2023

Christmas Tablecloth

106″ x 58″
Free-motion quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 12/2023
This simple ‘cheater (not pieced) quilt’ began its journey well over thirty years ago. I had thought it would be festive on my Christmas dinner table under my German red and green Waechtersbach Christmas tree dishes. I’d sandwiched the top with batting and a simple muslin backing and began hand quilting (which is how I was quilting all my pieces back then).
After a number of years, when my progress seemed almost non-existent, I actually wrapped the backing around to the front and finished the edges so I could USE it on my Christmas table one year… unfinished. :0 (Oh the horror of it!) No one was the wiser. It looked lovely. Then, I put it away again.
There are a few other pieces that I started years ago with hand quilting. My wrists not being what they once were before carpal tunnel surgeries, I know I’ll never finish hand quilting them all, though I hope to try to finish some that way.
After much deliberation, I decided this would not be one of those I finished with hand quilting. I took out what areas were hand quilted and put it all on my longarm. That was an interesting endeavor since it’s sides are already bound, but where there is a will, there is a way.
It is now done. Finished is definitely better than perfect!

Noah’s Ark – Baby’s First Christmas Quilt

34″ x 38″
Quilted and finished by Sue Hickman     Berryville, Va     12/2023
I was first commissioned to make 2 “Baby’s First Christmas” quilts from Noah’s Ark sheeting for a grandma’s first two grandchildren in 2014. She had long cherished a picture of herself comforted as she held tight to her own Noah’s Ark sheet as a child. Hers was long gone, but she extensively searched ebay and found and bought a number of them. Last year she had me make two more for two new grandbabies born in 2022 and, since her family had grown by one more in 2023, she requested this one to give as a “gift” but also as a way to share a memory from her childhood and leave a lasting legacy.

Follow the Star

6″ x 6″
EPP, appliqued, and hand embellished and quilted by Sue Hickman, Berryville, VA 11/2023
In anticipation of Christmas, I designed as a project for my “Young at Heart” group of ladies to introduce them to quilting. Like the Wise Men of old, we “Follow the Star”… keeping Christ’s birth central to our ‘reason for the season’.

Ewe are Loved

52″ x 46″
Pieced, appliqued, and free-motion quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 10/2023
An original. Designed for the arrival of baby boy, Francis Beals Baker, born 10/4/2023 to Jon and Helen Baker. (The Good Shepherd wants you to know you are loved!)

Christmas

42″ x 36″
Pieced, and free-motion quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 7/2023
In 1997, I pieced together eight (8) of these sweet quilt tops.
I love their ‘old world Santa’, trees, wreaths, and apples (which are often featured in our Christmas decorations).
Back then, I had hand quilted and gave the first two of these as gifts , but then set the rest aside.
Last year I re-discovered these in my ‘stash’ already paired with batting and backing, only needing to be quilted. I loaded one on my longarm and creatively free-motion quilted it as a gift.
This year, I’m pleased to say I finished the rest of these lap quilts… five (5) to be exact and they will be available for purchase through my Etsy Shop and locally through Moose Apple Christmas Tree store in Berryville, VA.

Evergreen Through the Years

14″ x 70″
Designed exclusively for Moose Apple Christmas Tree Farm’s homestead, pieced, and quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 7/2023
Those who work on a Christmas tree farm know it takes considerable effort all through the year to have them ready for harvest in time for Christmas each year, and in each season those evergreens remain beautiful. In this quilt, the ‘winter’ tree, with snow beneath it, is central to and bookends the table runner, with spring, summer, and autumn trees between them.
Like the patriotic table runner shown below, I designed this quilt to perfectly fit her dining table.

