Fireworks Basket Quilt

 We enjoyed the most wonderful 

featured artist/ trunk show at our

Nimble Thimbles

meeting this month.

 One of our guild members asked her mother

Connie Keyt

of Iowa

if she would bring some of her 

Challenge Quilts

created from fabrics

provided by a local quilt shop.

 When we entered the room, we saw the backs of the quilts,

showing the Challenge Fabric Connie had to work with.

 Some of the fabrics were not too bad,

like this bright red, white and blue.

 Connie wins First Place Ribbons

each year with the Quilt Store and 

State Fair.

Once she turned over her quilts

we could see why!

 From the simplest of fabrics,

Connie creates the most beautiful hand appliqued baskets!
She named this one
Fireworks Basket

 Connie says she gathers inspiration from

Ellie Sienkiewicz Baltimore Album quilt books

and flower folding books.

 The lighting was poor in the room where we meet, 

and truly, my camera does not do justice to

the intricate hand work.

 Some years the quilt shop

uses the most garish fabrics for their Challenge.

How could a person possibly create something beautiful from this?

 Leave it up to Connie to come up with another 

stunning Basket Quilt.

 All hand pieced and hand quilted.

 Complete with ruched flowers.

Connie brought several more quilts.

I will share with you tomorrow 

a continuation of her very creative work.