Monday, February 4, 2013

Remembering and quilting

This is a classic album block - 50 of them, to represent my 50th birthday!  Which was some time ago...my friend, Carol Stonecipher made the blocks as a gift for me - from fabric I had collected.  She was sneaky and said she was making a 'test block' for me - then made them all! 
The quilt is huge - 83" x 100". I rarely make quilts this big!
 
I pieced them block-to-block and it was a challenge to make all the points come together.  I love the look of the setting, but it requires patience and some skill to get it just right.  Cleverly, this photo is taken from a distance...
 
It is exquisitely machine-quilted with custom designs by Patti Turner of Washougal, WA.
 
At my 50th birthday party I had the attendees sign the spaces in the centers.  Then I took some of the blocks around to friends in far away places (and mailed some) to collect additional signatures.  Two of the people who signed have since passed away; my godmother, Dolores Gildnes, and my Mom #2, Frances Byford.  I miss them both every day.  That's one of the many things that makes quilting such a special hobby - we can share our lives and remember our favorite people through quilting. 
 
This photo was taken at a very special exhibit in the fall of 2010 when my small quilting group, the Variable Stars, had our own "featured artist" quilt show.  We have been quilting together since 1997 and a few members have come and gone.  But we are still friends, still quilt together, and still share our lives.  The best of times and the worst of times.  But mostly the best.  And quilting.
 
 
 

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