You may have missed our deadline this year to enter your promising award winning quilt for Road to California 2015 – 20th Anniversary Show competition, but there is always next year!!
Gail Stepanek began her journey of making an award winning quilt by taking a quilt class at a local church in the early 80’s. It was a quilt trimmed in lace. Four quilts later, she learned that there was supposed to be binding on a quilt. On the fifth quilt she made, she learned that she was supposed to make her own matching binding…not buy packages of blanket binding. “Talk about being a slow learner!” recalls Gail.
How did Stars to Mars come about? Gail likes to paper piece and she decided to try her hand at designing several stars. She didn’t feel that she was proficient enough to draft the quilt in EQ7, so she asked Barb Vlack to help her and Barb was kind enough to draft it for her. Gail learned that all she needed was one star pattern. By changing fabrics and sewing lines, she could create different looking stars. 
It took over a year and a half to make the top and her collaborative partner, Jan Hutchison spent three months quilting it. Road to California 2014 was the first show that Stars On Mars was entered in and we were overjoyed at winning such a great award. Jan and Gail shared the award money– $3,000 given by Handi Quilter. Gail has used her winnings to attend several quilts shows throughout the year. In fact, she just booked her flight to Ontario, California for the 2015 Road to California show!!
What does the future hold for this award winning quilt maker? Gail and Jan hope to continue their collaboration for years to come. She just received another quilt that Jan had recently finished quilting. Gail was burning the midnight oil to make the deadline for Road 2015 so watch for it in next year’s competition.
]]>
Tags: Handi Quilter, Winning Quilt
