Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Monterey angels

With all the stillness and serenity of a deep Christmas night, here's an angel shining brightly against the starry sky. This Monterey Angel quilt, known as the "Celestial Angel", with its beautiful winter colors, uses Amish patchwork piecing to achieve a clean, geometric effect that looks stunning in all types of decor.

Monterey Angel, approx 60" x 60", by Helene Knott as seen at Story Quilts


Ten fabric colors, including three different shades of periwinkle blue, are used to create this luminous work. Surrounding the angel is the traditional trip-around-the-world piecing along with time-honored sawtooth stars using half-square triangles. The halo, face, and hands can be appliqued using a variety of techniques.

Taos Angel version of Monterey Angel, approx. 60 x 60", by Helene Knott as seen at Story Quilts


Here is another version of the Monterey Angel, done in rich, warm terracotta colors with a regal red and sage green gown. Because these colors are so often used in the folk art of the southwestern United States,  Helene named this version the "Taos Angel", after the art town in New Mexico. 

On Helene's website she writes,   "I was born and raised on the Monterey Peninsula in central California, a beautiful area that served as an inspiration to set me onto a creative path for life."  The town of Monterey was the capital of Alta California from 1777-1846, when California was under the control of Spain and Mexico. Helene was inspired to create the wall quilts shown here by the paintings of angels displayed each Christmas season, in Monterey, a reflections of  the town's cultural and artistic Spanish heritage.

Image credits: A very well-known, prolific quilt teacher, designer, and workshop leader, Helene has received many awards for her quilt creations, which have been featured on the cover of Quilter's Newsletter. For more information about Helene Knott and for photos of her brilliant work, please visit her intriguing website, Kitty Stomp. Images are shown here with the generous permission of Story Quilts.

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