Where Did They All Go.......

I was working on a quilt the other day....no surprise....when Dave came into the kitchen and said something like "I bet you've made more than 100 quilts." No.....not possible.....but what if?

So I went back into my quilt photo album, where I used to keep a picture of each quilt I made, and then into the folder on the computer and began counting. It's not completely accurate but the final total was 136! Now granted, I started quilting about 35 years ago.....so it's sort of a lifetime's work. But I was surprised by that number.

Most are not bed quilts.....probably a dozen or so. The rest are lap-size quilts for cuddling while enjoying a book or watching TV and many are wall-hangings. Two were created using my mom's tablecloths after she died. Others feature some of Dave's photos scanned onto fabric.  I began to wonder....Where are all those quilts?

I wish I'd kept a better record, but paging through the photos I realized that many had gone to friends....Sally, Janie, Phoebe, Denise, Susie, Marykay, Marcia, Lynn. Others make their homes with relatives.....my kids, my mom and mother-in-law, my grandkids, my cousin, my sister, my nieces and nephews, my godson. There are at least a dozen baby quilts scattered through the years and probably a few more to come. A few went to VITAS Hospice for their Inpatient Units. Two others were made for strangers who lost a loved one and asked me to make a memory quilt out of special garments. Three went to non-profit organizations that were willing to sell raffle tickets....a way for me to support their missions.

My quilting methods evolved over the years and that's probably what kept it interesting. I started with patterns and very few colors.....but now I mostly make up my own, use some three dimensional elements and just "wing it". Art quilts? I have two quilts in process right now, one for us and one for my bestie up in Alaska. Another is still an idea hanging on my design wall....fabrics chosen, but no pattern as yet.

And so it goes.....from the first with very few colors and huge blocks and handquilting....

....to some of the more recent.....

  

  

 

I love to quilt......I wonder what fabric idea will spring to life next and I wonder where it will find a home.....