Kaye England was born on a farm in Glasgow, Kentucky and now resides on an eight-acre farm in Indianapolis, Indiana where she plays mom to llamas and goats. The farm life keeps her busy, however, she has a calling to pack and hit the road sharing her love of patchwork piecing techniques and a great philosophy of life with quilters everywhere. Kaye has owned three quilt shops, two gift shops and two tearooms in her retail career. She loves all parts of working with consumers especially sharing her love of design, decorating and patchwork. Well, of course, eating too (Kaye said this, we promise)! Kaye has designed many collections of fabric for Wilmington Prints and currently releases new lines twice a year. She has written 15 books and designed many patterns and block of the month programs for quilt shops. She also has embroidery collections on many of her fabric lines with OESD – Oklahoma Embroidery Supply and Design. Kaye has been described as a colorful individual generating enthusiasm and excitement in her work and having great fun in the process. She has visited all 50 states and many countries, sharing her unique style of teaching, enthusiasm, and sense of humor. Even though Kaye is semiretired, she continues to travel and make numerous quilts. But, with two children, six grandchildren and a barn full of animals, she has decided to spend a bit more time with family and friends these days. We are pleased to share Kaye’s collection with you!
Friendship Sampler
65" x 65"
This quilt uses 9 of the blocks from Journey to Jericho, which has 12 blocks all inspired by scripture. Some of Kaye’s favorite things are shown in this quilt for applique. The hand is for friendship, the butterfly for resurrection, the pineapple represents hospitality, a pomegranate for amazing fertility of life and various flowers for the abundance of blessings in our lives. Kaye has always loved the little folk-art angel and what better place to use her than a Bible-inspired quilt? The applique border is not included in the pattern but some of the applique designs are.
Block Party
78" x 90"
This 12 block quilt is made with a variety of Kaye’s 1930 fabric designs. It was a joyous quilt to work on and she plans on using this in a future pattern. There are some unusual blocks that make up the quilt along with more traditional ones that are easy to recognize. The basket of flowers used in the border, holds a growing vine filled with plates of different sizes. With the addition of some yo-yos and bird, and you have one happy project. Kaye has this hanging often as it just makes her smile.
Betsy Ross
61" x 76"
Who doesn’t love the story of Betsy Ross teaching George Washington how to make a 5-pointed star. There is a pattern for this quilt with full explanation of assembly with special rulers and/or traditional methods. Using 6" and 12" blocks, this quilt makes up fast and could easily be enlarged. A tribute story is also included in the pattern.
Crazy for Africa
62" x 80"
Mysterious eyes look out at you – are they human or animal? Exotic beasts hide in the forests of fabric. Dancers in masks and shields slip into view and out again. This quilt is so lively you can almost hear music playing. Of all the quilts in this book, it probably represents the patchwork that is Africa most completely. For Africa is a land of many parts. Yet, over the centuries, the many different ethnic groups lived alongside each other fairly well most of the time, for there was enough land, with little enough population, for everyone’s needs.
Civil War Legacy / Stars
64" x 82"
Kaye has long had a love for history and especially Civil War study. All 12 blocks in this quilt are from the book of the same title. She has made many of these, but in this one decided to personalize the border by adding a row of red stars at the top to represent the number of stars that flew in the Confederate Flag. The blue stars down the right side represent the number that flew in the Union Flag. All of the blocks and setting are the same, but the stars are not included in the book.
Kalahari Calabash
56" x 72"
The “straight furrows” of this traditional Log Cabin setting provides the perfect place for a gourd vine to grow. This piece proves that African-themed quilts can harmonize beautifully with a variety of decorating styles and settings, from country to contemporary, from study to bedroom to living room-it would be difficult to imagine an environment this quilt would not complement. The print used to finish the quilt is a border design that is actually same piece of fabric, cut so that a narrow line of color gives the impression of piping.
Circles of Life
52" x 70"
This quilt speaks of the fertility, abundance and richness of life forms found in Africa’s bosom, as well as of secrets yet to be revealed. There were three sources of inspiration. The leafy vine of the left lower corner (it is names maqoapi), a painted mural on a Lesotho home. The great beaked face in the lowest circle, a carved motif on a comb from the Congo. The flying geese motifs in the right border, the Zulu symbol for a male. The neck rings of Ndebele women and the beaded “long tears” they wear when their sons go off to initiation are interpreted in the figure on the left. The masks and small figures speak of the warrior classes of African societies.
Woman Warrior
60" x 60"
This quilt is based on a simple layout of three side-by-side panels. The center panel is distinctive with a unique silk-screened motif depicting a woman’s head, an apple and a serpent. The individual motifs were cut from the panel and rearranged so that some of the sinuous curves would break the edges of the vertical set. As impressive as the appliqued motif is, the quilt would be beautiful even if no exotic centerpiece were available. Any combination of pieced blocks and border-printed fabrics could run through the center of the quilt, as could a large motif of any design that pleases.
English Pathways
82" x 90"
This quilt was inspired by fabric Kaye designed for Wilmington Prints and then offered to quilt shops as a Block of the Month Program. Kaye has always been partial to the medallion settings, and these fabrics were perfect for this Pathways project. The center star is created with log cabin blocks in the corners and a large square of the main print from this collection. The addition of quarter square triangles, half square triangles, patched borders and a row of pieced stars at the top, offered the maker a great opportunity to play with the fabric assortment. Log Cabin blocks were designed to the size of the floral border stripe to continue the design from the center. This quilt remains in Kaye’s collection as one of her favorites.
