This is a quilt done in the Quilted Photography style. I used several photos that I literally pasted together with paper and tape and then scanned it into the program. There are 9396 1/2 inch squares which were ironed onto a gridded fusible background. Once that process was completed, the design was covered with tulle, borders were added, and then machine quilted. This is the same process I used for my "Buck" quilt and my son Josh's graduation quilt.
The Astoria Column resides in Astoria Oregon, my hometown. It was a short walk from the house I grew up in. How fabulous to have such an awesome structure in your backyard!!!
So a little history on the Astoria Column, or the Astor Column as we called it when I was a kid.
The 125 foot tall Astoria Column resides overlooking the Columbia River, or Great River of the West as it was called over 200 years ago. It was completed in 1926 and is made of steel and concrete. There are 164 steps inside that lead visitors to the viewing deck on top.
The idea for the Astoria Column, which is patterned after the Trajan Column in Rome, Italy, originated with Ralph Budd, president of the Great Northern Railroad. He wanted to give credit to Astoria's early explorers and settlers for their role in the expansion of the United States to the Pacific Ocean. He and a group of others asked Vincent Astor, great grandson of John Jacob Astor, who established the Pacific Fur Company in Astoria in 1811, to help with this project.
There are fourteen historical scenes that wrap around the surface of the column including: the arrival of early settlers, the discovery of the Columbia River by Capt. Robert Gray in 1792,, the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the Clatsop and Chinook Indians who lived in the area. An Italian artist, Attilo Pusteria, was hired to do the art work called Sgraffito (a bas-relief technique of plaster). It took him five months to complete the work once the column was constructed.
To this day, Astoria continues to be a great place for exploration.
When I was in grade school, several of us kids would see how many times we could climb the column in one day. I think the record was 9, and we were quite dizzy when the task was completed!!!!!
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| Here's the quilt without Maddie |
You will notice that the fabric photo below is the same photograph I used for the mosaic quilt above!!! It was one of those lucky shots, the clouds moved for just a few seconds for the sun to shine on the column and produce a great photograph. Seconds later, the sun was gone again!!!
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| This is the quilt that was auctioned :^) |
Two great quilts. The quilting in the border, on the second quilt, is fantastic. Almost acts as a frame. And Maddie is such a poser. Cute.
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