Years Five and Six (2008-2009)

2008 began with one of my few 

Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts.

(lower left - Tobacco Roads from Fall 2007)

The inspiration for my color palette 

came from driving across Tennessee on I-40 - 

those little yellow flowers along the edge

stretched for miles and miles.

I started with Bonnie's brown in the mix,

but it was too heavy and ponderous - so out it went.

Instead, I used my yellow, green, 

and cream pieces and parts and invented 

my own design for the front and the back.

I still love this double-sided quilt!

(the photos in this post should supersize if double-clicked)

Another major milestone for 2008

was my one-of-a-kind Flying Monkeys quilt.

61" wide x 86" long

Created during another of Tonya Ricucci's

online liberated letter gatherings.

(two-color quilts was the theme)

The quilt was published in Tonya's 2010 book,

Word Play Quilts,

and has hung in our foyer ever since.

(and if you look closely at the photo on the right,

you'll see the top of Tonya's head

peeking over the quilt - photo taken in the

Martingale booth during the Houston quilt show

shortly after Tonya's book was released)

Vortex Interrupted (2008) was inspired by a sample quilt

that I saw at The Quilted Fox in St. Louis.

Super scrappy, super saturated, and full of curved piecing.

This one also hangs in our foyer 

and is a family favorite.

It earned a 2d place ribbon at the fair 

in the bed quilts category

and a Viewer's Choice 2d award 

at that year's Davies Manor show.

2009 featured any number of quilts,

but these are a few that stand out.

Inspired by Gwen and Freddy's Collaboration book,

I vowed to make myself a scrappy basket quilt.

But Sing the Sun Down didn't look like theirs.

I added a handle element from another of their quilts

to Gwen's scrappy baskets 

(pieced the opposite direction of hers)

and altered the setting considerably.

And then there were the three Ice Cream quilts - 

I flat out bought too much of the Moda fabrics.

Ice Cream Social (top) - Yellow Brick Road on point

Ice Cream Roses - French Roses design

Sweet Cream Roses - scrappy wall quilt using the leftovers

All three of these were gifted

and have been much appreciated.

Garcia

(named by a co-worker who said the backing

looked like a Jerry Garcia tie)

This was my first all-selvage quilt - 

a precursor to the many string quilts

I have made since.

* * *

Working my way through these first few years,

it is becoming clear to me why I chose these four words

to describe my quilting style -

scrappy, 

colorful, 

liberated, 

and eclectic.