"The Airedale Quilts"

Artists:  Karen Williams  & Christie Williams

Media:  A combination of cross stitch, embroidery, hand appliqué and hand quilting

Artists' comments:

Our block is the result of a collaboration between two new friends with the same last name! We met on the ADT Quilt list!

Karen converted Christie's design to a cross stitch pattern. Karen says, "I've had a lot of 'assistance' from my own Airedales; especially Dash & Victoria. Dash has chewed up 4 embroidery hoops & has sampled most of the embroidery thread. He also added some beard slime to the square. Victoria keeps stealing my reading glasses & hiding them from me. They both have played several rounds of tug of war with embroidery thread & my appliqué fabric."

Addendum:
Because of all the "help" Karen was receiving, she was just a little beyond deadline. Christie offered to do the appliqué part, which is the quilt the Airedale is making. Karen reports, "She has a sewing machine & I was going to do it by hand."

In an update on 5/12/00, Karen wrote:

"Add one more broken embroidery hoop (thanks Dash!) to my list. Last night I pried the square out of Dash's jaws of death. I was in the kitchen & looked up & he was prancing through the house with it in his mouth. Victoria was following close behind, probably waiting for a chance to start another game of tug-of-war. Thank heavens it's now safely out of my house with only a little extra beard slime & snool."

The block was sent to Christie, whose job was to apply the little quilt. Christie says, "As soon as I got the block out of the mailing envelope Argus snatched it in his mouth. What is it with this block! Is it irresistible to our fur kids because there is an Airedale on it?"


Read Christie Williams' bio here

Karen Williams bio:

I live in Charlotte, NC with my family of 4 dogs. I have 3 Airedales - Lucy, Dash & Victoria - & a Chow-Corgi mix - Joe. Lucy is 14 & a bit senile these days but still loves food & occasional walks. She keeps to herself most of the time & takes many naps. She was not amused with the arrival of Dash.

Dash is 1 & is the wildest Airedale I've ever had (I've had 8). He is very sweet, smart & into everything. He has many nicknames - mostly involving large creatures, monsters or wild animals or they are 4 letter words. I adore him!

Victoria is 3 & joined our family a few months ago after she retired from showing. It feels like she's always been with us. She is very loving, used to be well behaved (until Dash corrupted her) & really loves to eat. I often call her "Pig-toria".

Joe came to stay with us about 4 years ago as a foster dog while he underwent treatment for heartworms - as though a house with 2 Airedales is a peaceful place to stay calm. His owner died of breast cancer & he needed a new forever home. When people came to meet him about adopting, he snubbed them & would only pay attention to me. He eventually stayed so long, that he became mine by default. I call him my red-headed step child. He now pays no attention to me & prefers the company of others. He also hates Airedales - especially Dash!

I work for a charity that I founded 6 years ago called Pets Are Loving Support (P.A.L.S.). I used to be the Assistant Director of Asset Management for a large national commercial real estate development & management company. After I started P.A.L.S, it was too difficult to balance both worlds & after a year, I quit to run the charity.

P.A.L.S. helps people with terminal or life-threatening illnesses & seniors keep & care for their pets. We have volunteers that walk dogs, change litter boxes, bath pets & basically do whatever the owner can no longer do themselves. Our biggest programs are financial by way of paying for veterinary bills & buying pet food for those who can no longer afford it because of their age or illness. We also foster animals when someone is hospitalized & find new home when owners die. We are currently helping 213 pets stay at home with those who love them.

This is a wonderful experience for me. I've learned many lessons about living & dying. I hope I know what's important in life & have my priorities in order - at least I'm working on it. I always knew how much my pets meant to me but now I see how beneficial the human-animal bond is every day for so many people. I really believe for some, pets are a reason to keep on living & particularly with the elderly, a pet may be the only living thing in their homes & really becomes their child. I have made some good friends & lost many of them but I'm so happy to have known them, if only for a short time & to have been able to help them keep the joy of their pet.

I do have hobbies but not as much time for them as I once did. I like photography, music & reading mystery novels. I cross stitch & crochet & experiment with crafts, decorative painting & gilding. I also collect Airedale things, especially original art, crafts & jewelry. I like to cook & love making candy, cookies & jelly.

I bought & renovated an old house 14 years ago although it seems to be in constant need of repair. Dash is doing his part to destroy it. I still haven't done any landscaping to my back yard & hope I can work on it this fall. I've bought some animal topiary forms that I want to use. I'm not sure what the dogs' reaction will be.

I love Airedales & hope there will always be at least one in my life. I was delighted to help with the quilt - I know how important it is to support Airedale Rescue.

Karen Williams, Lucy, Dash, Victoria & Joe