Birds, Trees, Flowers and Caterpillars

Tonight we’re featuring four quilts, shared with us by Dorothy, Ellen and Carol, that all make modern twists to classic themes in quilting. We all know the place that album and sampler quilts have had in the history of our art. Folk art traditions and even themes from religious communities such as the Shakers or Amish have given us symbols such as hearts, birds, trees and more that have been incorporated into bed coverings. Today, the use of a wide assortment of fabrics and techniques can even turn yo-yo’s into caterpillars.

We hope you enjoy these beauties and that they inspire you to try some updated twists on tradition yourself.

from: Dorthy Davis: “I thought you might be interested in what I did all winter. I finished 2 projects. One, started in 2004, was from McCall’s magazine. It’s called Robert’s Floral Garden, from Robert Callahan. The other one is the Little Brown Bird quilt only mine has lots of hummingbirds on it.”

Dorothy’s fantastic applique above is from, we believe, the pattern book by Margaret Docherty called Applique Masterpiece: Little Brown Bird Patterns, published by the American Quilters Society in 2000. The “star” of the quilt is a little brown wren (you can see her in the bottom left square. She shares her world with an amazing array of traditional baskets, wreaths, other birds, flowers, fruit and a fantasy of a border.

Dorothy’s work is exquisite…the kind of art that would take most of us 20 years! Thank you, Dorothy, for sharing your quilts with us all.

from: Dorothy Davis: “”

We found this McCalls quilt pattern by Robert Callaham online at the Quilt and Sew Shop. We love Dorothy’s selection of color! It’s another work of amazing art!

from: Carol Johnson Horne: “A photo from Carol”

Carol’s work is so charming and yet modern at teh same time. Notice the tiny components in some of the 8-pointed stars, the birds including the one with the watermelon, the ginko leaves and the wonderful Shaker-like tree in the center!

from: Ellen Johnson Revis: “This baby quilt I made using yo yo’s for caterpillars. This was a very colorful and fun quilt to make! The smaller square panels within the quilt worked well with light and dark fabric and added interest with the caterpillars “crawling”. :)”

We just love Ellen’s work. The fabric looks hand dyed. Notice, too the smiley face at the bottom. It’s one of the most creative uses of yo-yo’s we’ve seen.