Inspiration and Quilts to give away

Since I won't be able to upload pictures for several days but may blog in that time, I thought I'd add two today. This is Karen Griska at the June Empire Quilter's Guild meeting at which I bought her book that inspired the selvage quilt. Her website is in the right column for anyone who wants to know how to get the book which is also being distributed by the American Quilters Society. I don't have a picture of Sharon Pederson whose book of double sided quilts inspired the construction method of this quilt. The quilt name will be "Thanks to Karen and Sharon." I had once tried a version of this construction on a log cabin quilt that was sewn in three layers as this one is being sewn. But my construction was less well thought out and proved to be a somewhat lumpy. Sharon's directions work excellently.
This is one of two quilts I'm about to send to an ovarian cancer support/education group who have asked for donations. In the past several months I've made three in this method I call "chopped up nine patch" that I found first online and then, I believe, in an article by Eleanor Burns. Easy and fun. I got curious how it would work with various colors. But heaven knows I didn't need the quilts although I always inaugurate my quilts that are bed size by sleeping under them at least once. This one, as noted a couple of months ago, has barnyard animals fused and appliqued on. It's a pleasure to make quilts ahead and then find places to send them. Not that I wish for anything like cancer to happen to any one. It was satisfying that I had quite a few that I could give to people after the Katrina catastrophe.

One does not need an excuse to make quilts, even when the closets are bursting and you don't need them to sleep under or hang on the walls or warm feet and shins while reading at night, they can be saved for when appeals come in. I read a blog a couple of days ago where the author says in her personal statement that she believes the world would be a little happier if everyone on earth had warm quilt to cuddle under. I agree and how satisfying it is to do my tiny part toward that end.

Selvage quilts

The quilter of the month at our final Empire Quilters meeting of the '07-'08 year was Karen Griska who has just published a book with C&T Publications called Quilts from the Selvage. The picture above is Karen with one of her selvage quilts. Below is a closer view of another of her quilts.

Karen is a warm, practical person and gives very clear, easy directions for quilts made from the selvage which is usually cut off and discarded from the fabrics quilters use. I've actually though about making a selvage quilt for a long time -- since I saw one at a Quilt National about six years ago I began saving selvages, when I thought of it, which was not all the time -- and I do not always cut off the selvages either. But seeing her several designs makes me eager to use the selvages I've saved.

Since I'm also eager to make a double sided quilt inspired by another speaker, Sharon Peterson, I am thinking of combining the two inspirations into one quilt. I have a notion that the summer is not going to be long enough for the projects I want to finish and work on. Ah, well ... never bored, certainly.