FEATURED QUILT - April, 2008

Each month the work of one of our talented members is featured.

Nancy King's "Autumn Leaves"
9 1/2" X 11.5 1/2"

Scroll down for more information on this quilter and her work.

i

Nancy King in her own words:

"So many fabrics , so many techniques, and so little time! This small quilt grew out of a desire to try some of the things I have only been able to read about the last few years. I HAD to make something to explore these techniques. Discharge dying was the catalyst and it created great shadowing effects. Raw edge applique and silk thread quilting were familiar but freehand cutting a curved edge on a finished quilt was about as crazy as painting on a completely finished quilt . (Been there, done that, and it actually was an improvement.) This quilt is pillow case turned which worked out much better than the first time I tried it in the early 80's when my kids were little. I couldn't tuck them in because the batting was so stiff the quilt stuck out like a board!

My first true patchwork quilt made in 1992 was really two quilts made in tandem, one of which was promptly given away as a gift. Both had sunflower themes and were finished just before sunflower fabric hit the market big time. A few months later life would have been easier but that quest for the perfect fabric continues to be a favorite part of quilting.

In 1994 I was encouraged by friends to submit to the Pacific International Quilt Show in San Francisco and was accepted even though I had no idea what the PIQF was. After attending that first show I was hooked and have been fortunate to have quilts juried into various California venues every year since. Along with PIQF, Road to California, Ojai Valley, and Glendale there is our own SMQG. Some of the quilts have earned ribbons along the way , one has been published in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine and some quilts, batik purses and jewelry appear in a book entitled "Batik: for Artists and Quilters" by Eloise Piper. Four quilts are on permanent display at Kaiser Hospital in West LA and countless others are being enjoyed by family, friends and loved ones, as well as strangers across America.

Earlier creative pursuits included clothing design on self dyed and painted fabrics as well as painting on t shirts and other manufactured clothing. Jewelry making, beading, purse designing, even my career as a hair stylist and colorist are all endeavors that seemed to come together in quilting. It is a passion that continues to enrich my life and environment. While my husband and two grown daughters might view the environment as being a bit more cluttered with all these supplies, I view it as preparedness for the next spark of inspiration to strike. After all, there are all those fabrics, all those techniques still to be tried! "