Anne made her first quilt in 1972 – a big, heavy, tied jeans quilt. Anne’s second quilt in 1973 was a baby quilt – embroidered blocks on cotton duck fabric and bound with commercial bias tape. She started a hand piecing project after that – her first UFO!
Quilting then went on the back burner for the next 15 years or so. During that time, Anne was not idle, she did lots of other handwork – cross stitch, crewel embroidery, needlepoint, knitting, crocheting, clothes sewing and pattern drafting. She returned to quilting in 1991. Her daughter graduated from high school and headed off to college, so Anne subscribed to all the quilt magazines, joined Quilters Anonymous and a satellite group, started making quilts and hasn’t stopped since.
A trip to Hawaii in the early 90s introduced Anne to Hawaiian quilting, appliqué and hand quilting – still favorites today. Anne does much of her appliqué on the bus as she commutes to work. Yes, Anne has a full-time job but still manages to find time for plenty of quilting. The job is necessary in order to buy fabric.
Anne’s quilts have won many ribbons at the Quilter Anonymous quilt shows, the Evergreen State Fair and even at regional and national shows (thanks to all her friends for encouraging the entries).
http://www.quiltersanonymous.com/winners2008pages/annegillihan2008.htm
