A Deluxe Denim Quilt

You guys!  I just finished this beast-of-a-quilt, and it is gorgeous, even for denim!

I don't normally do commission quilts, in fact, never.  I don't have time.  But my sister had a friend who begged to have a quilt made from all his old Levis.  I quoted a price that I figured would change his mind, and he accepted!  Now, I just needed about 50 hours to do it.

More Than a Quilt

A few weeks ago, I helped my sister put together a T-Shirt quilt  (<see some tips) for her granddaughter's dance instructor, Aubrie Dunn.  

Salt & Sand with Mr. Merman

Hi, all!  Thimblechaser here - taking over Quiltscapes' blog!

Look who washed up on shore!  Mr. Merman arrived just in time to join the Salt & Sand Blog Hop hosted by Carol at JustLetMeQuilt! 

Back of the Chutes ~ RBD Project Tour

Oh, was I excited to see this new fabric line from Riley Blake Designs!  

Back of the Chutes licensed fabric features the art of Hugh Cabot, an American Master Painter who was "well-known for his highly distinctive, stylized cowboys and bold, powerful Western landscapes awash with light and color that literally glowed...  His cowboy portraits are prized by collectors worldwide."

The fabric line includes two panels.

100,000 Welcomes

My Aunt Marjory has been dreaming about what to do with some old linen napkins of her grandmother's!  

Aunt M Quilt Chronicles V: Yes, "Owl Always Love You"

First quilt, Owl Always Love You for Olyvia

My sweet Aunt Marjory, now 87 years old, began a quest a few years ago to make quilts for each of her nine granddaughters.  She and Uncle Jack began to make regular treks to my house to work together.  She'd never made a quilt before.  In fact, she began a career in Family and Consumer Sciences, but detested sewing and cooking, so she quit and taught English instead.  But she was determined, and the process was so enjoyable, it must have sparked a fire!  

She made friends at a local quilt shop, and the ladies set her up with quilt kits for her four sons.  And of course, she couldn't forget her three daughters, so a couple of stacks of fat quarters magically lept into her arms too.  Then she had Uncle Jack cut up his old Levis for a quilt of his own.  I think she was hooked!

A broken hip threw a wrench into her plans, along with the passing of dear Uncle Jack, and she moved to a Senior Living community.  

When she needed more quilts made, we shopped together for all the fabrics, which brought her great joy!  It was color therapy.  Then it fell to me to make the quilts, and get them quilted so they could be distributed at family reunions, a few each year.  

Owl Always Love You < Digital Pattern
Owl Always Love You < Paper Pattern

This last quilt was similar to the first one, with background scenery similar to the actual view of that particular daughter who lives within sight of the Teton mountains.

In all, 27 quilts were made and given to all Aunt Marjory's children and grandchildren:  3 Owl quilts, 3 Bear quilts, 2 Elephant quilts, 8 Bear panels, 1 Wolf panel, 4 Horse panels, 1 Deer panel, 2 Elk panels, 1 Denim quilt and 2 Turning 20 scrappy quilts.  She kept one of those for herself.  It has been a delightful process for me.  As a bonus, I have loved getting to know my Aunt and Uncle better, and hearing stories of my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents as we worked.

You can see some of  the quilts in these previous Aunt M Quilt Chronicles:

 I:  Owl Always Love You

II:  Bear In Mind Owl Always Love You

III:  Remember, Owl Always Love You

IV:  You know, Owl Always Love You

Next project?  A little quilted banner she can hang on her door, Céad Mile Fáilte, which means "A Hundred Thousand Welcomes" in Gaelic.  I quilted it using a beautifully embossed linen napkin that belonged to great-grandma Liljenquist.  In fact, Aunt Marjory has nine of those napkins...

Update: more Aunt Marjory Quilt Chronicles!'
Chapter 1 - Owl Always Love You
Chapter 2 - Bear in Mind, Owl Always Love You
Chapter 3 - Remember, Owl Always Love You

Chapter 4 - You Know Owl Always Love You

Chapter 5 - Yes, Owl Always Love YouYes, Owl Always Love You

Awwww! Babies & Bunnies

A few months ago, I made a little special quilt for our granddaughter, version #1 of my Nestled Stars quilt (see post).  The fabric is charming, sweet and soft, and I had a little leftover border fabric, so I made this sweet little Bubble Suit.

Mary Elizabeth Project Tour!

Nestled Stars Quilt by Deonn Stott  ~ Pattern available in digital format HERE, and hard copy HERE

Awww.  This is the sweetest material!  So glad I could have a chance to play with this new line:  
Mary Elizabeth by Christopher Thompson for Riley Blake Designs.

A Quilted Love Story, Part II

Mr. and Mrs.!!



It was a lovely June wedding for our darling girl and her new husband.  Sisters, friends, aunts, cousins, Mom and Grandma... the relatives came together to help with Cissy's special day.

A Quilted Love Story, Part I

This love story begins with a quilt.

Actually, this story started way back several generations with women in our family who love to make quilts.  That "quilting gene" is in my blood, and my triplet daughters are of the same stock.  The girls

Monday, Monday!

