Bill Stearman, Quilt Maker

These three words express my intent in life.  As long as they stay my focus, it can get no better. 'GRATITUDE' is made with fabric won at a Prince Edward County Quilters' Guild meeting. 'LOVE' is made with fabric given to me by my 95 year old Aunt Jeanne. 'JOY' is made from fabric that makes my two granddaughters giggle. Quilted by Deanna Gaudaur. Photographed by Mike Gaudaur. quintestudios.com

When my partner passed away after a long  battle  with cancer, I  experienced the true meaning of  being at peace. The pain and  discomfort were gone.  There was finally a peace for us both. This quilt is my  attempt to capture both that peace, and the  complexity  of that peace, using over 30 white, and white on  white  fabrics. But even within the peace, there is the  dripping red of tears. Mostly they were tears of gratitude.  It was surely a loss ... but also  an incredible blessing to  have loved and been loved so deeply.

A map of Canada tells a story ... about geography that divides; climate that challenges; roads that take forever to connect; about a people so varied that we often don't speak the same language; about a country that is rugged and often unrefined; about sophistication and harshness.   It is a country that shouldn't work.  But it does, and I love it!   This is my interpretation of that Canada ... our Canada. Thanks Joni, for the words ... about a love that can't work, but always will. Photographed by Mike Gaudaur,  quintestudios.com

All quilted.   Another great job by Deanna Gaudaur.

Look what arrived today! ... 42 different Kona solids ... neatly labelled ... ready for play. Many thanks to my friends at Sew Sisters . Life is good!

Photo by Mike Gaudaur Otis loves it! It looks good horizontally and vertically ... although I prefer it sideways.  My quilter, Deanna Gaudaur, made my suggestions work beautifully.  She has such talent! This one started as a Bargello class last May or June.  The instructor, Joyce Oconnell, is now a friend and mentor of sorts.  It was a cool class.   Like most of my quilts, this one grew and evolved as the fabric directed.  I had great fun with it ... so much fun that I started to call it a 'bordello' quilt instead of a 'bargello' quilt. The name stuck! This one is currently with my quilter, Deanna Gaudaur.

Photo by Mike Gaudaur This summer I have quilted very little.  It was a summer of learning, with three weeks spent at Haliburton School of the Arts.  And it was a summer of landscaping, with a huge new garden featuring a garden railway, and a couple of great new decks created in the yard. Then a couple of weeks ago I went to Chester, Vermont for a Men's Quilting retreat and got back at it!  My head is exploding with ideas that I'd like to try. This one is called 'My World'.  It still needs binding.  Boy was it a fun one to make!  68" x 84" Quilting detail - quilted as directed, by Deanna Gaudaur The back ...

When I was working on 'At Peace', I reflected on the life experiences that brought me total peace with the Universe; with my God,   But then I decided that those moments just didn't tell the whole story.   When my partner died after a nasty bout with cancer I saw, and felt, that moment of peace at his passing.  But there soon followed anger at the disease, loss, loneliness and a myriad of not so peaceful emotions and memories.  They were part of our life, and it had been a good life! I came to the realization that the moments of being at peace didn't tell the whole story.  So I made this quilt. The background is made from one fabric, but cut to show the many other aspects of a life.  It is an exact mirror of 'At Peace', which just seemed right to me. It tells 'The Rest of the Story' ... about a life that was good.

When a person finally dies after a long and painful battle with a terminal illness, there is a beautiful moment when the last breath has been taken; when the pain and discomfort is gone; and when the patient has moved on.  There is peace.  Finally.  It is a beautiful moment when both the patient and the caregiver experiencing that total peace on different levels.   This quilt started out as my attempt to capture that wonderfully Spiritual moment. But as I worked on it, I reflected on so many other moments in life when I had experienced a similar sense of peace ... holding my newborn child and seeing my love reflected in his eyes ... seeing my daughter holding her first born child ... meeting my soul-mate ... watching a chick hatch out of eggs ... seeing a calf take its first breath ... experiencing a butterfly hatching out of a chrysalis.  The list is endless. I see all those moments of being 'At Peace', in this quilt.

Well I managed to stick to the colourways that I was trying to use this time ... mostly ... ;-) I pieced like mad on a rainy Saturday, while Ton Waits blared away on the CD player.  It is a pretty simple quilt, but I like it. I've named this one "I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You" ... with thanks, of course, to Tom. WOW ... This one is my twentieth quilt since I started to quilt ... one year ago right about now.  What a wonderful year it has been! With so much gratitude, I say ... Life is good!

I really wanted to try something using colourways that aren't part of my usual pallet ... but while I was working on this one, the sun came out and Stevie Nicks ended up on the CD player.  What can I say!  My quilts just grow. Even though I ended up brightening it up considerably, I still really like this one.   "Leather and Lace" ... with thanks to Stevie for the name. This is the back of the quilt.  I had Deanna Gaudaur quilt it with dark purple thread so that back would look good as well. And I still think that a quilt should have function, so I wash all of my quilts, and curl up with a magazine or to watch TV, at least once, with each of them.  The washing gives them added texture and dimension. I also like to know that everything is colour fast.  And they need to pass my 'snuggle factor' test. :-) I don't think that I used a pattern for this quilt, although more experienced quilters can likely find a label for what I h...

This one was made for a baby about to be born into one of my favourite families.  He'll be a farmer, to be sure. Life is good!

This is my 17th quilt. I LOVE this fabric!  It is made by a woman in Tanzania in small batches.  She is paid a fair wage, and supports her family. When I work with this fabric, I can almost hear her humming! This is my second quilt with these fabrics, and in this style.  I have one more in the works. This is what I was singing as I worked on this one ... I WILL find what I am looking for with this fabric. I think that I am close.

 Freshly back from my quilter.  What an amazing job she does! I love the backing as well.  It is a fabric designed by my first quilting teacher, Elaine Quehl.  Lovely! This one is ready for my quilter.  I fell in love all over again with U2 The Joshua Tree while I was working on this one.  What a great CD. And this quilt just feels like it should be called ... 'Where the Streets Have No Name'. Sing along ... I'll post new pictures once we have it quilted.