Coffee with Christina Cameli

The other day, I had coffee with Christina Cameli.

She had just received copies of her beautiful new book, "Wedge Quilt Workshop" (2017 C&T/ Stash Books), and she wanted me to have one. I'm always excited to see Christina's latest work, but this book also includes four quilts from my collection.

Many months ago -- so long ago I'd completely forgotten about it -- Christina asked if I had any photos of quilts with wedges, such as fans or Dresden Plates. She was interested in wedge quilts and wanted to look at antique and vintage examples to enhance and inform her work.

wool fans quilt found at Cabot Mill antique shop in Maine

I sent as many photos as I could find, gave her permission to use them and then proceeded to completely forget about it. It happens more often than you'd think, but there's a beauty in being forgetful about good deeds such as contributions to books. Each time a new title comes out, it's like a surprise.

Christina was at the December Portland Modern Quilt Guild meeting, and she showed me photos of some pages on her phone. That was when I remembered some of my quilts would be part of her book, and of course I felt very honored. Two of the quilts appeared in my last book, "Modern Roots" -- also published by C&T/Stash Books.

The fan quilt was made around the turn of the century and came from an antique shop in Maine. The two that appeared in "Modern Roots" were from eBay sellers. The fourth quilt, a large wheel design with a blue background, came from one of my high school friends, Greg Rabinowitz, who found it in an estate sale in Florida.

Christina's modern quilts are vibrant, simply gorgeous, and two of them will be at the upcoming QuiltCon in Pasadena. I couldn't remember which ones, but two of my favorites in the book were Sea of Serenity and Sacred Heart. I think everyone will enjoy reading about these quilts. They're so much more than simply beautiful objects.

When I saw the book cover, I recalled another quilt from my collection, which is now part of the collection at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum. It is an inscribed, red and white quilt with a wonderful, optical design made with wedge-shaped patches. It is the same design as the quilt on the cover. I regretted not thinking about it earlier, but for the sake of comparison, here it is.

It was lovely to sit and chat with Christina, and I'm thrilled for her and new book. We enjoyed coffee at Stumptown Coffee Roasters on Division with my girlfriend, Linda. The baristas were beautiful, and I asked them if they had to be supermodels to work there. They gave us lattes with hearts.

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