No matter how you feel about President Barack Obama, he inspired some amazing quilts!

Check out all of my favorite African American quilt books in my studio book store.

As it turned out, I did not have the first book entitled Quilts For Baby (Easy as ABC), so I ordered it from Amazon. Luckily, it is still available as is More Quilts For Baby. Even More Quilts for Baby was only available from one author on amazon.

These books are very inspirational, and the patterns are very easy. I recommend them highly if you need a quick baby quilt. Check out my listing of baby quilts in my studio book store.

Early Spring, 11 x 20 inches, by O.V. Brantley, 2010. For sale at etsy.com/shop/ovbrantleyquilts

I have many talents. I do not have a green thumb. I keep trying though because I admire beautifully landscaped yards so much. I especially admire those yards that seem to have something blooming all year.

This fall I took a tiny step toward stamping out my yard envy. I planted daffodil bulbs. I wanted my yard to be one of those that announced the first signs of spring.

Lo and behold, they are coming up! That makes me smile.

The quilt is based on a pattern by Kim McLean. It is a quirky Baltimore Album style quilt that has 13 blocks and 4 border sections. I am doing it in a mixture of batiks and African fabrics.

In quilting when they say “enjoy the journey”, they mean it. I hope you will enjoy the journey with me as I share the blocks as I finish them.

Shown here is Block #1.

I Believe in Angels #19, 32 x 34 inches, by O.V. Brantley, 2011. For sale at etsy.com/shop/OVBrantleyQuilts

I believe that I am surrounded by all types of angels who whisper in my ear when the time is right. I like to keep lots of angels in my studio as well as share them with others. After sharing the first 10 angels in this series, I am now working on #11-20. You can find the word “believe” in all of these quilts

I Believe in Angels #19 is an art quilt that measures 32 x 34 inches. The angel is dressed in a green African robe. The dominant colors of the quilt are green and pink. The quilt is embellished with buttons, charm, inspirational words and a jingle bell to create a sense of music. I did the appliqué on my machine as well as the quilting.

There is a hanging sleeve on the back for easy display and a label that documents the quilt. This quilt is signed on the front and is one of a kind and is offered for sale in my studio store.

The good thing about baby quilts is that there is a deadline. No procrastination allowed!

Dream Like Crazy, 44 x 51 inches, by O.V. Brantley, 2012.

I made Dream Like Crazy  in response to a Tri-Guild challenge to make a crazy quilt. Unfortunately, I missed the meeting where it would have competed against other crazy quilts so you are the first to see this quilt.

As you know, I have been sorting scraps. This quilt allowed me to use up some of my scraps of African fabrics. (I am still sorting scraps, by the way). I love scrap quilts and plan to make several this year.

One of the best things about a crazy quilt is that you can continue to add to it. Although this quilt is heavily embellished with buttons, crystals, words, etc., I am continuing to add to it.  It is somewhat autobiographical, but I guess all of my quilts are in a sense.

I named it Dream Like Crazy because I happened to be working on it on Martin Luther King Day. 

I Believe in Angels #18, 28 x 31 inches, by O.V. Brantley, 2011. For sale at http://www.etsy.com/shop/ovbrantleyquilts

I believe that I am surrounded by all types of angels who whisper in my ear when the time is right. I like to keep lots of angels in my studio as well as share them with others. After sharing the first 10 angels in this series, I am now working on #11-20. You can find the word “believe” in all of these quilts

I Believe in Angels #18 is an art quilt that measures 28 x 31 inches. The angel is dressed in a batik red robe. The dominant colors of the quilt are purple and red. The quilt is embellished with buttons, inspirational words and a jingle bell to create a sense of music. I did the appliqué on my machine as well as the quilting.

There is a hanging sleeve on the back for easy display and a label that documents the quilt. This quilt is signed on the front and is one of a kind. It is listed for sale in my Studio Store.

Although I did not finish, I made progress. Sorting scraps can be very therapeutic — like washing dishes. It frees the mind. So as I sorted and sorted and sorted, I hope I came up with some new quilt ideas.

How do you organize your scraps?

Blue Heart, 44 x 52 inches, by O.V. Brantley, 2012. For sale at etsy.com/shop/ovbrantleyquilts

I guess the cold gray days of January have put me in a blue mood. My first quilt of 2012  turns out to be a blue quilt. (I almost never make blue quilts). I had no particular purpose in making this quilt. As with many of my quilts, the fabric speaks to me. I named it Blue Heart.

After making the quilt, I spent some time adding some hand stitching trying to discern the meaning of this quilt. Hand stitching always clarifies my thoughts.

Blue Heart is listed for sale in my studio store. Let’s hope the weather changes soon.