Kids and Blankets Grow up

Sunbonnet Sue Appliqued wall hanging. This was really fun to make and kind of like playing paper dolls again!

Babies and their blankies

Quincy's crocheted receiving blanket.














Michael's 2 yr. old Old MacDonald Blanket






Madison's baby blankets made by Grandma Wilcox.

Baby quilts are the Bomb!

Before I even had children I was busy making baby quilts, as I knew I'd need them some day. I had them made in both blue and pink, but I didn't get to use those pink ones for a long time, as we had six sons, before we ever got a daughter. Here are some of the quilts I've made for babies.
This on was made for Davin & LeAnn Kinlichee's baby, Sarah Louise in Ganado, Az.









Floating pinwheels are my favorites to do. I've made at least 8 of this patterns, giving them to some of our nephews and nieces, and also to some of my former students.











This quilt was made for Minerva Miracle Vasquez in Steamboat, Az. She was born May 6, 2008. She is a miracle because she and her mom survived a fatal accident that killed her wonderful father, Anthony.





But I have also done set in pinwheels. This one was done for Dawn & Jared Ludlum's baby Ryan in Ganado, Az.

Once Upon a Time When Quilts Were New

My interest in quilting began when I was in my early teens. My Grandma Murphy showed me some patterns she thought I could make and said she'd help me. Since I had had several years of sewing in 4-H, I was very interested and put the blocks together without too much dificulty, and my mom's. The first quilt I made was a fan pattern, which I've since learned is not the easiest to do, but I didn't know any better. I used fabric from all the earlier sewing projects I had made; scraps from my skirts and dresses, and from outfits I'd made my younger brothers and sister. I really loved that quilt! Later my mother had the Relief Society help to quilt it.
About 30 years later, most of it burned when we had a house fire, but I did savage some of it as a reminder. I need to take a picture of it when I go home next. I wrote the poem below about that first quilt, and also the one that my Great Grandmother Keeler hand pieced together, which had been given to me. I later gave Great Grandma's quilt to my daughter, Autumn. This picture shows Autumn and her daughter Peyton, with this special quilt that I have loved.


Quilts I have Loved
by Janet Wilcox

Jigsawed gingham once fanned across my bed,
remnants of long ago dances,
back-to-school bus rides,
and sister's pinafore.

When the fire swept up the stairs,
photographs and books were singed;
clothes and blankets crinkled under smoke and flame,
but it was this first quilt that made me weep.
Only the center was unmarred by scorch and heat.
I will frame it, a reminder of temporary things I loved.

My impetus for quilting was Great Grandma's flower garden-
hand pieced, stitch by stitch, by coal oil lamps
after crops were in and hay crews were fed.

Until I had treadled my
way across a hundred right angles,
I never knew the time she spent with needle.
Now time pricks at me, and I understand.

Great Grandma's garden was intact and whole after the fire.
Perhaps here contained the greater lesson:
Of persistence, long suffering, dedication, trials
and time to find the flowers along the way.

From the fire another quilt was pieced--
Faces with hands of service are blocked in my mind.
I have quilted them in my heart.
A comforter bound by a town's loving kindness.
This memory quilt wraps me in a hundred colors of love.


--Written after our house fire 1991--