Pathways Program for Pine Belt Quilters

I enjoyed giving a PowerPoint presentation program on Pathway designs at our Pine Belt Quilters May 13 meeting. This is what I call several "pathways" crossing a background. I have been in love with this type of design for many years from admiring Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry's remarkable quilts. Of course, hers are intricately challenging pieces, but I began trying some simple designs in 2008 when my niece in Colorado asked me to make a 35" x 55" piece for her wall. She had no specific design in mind--but I knew from her professional photography skills that she loved brilliant colors. I made "Marilyn's Pathways" and she was delighted that I had captured her admiration of the mountains and Canada Geese she saw on her morning walks.

Marilyn's Pathways,  2008, 35" x 55"

Later I purchased a pattern from Caryl called "Square Dance," which taught her Applipiecing® technique for joining curved pieces, and realized this technique was the answer to many of the challenges encountered in Marilyn's piece. Then in 2009 I attended a four-day "Beyond the Grid" workshop at Caryl's Paducah studio where we learned to draw and construct our own designs. I will be ever grateful for Caryl's inspiration and generous sharing. Her website contains a wealth of information and I encourage quilters to avail themselves of her patterns, articles, and instructions (www.bryerpatch.com). Learning from her was a dream come true I will always remember.

The piece I started in her workshop and later continued and completed at home, Galaxy, is one of my favorites. The background is Caryl's gradated fabric, with the blue pieced pathway of hand-dyes by Mary Nell Magee and the two solid pathways my own (one-time foray!) hand-dyes.

Galaxy, 2011, 37" x 24"

Since then I have made several other quilts I could not have made without her marvelous Applipiecing® technique. Sharon Shamber and perhaps others use a similar method but I have only read about these.

Ribbons of Change, 2010, 25" x 29"

Ribbons of Change was made in 2010 and donated to the AIDS Services Coalition auction, and you can see Caryl's influence on my color choices of the mountain/valley pathway. She often gradates the mountain peaks and the valley peaks in the opposite direction (one from light to dark and the other from dark to light).

My guild has recently purchased a camera and projector, which makes it much more possible for members to see and enjoy a program featuring items that we no longer own.

I'm looking forward to teaching a Pathways workshop in two weeks and helping quilters make their own design, thanks to Caryl's Applipiecing®!I have drawn four designs that quilters may choose from. These can be oriented different directions, and everyone will decide on her own pathways and fabrics, so no two quilts will be alike.

Meanwhile, my foster kittens from Southern Pines Animal Shelter are seven weeks old and running to greet me when I go into the garage. They love to be picked up and purr loudly; they are getting near their required two-pound required weight for their surgery and adoption. My house cats are still terrified of them and will be glad for them to find forever homes!