bdieges designs

GALLERY

From time to time I will be adding more quilts, scroll down to see them all.


MYSTERY QUILTS REVEALED

      No longer a mystery, as the quilts from our 2009 Mountain Mystery Challenge were revealed at our 2011 show here in Tehachapi.  We have a show every two years, so they didn't have a chance to show them off to the world before this.  These are only a few of the quilts, as there were over twenty displayed!  Forty of our members participated in the challenge, with about thirty actually finishing their quilts.  The pattern is available here.


INGRID'S BUNCH O'CLUCKS

Ingrid sent me these pictures of her Bunch o'Clucks, don't you love it?  She took the picture in the "birdhouse."
I guess that is the playhouse in her backyard.  She used rickrack around the border and buttons to hold the wings in place, little creative touches that are so cute!


MANDY'S QUILT

     Mandy sent me a picture of her quilt, that she made using the Blocks of the Month from a couple years ago.  I am always thrilled to receive pictures of quilts made with my blocks or patterns.  It is a little like have your "children" do well out in the world.  I am delighted to sell my patterns, but twice as delighted to see them developed in fabric.


CABIN FEVER QUILTERS WORKSHOPS

     What an exciting time we had in Fairbanks Alaska.  The guild members were so warm and welcoming.  The three workshops were awesome, Blossom Time, Blended Triangles and Flowers 'n' Stars--use the same techniques to make either, flowers or stars.  The students worked hard to get a lot done.  As you can see they did a great job.

     The creativity that developed in the class, was fun, notice the flower in the bottom row?  Same techniques, different flower.

      Then there was Jeanine's dilemma, talk about ingenuity, she had lost the pad on the bottom of her machine.  See the last photo, below. What did she do about it?  Replaced it with a Lifesaver, lick and stick!  And it worked!


MAXINE'S POND    40"x28"

     Finished my sister's quilt that was started with purchasing the fabric panel, at least 10 years ago!  I thought of her when I purchased it, because she has a huge and beautiful koi pond.  Last year our guild invited Judy Sisneros to teach a class on using panels.  The three large fish at the bottom are silhouettes of some of the koi in her pond.  So I made the top and told my sister about it.  End of March my sister, emailed me wondering if she was going to receive the quilt, any time soon.  Needless to say that put a fire under me to finish it.


CACTUS SEWABLES BARGELLO TWIST WORKSHOP

     Carole's quilt top was the first picture I received from a workshop I taught in Yucca Valley, CA the first week of April.  The small inner border really sets off the center.  Jeanne's quilt top shows off some stunning colors. Denise thought her's was too light, but I think it make the dark purple really look like a twisted ribbon. Penny added a nice touch with the pieced side borders. Good work, ladies!

     The class was a delight to teach; they were all so excited about learning a new technique.


MY COUNTRY    72"x72"

     Leah Bessey entered her rendition of my pattern Patriotic Celebration into the 2009 Glendale Quilt Show.  She received Viewer's Choice award!  It was so exciting to see my pattern changed in a very creative way.  Congratulations Leah!

     She also entered it into the Road to California 2010, I was thrilled to see it there!


HEART 'N' DIAMONDS BARGELLO

    Taught this at a quilt retreat in Battle Mountain, NV the first weekend in August, 2008.  What a great group of ladies!  Debbie had only one day to work on her quilt, as the first day was spent with her daughter during the birth of her grandson!  Beautiful color combination.
    The second photo is LeAnne's quilt.  Notice that she made the center of her diamonds light.

    You can see the pattern and my sample that I worked on during the retreat here.  Finally finished it, almost one year later to the day!  Page down to see still another version, with a different story.

      Same year different location.

      When I performed my one woman play for the Citrus Belt Quilter's in Redlands CA, during Show and Tell Cathy Kreter of CJ Designs, Riverside, CA shared this quilt.  Cathy had taken my class over 10 years ago.  The quilt hangs in the entry way of her quilting "house" which has a cathedral ceiling.  She had to get out the 10 foot ladder just to get it down, but she figured I would enjoy seeing it.  She has no idea how much pleasure I get from seeing my student's work.

      The Citrus Belt Quilter's puts on a wonderful quilt show every May.  What makes it different is that they display quilts in beautifully kept vintage homes in Redlands.  One year they were given access to the Morey Mansion, which had just been renovated.  It was a spectacular setting for all those wonderful quilts.


GALAXY OF STARS    30"x37"

      Have been fascinated by seven pointed stars for a long time.  Played with the design on the computer for many years and finally committed it to fabric for the Hoffman 2005 Challenge.  It traveled for a year with the other challenge quilts.  The entire design is paper pieced.  Designing the quilt was more of a challenge, than using the fabric!  The challenge fabric was used in the centers of five stars and the inner points of three others.


BLOSSOMTIME WORKSHOP RESULTS

     June didn't finish her quilt in time to join the others in the group picture, since she made a lapsize quilt.  Thanks everyone for participating in the workshop and finishing your quilts and tops.  See Blossom Time for my sample.


