Back to School

This time of year, the school bells ring again for so many of us and our children.  A house on a quilt is a symbol of our community and our lives together in society. It's no wonder that house quilts remind us of comfort and the togetherness of family, friends, and neighbors. They really appeal to us, maybe because "home is where the heart is."

Welcome Home, 64 x 64", by Alex Anderson 

Here's a delightful neighborhood of cheerful houses done in russet and gold. Internationally-famous designer Alex Anderson has brightened the traditional fall quilt by adding contemporary colors of aqua blue and rose pink, which make the maple leaves and houses sparkle against the dark background.

Little Houses, 48 x 60", by Ruth Powers

Ruth writes, "Much of my work is inspired by nature;  my daily walks fill my senses with color and design possibilities." Ruth has done an excellent job of selecting different blues and greens for the sky and earth, which complement the bright orange and orange-red of the homes. Ruth notes that this is a great pattern for using up fat quarters and scraps.

Little Old One Room Schoolhouse,  23 x 27", by Ruth Powers

The traditional schoolhouse of the frontier, complete with a bell tower, beckons us back to learning, as leaves swirl in the early autumn breeze.  Ruth Powers offers this charming scene as a pattern, along with many other creative designs.

Firelight and Chimney Smoke, 62 x 50, by Martha Milne at MachineQuilter (UK)

Martha Milne constructed this beautiful Amish-style schoolhouse quilt out of jewel-tone remnants. The light and bright windows in this quilt give the inviting illusion of a warm, glowing hearth within, which beckons us inside. A free pattern can be downloaded at Popular Patchwork and Quilting. Martha is renowned for her machine quilting; for her DVDs and tutorials, please visit the machinequilter website.

Little Amsterdam by Marilyn Wood

Marilyn Wood notes, "This pattern is from the [ North Sea Quilters of ] the Netherlands. The flowered fabrics in the houses and border are antique Dutch reproduction fabrics from Amsterdam, my husband's favorite city."  Marilyn's striped border adds to the lively, upbeat personality of this quilt, which was shown at the 2013 Arizona Quilters' Guild show.

Pedestrian Friendly, 60 x 60", by Pat Dicker

Pat Dicker used high-energy colors to create a lively town adapted from Sue Garman's block-of-the-month quilt,  All Around the Town.  Pat tells us, "I named the quilt 'Pedestrian Friendly' because the original design has cars on it, and I chose to leave them out, so that the 'residents' would just walk from house to house." 

Schoolhouse Block, 19 x 22, from "There's No Place Like Home" by Sonya Chinn at Sonya's Snippets

Quilter and teacher Sonya Chinn, creator of the Sonya's Snippets blog, sewed this charming scene for a block-of-the-month quilt which she calls 'There's No Place Like Home'. Sonya has added an individualized touch by placing the initials of her children's school on the quaint schoolhouse.  Sonya's complete quilt was based on the "Home Is Where the Heart Is"  pattern, shown below, by The Stitch Connection.

Home is Where the Heart Is by The Stitch Connection

Image credits:  Little Amsterdam was photographed by Quilt Inspiration. The quilts by Pat Dicker, Sonya Chinn, Ruth Powers, Alex Anderson and Martha Milne are shown with permission of the artists and were originally featured in 2010 at Quilt Inspiration.

School Days

This time of year, the school bells ring again for so many of us and our children.  A house on a quilt is a symbol of our community and our lives together in society. It's no wonder that house quilts remind us of comfort and the togetherness of family, friends, and neighbors. They really appeal to us, maybe because "home is where the heart is." 

Little Old One Room Schoolhouse,  23 x 27", by Ruth Powers, at Ruth Powers Art Quilts

The traditional schoolhouse of the frontier, complete with a bell tower, beckons us back to learning, as leaves swirl in the early autumn breeze.  Quilt designer Ruth Powers offers this charming scene as a pattern, along with so many other beautiful designs.

Little Houses, 48 x 60", by Ruth Powers, at Ruth Powers Art Quilts

Ruth writes, "Much of my work is inspired by nature;  my daily walks fill my senses with color and design possibilities." In creating Little Houses, Ruth has done an excellent job of selecting different blues and greens for the sky and earth, while selecting the complementary colors of bright orange and orange-red for the homes. Ruth notes that this is a great pattern for using up fat quarters and scraps.

Welcome Home, 64 x 64", by Alex Anderson,at Alex Anderson Quilts

Here's a delightful neighborhood of cheerful houses done in russet and gold. Internationally-famous designer Alex Anderson has brightened the traditional fall quilt by adding contemporary colors of aqua blue and rose pink which make the maple leaves and houses sparkle against the dark background. Easily pieced using half square triangles, "Welcome Home" has become a classic best-seller from JWD Publishing. You can view all of Alex Anderson's books and patterns at Alex Anderson Quilts.

