Nancy's Birthday Quilt

Back a hundred years ago our crit group started making a group piece for each one of us as we hit our 50th birthday.  All went along swimmingly until we recently realized we completely skipped one of our members.  We felt awful, especially since years and years had flipped by and she never said a thing.  So, this year we decided to make up for it by each doing a small piece that we would present to her as a surprise by hanging it in our guild show where she would 'discover' it as she walked around.  The show was hung yesterday, but I think she has missed it because none of us have heard from her.  Tonight is the Member's Night so she will be there and if she hasn't found it yet, we will lead her to it!  I cannot tell you what a trial it was getting it checked in yesterday because she was at the desk for most of the day!  Anyway, we can't wait for hr reaction.

We wanted it to hang together, or each piece to hang separately so we decided on this hanging arrangement-  I have done it before and loved how the whole thing disappears against a white wall, and as luck would have it the Watertown Center for the Arts has white walls!  As does Nancy's house.  So, here is how it goes together:

Step #1 is to cut strips of organza (got this in the bridal department) about 2" wide.  For the sizes of these small quilts, (11" x 16") we decided on just a half inch between them.





One strip was put on each edge and simply basted up each side inside of the binding on the back.  For this I used a heavy bright yellow quilting thread and large basing stitches so it will be easy for her to take them apart in the future.  Where the organza interfered with the sleeve edges, I simply cut it back a bit so the stick could slide through.

Here are four quilt fronts coming together at one corner and I have slipped a colored flyer behind them so you can see how invisible it is when done.

The final bit is painting out the stick where it would show between the pieces.  Our other plan was to use a lucite rod but will let Nancy decide what she wants.  This is a good temporary solution for the show.

Here is the final arrangement all hanging together.  I did have to take one little tuck in the organza to straighten it out but it too will come out if she wants to hang them separately.

Now, for some details of each piece:  In the top row, from left to right, the first quilt is Carol Grotrian's gorgeous shibori.


















In the middle is an example of Judy Becker's typical piecing that she adds found objects and small natural objects onto.  Note how the rocks are sewn to rock fabric. Go to her link here to see a small sample of the over 300 12" blocks she has made!














The last piece on the top is Barb Crane's where she has sent Nancy some of her pieced postcards.  Barb has an admirable eye for fabric selection in her landscapes.

Second row, first quilt is Sylvia Einstein's pieced trees against landscape.  We love her sense of color and the way she sets up connections in prints that happen spontaneously.

















This piece is made by Linda Behar, formerly a quilter with us, but now she has gone on to make a name with hand and machine embroidery.  This isn't typical of Linda's work so go to her website to see what she really does.  Here she has embroidered the titles of every quilt that Nancy has ever exhibited in our Quilters' Connection annual show!

The last one, bottom right, is my contribution.  Here I used different toile fabrics, a few stars from that old quilt my mom wouldn't let me have, and some hand stamped cotton for the background.  It also has orange rhinestones for some sparkle-  (Nancy always makes fun of my sparkly bits!)

I'll let you know what her reaction is later!