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On the Cover
Buckskin

More from Marla Yeager

On the cover of the September 2007 issue of Quilters Newsletter, the prizewinning quilt Buckskin was shown. Directions for the pieced border were also given. Buckskin was made by Marla Yeager of Ava, Missouri.

The quilt has won more than one prize, including best of show at the 2007 Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XVIII and the Bernina Machine Workmanship Award at the American Quilter's Society Quilt Show in Paducah, Kentucky, in April 2007.

These words are from Marla: "Here's a little bit about how I developed Buckskin. The first step was deciding on a theme for the project, which generally starts with a particular block or design. In the case of Buckskin, it was the Feathered Star block. Since this is one of the most difficult to piece and one of my all-time favorites, it was a challenge that was important to conquer."

Marla notes, "After seeing Diane Gaudynski's quilts and having the opportunity to attend her workshop, her dynamic style of quilting captured my heart and has consumed my quilting style ever since."

Quiltmaking has become a very important part of Marla's life, as it has for so many quilters. "People quilt for many different reasons. My reason started out as something fun to do because my husband gave me a new sewing machine for Christmas.

"For Buckskin, my goal was to make the stars the focal point by making them look three-dimensional. The way to accomplish this was to use a fabric with strong colors and a linear design. Hoffman Bali Batiks were the perfect choice. I fussy cut the star patches from three of these.

"My love of Cherrywood hand-dyed fabrics made the choice of the border and background easy. I chose Cherrywood ochre for the background, and the gradations came from two Cherrywood packets: the Folk Art packet and the Berry Patch packet.

"The last fabric came into the picture when I decided to add applique to the quilt. The applique design is based on the Palm Leaf Stencil from The Stencil Company. I made an early decision that this quilt would have a strong nature theme. The fabric that fit with the theme and kept the rugged look was a hand-dyed Ricky Tims fabric. His fabrics are superb, and the colors stay true.

"With the palette of fabrics assembled, it was time to talk to the namer–that would be my husband, Joe, who names all of my quilts. After looking at the design and the suede-looking fabrics, he said it had a very earthy, Native American feel, and he came up with Buckskin. I think it is perfect-it is short and conveys the feeling of the quilt.

"With the design, fabrics, and name in place, it was down to the quilting designs, which is a very critical decision. Generally, I spend lots of time exploring and auditioning quilting designs all through the piecing process. Since my quilt was going to be an earthy quilt, that eliminated all the feather and floral designs, as well as the Celtic and most geometric ones. So, after much searching, I found the palm designs that fit the theme for Buckskin. The idea for the bubble/rope came when I couldn't decide on a single background quilting design. So, to add interest and a dividing line, the rope was used between the multiple background designs. This is a Diane Gaudynski quilting technique.

"The four appliqued palm leaf blocks and the setting triangles all contain trapunto, as do the designs in the border and the leaves and circle/rope that divides the background quilting motifs. The method of trapunto I used is also from Diane Gaudynski. The quilt top was first placed over the trapunto batting (I used Quilter's Dream Poly Select), and stitched around the shapes that would contain trapunto with water-soluble thread. The excess batting was trimmed away before layering the quilt top with the cotton batting (Quilter's Dream cotton) and the backing. I used YLI 100 wt. silk thread for all the quilting, except on the Bali Batik, which I quilted with clear nylon thread.

"My life has required that we move around the country. The absence of friends and family has meant that continuity in my life has to come from another source–my quilting. When we moved to a new place, the children made friends at school, and Joe worked with the same people, but for me, each move was a new beginning. There is a true peace of mind that comes with bringing a quilt project out of a box and focusing all my energies on making it the best that it can be. It is therapy of a unique kind."