A Quilt Story...

Doesn't every quilt have a story?

Recently, someone saw this quilt or one of it's other versions on the interwebs (maybe in my binding tutorial) and sent an email to inquire about the pattern/fabrics, etc.  There's a story behind this quilt, and it is one that has made a serious impact on my quilty world!

Rewind to 2004, when my then-14-year-old daughter, Lauren, decided that she wanted to make a giant dragon quilt.  She spied the perfect dragon in a quilt made by Allicia Politis (pattern HERE).  We enlarged the pattern using an overhead projector, then she pieced the border and used fusible applique' with a blanket stitch for the dragon, along with prairie points for his spine.  Her quilt won sweepstakes at both the County and State Fairs in the youth division!

Fast-forward to 2010.  Riley Blake Designs supplied fabric (Sublime by Doohikey) to use for HMQS' annual design challenge contest portion of their show.

Lauren's adorable dragon seemed the perfect fit for the show's theme (Every Quilt Has a Story), and the print seemed to suit an adorable little dragon.  I even fussy-cut the dragon so the print gave it scalloped lipstick!


The original quilt was made by myself, my friend Debbie and her daughter, Kami, then I finished with the machine-quilting.  We were thrilled to learn that it won third place in the contest.  The 24 or so quilts made for the challenge were then and sold at auction for the HMQS charity.  Our little quilt raised $825.00!!

Every Quilt Has a Story ~ Original

At auction the quilt sold to a school teacher, but the gals at Riley Blake loved it so much they commissioned me to make another for their new office.  I ended up making three more quilts with the fabrics they supplied.  One for their office,

Version II  -  also won a Sweepstakes prize at the county fair.

One for their secretary, Collette, at the warehouse (she loved the brown colorway),

And there were enough scraps to make a final one that I hang in my quilt studio.  ♥ it!

Version IV ~   22" x 40"; raw edge applique' with pieced bookcase and mitered borders.
Made and quilted by Deonn Stott

... And now, the rest of the story ...

This quilt began my relationship with Cindy Cloward, owner, and Jina Barney, designer at Riley Blake Designs.  Knowing I was a 4-H volunteer sewing/quilting teacher, Cindy invited me to write a monthly series of sewing and quilting basic tutorials for their website, "Cutting Corners", which has evolved into a series of "How to Quilt" video tutorials, and an opportunity to go to Quilt Market in Houston last fall and Portland last week to demonstrate Make & Take projects at their booth.  Love this company - the people and their products!  And next September, I'll be teaching several classes  at RBD's Fabric Fest in Las Vegas!  Hope to see you there!!