Betty Reynolds' Quilting Page
Betty Reynolds' Quilting Page
Skip all these words and go directly to my
quilts or to my quilting bookmarks or to quilt shows I've attended or to the Quilts, Quilters, Quilting and Patchwork in
Fiction lists
The women in my family have always been needleworkers. As a small
child I learned to sew from my mother, Kathryn
Blakslee, to crochet and tat (well, OK, I can't
remember how to tat!) from my Grandmother Emma Lang, and to knit from my
Grandmother Katharine Blakslee. My Grandmother Blakslee and my Great Aunt
Salome Lang were also quilters. Aunt Salome taught me that everything you
make must have some mistake in it because only God can make something
perfect.
Back about 1966 Grandma Blakslee was making a sunbonnet sue quilt and she
let me help with the quilting. When it was completed she loaned me her
quilting frame and I appliqued a crib quilt top with "Danish Modern" birds
and hand quilted the top. That was it for the next 25 years.
Then along came my parents' 50th wedding anniversary in 1991 and I
volunteered to put together a family
quilt. Each family member decorated
a 12" block of unbleached muslin. Some added cross stitch, others
crochet, applique, and other needlework. Many of the children painted
and glue gunned. Each block included the name and the birth year of the
participant and represented who the person is. The quilt is 16 blocks
square and is put together with blue calico borders and sashing. It
currently resides in our parents home in Arizona.
So I was hooked on quilting. A visit to a local quilt show cemented the
attachment, and a gift of a single issue of Miniature Quilts sent
me in a whole new direction. I now participate in many r.c.t.q.
exchanges of both fabrics and blocks. My true love is
making
miniature quilts because I can complete one in less than two weeks, but
I have made a series of bed quilts
for my brother and two sisters. I am also the proud owner of my mother's Singer
Featherweight (born Feb. 15, 1939--the machine, not Mom) as well as a
sister Featherweight born the same day.
Here are a few pictures of some of my
quilts...
- Arizona Millennial
Shop Hop--a mini jar quilt
- Bobbie's
Computer--6 x 6"
- Canastitas de
Flores--a basket quilt for the Museum of the American Quilter's
Society auction, 2001 (38 x 38")
- Comet
Hale Bopp over Ed's Garage
- Double Irish
Chain--a 2001 QuiltSwappers class project (16 x 20")
- Fiftieth
Anniversary Quilt
- First
Ever Black Range International Balloon Festival Quilt--the 1999 New
Mexico Library Foundation fundraising quilt, 30 x 34"
- Gato Groucho y
Amigos--18 x 18"
- Go
Suns!--a miniature quilt I made to look like the Phoenix Suns logo,
for my mother who's their #1 fan
- I Scream, You
Scream, We all Scream, for Ice Cream--11 1/2 x 22" from hand dyed
fabrics for the QuiltSwappers Summer 2000 Challenge
- An
International Fishing Expedition--an American ship in Japanese waters,
fishing for tropical fish, 9 1/2 x 5"
- It's a
Small World--the 1998 New Mexico Library Foundation fundraising quilt
(38 x 46")
- It's
the Cat's Meow
- Jack Frost in
Miniature--7 x 7" based on a 35" pattern
- Jen's
Mended Hearts Quiltlet
- Judy's Necktie
Clues--a quilt made for a Judy Bolton fan in celebration of The Clue in the Patchwork
Quilt
- Lime
Splash--a miniature version of Spring Splash (11 x 11")
- Los Gansos
Rojos--a red and white quilt for the Museum of the American Quilter's
Society Auction, 2000 (39 x 39")
- Mi Casa es Su
Casa--a miniature Mexican mountain village containing 25 houses and 15
trees on 5 streets. This quilt measures 14 inches square and was completed in August 1995.
- A Mini for
Mom--my very first miniature quilt
- Ms.
Charlene Treuse Meets the Sunbonnet Sisters--my winning entry in the 1996
"Chartreuse Challenge" at Pine Lake Fabrics (9 x 20")
- Op-Choc--my
winning entry in the 1997 "Chocolate Challenge" at Pine Lake Fabrics (20
x 20")
- Patriotic
Banners
- Revolving
Stars--a tesselating
miniature quilt using 56 different fabrics received from friends in the Fun Fabrics
Exchange. This quilt measures 16.5 x 18.5 inches and was completed in
June 1995. The pattern for this quilt is found in Miniature
Quilts, Issue #17 (Feb./Mar. 1995), p.8
- Star Crossed
Canoes
- Tessellating
Quilts--a series of miniature quilts using tessellating blocks
- Welcome to
QuiltSwappers--QuiltSwappers Express Yourself Challenge, 1999 (11.5 x 17")
- What Goes
Around Comes Around--a look at the 1930's from the end of the
twentieth century. 9 x 12 inches, completed in December 1998
- Whistler's Mother
-- A Study in Gray and
Black a miniature quilt using the split nine patch block set in the
barnraising setting. This quilt measures 14 x 17 inches and was
completed in August 1995
- Whose
Library?--the 1997 New Mexico Library Foundation fundraising quilt
(38 x 42")
- Wonky Cats in
the Sun--a QuiltSwappers class, 1999 (16 x 22")
- You Don't
have to be an Old Camper to Wear a Purple Tee--9 x 9" octagon
Now that I have a digital camera I can take photos and get them right into
web pages as soon as I'm home from a show.