The latest Boston Modern Quilt Guild challenge was to pick a song and create an 18” square quilt that depicts the feeling you get when you hear the song. Without hesitation I thought of Year of the Cat by Al Stewart. The song was released in 1976. 1977 was my senior year in high school and this was my boyfriend’s favorite song.
We’re walking down the hall together on our way to the cafeteria. This girl walks by. He says “See that girl? Her name is Cat!”
And all this time I thought it was my patchouli oil.
Sigh.
Gerry went to the Prom with Cat. I went with my good friend Bill.
Years later I met Bob. We moved in together and he set up his stereo. He started playing some of his albums (we still called them albums). This song comes on and Bob asks me if I am a fan. I had to laugh! But since then, I have become a fan of Al’s, and despite that heartbreak, I am very happy because I landed very nicely, thank you! … and yes we still have the ALBUM!!
This quilt was inspired by the ceramic coaster that my cup of tea rested on while I was sewing. It is based on the Mariner’s Compass pattern, one of the oldest quilt patterns that echoes a wind rose diagram used for navigating the seas In the 13th century. I hope this quilt is a helpful inspiration for finding your way through life.
I designed the quilt using Electric Quilt. I had a few different design ideas in mind and made a test border block. I used Foundation Paper Piecing to sew all the pieces together which helped with accuracy. The center was a bit of a challenge because so many points are meeting in the center. The appliqued center piece solved the problem.
I am quite satisfied with how the quilting came out on this one. I tend to rely on my pantographs, but I knew this one needed some custom quilting.
This quilt was displayed in Boston City Hall along with an exhibit by the Boston Modern Quilt Guild March 2024. My Eclipse Quilt was also on display. I also exhibited these quilts at the BMQG Show in September of 2024.
The Boston Modern Quilt Guild has quite a few quilts on display at the Morse Institute Library in Natick, MA until the end of December.
We had to put the show together quickly so I grabbed some of my latest creations for consideration. Four of my quilts are on display. 3 of the 4 are Minnies and 3 of them are improv quilts. Definitely having fun playing with improv these days.
Jane Stickle finished her quilt in 1863. People are still enchanted and challenged by her unique quilt blocks. Even with all of my modern gadgets and fancy machines I still had a lot to learn from Jane. Could not have managed to get through all of the blocks without help from the Jane Stickle Group lead by Pat Kowalczyk at Quilters Common, which met for 4 years starting in 2013.
Checkerboard Skew Revisited, 2020
In 1973 Beth Gutcheon included this design in her book “The Perfect Patchwork Primer”. This book inspired quilters to take a fresh look at quilting and her designs are still making us ask what is a modern quilt and showing how timeless modern is.
Seeing Red, 2020
Are you seeing a red and white quilt? This is actually a pink and white quilt, but color is often a matter of opinion. The design is based on a half scale Fibonacci sequence used to determine the width of strips used. I borrowed Ricky Tims Convergence technique and sewed the strips together, rotated and then cut strips again.
Storm, 2020
During the pandemic I found myself trying a virtual workshop. I took Mid Century Modern with Carole Lyles Shaw. This is improv to the max. You start out with a big pieced circle and then you just keep slicing, relocating and adding. I posted my progress online and Carole commented that I should keep slicing! At some point I was satisfied with my slicing and this is the stormy result.
Process Color, 2019
I wanted to work with the four colors of ink that I am always feeding my printer to see how bold they might look together. I had been playing with the Ricky Tims Convergence Quilts style so I went from there and here is the result.
Hope, 2020
I am working with a group of ladies in the do.Good Stitches Hope circle of quilters. We are an online community working through Instagram and Flickr to design and share quilt blocks. I designed this quilt, collected the blocks and put this quilt together. It is always amazing how the quilts come together with just a little bit of prompting for fabric selection. The rainbow of colors gives us all hope for less cloudy days ahead.
The following contributed blocks to this quilt: Sherryl Barnum, Jeanine Conner, Angie Fitzreiter, Heather Flegel, Cath Hall, Christie Kline, Suzy Lampman, Susan McKinney, Jennifer Mendola, Sarah Terry
Garden Trellis, 2020
This is another one of my Stack and Wack quilts with a new more complicated block that makes the quilt look like a Garden Trellis. I have a pattern for this quilt and was scheduled to teach it at Quilters Common, but then suddenly everything changed. Hopefully I can get back to teaching classes later this year!
And here are two Group Quilts that the BMQG have put together:
“Orange You Glad We Made This Quilt?” and “Shattered” are group quilts created through distanced and virtual togetherness. The design process began with a group brainstorming in a park. Participants then made curvy starter-blocks using materials provided by the guild, followed by a virtual workshop where the starter-blocks were altered by random prompts. The improvised blocks were brought together at a backyard design session where two quilt designs emerged. Although the two quilts were made from improvisational blocks that were essentially the same, the resulting quilts were very different. The process was truly collaborative and fun.
Orange You Glad We Made This Quilt?, 2020, Long Arm Quilting by Rebecca Loren
Shattered, 2020, Long Arm Quilting by Patrice Denault
