Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Wishing you all the best for this festive season and the new year to come!
Image made from a photograph of Christmas greens using Kaleidoscope Kreator computer software. (Fun and rather addictive!).
Image made from a photograph of Christmas greens using Kaleidoscope Kreator computer software. (Fun and rather addictive!).
In October, I taught at the Thumb Butte Quilters’ Guild in Prescott, AZ. I stayed at the lovely home of the Programs Chair, Kathleen Bond. Kathleen has an impressive body of work including many hand applique quilts. Her fabric choices and combinations are unusual and often very busy, but she has a way of pulling them altogether to make stunning quilts. I’ve already written two posts highlighting some of Kathleen’s quilts. This post shows a couple of her imaginative quilt backs. Many of us have been tempted to purchase pre-printed fabrics for making stuffed animals, dolls or Christmas ornaments. Here’s a way to use up those fabrics to make your quilt backs more interesting. I love the striped binding too.
On the first weekend in December, we hosted a booth at Christmas in the Country, (a craft fair with several locations), at St. Barnabas Church, Bainbridge Island, to raise funds for the Mongolian Quilting Center. All the products were made by Mongolian women. As you can see, it was a colorful and inviting booth. I’m happy to report that we were very successful and raised $3,315.
St. Barnabas Church is our generous host for the Mongolian Quilting Center non-profit in USA. They donate the book keeping costs, which means that 100% of the funds generated from the sale of products and donations, is sent to Mongolia to assist with the running costs of the Mongolian Quilting Center. The Center employs as many as 40 women who would be otherwise unemployed. Many of these women are disabled, or are care-givers for other family members young and old. For a variety of reasons they are unable to work at a regular job, so having the opportunity to do piece-work for the Quilting Center makes a huge difference to their quality of life. The Center also employs five part-time teachers, two designers, a manager, an accountant, three seamstresses and the Director, Selenge Tserendash.
We sold many wonderful products such as patchwork horses, camels and goats made from scraps of cashmere and silk from the garment industry, felted slippers, hand-stitched animal ornaments, beautiful decorative silk table runners and wall hangings, as well as a variety of bags.The ger (yurt) grocery sacks were popular. These light weight, sturdy bags fold up and are zipped inside the ger. They are easy to carry in a purse, so that you always have an extra bag at the ready. So many of us keep bags in our cars and forget to take them into the store with us! Here’s an easy solution. They come in a variety of colors.
I’m so impressed with how Selenge Tserendash and the Mongolian women at the Center continue to develop new, high quality products. They are extremely creative and excellent seamstresses. Read more about this project on my website.
In October, I taught at the Thumb Butte Quilters’ Guild in Prescott, AZ. I stayed at the lovely home of the Programs Chair, Kathleen Bond. Kathleen has an impressive body of work including many hand applique quilts. Her fabric choices and combinations are unusual and often very busy, but she has a way of pulling them altogether to make stunning quilts. Last week, I posted pictures of two of her quilts and this week I am presenting another three.
This Serptentine 1930’s Fans quilt was made from blocks that Kathleen purchased at a Guild rummage sale. She assembled them in this striking layout and filled in the white spaces with beautiful quilting using her long-arm quilting machine. Of course, the person putting the blocks in the sale loved the finished quilt and regretted parting with them!
Pretty Rosettes, is Kathleen’s original design. The nine sunflower blocks were hand-pieced and appliqued. Once again, Kathleen has used an eclectic selection of fabrics to create this beautiful quilt. Surprisingly, the wide striped sashing and wide borders work well to display the attractive blocks.
Going Away Eagles, is a quilt made from eagle blocks appliqued by Kathleen’s friends and given to her when she moved from Colorado to Arizona. The fabric in the border is Colorado toile depicting historical Colorado scenes. I love the triangles separating the eagles in the center from the border and adding more contrast to the piece to make it alive and to highlight the toile fabric.
Kathleen’s quilts are inspiring. As well as making a strong initial visual impact, they display her attention to detail as well as fine workmanship. It was a delight to stay with her and to be privy to her work.