Mary W Kerr

A Star in the Garden

Created for the 2011 Pilgrim and Roy Invitational Challenge. Participants were given Kaffe Fassett fabrics and challenged to only add two additional fabrics. I chose vintage red and white! This collection of quilts have traveled for the last year and will be auctioned at the 2011 AQS Paducah show to raise money for The National Quilt Museum.

Pastel Pretty

This quilt was designed when I challenged myself to incorporate a set of poorly made circular blocks into a compilation design. These pastel blocks were paired with vintage solids and scraps of a Flower Garden top. It was expertly machine quilted by Marty Vint and finished with pink piping. This quilt was displayed at the 2008 Vermont Quilt Festival and was part of an invitational exhibit at the Great falls Quilts Show in October 2008. It has also hung on teacher's row at the 2009 Road2California Quilt Show.

Dancing to my Own Drum

This quilt was created as a part of the Cabin Branch Quilters' Fortune Cookie Challenge exhibit in 2008. The challenge was to create a quilt that reflected the fortune you randomly drew. My fortune read "What would you do if you had no fear of failure?". My answer was to Dance to my own Drum! This quilt was created with leftover bits and pieces of lace, embroidery, buttons and trims that belonged to my Grandmothers and my Great-grandmother. The exhibit debuted at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in 2008 and was displayed at the Cabin Branch Quilt Show in Manassas, Virginia.

Everything Opal

This quilt was created in August of 2007 shortly after my grandmother, Opal Wilson passed away at the age of 95. It measures 19 x 24 and is a collage of some of her wonderful treasures. Included with her hand painted linens are buttons from her collection, vintage buckles, newspaper clippings from the 1940's, a miraculous medal, the holy card that I received at her funeral and much more.

Orange You Glad You're Mine

was designed and pieced in 2004 to honor my orange-loving daughter on her 18th birthday. It is a compilation piece of blocks and vintage top fragments that date from 1860 - 1940. The linen corners were hand embroidered by her namesake and great grandmother, Kathyrne Elizabeth Say (1912-2003). This quilt was hand quilted by Didi Salvatierra and finished in 2005. It won a Judge's Choice award at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show in 2006 and has also been shown at Quilt Odyssey 2006 and the NQA 2006 show in Chicago. Orange You Glad You're Mine hung at Winterthur for a special quilt exhibit in 2007. This quilt now resides in Minot, North Dakota with my daughter Katherine Kerr McPherson.

Stars For Grandma Kay (2006)

The center appliqué block and all the solid fabrics are vintage pieces that were part of my grandmother's, Kathyrne Say (1912-2003) collection. The unusual black appliqué block is circa 1940. This piece was hand quilted by Didi Salvatierra. It has been exhibited in the Quilter's Hall of Fame, the New Jersey State Quilt Convention 2006 and hung on teacher's row at the AQS show in Paducah in April 2007. It won both a third place ribbon and a Judge's Choice award at the Vermont Quilt Festival in June 2007. Stars for Grandma Kay was selected to be a part of IQA's traveling exhibit, American Traditions that debuted at the Houston Quilt Festival in October 2007 and traveled until August 2008.

Grandpa's Pockets #1

This quilt is part of a series that was created from a robe that belonged to my grandfather, Harry Wilson (1912 - 1974). I found the robe with its three pockets in a trunk at their farm in 2004. To create this quilt I used the striped fabric in conjunction with vintage quilt blocks that are circa 1900. It was hand quilted by Arlene Troiano. It was displayed at the 2006 New Jersey State Quilt Convention and the 2007 Cabin Branch Quilt Show.

Grandpa's Pockets #2

This quilt is the second in the series that was created from a robe that belonged to my grandfather, Harry Wilson (1912 - 1974). I found the robe with its three pockets in a trunk at their farm in 2004. To create this quilt I used the striped fabric in conjunction with vintage quilt blocks that are circa 1895. It was hand quilted by Dawn Jolin. It was displayed at the 2008 Cabin Branch Quilt Show.

Baby Blue

I was challenged to create a quilt using only 8 small vintage blocks from the 1920's. They arrived with scraps of fabric and a piece of this quilt top that is circa 1940. It was hand quilted by Didi Salvatierra. It hung at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in February 2007 and was part of a special QPN exhibition at the New Jersey State Quilt Convention in June 2007.

Baby Blue Too.

I used the leftover scraps from Baby Blue to create this small wall hanging that measures 14 x 18. The vintage romper is accented with buttons from my Grandmother's collections and parts of a small porcelain doll that was found at the family home in Wilsey, Kansas. This quilt was part of a special QPN exhibition at the New Jersey State Quilt Convention in June 2007.

Time Management

was created as a part of the Cabin Branch Quilters' Quotable Quotes exhibit in 2006. The challenge was to take a well known quote and tweak it in a new and innovative way. This quilt was a tribute to our annual beach trip to Edisto Island, SC. Three families and assorted extras gather for a week each summer to celebrate friendship, sun, sand and relaxation. The background is a piece of a vintage Drunkard's Path quilt top and the stuffed champagne bottle features an PKP label to honor the Kerr, Pernelli and Pittman families. The exhibit debuted at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival and has since traveled to Chicago and The Road to California 2007 quilt show.

In Spite of Our Roots

was created as part of MDQPN's To Color or Not to Color exhibit. This is a small piece that measures 16 x 18. It was created from scraps of two different vintage tops. Designed, pieced and hand quilted by me. This piece represents the choices we make in our lives. Our past may include some dark moments but the color we become is our choice and our statement that we can flourish in spite of our roots.

Guitar Fish

was created in a Susan Carlson class in 2003 and represents one of my first ventures out of the realm of traditional quilts. All of the musical motifs were fussy cut out of a single length of music fabric. This quilt was also my first attempt at machine quilting after over 20 years as a pure hand quilting enthusiast. My guitarist son, Ryan, chose this 15 x 20 quilt to be the only quilt displayed in his room.

Scrap Crazy Stars

was pieced as a class sample using a pattern by Terry Atkinson of Atkinson Designs. It is a great workshop for beginning and intermediate quilters as the stars are pieced to "float" so there is no danger of the points being lost. This 51 x 70 lap quilt was hand quilted by Doris Bloomer. This quilt is in the private collection of Fawn Pernelli.

Kansas Therapy

was created in 1999 after my grandparents' estate sale in Wilsey, Kansas. At the sale, I purchased a vintage dress (c 1900) that we had frequently played with over the years. I carefully took it apart and used the indigo fabric to create this 58 x 67 lap quilt. I made it as big as possible using only the fabric I had from the dress and a new cream solid. This special piece was hand quilted by Doris Bloomer.

Celtic Wedding Quilt

This 38 x 45 inch quilt was created in honor of William Webster and his new bride Tashina. They were married on January 3, 2009 in Savannah, Georgia in a wonderful ceremony at the Catholic Cathedral. Will's love of all things Irish was the stepping stone for this quilt constructed of miles of bias strips and machine appliqué techniques. Shannon Shirley collaborated on the design and Will's mother, Kimberly Webster, will be hand

These 4 quilts were designed to show how one block can be interpreted in four different ways. Each of these measure only 11 inches square and feature a variety of surface embellishments. They were all machine quilted by me.