"Happy is the Heart That Believes in Angels"

Angels, fairies, and flowers all in one quilt. We only like to make uplifting quilts, ones that will make you smile and we loved making this one.

When searching for the perfect fabric for the wings of the angels we came across a product called,

"Angelina." It is sort of a transparent web that fuses into the perfect angel-wing fabric. We added crystal sparkles. The purple border has silver embossed stars. This quilt was one of ten finalists in the 2007 $100,000 Quilting Challenge.

"Once Upon a Time..."

Fairy tale images come to life in a giant bookcase. We made this quilt for the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in Orem, Utah, the town where we grew up.

We have so much fun working on quilts together. Most of the fabrics in this quilt were purchased in Paducah. It also has hundreds of swarovski crystals that add the sparkle a fairy tale quilt needs.

We live in different cities and sometimes we meet at a quilt shop that is about a 45 minute drive for each of us.

The quilt took about a year to complete.

"A Mother's Love"

I'll tell you a story, I'll sing you a song.
I'll rock you 'til morning, all the night long.
I'll brush back your hair, I'll whisper a prayer,
For I am your mother, I'll always be there.

Bring me a flower, write me a poem,
Your loving laughter makes our house a home,
Hold my hand now and walk with me slow,
For you are my child and someday you'll grow.

The thing that has given me joy in this life,
Is the blessing of being a mother and wife,
Singing babies to sleep, drying tears when they weep,
And naught can diminish the memories I'll keep. -Ann Winterton Seely

This quilt was commissioned by a private collector. She wanted a quilt to honor motherhood. Each block shows a mom in a different setting. Some of the owner's favorite quotes are included in a few of the blocks and Ann wrote the poem especially for this quilt. The border is a Susan H. Garman design from her pattern, "Ladies of the Sea."

Apple Pickin' Time

There were a lot of apple orchards in our town when we were growing up. During the summertime, asparagus would grow wild in the orchard directly behind our house. We were allowed to pick it and sell it to the neighbors for ten cents a pound. At that price we could never pick enough for all those who wanted some. We could buy quite a bit with our "fun" money since treats like Twinkies sold for five cents each. Sometimes in the summer we, along with our brother Wayne, would set up a tent in the orchard and sleep outside.

Apple pickin' time in the fall meant that many of our friends and their parents would gather to harvest the apples. Mostly, the kids just chased each other around the trees and ate the apples while the grown-ups picked. We thought it was lots of fun. Our church owned the orchard, so the apples were distributed to those in need. However, each family who helped pick received a bushel of bright red, juicy apples to take home.

"Staccato" is the smaller version done in bright batik fabrics.

Bits & Pieces

Dad was a machinist by trade so he understood precision measurements. He understood that a set of ten-inch squares should measure ten inches. He understood that a mitered border should line up at an exact forty-five degree angle, that seams should meet, and that points should be pointed. He was also a woodworker and he taught us the concept "measure twice, cut once." He understood quality and always told us to buy the best fabric and equipment that we could afford. He had no trouble with us buying perfectly good fabric only to cut it up and then sew it back together again, because that is exactly what he did with lumber.
But we lost him when we started talking about "scrap quilts!" To Dad, scraps were what you threw away. He tossed scrap wood into the fire and fed scraps of food to the dog.

He didn't think we could make lovely quilts

from "scraps" of fabric. Then Dad commented on how much he liked the little bits and pieces in a particular quilt. We just laughed and from then on our scrap quilts were called our "bits & pieces" quilts.
The smaller picture is "Sugar & Spice,"the alternate colorway that is in the book. The border is not a plaid fabric, but strips pieced to appear as a plaid.