Here is a long overdue post about a quilt that our group made a while back as a gift for someone special. Anne Sullivan is fast becoming one of the big names in the modern quilting world. But, here at the SBAMQG, she has been impressing us with her talents since our very beginning in 2011. Anne was our long-time tech guru as well as our Vice President and, without her, we wouldn’t be what we are today. Her leadership and guidance are always so appreciated and her mastery of color and design mixed with computer programming are beyond amazing. What a treat it has been to watch Anne’s Play Crafts blog grow since its early stages. And now, seeing all she has been accomplishing lately, we are so proud to be able to say we knew her when!

Last summer, Anne was given a job opportunity 3000 miles away, in Washington DC. While this was great for her, it wasn’t so great for us. So, of course we turned to quilting to mend our broken hearts.  It wasn’t hard to decide what to make. We instantly knew that Anne’s very own design, Rock Candy Block, would be a perfect going away gift for her.

Each guild member received a HST-square in light and dark grey:

We were then given instructions to complete our block using bright complementary colors. Here, some of the blocks start to come together:

Lori Green, Karen Foster, Pat Goulet, and Tina Michalik begin assembling rows:

 The newly pieced top hangs on the design wall:

Karen, Lori, and Pat work on the binding:

What do you do with extra blocks? Karen Foster makes giant tote bags and Anne was the recipient of this one as well:

Here is the SBAMQG’s finished Rock Candy quilt (quilted by Pat Goulet and labeled by Lori Green), preparing for its trip from the west coast: 

What fun it was to present Anne with her quilt at QuiltCon West last February in Pasadena, CA. She was so surprised!

Guild member, Heidi, and Anne show off the quilt: Anne sent us this picture of the quilt after the trip to its new home back east:

We miss you Anne! Hope you think of us whenever you see the quilt!

(Photo credit Karen Foster, Anne Sullivan)

Talented SBAMQG member, Kathrin, was awarded a First Place ribbon in the “Large Quilts, Traditional, Machine Quilted” category at the Monterey Peninsula Quilt Association show, “Quilts by the Bay,” this weekend.  Kathrin’s prize-winning Glam Clam quilt was started in a SBAMQG workshop with Latifah Saafir last year and look how it turned out!  Congratulations, Kathrin!  It’s a beauty and is well-deserving of the honor.