Margie's Quilts

Margie's Quilts

Bob and Margaret Kellett

In 2003 my friend Lizzie started talking to me about 'flying geese' and....'fat quarters'. Luckily I didn't take the fat quarter comment personally, as I quickly realised she was introducing me to the wonderful world of patchwork quiIting! Her advice was, "sit down with a cup of coffee, read the pattern through several times until you've got a grip of it".

Since then I have made myriads of flying geese corners out of thousands of fat quarter sized pieces of fabric as part of my quilt top designs. My efforts are shown below. (Updated in May 2014).

'Old Glory'...(97" x 102") We have experienced fascinating journeys and met countless friendly people in the USA, so I made this quilt to remind us of those memorable times. The quilt top is a mixture of cotton, dupion silk and polyester, whilst separating the stars are pieces of Bob's worn out favourite shirt. I wanted the quilt to look grand, in keeping with the Super King bed we bought from Farinellis in San Francisco and had shipped home to Auckland. Robyn Frost of Pins2Patches, Whakatane, NZ, finished off the quilt on her long-arm quilting machine. We chose a very plain pattern just to 'hold it together', and let the design speak for itself.

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'Following The Sun'...(94" x 94")...The quilt I made for Jan. At a quilt convention in Madison, Wisconsin, I was shown an ingenious method for piecing the flying geese, and thereby managed to achieve an overall accurate result with the points abutting precisely, one following the other. It was a delight to use the wildly colourful Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Once again, thanks to Robyn Frost for the lovely quilting finish.

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Pinwheel quilt .. I made for my brother Warwick. This quilt is entitled 'Dresden, Baroque City on the Elbe' (quilt size 99" x 80") and was to recall the glorious city of Dresden, Germany. For several centuries the Kingdom of Saxony was one of the wealthiest in Europe, and the beautiful baroque city of Dresden was its showpiece. I cut approx 2,500 pieces for this quilt. Robyn Frost did a lovely job of finishing off the quilt on her long-arm quilting machine.

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'A Few Stars' ..(104" x 92")..inspired by our visit to the Isle of Capri where, at the Villa San Michele, we saw ancient tiles in the shape of the Ohio Star block. The overall colour and design evokes the dappled sunlight through the loggia at the villa. Machine quilted by Robyn Frost of Whakatane, NZ. I gave this quilt to my brother Ross.

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'Ontario Roads' ..(79" x 63"). The quilt I made for Toby. This quilt reminds us of the grid pattern of roads around much of Ontario - a challenge for me, the map reader for our travels in the motorhome. Machine quilted by Robyn Frost.

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'Thunder Bay' ...(79" x 61"). The quilt I made for Varick. This is from an old Amish quilt design. It was so exciting to travel to Thunder Bay on the edge of Lake Superior where we actually encountered an inky blue sky and a thunder storm. Machine quilted by Robyn Frost.

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'Quebec' ...(101"x 83") I love the blue and white colours in the flag of the Province of Quebec! The quilt top incorporates my version of the 'courthouse steps' block, whilst the machine quilting by Robyn Frost replicates the wonderful 'fleur de lis' pattern from the Quebec flag. In March 2011 this quilt found its way to my grandaughter Kelly in Adelaide. Hard working, compassionate and kind Kelly will soon be fully qualified in her nursing career and I hope this quilt will bring calmness and peace to her busy life.

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'Making Tracks' ...(approx 78"x 92") Now, in March 2011, this quilt keeps my grandson Joel warm in his bed. Joel is making tracks in life by studying German, English and Philosophy at Adelaide University.

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This quilt I made for Ethan, entitled 'The Star Spangled Banner'. The national anthem of the USA has the opening line,"O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light.....". The quilt is based on the colours of the US flag, but the pattern represents the sun at dawn, rising on the new nation. For the quilting pattern I chose 'music', a treble clef repeat that takes the melody across the quilt, and was beautifully done by Robyn Frost on her long-arm quilting machine.

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Front of Anna's quilt...'Life is Colourful' (80" x 65"), made from a Kaffe kit-set purchased at a quilt convention in Madison, Wisconsin. A little modification of the design added my own flavour. Machine quilted by Robyn Frost.

