My mother, Judy Hopkins, died in March 2011 just three months after being diagnosed with cancer for the second time. It was sudden, it was devastating for our family and friends, and it cut short the life of an incredibly creative woman who was an inspiration to me and to so many others.
We liked to call mom a “famous quilter” – in the 25 years since she started quilting seriously, she authored 19 books; designed patterns; designed a tool for quilters called the ScrapMaster; taught workshops; gave lectures; won awards; and designed a line of quilt-themed jewelry. Wherever I traveled, people knew my mom – in fabric stores in every small town, on airplanes, at parties and at conferences.
After Mom died, my sister Darien and I realized that we now had the responsibility for a LOT of quilts – Mom was a meticulous and duplicative record keeper and there are at least 200 of them listed in her “quiltlog.” Mom gave away, or traded, or donated, many of her quilts, but there are still piles of them in my dad’s two houses, my sister’s house and mine.
Soon after Mom died, people started asking us what was going to happen to all of those quilts. Perhaps it was just my way to put off making decisions about them, but I decided that before we did anything with any of them, I needed to document all of them.
This website is the story of my mother’s quilts and how I learned about them. I hope it is a place where her dear friends and her fans can comment about the quilts they remember, so we can make our documentation as rich as possible. I hope it is a place where I can honor my mother’s memory and her many talents.