A challenge

In April I was at my daughter Genevieve’s home in Tennessee when I realized that the American Quilter’s Society annual quilt show was going on. Paducah, Kentucky, is only an hour and a half away from Vieve’s house. I figured that after I saw the quilts, I could drive on to Southern Illinois to visit my mom and sister. I never before took time off from my job or family to go to the show, and it was about time. And I needed a care-giver break—more about that later. So off I went.

I loved the show—so many beautiful quilts and unique vendors, and so overwhelming! (I think I actually missed an entire exhibit room.) I’ll allow several days next time. I was very interested in the small exhibit of Kaffe Fassett quilts—I’m a big fan. I bought the quilt show catalog and Fassett’s new book Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts (written with Liza Prior Lucy and subtitled 23 Original Quilt Designs). For weeks now I have been pouring over Fassett’s book—not the show catalog—it’s that good. I completely buy into his philosophy—beautiful fabric arranged in simple shapes can make a quilt spectacular.

This book must appeal to me because I am a fabric lover. No, I confess, I am a fabric junkie. I have plenty of it, and I need to use it. I began to wonder: Can I make 23 quilts of my own based on these simple shapes? I need something to jump-start myself in a new creative direction, so here I go. My 23 quilts inspired by this book may or may not turn out to be spectacular, but it will be a challenge to make them. I’ll show you how I make the quilts and I’ll tell you the stories behind them. I plan to have fun sewing