Quilting,The Fabric of Our Lives

Table covers are a quick and easy way to practice different quilting patterns. Versatile, too. I have also also used this one as a wall quilt!

Quilting is a wonderful past time...it's not only a wonderful past time, but your finished projects are certain to become your family heirlooms!

This adorable little comforter was made by my daughter...she's a new quilter, and I think she did a fabulous job!

She simply added a strip border to a Blue Jean Teddy panel, used a coordinating print for the back, and spent many happy hours quilting around the designs in the blocks.

Comfortable and stylish, simple to stitch...
What a nice addition to our baby hope chest!

I enjoyed watching her as she stitched her way through her first baby quilt. It warmed my heart to see her pleasure as the vision of her project became a reality...

I can hardly wait til it's time for the grand-baby that will be wrapped in this adorable little keepsake quilt.

Paper is a great medium for quilters. Here's a scrapbook page that shows you how I feel about quilting!

I designed this for a friend who was looking for an oriental design...

I used bold colors in 100% cotton, stencilled an oriental motif onto bleached muslin and stitched the blocks in the classic 9-patch pattern...

An atypical pattern that met the need for an oriental flavor!

QUILTS...NOT QUITS!

Quilts can be cozy, warm and enduring
Worked in patches of love by hands that are caring
Cotton or corduroy, rayon or wool
King size or queen size, double or full
~

On a cold winter's night filled with arctic cold air
Their warmth and their shelter cannot be compared
You cuddle and snuggle, feeling sheltered and loved
Your body protected, as inside a glove
~

But quilts don't just happen, they have to be made
From remnants of fabrics so carefully saved
Old dresses or shirt sleeves, or baby's first frock
Patches from history together are locked
~

Eyes not acquainted with fabrics and threads
See only a scrap pile, turn; shaking their heads
Cutting and ripping and tearing to shreds
How could this ever fit anyone's bed?
~

But the eye of the seamstress sees more than you know
For in her hand, she has the knowledge to sew
She snips, trims and shapes the fabric just right
For a mis-matched pattern is a terrible sight!
~

She matches and patches and stitches with ease
As her pattern unfolds she is joyfully pleased
For on winter's long nights of unending cold
Her loved ones will have her comfort to hold
~

Life is so similar, to quilting you know
With remnants of memories to keep or to throw
Heartache and triumph, sorrow or joy
Each piece has it's place in the heart of your soul
~

The seamstress for families is a strong loving hand
Who fashions us each according to plan
Cutting and ripping and tearing to shreds
So painful and rending, it causes such dread
~

He patches and matches and stitches with ease
He stitches together whomever he please
Needles and straight pins and fabric and bows
His knowledge is greater than all of those
~

For life is of families, their triumphs and woes
Our Father is touched by each one of those
It takes mending and "peace-ing" to make it all work
He "peaces" so carefully, so no one gets hurt
~

Heaven is home where his family grows
We all want to be there and surely he knows
So he pieces and patches and he cuts and he fits
For God's making families and he won't call it quits.

(c) Connie D. Ogle 1995 All rights reserved
Connie's House






Quilts, Not Quits by
Connie Walcott is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Cutting mats and rotary cutters are available in many sizes and combinations. You can purchase them individually, or in a complete kit.

Once you learn to use rotary cutting, you will NEVER go back to using scissors to cut your quilt blocks!

Fussy Cutter
Fussy Cutter is as particular as I am about cutting fabric, so it will be my great delight to have her become my fabric cutter of choice.

I love to play with words! I was reading the encyclopedia when I started school, so it only stands to reason that I would have to bring words into my love of piecing!

I was so excited when my love for quilting gave me the opportunity to write for Cobblestone Publishing!

My first query resulted in two assignments!

The Underground Railroad is a fascinating topic...the escaping slaves used the patterns found in quilts as a mnemonic device...a trigger for their memory, that is!

Quilts that were hung in the doorway or window to "air out" was actually a secret message to those who knew what they were looking for!

Color was also used to symbolize safety or danger...quite an elaborate communication device, don't you think?

So, for those of you with writing aspirations; be encouraged! Write about what you love, and the literary connections you dream about will find their way to you!

Freedom Under Cover

You can read the articles in the photo album on my website...

Freedom Under Cover