“C”entennial Sea

32″ x 33″
Designed for Hoffman Fabrics’ 100 Year Anniversary Challenge, improvisational string pieced, Caran d’Ache painted, hand appliqued, embellished with couched wool yarns and 1/8th” silk ribbons, free-motion embroidered and quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 6/2023
Hoffman was making superior fabrics long before I began quilting. I’ve heard of their Hoffman Challenge in years past, but this landmark anniversary seemed the perfect time to jump in with a mixed technique entry.
Inspired by their company’s story and this year’s gorgeous challenge fabrics, I designed and created this wall hanging. I incorporated all 15 of this year’s challenge fabrics into my improvisational string pieced seascape design with a “C” (Roman Numeral for 100) of sun peeking through clouds as it both sets on their first 100 years and rises on the next. I completed the appliqued lighthouse (painted on white muslin) that overlooks the sea with a free-motion embroidered lantern room and light. To further create movement in the choppy sea, I couched coordinating shades of wool yarn around which I wove and sewed tiny silk ribbons. In the reverse appliqued black border I echo quilted undulating waves, radiating out to the binding, with the hope Hoffman will continue to ride them to even greater success in this next 100 years.

11/20/2023
Today, I got the good news…
Jean, curator of the Hoffman 100 Year Challenge, wrote to say, “I am thrilled to inform you that your submission has been chosen by our esteemed judges to be featured in our upcoming traveling show for the year 2024. This year has been particularly captivating with an abundance of exceptional entries, making this the largest traveling exhibit in the last ten years.
Your unique artwork will play a significant role in shaping this extraordinary showcase!
As we embark on the next phase, we will carefully curate your piece as part of a captivating 20-piece collection that will journey across the country, making appearances at various guilds and shows. The Road to California Show in Ontario, CA, scheduled for January 17-20, 2024, plans to showcase the complete collection.”

Reborn

20″ Sq.
Designed for Cherrywood Hand-dyed Fabric’s ‘Monarch Challenge’ 2023. Techniques used: raw edge fused, hand & machine appliqued, machine and both wool & Aurifil (50wt) hand embroidered, Pigma inked, Derwent Inktense painted, thread painted, and longarm free motion/hand guided quilting by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 5/2023

As one who is a new creation in Christ, I love the example of the caterpillar and the butterfly! Their complete transformation illustrates the concept that it is possible to die to one’s old self and live again as a completely new and beautiful creation.
In Reborn, I adapted slightly Richard Bach’s quote about the caterpillar and butterfly, and surrounded my monarch caterpillar and butterfly with lots of the milkweed leaves and flowers that are necessary to sustain them.

Hope is found in:
Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.”
and
2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Patriotic Table Runner

14″ x 70″
Designed, pieced, and free-motion quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 5/2023
This commissioned table runner was requested because my client appreciates that my personal fabric choices reflect a more subtle patriotic style. I designed it to perfectly fit her dining table, and it brought joy to my heart to hear her say, “I LOVE it!”

Sprite

15″ x 42″
An interleave table runner designed, pieced, quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 3/2023
Does it makes you think of a field of fairies or lemon-lime effervescence? I couldn’t decide… but I love it!

Spring 1 and 2

15″ x 20″
Two similar interleave wall hangings designed, pieced, and quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 3/2023
Inspired by these cheerful fabrics and this wonderful Hans Christian Anderson quote featured on this Moda fabric selvage.
“Just living isn’t enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”
And, yes, these are available for purchase.

Stars and Stripes Wave

58″ x 40″
An interleave lap quilt designed, pieced, and quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 2/2023

On Eagles Wings

11.5″ x 20.75″
Interleave designed, pieced, and quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 2/2023
“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” –Forrest Gump.
Sometimes creating interleaves is like that… you hope for/purpose to create one thing, but another image reveals itself through the process. Discovering this eagle with wings outstretched in this quilt was like taking a bite of chocolate and discovering something so tasty, so sweet, so delicious… so much more than you could have hoped for when you selected it.

Opposites Attract

21″ x 13.5
Interleave designed, pieced, and quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 2/2023
It’s long been said that opposites attract. While not always true in relationships, if a positive charge and a negative charge interact their forces draw them toward each other. I decided to experiment with this concept by interleaving opposite colors, yellow and blue and, in so doing, chartreuse joined the party. The result brought forth a harmonious intersection of these complementary colors..

