Thursday, August 20, 2015

Prairie Skirts

 If you're looking for a great idea for
a small group activity,
here's a good one.

It's called 4 by 4.
Four members bring
4 quilts and talk about 
their quilting journey.

It's a great way to learn new things
about quilting in general,  
get inspired and 
of course, a fantastic way to get
to know your members better.

This week I was one of the 4 
in my Quilt Therapy group
sharing a bit of our quilt history.

This is one of the quilts I brought.
Prairie Skirts
1983
42" X 42"

*Side note:
I just had to take a photo of the quilt as a horse blanket.
One of the funniest requests I had
when I worked at the quilt shop was
" Do you have a quilt pattern to make 
a HORSE BLANKET!"
***

This quilt was made 
 using fabrics from an early line 
of Jinny Beyers when she was just
beginning to design fabrics for VIP.

 
Her beautiful quilts and 
fabric designs were and continue to influence
quilters to explore interesting and creative ways
to use fabrics to create secondary patterns
within the blocks.

Now this might seem
common place,
but with her India-inspired designs,
 monochromatic palettes, 
complicated border prints,
and rich colors it was pretty new for 
many quilters, including me
way back when.

One of my few claims to fame 
was having this quilt included in 

September, 1985

I had seen the theatrical performance
of "The Quilters"

and had used this variation of a kaleidoscope
pattern to represent the movement 
of women's skirts being blown
by the ceaseless prairie winds.
These brave women's lives
were filled both with hardships and joys
and that's what I tried to show.

I hope that one day
you get to be part of a 4 by 4 presentation.
It's good for us to dig back
into our quilt piles
 and rediscover our quilting roots.
You might be surprised
and even impressed to
see where you have journeyed.
Until Next Time-

16 comments:

  1. Gorgeous quilt!!! I also love your big stitch quilting and the circles on the kaleidoscope!! Brilliant! (I hope you don't mind but I pinned this one to my Big Stitch Quilting board!! Love it!)

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  2. Definitely Jinny Beyer style. Some of my older quilts that I made were influenced by her style. I went to one of her seminars at Hilton Head too. Quite an experience.

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  3. Wow oh wow, that's gorgeous! I love it!

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  4. That quilt is absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful block design and colors so soft. I was lucky enough to attend one of Jinny's lectures in Anchorage back in the early 80s. What an inspiration she is to so many of us.

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  5. What a great idea. I'll have to bring the 4 by 4 concept to my group. I love your quilt and I remember that issue of QNM! And surprisingly enough I made a horse blanket for my horse when I was 15 and have patched countless others. Too funny!

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  6. Your quilt is perfect for showcasing those early Jinny Beyer fabrics! I probably saw Prairie Skirts in Quilters Newsletter way back when :)

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  7. Wow Kyle - This quilt is so, so pretty! I've never been brave enough to attempt a quilt using Jinny's techniques, although someday I hope to use a striped fabric for a border and try to get those corners mitered as perfectly as yours looks. A wonderful claim to fame to have a quilt featured in that prestigious magazine, although it made me chuckle to read that this was considered a 'modern quilt' - quite different from today's modern quilts, huh?

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  8. What a great idea! And your quilt is amazing. I have never ventured into Jinny's patterns. And congratulations on being in such an prestigious magazine!

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  9. Thank you that was very interesting. I love to hear other peoples quilt stories.

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  10. That must have been pretty exciting to be published in that magazine. :0) It's a lovely quilt!

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  11. what a great honor to be in QNL - back when it was good!
    I'd love to hear more about your quilt therapy group. Funny timing because our guild just did a presentation with 16 members showing early and later works and a little about their journey. We each had about 5 mins.
    I love the photo on the statues!

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  12. I love this idea....There are 8 of us who have a small quilting group meeting together once a month for several years now. This would be fun to do in our group. Prairie Skirts is really pretty, but it sure looks difficult. :) blessings, marlene

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  13. What a beautiful quilt, and a lovely back story I love seeing the quilts you've made in the past), and recent story of the 4 by 4. When I used to go to classes my favourite part was the show and tell at the beginning where everyone would bits and pieces to show each other.

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  14. What a great idea! Your quilt is very pretty! Have a great week ;)

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  15. Such a wonderful story about your beautiful quilt!

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  16. That horse would be so lucky to have your beautiful quilt as his blanket! I'm sure I have that magazine issue and will need to look it up now. :-) Thanks for sharing!

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