Wizard of Oz quilts Journal

I began the journey October 2008 with my first Wizard of Oz quilt, made for my youngest daughter. Her husband sang " Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to her at their wedding. The Wizard of Oz has always been a family favorite.

When I first discovered the fabrics I was inspired to create something just for her. After the first one, the project snowballed and by Christmas I had finished 2 more for my grand daughters ages 10 and 6 mos.

After the holidays, with no project on my agenda, I began a series of quilts for myself. Quilting Treasures Fabrics began the series with images from the beginning of the movie, in sepia tones. Dorothy, Toto, and Miss Gulch come alive with actual scenes from the movie. Dorothy's red shoes and the rainbow being the only accent colors in the series led me to add my own touches of red and yellow.
The monkey wrench block at the bottom center represents the cyclone. The covered bridge at the center top represents an arrow pointing to the yellow brick road.
So began my cutting and piecing. The fabrics are very inspirational and I sang the songs from the movie as I sewed my blocks.

The second series is titled "Over the Rainbow" in beautiful pastels. Dorothy and Toto are in munchkin land with Glinda the Good Witch and the movie scenes show the house has fallen on the witch. Her red shoes almost sparkle in the clear images. The munchkins look lifelike and you can almost here them singing their songs.

The third series is titled "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" in bold primary colors. Dorothy meets her new friends, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. As they seek to find their way to the Wizard they encounter the Wicked Witch. She flies through the quilt on her broomstick, hides on rooftops and behind trees. These fabrics take the foursome through the poppy fields and on to the Emerald City.

The fourth in the series " The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is in beautiful vibrant colors of yellow, emerald green and turquoise and purple accents. You can feel the trepidation as the group tiptoes toward the Wizard. All the while the Wicked Witch is flying around on a yellow background and writing in the sky "SURRENDER DOROTHY".

So far I have finished 9 quilts with another being started soon for my 10 yr old grandson. He gets the Witches Castle series with the flying monkeys.

The 6th and last collection from Quilting Treasures comes out in 2010, titled" There's No Place Like Home". I look forward to seeing this last in the series, and I will be showing my quilts in a show in October at our local museum.