of something as beautiful as the outside (or as nearly as I can). It's a matter of pride in one's work. Yes, it does take a little longer, but the result is a finished item that you can be proud of. You never look at it and say that you should have done it better. Therefore, I use French seams on my pillowcases.
  • There's no trick technique or fancy smoke-and-mirror procedure. It's all just basic sewing.
  • Best of all, I use the full width of fabric for my pillowcases. Most directions I've seen have you cut down the yardage to 40" wide so that you have a 20" wide pillowcase. That leaves you with a skinny,lengthwise strip that is practically worthless. I hate that! So, I use the full width of fabric and my pillowcase are just a skoosh wider ... no waste. :-)
No webpage of instructions but a PDF version is available. Left mouse-click to look at the PDF; right mouse-click for download.

California Quilting Retreat
of May 2002
"Four Eye Patch"

Over Memorial Day 2002, I hosted a "quilting retreat" of sorts for members of About.com's Quilting Forum. From an initial tentative guest list of 11 people, 7 ladies actually were able to make it out here. The most distant person came from Guam (yes! the island!), the next distant was from Arizona; the rest were "local" from California. We had a marvelous time! We even got some quilting/sewing done! [grin] Pictures are here.


Pirate's Home Page

I would love to hear from you via an email ... the link is below! Thanks for looking at my pages. :-)

You can email me at my email address.

Credit for graphics used on the quilting pages .. give credit where credit is due

Vikimouse

Pat's Web Graphics