I attended Knox College, Galesburg, IL in the later 60-s and early 70's -- yes I was most definitely a flower child!  On Geology field trips and with friends I spend a fair amount of time out at Green Oaks, the Knox nature & Botany center.  At that time Dr. Peter Schramm was doing a lot of prairie restoration.  Then and there I began to learn about the prairies.  I still love the prairie grasses and flowers today and use them as inspiration for many of my picture quilts.

 

I moved to Pontiac with my family from the Chicago area in 1977.  At that time I was quilting and also had a new baby.  That first summer I found myself making a baby quilt in the colors I was seeing along the roadways.  I decided to start making quilts about the beautiful flowers and grasses and so.... my prairie quilts were born. 

 

They have evolved over the years to include new styles I was experimenting with and today are mostly done in a pictorial style with lots of silk ribbon.  Since I really didn't draw well, I developed my own style of free-cut applique which means the quilts are built up layer by layer and the frosting of silk ribbon adds wonderful details that I could never accomplish with fabric alone.

 

Most of my prairie quilts depict something about the land around me.  I have photographed the land for years and often use some element I see to design a quilt.  Barns, windmills, chicken houses, woods and meadows all show up on my quilts.  With silk ribbon I'm able to add details like spiders, bugs, flower details and more. 

 

 I have had several one-woman shows featuring my prairie quilts and if your group would like to include them in a quilt or art show, please contact me.