Master quilter
Sue Deal is one of those amazing multi-talented people who quietly accomplishes great feats without ever tooting her own horn. Only after you have known her for any length of time do you realize that this friendly, smiling person is like an iceberg: she reveals only a fraction of herself and you have to dive deep beneath the surface to see the rest. I have known Sue for five years and not until a couple of weeks ago when she brought me an armload of her quilts to hang in the library did I know that she was an expert hand-quilter. Hand-quilting refers to the stitching that secures the three layers of a quilt together. It can be both functional and decorative. To acquire this skill requires many hours of practicing it, and nowadays most people have neither the time nor the inclination; they stitch by machine.
Four of Sue’s quilts are hanging in the library; three of them are hand-quilted. Especially beautiful is “Celtic Garden,” an award-winning quilt that is displayed so that viewers can see the exquisite stitching on both the front and the back.
Nowadays, Sue sews her quilts by machine and I can understand why. She is a very busy retired schoolteacher who takes care of her grandchild and participates actively in two quilt guilds (Petaluma and San Francisco), as well as the Petaluma Woman’s Club. Not only that, yesterday I found her sitting at the Master Gardener’s table at the farmer’s market dispensing advice to a would-be tomato grower. What other secrets do you have, Sue?
"Endless Chain" by Sue Deal
"Celtic Garden" hand-quilted
"Corn and Beans" by Sue Deal
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"Spike Mania" machine-quilted
