Louise Naples Quiltmaker

Mandela

In the summer of 2015 my daughter Nikita and I enjoyed an “art week” which included painting, origami, and quilting.  This project we designed together on graph paper, transferred it to large cardboard, then traced out template plastic.  We each selected different fabrics from a common array, using them for different pieces.  We crossed our fingers as we attempted to work out the intricate geometry. And we laughed a lot.

Working out the relationships between the various red or black centers and yo-yos finally forced a decision  among many good ideas…..

Here is a sequence of my progress through this project.

GRACE’S GARDEN

My sister lives in Vermont in a log cabin house, and cultivates a large family vegetable garden.  So a Log Cabin pattern with over forty fruit and vegetable patterned fabrics was just the ticket.  Laying out all the 2-1/2″ strips, and methodically assembling them into blocs, while attempting to keep a good color balance was a challenge.  Using a small blueberry print as the sashing and border helped unify the whole. Using red peppers and yellow lemons for the center “hearths” of each block established the hearts of the log cabin blocks.

I backed it with a simple cream print since there is no resting place for the eyes on the front.  It was long-arm quilted by Teri Scaduto of “By the Sea Custom Quilting” as I am not able to do a good job of quilting a queen-sized quilt on my home machine.

With leftover fabric I made a table runner and six placemats.  Then the final remnants were given to my quilt guild and a woman made aprons  out of them a NYC soup kitchen!

Additional fabric became table runner and six reversible placemats.

INTERLOCKING STARS

My sister-in-law had just decorated her bedroom in the colors of a quilt I was working on.  This quilt was a tricky one.  The individual colors had to be carefully organized, and placed with adjacent colors. As I stacked the pieces according to the plan, I had to protect them from windy days and getting mixed up by any means!  But once the bits started coming together, I was excited to see the growing results.  Hard to find the “block” in this design. Each one had four different colors. It became an excellent accent piece for her room.

A QUILT FOR NIKKI AND ANGELO

Never having made a quilt for this niece’s babies, (as I began my quilting journey well after her  children were grown), I decided to make one for her and her husband Angelo.  They decided on red and black, as befit their living room decor.  So I pulled lots of fabrics from my stash and designed a dramatic piece using those colors.  Nine-patch squares mixed with longer chunks of color, and utilizing the fantastic large 6″ poppies was inspiring.  Laying them out, playing with them until a coherent design formed itself was one of those special zen moments. A path flows through the design, representing the fascinating path of their lives.   Angelo has since passed away, and I hope this quilt continues to give comfort to Nikki.

For the reverse side I used a vibrant black, white, grey and red geometric print.