Turkey Tracks: October 12, 2011
Let There Be Light
I keep forgetting that I’ve never put a picture of one of my favorite quilts on this blog. I think it was among the most challenging quilts I’ve ever made, and I think it turned out well. I designed it myself and drew some of the patterns, including the border, on Electric Quilt. The quilt is made from a New York Beauty block, and I was inspired by any number of published quilters who have worked with this traditional block. I remember the first time I saw a New York Beauty quilt years ago and how excited I was about making one myself.
The quilt is heavily quilted, with many different threads. And, heavily beaded around the borders, as if the center is throwing light out to the edges. Sarah Ann Smith took a picture of it–she’s got really good lights, etc. But I can’t get the picture any bigger than this one without distortions.
Here’s the best I can do in my studio–and my camera distorts from top to bottom anda the colors aren’t right. The splashes of bright green are lost, for instance.
Here’s a piece of the quilt–I used it to make my “business” card. I put business into quotes as I don’t have any business to advertise. We don’t really call these cards “calling cards” anymore, but I do give mine out to everyone I meet who seems as if they might be interested in some facet of this blog. By the way, Vista Print makes beautiful cards for practically free. I put this image on the front of the card, chose a coordinating color for the back, and put my information on the back. Quilters could make different cards from details from different quilts pretty inexpensively. When I reprinted my cards last month, I opted for GLOSSY on the front, and I really like it.
Here’s a close-up of the little version of the New York Beauty block:
You can just see some of the beading, but even through it’s heavy, it’s also quite subtle.
I love this quilt. I kept it, and it hangs in my quilt room!
I hung it in the judged section of the Pine Tree Quilt Show three years ago, and it only garnered a third. I was terribly disappointed because I thought it was a first for sure, especially since Pine Tree judging is supposed to be about the merits of a quilt on its own, not in comparison to any other quilt in a curved judging event where percentages are considered for firsts, seconds, etc. That’s judged quilting for you, though. As much as people have tried to make quilt judging fair, it is terribly subjective, and the colors in this quilt are…different. This quilt was a watershed for me. I decided that I make quilts because I love to make quilts–good ones that are exciting and fun. I don’t need someone else to tell me they’re wonderful because I know each one is, even when something has gone wrong along the way.
Louisa Enright's Blog 
gorgeous, a real work of art!