The Search for Kaaterskill: Award-Winning Quilt is Lost

Kaaterskill has come away with high honors from four juried shows, so far, including last year's Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Virginia, best hand workmanship; the Quilt Odyssey in Hershey, Pa., best hand quilting; and the International Quilt Festival in Houston, where the quilt was awarded an overall third place for handmade quilts.

Janet told Cathy Woodruff that the finished project is handmade, hand-pieced and hand-appliqued with ultra-fine hand stitching. Much of the fabric was given to her by quilting friends, including some that came though annual "birthday swaps," in vibrant shades of red, purple and yellow.

Ms. Atkins composed the quilt during more than four years of inspired design and painstaking handwork, starting with a 2005 retreat on Lake George, where she started with a compass block design by master quilter Anita Shakelford.

The entire quilt was hand pieced, which means that each of the tiny sections were stitched together by hand using needle and thread. You may wonder why, in this day and age with so many computerized machines available, anyone would want to use hand piecing techniques. Many quilters do use their sewing machines at every stage of the quilting process, but those who prefer to piece by hand, like hand-piecing expert Patricia L. Cummings, do so because they like the connection of hand to cloth, like the peacefulness of hand sewing, have found that it is the key to being able to control what they are doing, especially in trickier piecing.

Applique is a process by which smaller pieces of fabric are stitched to the surface of a larger piece. When creating a quilt using hand applique each piece is stitched to the quilt surface using tiny stitches, worked by hand.

Janet hand quilted Kaaterskill herself, meticulously sewing each tiny stitch, 10 - 12 of them per inch.

In the photo above, you can see that Kaaterskill was supported by a frame during the quilting process. When hand quilting, some quilters hold their work unsupported in their lap when they work. Most quilters, however, prefer to use some sort of quilting hoop or frame to hold the quilt stretched out. This makes it easier to stitch with an even tension and helps to prevent puckering and tucks.