It has been a productive and eclectic year for me as a quilt designer and maker. While cutting down my teaching engagements has been a little bittersweet, the time freed up has enabled me to do more experimentation in my own work, as well as to spend more time making comfort quilts for others. This latter aspect of quiltmaking has become more and more important to me.
A developing theme has been incorporating vintage textiles into my quilts. I use the hashtags #herhandsandmine and #vintagetextilesinquilts over on Instagram where I post a lot @alliealler --do find me!
Another new direction, at least for me, is to incorporate freemotion quilting as an integral design element in my work. I always resisted that, but knew that studying under Cindy Needham would help me break down my barriers. My 5 days of workshop study with her last July was one of the best experiences I've ever had as a student!
So here is most of the year's work., in the order of making. I loved every minute of it.
A flannel quilt for my cousin, like the one I made last year (which she really loved.)
An amulet made with Amy Butler and Heather Jones in Morocco.
My main project of the year, "Snowflowers", which took a third place ribbon in Houston last November!
An embellished jean jacket, to illustrate some techniques from Christen Brown's book on beaded embroidery.
A wedding pillow for my second cousin, incorporating textiles from her grandparents.
High School graduation quilt for my niece, using a vintage quilt top as a "base".
"Vintage Summer" completed top. It still needs to be quilted.
Vintage doilies and Grandmothers Flower Garden blocks are part of the mix. I might add another border....
An experiment with machine appliqued collage.
My class project with Cindy, using a cross stitched table cover as my base.
Another quilted cross stitched table runner, but this time with appliqued elements in the center.
This vintage tablecloth has vintage blocks and a doily added. It is the first time I tried using heavy thread in machine embroidery to function as quilting.
More vintage elements collaged and appliqued. I was quite brave to use that heavy white thread in the swag like quilting. No hiding goofs there.
The fifth in my series of vintage collaged elements, appliqued, machine embroidered and quilted.
This quilt, called "Regrowth", was made especially for a survivor of the Paradise Fire in California, who was suffering from PTSD. Lots of vintage fabrics and textiles are incorporated here.
A throw quilt made with old hankies, doilies, and cotton plaid fabrics.
This is actually very small, about 8" X 10" It reminded me of Louisa May Alcott.
My friend Rhonda Dort challenged me to rescue a cutter quilt, renewing it and making it usable. We each took half of a Double Wedding Ring and had very different interpretations. This was very fun!
I had a small section of the DWR quilt left over so I made this little wall hanging. (the colors aren't quite great in this photo, sorry.) R is my husband Robert and A is me. ;-)
This small wallhanging brought me back to my Broderie Perse days, with some stained glass quilting technique in the lettering.
The Pink Fan Rescue quilt. Again, Rhonda and I split an old unusable quilt and went in wildly different directions with it. We have another one to do in the coming months, too!
I expect to be just as busy in 2020...I post on Instagram at @alliealler and Facebook as Allison Aller all the time. Swing on by....and Happy Stitching!
