White Sulfur Springs Auction Quilt

A longtime customer of mine, Barbara, called and asked whether I'd be willing to donate quilting on a top she'd made that is to be auctioned at the benefit for White Sulfur Springs. Unless you're from the Plumas County (California) area, you have no idea what that is. WSS is an historic County landmark dating back to the 1860's. It was a once beautiful majestic ranch house/hotel overlooking all of Mohawk Valley. Unfortunately, in 2004, the 400 acre ranch was purchased by a Bay Area citizen who, after razing several old structures on the land, agreed not to tear the house down, but refused to use any of his funds to restore it.

In 2007 I was called on to inspect the structure (at that point, I was a Code Enforcement Officer for the County). It was not in good shape; however, it was not at a point where demolition would be required. Seeing the inside of this once glorious house was a perk; seeing its decay was sad. The structure was "red tagged," as it was not safe to be inhabited. Currently, the Mohawk Valley Stewardship Council is holding benefits and raising funds to restore this once majestic building and return it to the public for events, weddings, etc.

So...back to the quilt! Barbara asked if I would donate my quilting on her top and knowing the history of WSS and feeling as if I have a personal connection, I enthusiastically said "YES." She sent the quilt and for the first time, gave me the green light to do whatever quilting I wanted. Because the quilt is very simple and has only two colors, I felt that my quilting needed to really accent rather than blend.

This is the finished quilt.

I quilted all of the purple areas first because I couldn't decide what to do with the baskets. In the border I did two sizes of piano keys, alternating between two and three inch divisions. The setting triangles got more line work, just much tighter. In the solid purple blocks, I opted for some swirly grid work.

Then it was back to the baskets.  What to do???  I had several ideas and finally, because I just couldn't decide, I called Dennis in to vote. I went with his choice of the feathers, pebbles (one of my other customer called them grapes) and leaves.






Although the color didn't turn out in the preceding pics or the ones of the back, below, the baskets and backing were a really nice shade of green that went beautifully with the purple. I quilted the the purple using So Fine! Purple Iris and the green areas with a light green Bottom Line thread. I used the same thread both top and bobbin and it really made the back of this quilt fun!

I have no idea why, but this photo looks as if I've made it black and white. I didn't, but it sure shows off the quilting nicely. (hmmm....maybe I should do that on purpose in the future???)

I feel very honored to have been asked to quilt this top and hope that it raises a lot of money to help with the restoration. Their annual event is on June 30th and Barbara has promised to let me know how it goes.