October 31, 2008

It was easy to choose my favorite quilt from all the entries at the recent Pacific international Quilt Festival.

Paws down, it was Pup Art by Nancy S. Brown of Oakland, California.

Pup Art by Nancy S. Brown

In the quilt description, Nancy wrote that she loves animals and they are almost always the inspiration for her quilts, and that Charles Schultz got it right when he said, ‘Happiness is a warm puppy.’

I contacted Nancy and she graciously sent me a little more information about this happy quilt. “I like to make animal portraits with hand appliqué but don’t get to use bright colors (which I love) very often in them. I have been telling my students for years that you can make animals in any colors as long as you keep the lights and darks where they belong. I finally decided to take my own advice. I chose puppies as a theme after making a baby quilt with a blue laborador on it and of course, I just love puppies. I dyed most of the fabric myself and overdyed some black and white prints to add some texture.”

Here are a few of the colorful pups from the quilt, which, as Nancy says, “celebrates those wonderful, bouncy bundles of joy.”

pup1.gifpup3.gifpup4.gifpup2.gif
And, it wasn’t just me who was captivated by the puppies. I was delighted to learn that Pup Art won the 2008 PIQF Viewer’s Choice Award!

When I visited Nancy’s website at nancybrownquilts.com, I was reminded of one of her earlier quilts that I had fallen in love with when I saw it at PIQF. Be sure to check out all of her incredible quilts, especially Sunday in the Park with Mittens and look for the papillon in the front row! (Little dog, big fluffy ears.) Unbelievably, Nancy tells me that the papillon in that quilt belongs to a friend of hers and his name is Willie too!

Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs

Comments

7 Responses to “Pup Art”

  1. Carrie P. on November 2nd, 2008 12:10 pm

    The puppy quilt if fabulous. Yes, there is nothing like a puppy and even though they are all different colors they still look life like. How neat.

  2. Nancy Brown on November 9th, 2008 7:43 pm

    Thank you for all of your kind words about my puppy quilt. It was a lot of fun to make. I enjoy reading your blog!

    Regards,

    Nancy

  3. linda kimbal on January 22nd, 2010 8:42 am

    Saw your quilt at Road to Ca 2010. Loved it as did my friends. Every year we make at quilt for our local ICare program(helping dogs and cats find homes) Are you going to sell a pattern for this great quilt. Would love to have it. Sincerely, Linda Kimball, Bishop, Ca.

  4. Nancy Brown slideshow ~ you must see : All About Applique on July 19th, 2010 9:28 am

    […] couple years ago I put up a post about Pup Art, one of Nancy Brown’s […]

  5. What a whirlwind! : All About Applique on October 17th, 2012 1:39 pm

    […] No surprise I was drawn to this one. I always drop my jaw over Nancy’s work, especially since it has animals in it most of the time! Witness my earlier post about Pup Art. […]

  6. Louise Reagin on July 25th, 2016 5:35 pm

    Pup Art from 2008. Where can I get the pattern?

  7. Kay on July 25th, 2016 9:35 pm

    Hi Louise! I don’t think you’ll find a pattern for this one. Nancy’s quilts are original works of art. You might be able to take a class with her, just check out her website–the link is in the article.