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Mother's Day
Printable version
  • Copyright © 1996 Caryl Bryer Fallert
  • Size: 20" x 22"
  • Techniques: Hand dyed and painted, machine pieced, appliqued, and quilted, direct laser printing on fabric
  • Materials: 100% cotton fabric / batting: 80% cotton / 20% polyester
  • Not for sale

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Design Concept

Mother's Day 1996 was my first Mother's Day without my mother Pauline Elisabeth Taylor Bryer, who died in 1995 at the age of 87. This quilt is made to honor and remember her. It is also as a celebration of all my female ancestors.

After my mothers death, I found several boxes of old family photos, which included pictures of ancestors I had never seen before. In this quilt I have made a spiral of ovals in graduated sizes, each with the picture of one of my female ancestors. The earliest is a great-great-great grandmother who was born in 1791. Also included are two of my great-great grandmothers, all four of my great grandmothers, and both of my grandmothers. In several cases I have used pictures of these ancestors at more than one stage in their lives. I have included 14 photos of my mother, from her earliest baby picture in Elida, New Mexico in 1907 to the last picture taken of her on Christmas Day, 1994, holding her two week old great-granddaughter Kate Bryer. This picture was used to create the applique of her and baby Kate behind the spiral of photographs. Mid-way through the spiral is the only picture I have of my Mother holding me as an infant.

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My Mother lived a long life with many joys as well as many hard times. One of her greatest joys was gardening, which always included red geraniums, right up until the time of her death. In the center of the spiral are the words "It wasn't always a bed of roses, but there were usually red geraniums."The spiral was used, because it is a universal symbol for natural cycles of birth, unfolding life, death, and new life.

This quilt was created for a special exhibit called "Calendar Girls", which was organized in the Spring of 1996 and traveled to a number of shows arounds the country.

Exhibitions:

  • Calendar Girls, PAQA traveling show, 1996-97
    • Quilt America, June 1996, Indianapolis, IN.
    • Gallery at John A. Logan College, Carterville, IL, August 3-Sept 4, 1996
    • Illinois State Museum, Dickson Mounds, Lewiston, IL Nov. 8, 1996 -Jan 10, 1997
    • Hinsdale Center for the Arts, Hinsdale, IL Jan 26-Feb.28, 1997
    • Southern Illinois Art Gallery at Rend Lake Arts & Crafts Marketplace, April 14, through June 1,1997 ;
    • 2d Annual Northeast Quilt Festival, July 24-27,1997, Connecticut
    • Capital Quilt Festival in Frankfort, KY, Sept. 13-15.
  • Crossed Connections, TLD Design Center, Westmont, IL 1998 (juried)
  • Little White School Museum, Solo Exhibition, Oswego, IL 2003
  • "Evolving Styles - 20 Years of Color & Design"
    Solo Exhibition: LaConner Quilt Museum, LaConner WA, March 16 - May 15, 2005
  • Caryl Bryer Fallert: Silver Star Salute: Retrospective Exhibition, International Quilt Market & International Quilt Festival, October 27-November 5, 2006, Houston, TX
  • Women by Women, Surface Design Assoc. North Peninsula Chapter, Pippa's Real Tea, Port Townsend, WA June 29 - Aug. 27, 2016
  • Photos Pixels & Pizzazz, (solo exhibition) Lattimer Center for Quilts and Textiles, Tillamook, OR, May 3-June 27, 2021
  • A Life in Color: 50-year Retrospective Solo Exhibition, National Quilt Museum, Paducah, KY, March 14-October 7, 2025

Publications

  • IMAGERY ON FABRIC: A Complete Surface Design Handbook, Jean Ray Laury, C&T Publications, 1997, p.41
  • Spotlight, Press Publications Entertainment section, May 19-25, 2000 p. 7
  • American Quilter, Spring 2001, p. 24
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Web Site Design by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry © 1997-2024 All Rights Reserved
Bryerpatch Studio • 10 Baycliff Place • Port Townsend, WA • 98368 • USA
360-385-2568 • caryl@bryerpatch.com
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Updated 1/23/25