Mar 9, 2013

Karen Mowery of "Sew Primitive" Quilting



 After a year long battle with one of those most painful and horrific of all cancers, Karen Mowery passed away leaving all who knew her... whether in real life, or virtually, online....deeply saddened.  She was one of those women who seemed to take so many challenges and losses and still try to keep on doing, being, and creating, no matter how horrible the circumstances... with the greatest strength of character and unbelievable endurance.

But after learning from a 'second opinion' that her year long battle with cancer and all of the incredibly horrific side effects of chemo, were of no avail as this cancer has no cure and patients usually always die..she bravely stopped treatment, told her blog readers she hoped she would have a little more time left to quilt..and soon passed away.


Her son, Tim, while valuing and truly treasuring her quilts, paintings,  and other handmade items is not able to keep all of them and is trying to give others a chance to own a beautiful hand made momento of his mom's.

This is almost the end of this auction on ebay and some of the paintings ..and even a few quilts are priced so low, that it is shameful for all of the intricate work that Karen put into them. Now, obviously Timmy didn't know how to correctly name the quilt patterns or describe her work, but he did the best he could under sorrow filled circumstances.

Please check out this auction and place a bid or two. Some of her work is outstandingly complex and is still priced so low for what these quilts and other items are..works of art!

Karen blogged at http://sewprimitive.blogspot.com/

Here is an excerpt from pickledish website about Karen's passing dated February 5, 2013:

"Karen Mowery"

By Donna Di Natale

The quilting world, and the Kansas City Star Quilts family, lost a dear friend on Friday with the passing of Karen Mowery, author of A Bountiful Life: An Adaptation of the Bird of Paradise Quilt Top in the American Folk Art Museum. Karen’s yearlong struggle with cancer ended peacefully at her Atlanta home, with her loving son, Timothy, and her cat, Rembrandt, close by to comfort her.

 Karen Mowrey


All who knew Karen will miss her dearly and will miss reading her blog, sewprimitive.blogspot.com. Her friends at Little Quilts in Marietta, Ga., who helped appliqué the blocks for A Bountiful Life, will especially miss her.

A talented painter of primitive portraits of children, Karen translated   her skill into hand-appliquéd masterpieces.

Her careful rendition of the Bird of Paradise quilt was true to the    original, except for one block. Thought to be intended as a bridal quilt, the original quilt top was made with a wreath of flowers in the block where a groom would normally have been placed. Using a paper pattern found with the top, Karen created a handsome groom for her quilt and dressed him to woo the young woman in the next
block, thus adding her own joyful anecdote to the legend of the quilt.
A Bountiful Life, published by Kansas City Star Quilts, will be an endearing part of Karen’s legacy and a tribute to her love of folk art and quilting.




 Please bid on any of Karen's available quilts, folk paintings, and dolls at:  Karen Mowery: So Primitive Auction on Ebay

Bid today, the time period ends right away!!!!


Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey through her life in Salem, Oregon and Douglas, Alaska and all of her AAQI Quilting. Sharing thousands of links to Free Quilt and Quilt Block Patterns and encouraging others to join in the Liberated Quilting Challenge and make or donate small art quilts to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Help us change the world, one little quilt at a time!

7 comments:

Paula, the quilter said...

I placed a bid on one of the quilts. I was really saddened to hear of Karen's passing.

Anonymous said...

I was lucky to receive an autographed copy of her book just weeks before her passing. I'm spreading word of your post to bloggers I know who knew of her. She is terribly missed.

Darlene said...

Losing Karen was a major loss to the quilting and blogging community. I very honored to know Karen and will miss her inspirational posts. Such an incredible talent.

bohemiannie! art said...

I'm so sorry to hear this. Thank you for promoting the sale of her quilts.

Kaaren said...

I too received a signed copy of Karen's book just weeks before her passing. We became on line friends during the last year and my regret is that I our friendship didn't last long enough.

She is missed. Rest in peace, my friend.

Denise said...

I am sorry to hear of Karen's passing.So sweet and loving of you to honor her in such a touching post.Wonderful tribute.Thank you also for your sweet words on My post concerning My baby Granddaughter.You are a Dear loving woman, I can feel it. Denise

Lynne said...

I'm sorry for the loss of someone you obviously admired!