MY QUILT ZONE

 In 2021, I started making a series of T-Shirt quilts in memory of my DIL's step-dad, Harry, who was a retired fire chief in a nearby town.  His widow, Karen, asked me if I could make some t-shirt quilts out of his extensive collection of t-shirts from his various fire fighters conventions, his Navy ship reunions, and so forth.  Karen wanted photographs included on the quilts so I had all the photos printed onto 100% cotton fabric by an online company called Spoonflower. So far, I have made four (4) quilts which actually turned out to be very heavy, double-sided quilts.  Here is the front and back view of one of those quilts. FRONT AND BACK VIEWS OF T-SHIRT QUILT #3

This is my small donation quilt for the 2019 SAQA Benefit Auction.  My original design was inspired by a black & white drawing of Jesus Christ carrying His cross.  At first, this  image may look like an "X" – but if you turn the image on point, you can clearly see the cross.  I hope when people look at this quilt, they too will see the cross and reflect on all that it represents.  

I was shocked and saddened to learn today that Nancy Zieman ( Sewing With Nancy ) had passed away after a long, courageous battle with cancer.  I feel like I have lost a close, personal friend.  Nancy was a wonderful sewing teacher who will be greatly missed by thousands of loyal fans who watched her TV show, Sewing With Nancy, since 1982.   Thankfully, you can still see episodes on PBS stations and on YouTube.  Nancy was an inspiration to us all and will be greatly missed. To read her personal goodbye retirement message, go to this link: http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/quilting-2/a-personal-note-from-nancy/

For my donation this year to the 2017 SAQA Benefit Auction, I wanted to try doing a series and expand on the theme of moonlight.  I call this little art quilt, Moonlight in Vermont .  It's 12" x 12" per the required size for submission.  I made it for two reasons; (1) I was born in Vermont and (2) It's the title of one of my favorite songs.  I used the same background fabric as in my previous quilt.  I used silver tissue lamé  for the moon again and silver metallic thread for the quilting design and for highlighting the mountain tops.   This time, however,  I used a silver permanent marker to add more highlights to show the moon's shadow on the mountains.  (It sold for $100)

I made this small (12"x12") art quilt for the 2016 SAQA Benefit Auction .  It's called, "Full Moon Over Stonehenge." I used a navy-blue speckled fabric for the night sky background.  I bought some Stonehenge fabrics by Northcott that I used for the vertical sarsen stones and the horizontal lintel stone.  The moon is a piece of very thin, silver lamé fabric, which I bonded to the background with Mistyfuse.  Within the radiating quilting lines, I added some Swarovski crystals for stars.  (It sold for $150.)

I made this Bluebird of Happiness quilt in remembrance of my husband, David, who died in 1986 at the age of 44.   The pattern I used for the bluebird was taken from a coloring book drawing by Florence Sarah Winship.   The background fabric was hand-dyed by Carol Eaton formerly of Shelton, CT.   The song, “ The Bluebird of Happiness ” made famous in 1945 by the opera tenor, Jan Peerce, had special significance for my husband because his father used to sing this song to him when he was a little boy.  Sadly, his father died in 1950 when my husband was only 8 years old. In late 1976, when we had begun dating, I asked him what he wanted for Christmas and he asked for a copy of this song.    Well, in 1976, the Internet (as we know it today) didn’t exist - and because of that, I spent many weeks of frantic searching, lots of praying and then by a small miracle - I found a vintage record shop (over 50 miles away) in Hartford, CT   that had  the exact song he wanted.  

I made this art quilt to donate to the 2015 SAQA Benefit Auction.  All quilts submitted to the auction must be 12" x 12" in size.  My donation quilt,  Birch Tree   (Genus: Betula),  sold for $100. c. 2015 - Birch Tree (Genus Betula) - V. Millington

By chance, I found this vintage four-drawer silverware cabinet (in like-new condition) in an antiques  warehouse near where I live.  I thought that it could be re-purposed as a sewing thread cabinet so I bought it.  I really love it!  I didn't realize how many spools of thread I had until I started to organize them into one place.  Not only can I see how many and what colors I have, I can see what colors I still need to add to my thread collection.  So far, I have almost filled three of the four drawers. (My little treadle sewing machine music box is sitting on top of a small art quilt made by the late Karen Loprete.) My Thread Cabinet

I recently created a spool block that was included in a special quilt made to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Windham Textile and History Museum in Willimantic, CT.  This group quilt is composed of 25 different spool blocks made by members of the Connecticut chapter of Studio Art Quilt Associates. (SAQA) This quilt will become part of the museum's permanent collection. The Spool Block quilt can be seen at the WTHM along with a special exhibit called Inspiration Quilts: Then and Now which pairs 12 antique quilts in the museum's collection with 12 contemporary quilts made by twelve SAQA artists who were inspired by them. For more info go to: w ww.millmuseum.org My spool block is on the top row, block #4 when viewed left to right.  I used  the selvedges of various fabrics to make it look like thread wrapped around a spool. A portion of the whole quilt is shown here.  All the unique and colorful blocks in the finished quilt were amazing and unfortunately my photo d

Update - The Wedding Quilt / Family Tree Quilted is finally quilted!  I think it came out really nice. Wedding Quilt - quilted! In 2009, I made a wedding quilt for my son and his wife. I have the top all completed, now I just need to quilt it! It is really a family tree.  On the bottom, I have my parents (left) and my husband's parents (right) with my husband and I in the middle.  In the middle row, I have the bride's mother and step-father (left side) and her father and step-mother on the right side.  At the top left, I have her maternal grandparents and on the top right, I have her paternal grandparents.  In the top center, I placed a copy of their wedding invitation.  All the pictures are in black and white except for the happy couple in the very center of the quilt that are printed in color.  I am very pleased with the way it came out and I know that when I finish quilting the whole thing, it will look even nicer. Wedding Quilt - 2009

Memory Quilt for Josh I finished Josh's memorial quilt in June 2009. In addition to the T-shirts, I resized all of the photos that were used and I scanned and resized the many other items that his parents wanted included in the quilt top so that these images would fit onto the extra T-shirt blocks that I had to create. For the sashing, I used a dark blue fabric with gold metallic highlights and then I used a plain, navy blue fabric for the quilt binding. I presented the quilt to Johanne and Frank at the scholarship fundraiser they held in Josh's memory at the Whitney Farms Country Club.