Seminole technique quilts

I learned the Seminole piecing technique in an Adult Ed class taught by Kristen Otte in fall 1998. The principal reference used was Dorothy Hanisko's Simply Seminole, The Quilt Digest Press, 1997. I truly enjoy the design possibilities that this technique offers and have made probably two dozen Seminole quilts in an assortment of color schemes. A Seminole quilt is a fairly quick project so has been a favorite of mine for gift quilts. I first pick a "focus fabric" which I use in three or four of the strips and sometimes also the vertical or horizontal borders. What I love is digging around in my embarrassingly large stash for the candidates to go with this focus fabric.

My most recent Seminole, entitled "Red

 Sea Dawn", 2007 (84x96 inches) is, in fact, a landscape. Bob and I were on a diving research trip to the Red Sea in the summer of 2006, organized by Avigdor Abelson (at the University of Haifa) and Steve Gaines, a colleague of Bob's at UCSB. The light on a late afternoon dive inspired the strip in the very middle, just below the mountains, and the rest of the quilt was built around that strip. Starting from the bottom, using fabrics which have sand and stones, is a strip suggesting the ocean floor. Above that is a sequence of strips using watery and fishy fabrics. The colorful one features lots of coral reef fishes both in the fabric and appliqued on top and stuffed using the trapunto technique. Then there is the original strip suggestive of the reflection of the dawn sky on the surface of the water. Above that is the evocation of the mountains of the Sinai. I hand painted the sky on that strip to be more "watercolor" like. My favorite strip in the quilt is the blazing sunrise above the mountains. This strip fades into a pale dawn sky which bleeds into the dark night sky at the top. I studied the colors of the dawn sky for months on my weekend dawn walks with my girlfriends, Anne and Nancy. I made two nearly identical versions of this quilt, one as a thank-you for Avigdor, one for Steve. The one for Steve (and

Peggy) is double-sided and features a variant of Rob Appell's "Dolphin Dance" pattern (right). This latter was pretty good fun to make in that a "garage saler" friend found a skirt with the most marvelous octopus and squid print. I tried valiantly to include the octopus on the front quilt "Red Sea Dawn" but, with its cryptic coloration, it just kept disappearing into the background of whatever strip on which it was placed. It took some convincing to persuade the octopus that it had a place on the back quilt but it finally accepted a spot in the lower right side.

Silly Little Quilts

Bob and I used to embarrass Toby terribly when  he was in his early teens by giving him boxer shorts for birthdays, Christmas and other occasions that featured truly awful if not downright vulgar fabrics. He pled with us to stop, which we eventually did, but not before I made this silly little quilt called "Boxer Rebellion". I'm ashamed to admit that I no longer have the pattern so I cannot give proper credit. 1998. 15 x 20 inches. 

Andy got off lightly as the second born and was not thus tortured.

Using another pattern by the same unknown designer, I made this little quilt,"Small Investments", which

 features little treasure hiding in pockets on the inside of several of the vests including a key, a button in the form of a watch and a little bell.

1998. 18 x 24 inches

Earliest quilts

My first quilt was entirely hand made including attaching the binding. It involved piecing diamonds into hexagons with Y junctions; I didn't know any better. I started it in the summer of 1972 when I was visiting my sister Anne in San Jose, California. It was unspeakably hot and the only place with air conditioning in which we wanted to spend any time was her favorite fabric store. There were copies of the newly established magazine, "Quilter's Newsletter", (in black and white) on the counter so we leafed through them and found quilts that caught our interest. We bought yardage in primary colors and then cut out templates from cardboard cereal boxes. I dutifully traced around the template and cut out each diamond with scissors. I took the quilt elements with me to Panama when we moved there for a stay of two years, 1973-75. My mother-in-law mailed me a quilting frame which she ordered from Sears. It took five years to complete this quilt. Sadly, many of the blue dyes have proved to be light sensitive and have faded badly. (80x100 inches)

My second quilt was a wedding present for my dear friend Harry Lyons. It was a Texas Lone Star. The corners and triangles featured quilting motifs specific to him and his bride, their initials, H & R, a fishing pole, a banjo and other such souvenirs. This photo is quite faded as indeed is the quilt which like my first has not stood up well to the test of time. I don't remember but since this also was entirely hand made, it probably took a couple of years.