Julie Filatoff | Art Quilts

JiRaF’s Giraffes

Quilt Size: 29 x 59"

Block Size: 5"

Machine Pieced and Quilted

Date Made: September 2004

I have always loved giraffes—they are beautiful, elegant, and quiet.  And my initials are JRF (hence “JiRaF”).

This was my first attempt at prairie points, and they turned out okay. Mine overlap, but to Noelle that just looks wrong! It's funny how different we quilters are.

Speaking of Noelle, she gave me several batik fat quarters for my birthday that ended up here. Although I like all-batik quilts, it’s fun to mix them with other types of fabrics.

The quilt also has loads of beading and embellishments, many of which were given to me by friends over the years. From top to bottom: I believe the black-and-white giraffe pin is from Jenetah; the myrtle wood giraffe ornament on the right is from Carol; the shell underneath that is from an old T-shirt of my Aunt Iris; the pewter pin under that is from Karen; the Kokopellis always remind me of Mike and Deb (and Koko, their dog); etc., etc! The fringe is all kinds of crazy stuff I collected.

This quilt won first place in the "Predominantly Pieced Wall Quilt" category at the Northern New Mexico Quilter's Guild's 2004 Quilt Fiesta. To say that I was thrilled would be an understatement!

Photos, top to bottom:

Front of quilt. Photo: Paul Horpedahl

Detail of quilt (trapunto giraffe with free-motion quilting). Photo: Paul Horpedahl

More details. Photos: Julie Filatoff