The Sandbar

13″ x 20.75″
Interleave designed, pieced, and quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 2/2023
Have you ever set the goal to swim out through the waves and sea foam to the sandbar off shore?

Whelk at Water’s Edge

31.5″ x 31″
Designed, pieced, collaged, raw-edge/fused and hand appliqued, painted, free-motion long-arm quilted, thread painted, and embellished by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 1/2023
Inspiration: An actual whelk found in 11/2022 on Myrtle Beach, SC
This life-long beachcomber had picked up so many shells over the years that I’d gotten to the point of only collecting ‘perfect’ shells, but this precious whelk spoke to me in ways I can’t express. First, I thought my grandchildren would love to see its beautiful inner spiral, visible only because of the way it had been broken. It was then that my inner artist was reminded of my (RQU) guild’s ‘Spiral Challenge’ and I decided it would be the subject of my spiral quilt.

Abandoned, battered, broken, gray, and worn yet still wonderful!
Its graceful spiral still intact providing structure and strength.
Beauty exists in the world around us and not just in things that are perfectly precise.
May we have eyes to see and appreciate beauty in all its many forms.

My design came from my own actual photo of this found shell.
It was very subtly, strategically painted with Derwent Inktense pencils and blocks.
My embellishment treatments include Australian Colour Streams 2mm sequins, 1/8″ silver-lined opaque glass bugle beads, vintage J&J absorbent 8-ply cotton gauze bandage, and make use of texture magic.

Of 18 quilts completed for this challenge, Whelk at Water’s Edge was one of 7 voted to represent our guild in the AQS (American Quilters Society) Guild Challenge in the AQS Quilt Week Grand Rapids, MI 9/2023 Guild Challenge competition. Our group entry was accepted into this show as a semi-finalist in this competition.

Quilter in Gold

29″ x 23.5″
Designed, machine pieced, paper pieced, hand needle-turned appliqued, reverse appliqued, machine appliqued, painted and inked, free-motion long-arm quilted, stationary-machine quilted, and embellished with glass, red, and copper-coil beads, and brass chain and discs by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 1/2023
When challenged by my guild on the occasion of its 50th Anniversary to create a ‘Celebrating Gold’ quilt, I pondered for a long time how best to represent this momentous occasion. The idea for my Quilter in Gold quilt was inspired by Gustav Klimt’s famous portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, a.k.a. the ‘Woman in Gold’ painting.
After sketching my design, I created her walls (my background) complete with two pieces of art hung prominently with one of her quilts. Her quilt is a completely separate quilt, later appliqued to the larger quilt. It measures 3″ x 2″ and has an attached hanger made from a small piece of brass chain. Her quilt has 3 pieced nine-patch blocks off-set with ‘blocks’ fussy-cut from the larger quilt’s backing fabric.
Even though elegantly dressed to celebrate, my quilter wears an art nouveau-styled headband of calico tied with a bow on her head which is surrounded by two gold halos.
My quilter wears an elegant drop-shoulder dress with 3/4 length sleeves. Her bodice is covered with a layer of gold-mesh and features a gold-glass bead fringe on top. A belt separates her bodice from her skirt which was paper-pieced using 44 of Cindi Edgerton’s 1 3/4″ Little Bits-Itty Bitty Fans tissue paper foundations. Flowing around her is a scrappy gold patchwork train.
On the gold kick-pleat near the hem of her skirt, I subtly stitched acknowledgement of the challenge that prompted her creation, QU’s 50th Anniversary.
Hands clasped, my quilter rests on an upholstered copper coil button tufted wing-backed chair and brass discs accent the latticework over her left shoulder.
My Quilter in Gold is finished with a facing, hanging sleeve, and label.

‘Stream of Sage’ and ‘Kimble Blue’ Tablerunners

13″ x 40″
Interleaves designed, pieced, and quilted by Sue Hickman Berryville, VA 1/2023