The Artist
As a young mother living in Tallahassee, Florida, in the mid 1960s, I experimented with different types of needlework that I later entered in the North Florida Fair. Since my creations never fit into their carefully defined categories, they always put them into the category called Articles of Merit Not Listed. Sometimes I think that is the story of my life. Since there weren’t too many entries in that category, I won lots of ribbons.
When we left Florida to live in Virginia I began working in a large non-credit adult vocational education program in Fairfax County. One of my jobs was to coordinate the needlework program. This gave me a chance to study a variety of techniques. When quilting became popular in the mid-1970s, I became addicted and have been a quilter ever since.
All my early quilts are made by machine piecing, hand appliqué, and hand quilting. From about 2002 on most were professionally machine quilted.
Over the years I have wondered about the creative spirit and what that means and if it can be taught. Some definitions that appeal to me are: Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, Elaboration, The Willingness to Take Chances, and Fun. Ibelieve we all have some creativity inside us and it comes out on a highly individualized basis. I love giving a new twist to an old pattern. Some might say my approach is actually twisted! I hope the fun part of my quilts is apparent to others. And some of them even have merit!
I often refer to friends in my two quilting bees, The Dirty Dozen and The Quilter’s Dozen. Those two groups as well as my quilt guild, Quilter’s Unlimited, have provided me with a network of friends and mentors over the years that has been invaluable. I am grateful for having the kind of family that has encouraged this hobby of mine.
Several of my quilts have appeared in various publications. Those quilts are marked with an * and can be found in the list of publications below.
Carolyn Lynch
Publications by Carolyn Lynch
“An American Family” appears in Gatherings, America’s Quilt Heritage, by AQS, Pilgrim and Roy, 1995. Page 128. This quilt was selected to represent the state of VA in an exhibit in Paducah, KY, in 1995. After that it was in an exhibit that went to several museums over a two-year period. It appears in the booklet, Virginia Quilts, by Hazel Carter.
“Barbara’s Baskets” appears on the cover of the magazine, Traditional Quilter, July, 1998, and includes instructions beginning on page 39.
“Cabins on the Creek” appears in the magazine, Traditional Quiltworks, Issue No. 8, June/July 1990 and includes the instructions, page 25.
“Escaping the Herd” appears in the book, The Quilt Patch, published by That Patchwork Place, written by Leslie Anne Pfeifer, 1995. Patterns for all the blocks and assembly instructions are included.
“Flowers in a Garden Maze,” Carolyn and Pat Gallagher self published a pattern book for this quilt in 1994.
“Iowa Barns” appears on the cover of Quilting Today, Issue No 19, June/July 1990.
“Iowa Barns,” the pattern and picture, appear on page 18 and 28 of Quilting Today, Issue 23, Feb/March, 1991.
“Lady of the Lake,” appears in the magazine, Traditional Quiltworks, Issue No. 30, Feb. 1994. Picture and pattern.
“Lenores Plant,” an article on this project appears in the magazine, Quilter’s Gallery, Inspiration for Today’s Quilter, by All American Crafts, Inc. 1998.
“Lilies of the Field,” appears in the magazine, Traditional Quiltworks, Issue 15, Aug/Sept 1991, page 12. It includes the picture, pattern and an article on Quilt Sets.
“Mariners Compass” (Oval Medallion) appears in the book, Medallion Quilts, by Jinny Beyer, EPM Publications, Inc, 1982.
“Puff’s Inner Child” appears in Quilter’s Newletter Magazine, March 2000/ No. 320, p. 64.
“Grandma Said “appears in the magazine, Quilt if for Keepsakes, by QNM, Jan. 2003, Instructions are included, pages 30-31.
“Something Wicked this Way Comes” was the Photo Finish quilt in Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine, October, 1998.
“T & A” (Charm Quilt # 480) appears in the magazine, Quilting Today, Issue 17, Feb/March 1990, and includes the pattern and instructions, page 9. It also appears in the book, Designing Tessellations, by Jinny Beyer, Contemporary Books, 1998.
"Virginia is for Quilt Lovers" appears in the book, Virginia Quilt Museum, by Joan Knight, Howell Press, Charlottesville, VA, 2002, page 104.
“I’m Chiquita Banana,” a wall hanging made for the Healing Quilts in Medicine project appears in several publications including a book by Lisa Ellis and Cyndi Souder called Healing Quilts in Medicine, 2005.
“Hankies for Show” appears in the magazine, Quilt it for Keepsakes, by QNM, 2003, page 59.
“Antiques and Old Lace” (Called Old Lace in the magazine), appears in the magazine, Quilt it for Keepsakes, by QNM, 2006, page 26.
“Bookcase Memorabilia” appears in the magazine, Quilt it for Keepsakes, by QNM, 2008.