BARGELLO TWIST

     These finished tops were made by Sandi, Wina and Anita in a workshop I taught to the Pine Needler's Quilt Guild in Groveland CA.  Great border treatment, Sandi!  Wina decided to make hers larger by repeating the panels.  We had a wonderful time in the workshop, even though there were twenty students.  They were busy and most of them were almost finished by the end of the day!  Groveland is a small charming community on the way to Yosemite National Park.  Though it is not too small to have a quilt shop!  To see my workshop information, go to Workshop or to view the Bargello Twist pattern.
     Below are finished tops made by Ann, Bernice, Kay, Jean and Judy.  Although the instructions were identical, through the individual's fabric choices of color and placement, all of the pieces are very different.



BLOSSOM TIME    120"x120"

      Several years ago, my friend Ann was redecorating their bedroom and was looking for something different for a king-size quilt.  With the help of Electric Quilt and Quilt Pro, I developed this design.  It took a while to find just the right batiks.  Ann finished it just before Christmas.  It was machine quilted by Molly Hamilton McNally.  It also developed into a fun workshop for me to teach!


VIEW OF THE LAKE    22"x36"

      Last year I visited my friend Ann in Redding CA.  She asked me what I wanted to do, what else was there to tell her, but "Quilt!"  "What?"  Was her next question.

      I had been wanting to try a scenic quilt, so I drew this design on freezer paper.  She pulled fabric from her stash and I sewed and sewed.  We finished the top by that afternoon.  It was very rewarding and freed me from my piecing habits, where everything has to match.  It is very heavily machine quilted with variegated rayon and metallic threads.

      It won a blue ribbon for Innovative Piecing at the Best of the Valley Show in Tulare, CA.


SNOW CRYSTALS QUILT    114"x114"

     It was a great honor to have my quilt on the cover of the Jan-Feb 1999 issue of quilter's newsletter.  Snow Crystals is a king size quilt, 114"x114".  All of the snowflakes are different, as all real snowflakes are different.  The quilt is hand appliqued, machine pieced and hand quilted on a Hoffman Batik fabric.  The applique technique can be learned in my Snow Crystals Applique workshop.

      This quilt has been shown in Paducah KY at the American Quilter's Society Show and in Houston TX at the International Quilt Festival.


SHADED NINE PATCH

CALIFORNIA HERONS AT SUNSET

      This quilt was started by Christy, during the class I taught at Empty Spools Seminar, held at Asilomar, Pacific Beach, California.  She now lives in Boulder City, NV.

      Here is the story of Christy's quilt, in her own words.  "When I signed up for the class, I had in mind doing something that would be representational of the sunsets I'd been enjoying in central California.  I thought I did a pretty good job of moving the colors.  I got the final approval on my way home when I witnessed another of those wonderful sunsets.  The surprise and what 'finished' the quilt for me was the presence of two herons, in the flooded rice field beside the highway."

      "I fussed for a couple of years on how to do the heron.  I got the final method and idea for completing the heron at Asilomar in an independent study session with Sharyn Craig.  When I showed the class what I had come up with and done the night before, they all gasped.  It was great!"

      If you scroll down you can see a couple of two other quilts below that were started during that same workshop.

LEAVING HOME

      Cranes flying away from shore, inspired the name of this quilt.  I also have three children who have spread their wings, leaving home.  The cranes are also found in many Oriental designs, as I worked on it I thought about my five Asian friends who have been there for me through the years.  Two of them have passed on, so the image of two cranes is quilted into the frame.

ANOTHER SHADED NINE PATCH

      Brenda's quilt top, was completed during the same week long workshop.  This quilt seminar offers several sessions every year at Asilomar, Pacific Grove, California.  Although Brenda had done some patchwork and quilting on her own, this was the first workshop she had taken.

      The pattern for this version is available without applique.


CAMDEN STARS

      This quilt is the work of a student, Cheryl Classen of Pacific Grove, California, made in the workshop I taught in 1998 at the Monterey Peninsula Quilt Guild.  She won a third place ribbon at her guild show in April, 2001 and a first place ribbon at the Salinas Valley Fair in the same year.

      I am always delighted when I see work done by my students, as I only plant the seeds in the workshop.  So it is very special to see the finished project and the garnered ribbons.


NINE LIVES

      This quilt was made by Pat who lives in Scotland.  She used my Nine Lives pattern and is also a cat lover.

      Don't the appliqued fish in the corners look great?  She just used the designs that I include for quilting.  Using buttons for eyes on some of the cats, was just the right touch.  I think this quilt was done in less than 10 days after she received the pattern!

      I always enjoy seeing the results of my student's and customer's work and am eager to share it here in the Gallery.


MY WILD ROSE

      Here on Bear Mountain, wild roses grow in abundance near shady streams.  My husband dug some up and planted them where we can see them everyday.  The flowers are about 2" across, with five pink petals.  In the spring the new leaves are a bright yellow green.  Those little roses inspired me to design this quilt.  Which is what I call a controlled scrappy quilt.  That means that there are lots of different fabrics in the quilt, but a limited color palette.

      My friend, neighbor, quilting and walking buddy, Sally, worked on it with me.  She did all the applique, while I did all the machine piecing and hand quilting.

      It won a blue ribbon at the Glendale, California Quilt Guild 2001 show for the best two person quilt.  The quilt is one the quilts featured in my book A Thread Runs Through It.


SPINNING TRIANGLES    100"x112"

      This is my daughter and her husband's wedding quilt.  It was supposed to be done for their wedding.  However, it was finally finished for their first anniversary!

     This very versatile block is the same one used in several quilts in this gallery, just page down to see them.  A pattern is available for making the blocks.  You are only limited by how many blocks you want to make!



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