"Letter Carriers" by Janet Stone won First Place - Mixed Technique at Houston International Quilt Festival 2013.
Always a fan of basket blocks, Janet wanted to incorporate some into a quilt. Coming up with the title Letter Carriers before she even made the quilt, she had the idea of making bias strips and actually weaving them to look like baskets. Trying one and finding out it was not as difficult to execute as she thought, she proceeded with the project and Letter Carriers came to be. A play on words, like many of Janet's quilt titles, the baskets she made ended up holding "actual" letters, i.e. A,B,C, etc., so the quilt features literal letter carriers.
Artist Statement: "The name of this quilt came to me before the quilt. The idea was of some letters hanging out in some type of containers. I decided I wanted to make the containers to be baskets and actually weave the fabric to make them look like real baskets. I used bias and/or straight cuts of folded fabric strips. I did the "weaving" on a foam core board and pinned the strips as I was weaving. I used a freezer paper template that I created for each basket shape, put a little dot of glue where necessary, and folded back the end pieces around the freezer paper template. I gave it a good press and removed the freezer paper. They were then appliquéd onto the block backgrounds. This was the first time I made hand covered buttons which I have used on several other quilts."
Fun Fact: "I made the scallops on the outside without really measuring them to see if they would fit, but miraculously they did!"
(Main Quilt Photo by Gregory Case; Second Main Quilt Photo and some Detail Photos by Mary Kay Davis; Other Detail Photos from cactus-needle.blogspot.com)
Maker: Janet Stone
Quilter: Janet Stone
Year Made: 2012
Size: 64" x 69.5"
Shows & Museums: National Quilt Museum - Paducah, Kentucky; Houston International Quilt Festival 2013
Awards: First Place - Mixed Technique at Houston International Quilt Festival 2013