Schoolhouse Block, 19 x 22", from "There's No Place Like Home" by Sonya Chinn, at Sonya's Snippets

Long-arm quilter Sonya, creator of the Sonya's Snippets blog, sewed this charming applique scene as one of the blocks for a block-of-the-month quilt which she calls 'There's No Place Like Home'. This quilt was based on "Home Is Where the Heart Is", a block-of-the-month from The Stitch Connection.

Image credits:  Images are shown with the generous permission of the artists.  These quilts appeared in a series of articles on house quilts, including Our Town and Our Town Part 2.

Our Town Part 2

We've decided that some of the cutest quilts in the world are the ones with houses on them. They really appeal to us, maybe because "home is where the heart is."  Part One of Our Town was posted earlier this month.  Here are some more house quilts which really caught our eye.

Schoolhouse Block, 19 x 22, from "There's No Place Like Home" by Sonya Chinn, at Sonya's Snippets

Long-arm quilter Sonya, creator of the Sonya's Snippets blog, sewed this charming applique scene as one of the blocks for a block-of-the-month quilt which she calls 'There's No Place Like Home'. Sonya has added an individualized touch by placing the initials of her children's school on the quaint schoolhouse. The quilt was based on the "Home Is Where the Heart Is"  pattern.  The entire pattern is available from The Stitch Connection, which sells an array of seasonal block-of-the-month quilt patterns.

Little Amsterdam, 72 x 72, by the North Sea Quilters

The North Sea Quilters have produced this beautifully pieced and intricately quilted work which shows the classic houses of Amsterdam, plus one of the famous canals. Owned by Maria Laza, Leslie Carol Taylor, and Marybeth Tawfik, the North Sea Quilters in The Netherlands offers long arm machine quilting, workshops, retreats, fabric, and patterns. The North Sea Quilters website sells the Little Amsterdam Pattern Book, with a full set of instructions on creating this award-winning quilt, as well as a complete kit.  They have an interesting North Sea Quilters blog where they write about the quilt shows and workshops of Europe and the United States.  Products can be ordered directly from the North Sea Quilters, who are also launching a distribution channel in North America.

Pedestrian Friendly, 60 x 60, by Pat Dicker

Pat Dicker used high-energy colors to create a lively town adapted from Sue Garman's Block of the Month Quilt,  "All Around the Town".  Pat tells us, "I named the quilt 'Pedestrian Friendly' because the original design has cars on it, and I chose to leave them out, so that the 'residents' would just walk from house to house."  The result is a fascinating "green scene",  greatly enhanced by the playful polka dots and the serene striped border.

Here's a vivid close-up of "Pedestrian Friendly", where you can see Pat's excellent applique technique (click to enlarge the image). Can you spot the people in the house?  Pat writes,  "Here I had a little fun with crowds in the window and added the poppies, since they are the California state flower."

Magnolia Quilt,   64 x 61,  by Sue Spargo, at Sue Spargo Folk-Art Quilts

The gracious old homes and flower gardens of  Magnolia, Ohio, inspired Sue Spargo to create her enchanting appliqued "Magnolia" quilt. Her accompanying book and quilt kits for "Magnolia" are sold at Sue's website, where she also offers lovely hand-dyed wool and textural fabrics, patterns, books, and embellishments. Sue writes,  "My folk-art imagery reflects my multi-cultural background and my fascination with folkart from around the world. Inspiration comes from memories collected during my African childhood with its animals and grasslands, a sojourn in the green South of England and time spent in Connecticut, Tennessee, Utah and Ohio." For great photos of the creations from her latest class,  please take a look at Sue's blog to see how well her students are doing. "Magnolia" and other projects are also in the new book called Contemporary Folk, published by Quiltmania.

Row Houses,  86 x 104, by Flavin Glover, at Flavin Glover.com

Named one of the 100 Best American Quilts of the 20th Century, "Row Houses" was inspired by Flavin Glover's fascination with landscapes and architecture. The contrasting roofs, windows, and border really help the quilt sparkle with light and dark values.  As well as teaching classes, designing, and conducting workshops, Flavin is the author of a great book,   A New Look At Log Cabin Quilts,  which gives clear, easy-to-understand directions and ideas for creating many different patchwork designs in the log cabin format. Flavin Glover's online gallery also has many different houses which are fun to look at.  Flavin is a renowned teacher; to see if she is visiting a town near you, please see her workshop schedule as well as pattern information.

It Takes A Village,  44 x 36,  by Pippa Moore, at Kitambaa Designs

Pippa Moore is a Canadian quilter whose creations are inspired by the 3 years she spent living in Lesotho, South Africa.  Pippa says,  "I love working with rich, bright, saturated colour -- from the warm and vibrant colours of Africa and Mexido, to the blues and greens of my home in Vancouver Island."  Pippa has recently launched Kitambaa Designs, which features fabrics, patterns and kits like the one above, buttons, and African art. For news about Pippa's travels, classes, and workshops with the quilters of Uganda, please take a look at her blog  Kitambaa: The Colourful World of Pippa Moore.

Image credits:  Images are shown with the generous permission of the artists.