Since it's Friday, and I'm not knee-deep in my studio, today's quilt show will feature 2 quilts that I've made and quilted myself.
These quilts are like my children. Seriously, I remember every decision - every stitch- every minute of sleep lost while shipping them to quilt shows. Every fabric choice was mulled over and carefully planned, with the typical abandon of a novice designer. They are landmarks for me.
These are the quilts I made before I became a longarm quilter. That was back when I had time, money, and quilt shops in my life. My favorite escape from my office job was to collect fabric and make quilts. It was during one of these fabric hunts, for the quilt below, when I ran into Kaffe Fassett himself in one of my favorite fabric shops in Orange County, California. I was too star-struck to stammer out the fact that I was choosing fabrics for one of his patterns, "Red Diamonds", below.
Seen here hanging at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon - it became known as the "Modoc County Fair" quilt, and has won a few ribbons.
I outlined every single element in every single block with clear nylon thread on top and pastel variegated cotton in the bobbin - because I was completely crazy. And because I didn't quilt for other people yet. It took about 80 hours on my Husqvarna sewing machine.
Inspired by Diane Gaudynski and Valori Wells, I switched to more soothing colors for the next project. Here is "Susanna" hanging at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show:
This one took 3 years from start to finish and I stopped counting the hours after about a year, again on my Husqvarna sewing machine. I used YLI 100 wt. silk on top with Aurifil 50 wt. cotton on the back. This quilt is named for Susanna Wesley.
I made about 30 quilts in the three years prior to becoming a professional longarm quilter. The remaining 28 quilts from that era are quite humble in comparison to these two. After those 30 quilts were pumped out at lightning speed, I remember asking myself "How long can this go on?". I wondered who else I could give quilts to anymore. Everyone I knew had at least one, and several people I didn't even know had some. My house was filling up with them. Knowing I still had about 50 quilt ideas in my head, and certainly enough fabric to complete them, the future looked sort of manic for me as a quiltmaker.
Then along came the Surprise Valley Quilters Guild!
If a poll was taken showing per capita quilt production in nationwide quilting guilds, I tell you these ladies would top the charts. They've been just the remedy for my mania, and have been solely responsible for an amazing transformation in my quilt journey.
Have a great weekend!
