PERSISTENCE Pays

I'm excited and feeling quite honored, so forgive my enthusiasm, please.

This Indian Orange Peel Quilt, based on a Karen Stone paper-piecing pattern, took nine years from start to finish (with periods of abandonment mixed in). It was begun in 1998 to hang above our family room fireplace, and finally completed in August 2009. Each little arc took a half hour, not counting selecting and cutting the fabric, joining it to the other segments, or removing the paper backing. Hence, the name, "PERSISTENCE." I took it to Oregon to have it machine quilted by Ruth Bass, who did a lovely job. We've taken Hollis Chatelain workshops together every year for many years, so I knew she'd understand what I wanted to achieve with the quilting . . . and, frankly, I was too tired of looking at this to do it myself.
 
The quilt won Third Place in the Quilts category at the 48th annual Art in the Redwoods Fine Art Exhibit, which will hang from August 14 - September 6, 2009, at the Gualala Art Center in Gualala (Mendocino County), California. The judges for this year's Art in the Redwoods exhibit were: Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Miriam Nathan-Roberts, Penny Nii and Robert Rhoades. I feel especially honored because of who the judges were. Also, this was a broad category--contemporary and traditional quilts, all sizes. I am wowed. Thanks to the exhibit's sponsors: the cash prizes in the Quilts category were donated by Pacific Piecemakers Quilt Guild. Thanks to all my quilting friends who opined and encouraged me to keep on going with this quilt. Particularly, I remember with gratitude of my dear friend Karen Ingersoll, only with us now in spirit; I did so much piecing of this on my Featherweight as her guest at a cabin in the Lake Tahoe area. And I set aside the project for a long time when it made me miss her too much to work on it. Karen, here's to you!