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The back of Anna's quilt ...of course I had to use up all the scraps!

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Front of Isabel's quilt .. 'The Colour of Possibilities' (76" x 60")

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The back of Isabel's quilt ..plenty of left-overs to use up, and colourful enough to make the quilt reversible. Machine quilted by Robyn Frost.

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Making Victoria's quilt...We were in Montana beside Lake Polson when I sewed this quilt top. The glorious snow capped Rockies dominated our view, but I still had NZ in my heart, especially as I was sewing the dazzling Pukeko fabric.

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Front of Victoria's quilt ...'Islands In The Sun' (94" x 83")

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Back of Victoria's quilt ... (Robyn Frost machine quilted this one also).

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'Wild and Free' ...The quilt I made for Fergus. You will invariably find a touch of blue in my quilts! Machine quilted by Yvonne Hodges of Auckland, NZ. We chose a pattern which has a sort of swaying grass effect, thus brilliantly tying this quilt together.

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'Alhambra Reflections' (dupion silk and furnishing cotton from Spain) ..Sewing the silk fabric took quite an amount of effort, as the material frayed easily. Also, I had to arrange the pieces into the correct direction for the 'shot silk' effect to look right. Meticulously machine quilted by Yvonne Hodges.

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'Patio De Andulucia'...(108" x 94"). I feel my sister, Charo, could dance the flamenco on this quilt, which evokes the tiled patios found in Spain. Its boldness suits our spare room. Machine quilted by Robyn Frost in a 'formal garden' pattern which swirls and curls across the quilt.

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'Alaskan Gold Rush' ...Displayed at Weirs Beach, Vancouver Island.

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'Alaskan Gold Rush'...now finished. I purchased the fabrics at a quilt shop in Winnipeg enroute to Alaska, and made the quilt top whilst Bob was fishing for halibut out from Seward. I wanted this quilt to evoke the Alaskan scene and was excited when Yvonne Hodges was able to sew a spruce tree design into the body of the quilt, but with moose and bears running around the borders!

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'Paua With a Splash of Citrus'...I developed this design as I went along, using NZ-themed fabric. My sister Jan saw the quilt and said, "that looks very citrus", hence the name. Machine quilted by Yvonne Hodges in a 'koru' pattern that we felt would emphasise the NZ flavour of the quilt. In March 2011, I sent this quilt to our married grandaughter Amy. She and her husband Joel are soon to be parents - which will make us great grandparents. How special is that!

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'Chintz' quilt top from Kaffe's book with my own modifications....yet to be finished off. I have 400 odd triangle corners left over from the 'snowball' blocks, what to do with them? Wait and see.

The finished 'Chintz' quilt (95"x80") - with snowball block corners barely discernible in the riot of summer flowers. Thanks to Robyn Frost of Pins2Patches, Whakatane for her beautiful quilting work.

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"The Spirit of Flamenco"....(57"x76"), made specially for my sister Cherrie (Charo da Luna) in March 2011. A jelly-roll of Kaffe fabrics found their way into this zigzag quilt. The peachy pink silk used in the border just seemed to zing the whole quilt together. Machine quilted by Sandy Mayo of Auckland.

I thought Saint Mary MacKillop would enjoy looking down on this colourful scene! Perhaps she will also bless my dear sister Cherrie.

Cherrie, with her quilt of many colours.

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This is "Georgia's Blue Cabbage Quilt" (85"x62") which I made in the Motorhome during July 2011. It is the same pattern as the Chintz quilt shown further up the page. When we arrived in Ottawa I had it nicely finished off by Karine Chapleau of 'Karine's Quilting Touch'. Our grandaughter Georgia was delighted to finally have her own quilt - plus two matching pillow slips.

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Here is a set of eight placemats I made for the Boyds for Christmas 2010.

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Also, eight festive placemats for my friend Lizzie, who pressed them into service at their wonderful B&B, 'The Rising Trout', situated on the shores of Lake Rotorua, New Zealand. Made in 2012

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The "Sailboat" quilt I made for our small friend William who lives in Melbourne. It was fun setting out the blocks, with the green one facing in the opposite direction - a message to William that it is okay to be different and to chart his own course in life instead of following the masses! Made in May 2012 in the Motorhome. Machine quilted by Sandy Mayo of Auckland, NZ.

