This England was a labor of love, made to express my life-long interest in English history.  The border quotation is  from Shakespeare's Richard II and reads "This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, this precious stone set in a silver sea, this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England."  The lines determined the quilt's theme, with quilted panels depicting symbols of England's royal past.  Designs for the panels include the Prince of Wale's feathers, the Tudor rose and crown, the great west window of York Minster, an Elizabethan know garden and various royal ciphers.

This England was exhibited in the 1992 AQS show in Paducah, Kentucky and in the 1993 British National Patchwork Championships in Althorp, England where it won the first place prize for quilting and place third in the overall theme catagory All the World's a Stage.
 

After quilting the center Rose and Crown panel on This England, I decided it was a design that deserved to be appliqued, and so began to plan Tudor Roses.  The Rose and Crown design, adapted from the wooden entrance gates to the Chapel of Henry VII, Westminster Abbey, appears in the centers of the outer borders.  The quilt's original design includes many decorative devices of the Tudor period.  The pomegranate was a favorite device of Catherine of  Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife,  and the thistle is a familiar Scottish symbol. The corner wreaths surrounding roses were adapted from the Armada Jewel, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Tudor Roses was featured in the International Quilt Association's 1999 American Quilt Calendar.  It won the first prize for craftsmanship at the 1996 Quilter's Gathering, Westford, Massachusetts and was exhibited in the 1998 AQS show in Paducah, Kentucky.
 

Dreams of a sunny day in an English garden were the inspiration for the The Manor House Sampler, my first design collaboration with my good friend and fellow teacher Dolores A. Pilla.  Dolores loves to teach piecing and I love teaching applique so we designed it as a team teaching project. The class has been great fun and our students have been very enthusiastic.

The pattern for The Manor House Sampler is now available in a pattern booklet.  The twelve page booklet includes full size applique pattens on a pull out page, step by step directions for piecing and applique and a teacher's guide so your local shop or guild can start their own Manor House Class.
 

English Floral Sampler
13" x 26"  1999
Machine pieced, hand appliqued, hand quilted

Pattern now in Strawberry Fair

Young girls in seventeenth century England practice their needlework skills by embroidering "band samplers", long, narrow panels featuring horizontal rows of floral and geometric  morifs.  In my little quilted sampler, I appliqued my floral bands and pieced the geometric bands.  The English Floral Sampler is my tribute to the legacy left us by those industrious little girls of long ago.

A pattern for The English Floral Sampler is now available.  The pattern includes full size applique patterns, step by step piecing directions and instructions for freezer paper and glue stick applique.
 

A graceful scalloped border complements this cupboard full of appliqued teapots, inspired by designs from eighteenth and early nineteenth centtury England.

The pattern for Teapot Traditions is found in Small Wonders: Tiny Treasures in Patchwork and Applique
 
 

A medley of miniature quilts, combined in one wall hanging, Miniature Medley was the first in a series of three similar samplers.  I originally designed it as a teaching sample for my miniature quilt classes. While making their sampler, students learn many different skills needed for miniature work, including precision machine piecing, freezer paper and glue stick applique and English paper piecing.  Over the years it has remained one of my most popular classes and one of my favorites to teach.

Miniature Medley is available in a twenty page pattern booklet.  The booklet included step by step piecing directions and instructions for freezer paper and glue stick applique, along with tips on fabric selection and precision piecing hints.
 

Making Miniature Medley was so much fun I decided to make another miniature sampler, using traditional patterns from nineteenth century quilts.  Traditions in Miniature includes some of my favorite old patterns, Bear's Paw, Tree of Life, Irish Chain and Oak Leaf and Reel, along with some applique bits and pieces reminiscent of the period.  It has been a popular class, with many students who, after making Miniature Medley, found that, like me, they couldn't make just one.

Traditions in Miniature is available in a twenty page pattern booklet.  The booklet included step by step piecing directions and instructions for freezer paper and glue stick applique, along with tips on fabric selection and precision piecing hints.
 

The third in my mini sampler series, Miniature Christmas Medley, features festive miniature pieced quilts combined with an appliqued angel, Christmas tree, Father christmas and a candle wreath.

Miniature Christmas Medley is available in a 25 page pattern. Step by step directions for piecing and applique and hints for successful precision machine piecing and miniature hand applique are included.