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"About 22 years ago (1984), I began quilting by making a number of traditional pieced quilts for family and friends. This family has been involved with horses and racing in one from or another ever since I can remember. My grandfather Bishop used Standard breeds as a mode of transportation in his business during the week and to race at local tracks on the weekends. Now, some 50 years later, my husband and I still attend Thoroughbred races at Fort Erie and Woodbine in Canada, and Saratoga, Belmont, Churchill downs, Hialiah, and Gulfstream in the states. This love of horses as well as other animals created a desire to break away from traditional piecing and try pictorial appliqué, a method which has brought me considerable recognition. For instance, 'Two Minutes in may' was named one of the 20th Century's best quilts, and 'Flowers of the Crown' has been designated as a Master Quilt by the National Quilting Association. These quilts as well as prize-winning quilts like 'Pandas 'Round the World,' 'Battle of Old Hilltop,' 'Friends of the Family,' and 'Puffins' were created using my system of prepared edges instead of needle-turned pieces.
In April of '05, Mr. Schroeder invited me to enter a miniature quilt in his 'Oh Wow!' collection. Initially I said 'probably not,' because I had never been particularly interested in working so small. I knew he was interested in one of my horse images and through the summer it was always in the back of my mind. Also, a few years ago I began thinking about creating a large wall quilt of the great race horse Cigar.
On October 28, 1995, my husband and I had the privilege of witnessing the incomparable Cigar winning the 12th running of the Breeders' Cup Classic at Belmont. It was the twelfth consecutive race in which he was unbeaten and in fact, he ran 16 times altogether before his streak was broken. Every now and then a unique thoroughbred comes along and rewrites the record book with dominating performances and personality creating a great amount of interest in horsemen and racing fans as well as the general public. This miniature commemorates this great animal.
At first I thought it would be 'quick and easy' to create this little quilt - perhaps a couple of weeks. How wrong I was!"