From 1 to 3

Along with the other photos that my sister Laura took are some of my small quilts.  One of my favorite pieces is this triptych that I made about ten years ago.  

I saw a Simply Quilts episode on making the monogram block and wanted to make one to put over the bar in our dining room.  That section of cabinet has since been removed, so the 12 X 12 inch quilts are now hanging vertically in the studio.  

After making the monogram block, I decided that I wanted two more blocks--one with fruit and one with flowers.  

Much of our living area had deep burgundy as the secondary color, so I decided to use burgundy, greens, and bits of other colors that would work together

The flower piece was actually quite easy, although there were a few techniques that I had not attempted before.    Reverse applique turned out to be easier than I anticipated but I was pretty nervous about cutting out the sections.  More difficult was appliqueing the berries so that they would be perfectly round.  The tight circles gave me fits.

Crazily enough, I included berries in the monogram piece, also.  I should have put more of the berries in this piece but they were just too much for me at the time.  Now, of course, I don't have any of the fabric, or I'd add a few.  Oh well, that's how it goes.

Of the three pieces, the fruit block is my favorite.  I really like the look of glass that I managed to achieve.  It, too, was difficult, but it was so much fun to watch the glass take shape and to place the fruit in the composition.  

I added a few leaves to the grape vines and stem on the apples and pears so there would be a little green in the piece.  The grapes were so much easier to applique than the berries simply because they don't have to be perfectly round and it's easy enough to cover mistakes.

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I do.  Laura did such a great job shooting them.  She managed to catch the colors perfectly.  I'm amazed every time I look at her photos.  


The triptych was definitely a learning piece for me.  There are some things that I'd do differently today, but every quilt I've made in the past would have a few changes if I were to remake them now.  That's the progression of learning, don't you think?  Would you remake any of your quilts exactly as the first time?  You know how much I love your opinions.

Happy Quilting,

Mary