Yeah, to look at me, I’m far from Irish (unless you consider me “Black Irish”).

So, how did I get involved with Celtic knots??

It came about as a series of separate events.

I turned down a commission.

Years ago, a couple I knew asked me to make a king-size quilt for them with a Celtic knot motif.

At the time, I had a nodding acquaintance with Celtic knots made from bias tape.  I didn’t care for the technique for several reasons:

1. Bias tape is limited in width.
2. Bias tape is used to physically recreate the “over and under” aspect of a Celtic knot.
3. You can only appreciate the “wovenness” of the knot from close-up.
4. From a distance, any Celtic knot made from bias tape looks like a nice geometric design, NOT a Celtic knot.

I turned the offer down . . .

I joined a Prayer Quilt ministry.

A group of people at church (Christ Church Cathedral (Anglican/Episcopal)) formed a Prayer Quilt ministry.  Essentially, the members of the group (not all of them quilters) would make a patchwork quilt on request for someone in the hospital, etc. The quilt was tied with lengths of yarn. Members of the congregation were invited to tie a knot in the yarn while offering a prayer for the quilt recipient. Then, the quilt was presented to the recipient with the prayers of the congregation included.

I hesitated to join the group because I didn’t want to upset the dynamics of the group. Did I mention these were basically non-quilters? Their motto was: “It’s all about the process, not the product.”  I didn’t want the members to feel intimidated by my presence.

Several months down the road, I offered to make the next requested quilt. When they told me who the quilt was for, my jaw dropped: I had volunteered to make a quilt for the wife of the couple who wanted a Celtic knot quilt!!

Now, I HAD to make a Celtic knot quilt!!

I had an Epiphany (even though it may have been Lent).

I thought long and hard about how to make a Celtic knot quilt without using bias tape.

My thoughts ran along the lines of my earlier posts, What are you looking at?, and This is Nacho Grandma’s Celtic Knot.

I set about to make my first Celtic knot quilt:

 I was invited to mount a quilt show.

Not long after making my first Celtic knot quilt, I was approached by a gallery owner to mount a show in her gallery. (See “Virtual Gallery Tour.”)

The rest, as they say, is History . . .