I've been playing with some fun fabric lately - the cutest little "laundry day" fabric designed by Jill Finley (Jillily Studio) for Penny Rose/Riley Blake Designs - Monday, Monday.  Love these colors and the little clothes hanging on the line.  Reminds me of when I was a little kid in the days before we had a dryer.

Aunt M Quilt Chronicles - Chapter IV

You may recall that my sweet little 85-year-old Aunt began a quest last year to make quilts for her nine granddaughters!  With six down and three to go, the story continues.

On one of our weekly sewing days last Fall, Aunt Marjory came in with a wry little smile and said, "Oh, you're going to hate me."  What? Why?  Well, turns out she had Uncle Jack drive her to a local quilt shop a couple of times where she had become friends with the shop ladies.  She loves seeing all the fabrics and colors.  She had spied a nice outdoorsy panel quilt on the wall on a prior visit, and her new friend, Carol, got Aunt Marjory all set up with four "Bear Meadow" kits to make quilts for her four sons!

Remember, Owl Always Love You

Aunt M Quilt Chronicles, Chapter III:  Elephants!

Hayley's

You may recall that my cute little Aunt is on a quest to make quilts for her granddaughters.  I've become her quilt-coach (enabler, lol!).  First it was a couple of owl quilts, then bears, and now elephants!  

Bear in Mind, Owl Always Love You

Aunt M Quilt Chronicles, Chapter II:  It's never too late to start quilting!

My sweet Aunt Marjory, now 84 years young, has decided to make a quilt for all nine of her
granddaughters.

Owl Always Love You

"Owl Always Love You" 44" x 54" Wall Hanging/crib size quilt.  Now available:  PATTERNS & KITS 

Sweet Dreams and Goodnight, My Daughter

I love it when a design idea turns in to an actual quilt!!

This little drawing was sketched out by my niece, Miss Aubs, currently living in New York City where she is serving an LDS Spanish-speaking mission.  She sent the sketch to her mother a couple of months ago, in the hopes of having a quilt made for Christmas.  She also asked if Aunt Deonn could "help"...

My sister Mel gathered the fabric and made the 5-hour trek to my house.  Another sister joined the party and we proceeded to "quilt by committee".

I rolled out the newsprint, got out the markers, and we began to lay out and re-size the pattern and parts to cut from fat quarters.  

Mel got some good practice doing the blanket stitch!

The quilt was really coming along well, but just needed something... aha! How about a NY skyline?!

The quilt size was really determined by the amounts of fabric we had available, starting with 2 yards of starry background fabric (72" long) and the width of the minky (about 60" wide).  Perfect size for a lap quilt.  1-1/2 yards were used to piece the tree together, with fat quarters and scraps for the rest.  A little adhesive, a blanket stitch on all the raw-edge applique' and voila!  The quilt dream becomes a reality!  

Here's the back - minky lusciousness!

I quilted the little Spanish saying she wanted into the tree - "Dulces svenos y Buenas noches, Mi Hija!", and included some sweet affirmations scattered around with the stars - dreams, faith, hope, service, love, joy. 

"Sweet dreams and good night, my daughter!"

Her quilt will be a wonderful memento for her time in New York, and every time she wraps herself in her new quilt, she'll be getting hugs from her sisters, cousins, Aunts and Mom.  This is definitely one of those times when a quilt is more than a quilt - it's a warm hug from home.

Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ T.A.R.D.I.S....

Have you stopped by Amy's Creative Side to see this Spring's edition of a Bloggers' Quilt Festival?  Oh, I do love this amazing quilt show, with entries from quilters around the world.

Here's a little entry in the Large Quilts category that's out of this world.  Well, according to the BBC television series of Dr. Who, that is.

Ryler's T.A.R.D.I.S.

Large Throw, 60" x 94"

V & Co. Simply Color Navy Ombre, Navy Batik

Hobbs Poly-Down batting, Shannon Cuddle backing

This is Dr. Who's time-travel spaceship he calls his T.A.R.D.I.S. (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space).  Apparently, it's "bigger on the inside."

(source)

My daughter and I made this TARDIS quilt for her "friend" last summer.  I designed it, she helped stitch it together, did the applique' and embroidery, I quilted it and we bound it in time to give it to him on his return from a summer internship in Japan.  Turns out, he loved it just about as much as he loves her.

You can read that whole story HERE, and the rest of the story HERE.

We used 5-1/2 yards of ombre fabric to get the right lights and darks to create dimension in the door panels.  Then we added a little border of night sky to represent the box flinging through time and space. 

Because the quilt is so long, I made a separate throw pillow for the light on top.  

I stitched in the ditch, then quilted wood grain into the door panels.  My daughter didn't want any further quilting in the doors (which kinda goes against my grain, so to speak...).

And, we used Cuddle faux fur for the backing.  Yep.  It's definitely a cuddle quilt.  They love it.  The pattern is in the works.  If you're interested, send an email (deonn@quiltscapesqs.com) to be notified when it's available.

Be sure to check out all the terrific quilts at the Blogger's Quilt Festival, including the Tardis quilt in the Large Quilt category. 

Happy quilting!