Barb

    It's usually pretty safe to say we all have our own style.  I can walk into a fabric store and know immediately whether Friend Marilyn will have a good time in there.  We have colors, styles and time periods we gravitate to. Some of us like Kaffe Fasset and some of us like Civil War reproductions.  And that's why there are so many different fabrics to choose from and why no two quilts, unless made from a kit, will look alike.
    Meet Friend Barb.  Yesterday Friends Marilyn and Jan and I spent our monthly quilty day with Barb and Friend Sally.  They've occasionally come here on our quilty day and Barb invited us to her house yesterday.
   Barb is an artist.  Well, all quilters are, I suppose, but Barb doesn't just use fabric as her medium.  She paints, too.  She has what I call "the eye."  Some people can just see the final product and know how to get there.  My son-in-law has the eye, so does grand-daughter, Elizabeth.

 This quilt is Barb's.  It's a family heirloom and she treasures it.  She had it appraised and the fabrics span the time between the Civil War (mid-l860's) till the 1940's.  That was one long lived scrap bag!  Barb was gifted this quilt and she treasures it.  She also wanted to be able to use it but knew she never could.  So she decided to duplicate it and closely as possible.

 Here it is.  It's absolutely as beautiful as the original, has Barb's spin on it in the piano key border, the fabrics are remarkably similar and she didn't take the original with her when she searched for fabrics.  Remember, she has "the eye."   We were just mesmerized by the fabrics she found and chose and how close they complemented the original.

 Here they are side by side.  Barb's fabrics are new and need time to fade but that's ok.  It's going to get a lot of lap time.

This is the other side of Barb.  To make this storm at sea quilt she made three sample blocks, a sample wall hanging and then drew it out on graph paper and colored it in.  The research made me speechless.  The quilt is incredible.
I don't think I could ever go into a quilt shop and wonder whether Barb would be happy there.  I know she would.  In any of them.  But I could never, ever guess what she's up to next.