The Quilts of Annette Pauls - 2006

This book was assembled in 2006 as a memory of the 20 years of quilting by our mother, Annette Pauls. Since bragging about one's own accomplishments is against the principles Mom lives by, it is up to us, her kids, to do it for her. Knowing that these quilts will be passed on from generation to generation we hope the quilt and family photos in this book will provide some helpful background on Mom and our family.................From Mom's comments on the process of making the quilts and her opinion of the quilts you will see that while satisfied with many of the quilts, she rates some as "average, standard, mediocre, or not well done." These self critical remarks shows her life-long expectation of herself and her children that we can and should do better than "average." ......................... Since joining the Undercover Quilters Guild she has placed her quilts into their shows. While she primarily makes large bed quilts, since she "doesn't see the point" in making "non-functional" quilts, every quilt will be a lasting remembrance of her love for us all........................The photos were taken on April 28-30, 2006. Mom's reluctance to "having a big deal" made of her 80th birthday was replaced with this "Gathering of the Quilts". Her five children and their spouses/partners traveled from all around the country with quilts in hand. Friday and Saturday was a flurry of activity as the quilts were photographed to include a full sized hanging photo plus detail photos and quilts on the bed photos. At the end of the photos a composite photo of all of the quilts were taken on the front lawn of the family home. The cover photo shows her 20 years of work and 40 so quilts.

Larry,Marty, John, Annette and Liz

Family home and quilts (Above photo of Larry,Marty, John, Annette and Liz)

1 Double Wedding Ring 1985 to 1987 & 1987 to 1989

96 x 108 inches. My first and second quilt. I made two of these for Hans and myself, who each had a double bed in the master bedroom with green carpet. I saw this quilt in a shop, which is the one my grandmother made and we slept under growing up. I bought the pattern, instructions and fabric and got started. They were machine pieced and hand quilted. Hans died before they were finished, but he had great fun joking with our neighbor Tom Howard saying, "My wife has lost her mind. She buys large pieces of fabric, then cuts them up in small pieces and next sews them back together again." It was entered in the Undercover Quilt Show in 1993 held at Neuman College. The quilt won the first place blue ribbon for "First quilt finished." Judges comment was "ambitious for a first quilt." The most difficult thing in this quilt is in choosing and coordinating fabric, which is still tricky for me. Finishing the scalloped binding was the most difficult in completing it.

1 Double Wedding Ring

2 Double Wedding Ring 1987 to 1989

96 x 108 inches. The second quilt.

Mom and her quilts

3- John's Prairie Stars with Pieced Border 1987 to 1989

96 x 108 inches. This quilt is the third quilt and it was made for John. At the time it was made I had yet to join a quilt guild and so it was not shown or judged. This is the first star quilt that I made and stars have become my favorite. The prairie stars design was found in the book Shining Star Quilts and the border was my own. It was quilted one block at a time and then assembled which was the most difficult part of this quilt. (Note: see the photo of the quilt when new on the next page which Mom prefers. We kept this photo of the much loved but a bit faded quilt here.)

3- John's Prairie Stars Quilt when new

4- Joanne's Country Bride Late 1980's

96 x 108 inches. This is the 4th quilt. The fifth quilt is of the same design. They were hand appliqued and hand quilted. I made this one for Joanne and the 5th for Liz. They got them as soon as they were finished. I saw the quilt in "The Old Country Store" in Intercourse, PA bought the book and made it per directions. The scalloped binding was the most difficult and not done well. The large templates for quilting were not available at the time so there was a lot of "fitting" to be done. The best thing I did was getting Joanne and Liz to choose their own colors. It was entered in a show with the Undercover Quilters in 1993 at Neuman College and won 3rd place in the applique category. Judges comments "Too many puffy spaces - needs more quilting." I liked the quilt well enough. They seem too feminine for one who shares a room with a man.

4- Joanne's Country Bride

5- Liz's Country Bride Late 1980's

96 x 108 inches. This is the 5th quilts and it was for Liz. It was hand appliqued and hand quilted. I liked the quilt well enough. They seem too feminine for one who shares a room with a man.

5- Liz's Country Bride (Photo above from 1955 - picnic with Grandma Pauls)

6- Larry's Lone Star with Applique Late 1980's

96 x 108 inches. This was the 6th quilt. It was made for Larry and Carol. I got the lone star instructions from the "Shining Star Quilts" book and added the applique from another pattern. It was entered in the Undercover Quilt Show in 1993 and won a 1st Place blue ribbon in the mixed category and won 1st as Viewers' Favorite. The judges comment was "overall appearance is crisp and dramatic." Colors again were the most difficult. Carol and I struggled with the blue diamonds unsuccessfully until Larry said we needed some white color in there, which solved the whole equation. I like it very much and plan to make another one someday because stars are my favorite design. At the request of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine I sent this quilt to them for photographing and possible publication in their magazine. It was published in the July/August 2006/No.384 edition, but the faded photo they used didn't do the quilt justice.

6- Larry's Lone Star (Photo above is Annette at the show)

7 Mariner's Compass 1989 to 1990

This was the 7th quilt. It is 105" x 115" and was machine pieced and hand quilted. I made it for the King bed in my bedroom and used it there for 15 years. I like it very much and so I decorated my bedroom around it. The design was from a quilters magazine and I added sashes and setting squares. It was not entered in a show. At the time I didn't feel it was good enough to be judged. It was hung at Neuman College on display only. The most difficulty in making it was keeping the points exactly on the seam line. The compass circle had to be hand stitched to the outer pieces to get that done.

Laura's Mariner's Compass Lap Quilt

7 Mariner's Compass

8- Marty's Mariner's Compass 1990 -1992

This quilt was made from 1990 to 1992 and was the 8th. It is 96" x 108" hand pieced and hand quilted. I made it for Marty & Debbie and they got it right after the 1995 Undercover Quilt Show where the judges said it was a "great looking quilt" and that "the center circles should be perfectly round." Though it won no ribbons, I like it because it is basically a star design. The design was from a quilting magazine, with sashes and setting squares that I added. The most difficult was getting the points exactly at the seam line. Since this was hand pieced it was easier to be exact at the points

Lindsay's Mariners Compass Lap Quilt

8 Marty's Mariner's Compass

9 Crazy Quilt 1989 to 1997

This 84" x 88" machine pieced and hand embroidered quilt was pieced in 1989 to 1991 and then embroidered thru 1997. I made it just to see if I could, after missing my chance to buy one made in 1939 for $120 while in Tennessee visiting Larry during his operation in the late 1980's. It's OK, though not my favorite. It took six years to make and is strictly non-functional. It was entered in the Undercover Quilt Show in 1997 at the Brookhaven Municipal Center and won a first place blue ribbon in the mixed category. It got rave remarks from the viewers and the judges commented on the beautifully done border stitches. It hung in my living room for one year and that was enough. The design was not difficult. I have a crazy quilt book to help. Also a book of 1000 embroidery stitches and how to do them. I added the dark red silk border - it just seemed to belong on there. Most difficult in making was marking the fabrics to embroider. Since this quilt has no batting, fitting the backing to the top was a challenge. The pieced fabrics were accumulated scraps. The back and border were purchased special for the quilt.