Artist:  Christie Williams

Dog's Name:  Rigel Blue Star (that's why the block has a big blue star as the background, plus several fabrics with blue stars)

Media:  Paper Piecing; Patchwork; Hand Appliqué

Other info:  This block depicts my sweet, wild, exuberant boy, Rigel. We named him after the brightest star in the constellation, Orion (star in the bottom right) because he was a shining star at the center of our lives. For this reason, the background of his block is a blue star and includes several star fabrics. Rigel was the most outgoing, confident, friendly person I've known. His attitude was infectious and he was non-stop fun.

I wanted his quilt block to reflect his happy attitude. So I used fun elements like buttons for his nose and eyes, gave him a smiling face and made his ears and tongue 3-D as if he were about to leap up and give you a big wet sloppy kiss. I put a bee in the picture because Rigel used to help his dad work his research honey bee colonies. Every beekeeper needs a good bee dog.

Rigel lived every moment of his short 20 months as if he were thrilled to be alive. He gleefully zoomed around the agility arena, loved to bound through the forest and was a maniac about retrieving. He had a devilish sense of humor and would reach out and feign a toothy grab for one of my quilts and then glance over his shoulder at me with laughing eyes, "Ha, ha, faked you out!" I will love him and miss him forever.

Contact the Artist here

Return to ADT QUILT PROJECT 1999 here

Thanks to Karen Clouston for the Airedale Graphic

Thanks to Jamie Hare for the Animated Airedale Graphics