Big Quilt, Little Quilt

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away... oh wait, that's a different story. This one takes place in Tulare County, beginning in 1991. I won the blocks of the month. The blocks were teacups, and I won a stack of dozens. I don't know how many there were, but there were at least two dozen, probably closer to three.

The 5" blocks seemed pretty small. I'd recently taken a class with Marsha McCloskey, and I thought Ocean Waves would be the perfect way to set them. Since they were so "small," I thought four would translate into a miniature quilt. haha! Boy was I wrong. My four block quilt measured 39" square!

"Tempest in a Teacup"

Suzanne Kistler 1993
39" x 39"

I began working on a bed quilt, using the rest of the 5" teacups, but it took forever. I eventually finished it some time after 2000, and gave it to a friend to quilt and give to a charity she supported. I could no longer abide dusty rose and country blue. ugh

But back to the "miniature" idea. I tried again, this time downsizing the teacups to 2.5". The scale was small enough to result in a miniature. The quilt was given to my friend who collected miniatures. I never saw it again...

"Tempest in a Demitasse"
Suzanne Kistler 1996
19.5" x 19.5"

until the quilt show. It made an appearance in the guild booth. I snatched it up quicker than you could say, "Jack Robinson!" At my house, we've had a reunion of sorts...

Don't they look like they belong together? I'm actually quite fond of them, despite their country blue and dusty rose surroundings...

My assistant thought I should take his picture, since he disrupted his nap especially to come critique my photos...

Back to Ocean Waves, which was the setting of the teacup quilts. I've made quite a number of them over the years, and I'm starting to think this photo might begin to explain my love of all things ocean...

July 1959, on the beach at Malibu.

I know. I've always been photogenic... ;)

'til next time...