Happy!

I absolutely love this quilt, made by Nancy Tanguay of Warren, Connecticut, and quilted by Monika Krall of Trail, British Columbia. It's so happy, it sings to me. What is it singing?

The quilt is a pictorial rendition of the New York Beauty design, and a wonderful addition to the collection. The first time I saw a pictorial quilt made with New York Beauty blocks was a few years ago, when the Oregon Quilt Project was documenting the iconic Wedding Garden quilt by Jean Wells of Sisters, and I have searched for a pictorial New York Beauty ever since. 

One of the things I love most about Nancy Tanguay's quilt is the big, shining sun in the sky. The sun is a central motif in the New York Beauty patchwork design, but very few people have actually used the design to render the sun. What a brilliant idea, and I also love Monika's swirling quilting. 

Worth noting, Nancy and Monika teamed up to create another quilt in my collection, which was actually the first 21st century New York Beauty I added to my collection a few years ago. That quilt appeared in Quilters Newsletter, and was also part of my exhibitions at the Benton County Museum and the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. 

It was a very important piece to add to the collection because it opened up the whole discussion about how the New York Beauty design evolved with the introduction of foundation piecing in recent years. Having a pictorial is like putting an exclamation point at the end of that sentence. Thank you, Nancy and Monika- the two of you make me very happy!