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Meet Carole Peterson

Carole Peterson, a “snow bird” member of the Palmetto Quilt Guild since its beginnings, comes to Hilton Head for 3 months each year. When she first arrived on the island over 10 years ago seeking activities and friends on the island, she found PQG members welcoming and encouraging. In the past she has quilted with the Morning Star and Presbyterian Church Bees, and currently she quilts with the Classic Quilters and Seabreeze Bees.

Carole lives in Poughkeepsie, NY with her husband Jerry nine months out of the year. They have three daughters and three grandsons. The daughters have each quilted to some extent, and all her grandsons have designed and sewn their own quilts.

Carole’s passion for sewing began early. By the age of eight she was sewing on her mother’s Singer Featherweight and by age 13 she made her own clothing. She explored and loved home decorating, upholstering, and all the needlework skills. Quilting hooked her in 1981 as worked on the first block of a memory quilt for her pastor.

From these beginnings Carole went on to become a National Quilting Association certified judge. Before PQG’s first judged quilt show she introduced the membership to the process through mock judging presentations. She has made quilts for fundraisers, quilts that celebrate special occasions and quilts for every member of her family as well as many friends. Her quilts have found their way to Japan, Germany, Sweden and Denmark in personal collections. The quilt she loves most is the one she is working on. Fabric Texture and color dazzle her.

NOW LET HER QUILTS DAZZLE YOU!

Alma Mater Quilt

Made for her high school class reunion this quilt celebrates a longstanding scholarship fund that awards several students from each graduating class. The landscape represents the Allegheny Plateau and River. Featured are red and blue, the school colors, and photo transfers of the past and present high schools. Machine appliquéd and quilted, this quilt has a permanent home in the Kane Friends Library, Kane, Pennsylvania.

Feathered Star

Inspired by Carole’s collection of blue and yellow fabrics for a PQG workshop with Nancy Srebro Johnson, each block features a different fabric. The quilt won a blue ribbon at the PQG 2006 show. Machine quilted by Linda McCuean.

Four Seasons

Hand cutwork appliqué in this quilt features different green fabrics in each block set off by background blocks of sateen cottons in white, cream and vanilla. Finished with wool batting and quilted by Linda McCuean. A double winner for Carole at the PQG 2006 quilt show with a blue ribbons plus the Viewers Choice award.

In Memory of Red Drum

Made for her oldest grandson’s 16^th birthday, this quilt celebrates his delight in catching a Red Drum fish while visiting his grandparents on Hilton Head Island. Many batik fabrics are used to portray the fish. Machine quilted by Linda McCuean.

Island Suns

Made by Carole and her daughter, Janice, this quilt was a second place winner in a contest sponsored by Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine. Fabric from the RJR reproduction line of Smithsonian quilt fabrics had to comprise 75% of the quilt. Searching far and wide for the scrappy yellow fabric used for sun rays on an island with no quilt shop at that time challenged both women! Janice did the machine quilting.

Golden Ginkgos

This quilt was an attempt at trying surface design techniques in combination with an inspirational hand painted background fabric made by Mikey Lawler. The use of paint sticks and fiber and metallic threads helped create the desired effect, but Carole notes, “I feel that it is still not finished.

My Hilton Head Camellias

Carole used a ruching technique to create flowers that resemble camellias in a pattern designed by Anita Shackelford. The quilt is hand appliquéd and hand quilted by Carole.

Garden Symphony

Carole created a Bargello pattern in a PQG workshop taught by Marge Edie using a phrase of music, thus the “Symphony” in the title.