I Miss My Quilt Guild

When I moved from Kodiak in 2001 I left behind many dear friends and an entire guild of talented, interesting quilters. The Kodiak Bear Paw Quilters Guild was part of my life from about 1994 to 2001. This active group of quilters meets once a month. I enjoyed the "show and tell" section most. There is an annual show and sale which is a really big deal with usually about 100 quits displays, programs, posters, advertising, media coverage and lots of coordinating and planning. I was lucky to get to chair the show a couple years. The guild is involved in many program and has a web site if you are interested in seeing all that they do. You can find them thru a search engine. I'm going to share some of the photos I have saved from my time with the guild. (Be sure to click on images for a larger view of the quilts, not of me :)

Starry, Starry NightI made and sold this quilt in the 1999 annual show. I kept track of the number of pieces and time spent to construct this pattern that I found in a magazine. I am a miniature quilter and I don't know if people realize the time spent even on the small pieces. For example: each of the nine 3" stars is made from 17 pieces of fabric. The total pieces in this quilt is 321. I logged 25 hours cutting, constructing, and finishing this project. It sold for $90 which is $3.60 per hour before expenses for fabric, thread, batting, etc.

Experimental Log CabinThis quilt was an example of "I'll try anything once" - it was my first time to strip piece, first time to hand quilt, and first time to tea dye a completed project. It was actually my second quilting project ever. I borrowed it from the owners to include in the 1998 show.

Winter CardinalsYou are looking at the quilt top, not the finished project, that I sold in the 1998 show for $40. It is from a Debbie Mumm Christmas book and is hand quilted and embellished with buttons and embroidery. I love wild birds and couldn't resist making bright red cardinals.

Surprise! This quilt was a surprise gift for a fellow quilter and dear friend who coordinated our quilt show for 3 years. I didn't tell her or present the quit like a normal gift; instead, I included in the program text that it was a surprise for her. This piece is 13" X 19", hand quilted, and beaded.

Silent Auction Donation

I donated this piece to the silent auction used as a fund raiser during the guild's annual show and sale. The theme of the show was "Nine Lives of a Quilt" so it was an appropriate piece. Nine lives was a play on words and actually referred to the transformation process from an idea, to fabric, to quilt top, to quilt sandwhich, to finished project, to gift or utility or both, to old quilt, to an old rag or precious heirloom.

Trophy

This is the unfinished top of a quilt that I sold during our show "20,000 Stitches By The Sea" which represents the work of island-living quilters. I fell in love with the fabric years before I used it (quilters stash fabric, just so you know) and one year my hubby commented that I hadn't caught any fish that season so look what I did to remedy that!

Coworker Quilts

I had the fortune of working with a great group of people when I worked for the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository. I miss them terribly. One christmas I made each of them (it's a small staff, LOL) a wallhanging that someway reminded me of them. Libby, on the left, was interested in birding like me so I made her a bird house quilt. I loved making that quilt! The houses were paper pieced but that is where the pattern following ended. The middle house has a big flower on it. That piece of fabric is from Japan. I had an internet pen pal early in the internet days and we sent each other little snippits of quilting goodies. I designed amy's quilt (on the right) based partly on the colors in her home but also because she drove past Women's Bay everyday on her day home. The pattern may be called snail's trail but the fabric is batik and very ocean like. It wasn't until I saw the photo of this one that I saw I have a block in the wrong direction, LOL.

Red Hare (a pun, get it?) Another surprise quilt announced in the show program that simply said it was for the person who had me over for Thanksgiving dinner. This was my first project made with homespun fabrics. Pattern is from a quilting magazine but adapted from the spring colors of Easter.

Hawaiian Quilting
They say you can't do miniatures of Hawaiian quilting because it is applique. Oh yeah?

Japanese Scroll
I saw someone making Japanese scrolls on television one time. They weren't quilts but I thought I could adopt it easily because it was layered. I believe I still that unfinished project around here somewhere:)

That's enough for now. Someday I will pull out more photos. Vickie