An autograph quilt

I've been working on a quilt for Karen, our beloved librarian, all summer long.  Every Wednesday night in the summer, our library has an author program, right after the Farmer's Market and right before concerts in the park.  Over the years, we've had a mix of big names, including Captain Richard Phillips, and locals..  About 50 people come each Wed. night, which is quite a good audience for our town.  S/he talks about a book or about writing in general and also sometimes reads.  

This year, I asked each author to sign a 3.5" muslin square, and I managed to get nine autographs, including political cartoonist Jeff Danziger, Clive Cussler's co-author Jack DuBrul, and James Patterson's co-author Chris Tebbets.  Each was happy to autograph a square and said how nice it was that I was making the quilt.  I have also gotten members of the Friends of the Library, the staff, and the board of trustees to sign blocks.  I have a few more to collect before I can put the quilt together.

I chose this block, Ribbon Star, because it would make a scrappy quilt.  Above is the block without an autograph in the center of the star.   Active in our local historical society and with a degree in folklore, Karen always admires the quilts we've raffled off in support of the library.  A quilt with an old fashioned look seems good for her.  Some of the scraps are Civil War and '30's repros, but others are Asian or batik.   The blocks aren't hard to make but do take some time.  I have made blocks in spurts throughout the summer, and now I'm auditioning fabrics for the sashing.  I have a beige print and a blue print spread out on the bed in my sewing room.  I laid some blocks on each and added cornerstones.   I will leave them there for a few days and see which looks best to me.  Today it's gloomy so the blue looks dull.   I'm hoping for some sun tomorrow for a different look.

I plan to do the quilting myself, in sections, and to present the quilt to Karen for her birthday.  And here comes another decision - what sort of event?  When I told the Friends early this summer that I wanted to do this and needed a deadline, someone said Karen's birthday is in late November.  That seemed really far off at the time, but now it's not.  A special birthday party is in order, so I'll be conferring with them and the staff to figure out just when. 

My favorite autograph came from Cary, a man who used the library as an "office" while he started up his business:  Thank you for being you!  That's just how I feel, too.