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In the Motor Home at Petoskey, Michigan, July 2013 - finishing sewing down the bindings on the ten placemats I enjoyed making. The size of each placemat is 12" x 17 1/4", perfect for accommodating a dinner plate, cutlery and two glasses (i.e., water glass and wine glass) without 'crowding' the table. I used a jelly-roll of Japanese fabric purchased from Daphne at Pins2Patches in Whakatane, New Zealand.

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Bob's 70th Birthday Quilt (48" x 74") made in Oct 2012 from jelly rolls of batik fabric. Planning the layout of the blocks (or strips) was like manipulating Rubik's Cube! A narrow luscious green border thence a wide inky black batik outer border (with a riot of NZ birds in the pattern) cobbled the quilt together nicely. Robyn Frost finished it off beautifully on her long-arm quilting machine.

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Grace Kelly, Grace Kelly, Grace Kelly.....(81" x 102") made in 2012. This was great fun to make using furnishing fabric from Spotlight. I fussy cut out each face and joined these together using black velvet for the sashings. The outer border is black satin. Finished off by Sandy Mayo of Auckland.

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"Nifty Shades of Green", not as risque as Fifty Shades of Grey! I have used furnishing fabric off-cuts and made snowball blocks joined with narrow citrus green sashings. This is the palest quilt I have ever made, quite outside my 'comfort zone' of brighter colours but I love it! Made in 2013 (76" x 76"). It was finished off by Robyn Frost of PIns2Patches, Whakatane.

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"Zebra Crossing" (50"x 68") made in 2014. An opportunity to use up a quantity of scraps from my stash, but guess what, hardly a dent was made! The inclusion of the black and white striped fabric gave it a zig zaggy effect. Finished off by Robyn Frost of Pins to Patches, Whakatane, NZ.

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"Around The Bays" (76"x 87") specially for Imogen and Bobby, whose wedding we were excited to attend in London on 23rd May 2015. It was fun revisiting this quilt pattern which reminds me of a repeat of the North and South Islands of New Zealand, nestled in the Pacific Ocean. (One has to look long and hard to discern these tricks of the eye!). Pohutukawas and tuis dominate the coastline, whilst little kiwi surprises are dotted here and there. With her long arm quilting machine Robyn expertly applied the classic NZ Koru pattern.

Always a challenge finding the perfect spot for the photographs. The Sun was just right so I thought, thistle do!

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Oh, the excitement of a zig zag pattern, Using a ten inch layer cake of vibrant Japanese prints combined with black, this was quick to cut out and piece together. The name "Royal Kimono" tickled my fancy as the work glowed regally from all angles! Size 71"x88". Made in September 2015.

This is the back of "Royal Kimono". The photo doesn't quite do justice to the fabric which has a wonderful sheen to it.

The view across Lake Rotorua from my sewing room!

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Ada's quilt....(56"x77") entitled "In The Pink", made in 2016. I loved making this quilt using Kaffe Fassett mix and match fabrics for a special baby girl who lives in London!

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Dakota's quilt....(54"x76") entitled "Joie de Vivre", made in 2016. Same theme as the previous quilt, an easy pattern with challenging colour co-ordination. Specially made for our little great granddaughter who lives in Adelaide. The colours remind us of an Australian sunrise.

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A colourful safe haven, my home at Acacia Bay, New Zealand, during the Covid pandemic.

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"Fiery Amethyst" Quilt Size 84"x76" My first lockdown 2020 quilt. Kit set purchased at the Sep 2019 Quilt Expo in Madison Wisconsin from Lori Allison. Love the Kaffe Fassett fabrics, pleasing and modern design. Look closely and you will observe some mitred corners which make the pattern join superbly.

Longarm quilted for me by Helen Townend, Taupo.

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The colours of Kaffe Fassett! I like to wash my fabrics first.

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The blocks are coming together nicely. Lockdown 2020 is not so bad after all!

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"Looking On The Brightside". Quilt size 85"x63" - April 2020.

Skilfully finished off for me by Helen Townend, Taupo.

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