Quiltingboard Forums - The Desert Won! by Sierra, posted for her by Becky

At the Loomis, CA guild quilt show my quilt took 1st in "Art" quilts and also BEST OF SHOW! Never thought such a thing would happen and I want to share! Unfortunately I'm not able to post photos so asked my friend Becky to post for me.

A couple of years ago I made a "desert" quilt for my husband who lived and worked a few years in the Sonora Desert with the Tohono O'odam people (white man's name was Papago) and he fell in love with the desert and with the people. At that point I'd made about 60 quilts for family and close friends (and some for our special charities), but none to be kept by us. I told him it was time for a desert quilt and he loved the idea, liked my sketch, went through my stash with me, and to quilt shops with me where we bought several fabrics, sometimes doubling up because "this is even better than what we got!" You all know the routine.

When I started actually putting fabrics up on my design board is when the quilt took over. I draped "sunset" colors across the top; moved down to the mountains and pinned them the way they look in Arizona. When I started in on the desert floor I realized this quilt had taken on a life of it's own! I called DH in and showed him what was happening. He loved it and said to just keep going. Don't change it, follow its lead.

So essentially, the entire background, from sky to bottom, is whole cloth draped and sewn to allow the drapes to happen. All the rest is applique. The large cactus went up first as a flat cactus. Looked awful. So I recut extra large and put it onto batting and sewed it on between the ribs. Other aspects are also batted before being sewn down. The smaller cacti are flat; all the blossoms are appliqued with painted centers. There are several lizards, and coyotes as well as the more obvious turtle, tumble weeds, etc. The free winged butterflies went on last and are probably not "genuine" to the desert, but they seemed to be needed for "movement".

The quilt ended up 8' x 7.5' and has found a home (created by DH) on our living room wall. It is a testimony of our love for each other and for the beautiful Sonora!

Enjoy! Sierra