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Quilter of Distinction 2016

margjessop

Last year, I had the honour of being named “Quilter of Distinction” at the Festival of Quilts at Heritage Park in Calgary.  I was so thrilled to be honoured.  I sure did not see it coming!  I had been quilting for thirty years and had tried all sorts of thinks, but did not think of myself as a great “Quilter”.  The committee came over and picked some interesting quilts.  They picked 42 of my most unusual quilts.  I guess they wanted something a little more unusual and different from the regular fare.  It was a great weekend – quite an ego trip for me.  I’m amazed my head fit through the door.  As my year of fame comes to an end, I thought I would review the weekend:

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“Log Cabin Log Cabin”  This years special show was log cabin quilts.  This is my log cabin quilt done in log cabin style.

This was a photo taken after the presentation.  From left to right, my sister Jennifer Tainsh, my daughter, Anna Jessop, me, and my sister, Janet Ward. 

My daughter, Anna, and my husband, Dale, both came to support me.

“Dream Tree” – a quilt I started in a Vicki Pignatelli class at Sugar Pine.

“Castle Mountain #3” from my Castle Mountain series.

“Heart of the Rockies”  part photo, mostly quilt – based on a photo I took of the Heart of the Rockies on Highway 93 south.

“Ode to Emily Carr”  A quilt started in Sue Benner’s class.

My “Tulip Bag”  – I changed the tulips to stained glass roses – made in 1994 in a class from Pam Hodgson.  I use this bag all the time but, it needs repairing badly.

“His Majesty”  My peacock quilt was started in a class with Roxanne Nelson.

“Empty Nest Syndrome”  I started this class at ACAD; it began with a bird’s nest, then drawing it and designing with it.  Eventually, the net became part of the quilt.  Note the four birds flying off.  I made this quilt at about the time my four kids were leaving home.

“Zebra”  from the Bigfork Bay Cotton Company.   This was made for my sister-in-law’s 65th.  SHe’s obsessed with zebras! Her house has zebras throughout.

“Girl Guide Campfire”  I made this in the 90’s as a remembrance to all those years at campfires with Brownies, Guides and Rangers.  There’s a lot of text hidden in this one.

“Money Vs Time Continuum”  This is a quilt about my family.  I am looking at my watch and my husband is opening his wallet.  Our kids are arranged according to how much time and money they need.  Anna is doing cartwheels, the boys are playing hackeysack and Katy is practicing Tai Chi.  Silk screened and threadpainted

“We Believe – 2005”  In 2005, the Calgary Council of Churches was celebrating the 100th anniversary of the church in Alberta.  I won second prize for this entry.  I used a photo of my church, the map of Alberta a cross and a peace dove.

“Wainwright Hotel”  Made to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Heritage Park.

“Anna plays Quidditch”  My daughter was the captain of the Victoria Valkyries.  She even got them to the Quidditch World Cup in New York.

“ReaLemon”  – made for a label challenge

“Margaret and her friends go Swimming” – made just for fun

“Dragonfly” – My son’s camp name is Dragonfly, so . . . 

My first Double Wedding Quilt – started in 1990 – finished in 1999

“Journey to the Centre of Courage” – (long story) – started in a class with Jayne Willoughby Scott in Canmore at the Quilt Art Rockies

“Japanese Indigo Fan” – made from samples from my indigo dyeing class at ACAD

“Violet” – One of my famous fish

“Sparky” – another fun fish

“Catfish” – one of my favourite fish

“Freddy” – my first fish

“Petunia” – flowery fish

“T’was the Night Before Christmas” – from a pattern from Carolina Patchworks

“Music Man” – a musical friendship block with my son, Fraser’s, silhouette in the centre.

“50 years of a Musical Marriage”  I took photos of everyone in my family and put them into a Magic Tile quilt for my parent’s 50th Anniversary – 2005

“Mom” – made from all musical fabric to honour Sylvia Jones – my Mom.  She was a great pianist, organist, accompanist. choir leader, etc. etc.

“Dad” – a geologist for many years, Dad is created from rocks and stones

“Anna” represents “Wind”

“Fraser” represents “Fire”

“Paul” represents “Earth”

“Katy” represents “Water”

“Dale” is made from ‘wood’ fabrics – even his Hawaiian shirt

“Blue Self-portrait” – Just because I had to finish the series

“Mona Lisa” another pattern by Carolina Patchworks

“Joining Together” – a wedding present for my son, Paul’s wedding to Teegan.  It represents two families joining together – 2012

My first modern quilt based on a Zen Chic Pattern.  I included black & white photos of my children.

“Paul & his Saxophone” – a 3D quilt – Fabric is silkscreened, photos and store bought

“Mirror Lake” – based on a painting by Franklin Carmichael.  A wedding present for my son, Fraser, and his wife, Kathleen. – 2013

“My Life” – a timeline of my life in photos

“Our Katy” – from a photo of Katy when she was two and a half.  I started this in a class with Susan Carlson in Canmore at the Quilt Art Rockies

“My First Quilt” – made for Katy (she picked the colours).  Started in a class from Dianne Sutton at Quilter’s Cabin 1989

“Car Cozy”  – made as an ACAD assignment

So, I guess you can see that most of my quilts are pretty personal.  They are about my family or places that are important to me.  Some are just for fun.  There were some interesting choices, but it was a good retrospective of my work.  A great honour to be the Quilter of Distinction for 2016 and I was thrilled to see so many people that came by to support me.

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