Theme and Pictorial Quilts Photo Gallery

The quilts in this photo gallery aren't related in appearance, but they all have one thing in common -- each quilt has a specific theme or conveya a message. Online quilters are definitely a creative bunch.

The Regatta Quilt on This Page

From Patti: I saw this quilt in a pattern book, sewn in muted brown plaids. This project is my interpretation. I loved picking out the fun, nautical fabrics, and I made several changes to the original pattern -- small flags on the mast, hand quilted waves, wind, and clouds. The quilt measures 40" X 40".

From Dusty: "The large fabric portrait of my nephew Rob, dressed in old west garb, spurred the beginning of this quilted wall hanging. He sent me a digital photo of himself and I used it to create the fabric portrait during an online class with Marilyn Belford at Quilt University. Keeping with the old west theme, I created the other blocks to celebrate his love of the Old West in the form of a wall hanging for his home. The quilt measures 66"x66"."

From Doris: This quilt was made for the birthday of a neighbor who has three horses. I used pictures printed on fabric. The central design depicts hand embroidered horses. She loves the quilt.

From Lucille: This is a queen size quilt made for my grandson. It illustrates the two rodeo events that he participates in.

From GerryLee: I made this Flip Flops quilt for my granddaughter, Jessica, because she is so crazy about flip-flops. It is a throw size quilt and she loves it.

From Judy: We made this quilt for one of the elders at our church because he is a blessing to us. It began with a bug jar pattern from this site, and then we designed baskets to hold other things.

On the top shelf is a jar reading Leola's Peach Sunshine -- a recipe of his mother's that is special to him. The quilt is machine pieced and machine quilted, and also contains hand applique.

Bug Jar Quilt Block Patterns

• Bug Jar Duo Quilt Block Pattern
• Tall Bug Jar Quilt Block Pattern
• Short & Squatty Bug Jar Pattern

From yquilt51: My husband's father is an avid crossword puzzle fan. I created this quilt for him on his 80th birthday. It was a challenge to do and as I progressed, it became a larger project than initially thought -- but well worth it in the end.

From Rhianon: I made this quilt for my chili-loving sister after I got my hands on some fab chili fabric. I thought the snail's trail blocks reflected the shape of the chilies and it just had to be in 'hot' colors to represent hot chilies.

From Johanna: I was born and raised in South African, but emigrated to Canada in 1991. Africa will always be a part of me, as everyone who has ever lived there or traveled there will tell you. The children of Africa are so amazing. It does not matter how hard life is for them, or how hungry they are, or what is happening in the world -- they are always smiling and always grateful for everything they have and everything they get.

From Judy: I designed and constructed this quilt to be auctioned at my 50th high school class reunion. It was purchased and is now cherished by a fellow classmate who lives many miles from our home school. 

From burnster98: I made this quilt for our neighbor's son, who is an avid hockey fan.

From Emita: I made this quilt upon request of Carlos, my dear husband. He wanted a big quilt on the wall of his waiting room at the psychotherapy office, something to keep the client's mind generating peaceful thoughts.

From Tre' Marie: My father-in-law is a proud Marine. I made this quilt for his 84th birthday. The quilt measures 56x64 and was machine quilted by Virginia Beck, of Danville, Iowa.

From Patisplace: My sister had to give up her cats when she moved, and I made this quilt for her so she would always have a Kitty with her and never have to give it up even if she moved again. All twelve kitties are made from scraps. The quilt measures 77" x 91" and is reversible.

From MCV: The quilt represents "thanks for being as you are." The inspiration for the quilt was gratitude to a friend, his hands and mine are both on the quilt. Size: 25.5" x 28".

From Sandy: I made this quilt for the Quilts Of Valor organization. It is made from 2" squares and many were fussy cut to emphasize the patriotic theme. The quilt will be awarded to a wounded Navy veteran.

From Eyeztodiefor10: I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted for this quilt and set out to bring it into reality. I pieced the sun background and then started creating the player by taking fabric pieces and folding and refolding them until I was satisfied with the design. 

From Leigh-Anne: I live in Africa and am inspired by the richness of the African landscape. Most of the fabric used in this wallhanging is hand dyed in South Africa.

From Islandgirljennifer: "I took a class with a local teacher on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. We were given a photograph of a sunrise and were challenged to interpret it with fabric. It was exciting, as I love working with fabric and colours and it was my first time doing thread painting for the twigs on the tree silhouette. 

From Darlene: "I confess that since my breast cancer experience, I've been somewhat obsessed with breast images. These are saggy and perky and even reshaped and removed by surgery."

More Cancer Awareness Quilts

From Stacie: This quilt was made for an annual raffle to benefit the Heritage in Flight Museum in Lincoln, Illinois.

From Jacquie: This queen size tie quilt was a special request of my brother-in-law. All of these ties belonged to him. The pattern is an adaptation from the book "Daddy's Ties" by Shirley Botsford.

From Sam: I started this quilt in 2005 while living on a barrier island in Florida and completed it in July 2007 in North Carolina. I remember taking the material with me for hurricane evacuations and putting my sewing machine in the refrigerator and the stove for safety!

From Marine Mom: When my son entered the US Marines last August at age 18, I was proud of him, but missed him terribly. At the 2005 PIQF Quilt Festival, I discovered Tammie Bowser's Quilted Photography system. I purchased the software and was able to create this quilt based on his first Marine portrait in his dress blues. This was my first photography quilt, and I used 10,000 1-1/4" squares.

Read Janet's review of the Quilted Photo Xpress software.

From busybee1952: "This quilt looks like a bookcase and has photos sitting in lifelike frames on the shelves. It was made for a friend's mother who is an avid reader and measures 66 x 67. The fabric "books" and backing are both from Timeless Treasures, the Dan Morris novelty collection."

From Mary: "My college aged niece has been a summer lifeguard for many years, so this was for her."

From KathyS: "This is a small wallhanging and part of many flower paper piecing quilts I have made. But this is my favorite!"

From KWENDI: "This is a Crayola quilt that's hand embroidered and hand quilted.

The quilt Measures 45" X 60"