Judy Lyon
“I can remember way back lying on my mother’s bed and asking about all the bright silks in Grandma’s log cabin quilt. Fashioned around the turn of the century, it was my first real introduction to quilts. As I grew I played under quilts over which Mama and her friends were chatting. Those stretched out canopies through which the light illuminated appliqué flowers or pieced stars were the perfect venue for playing dolls. It’s no surprise to me that quilts would continue to play an important part of my life. I became interested in making a quilt with animals in it for my son James who used to lie on the floor pouring over a big animal book. It was self-designed and heavily pieced with birds and animals peeking out from the leaves of the trees in the rainforest. (We had recently lived in Malaysia and Hawaii because of my husband’s military assignments.) When it came time to quilt it, I knew it had to be something special. So I got out the animal book and drew a forest of leaves and creatures for my friend Angela to quilt on her long-arm machine. It was wonderful. Everything I had hoped it would be. That is what I have loved doing ever since. My eight children would ask, “Why are you doing this Mom?” It’s because I love creating. There’s so much of me they don’t even know about because I haven’t had time to “be all that I can be”.”
The Quilt That Started It All
“When it came time for quilting this special quilt, I asked my friend Angela Meadows to quilt it with animals and fish and all kinds of tropical things on it. (Yes, that’s where our name came from “MeadowLyon”)She said she’d be glad to do it, if I would draw the pattern. I didn’t know pantos could repeat, so I drew out 8 rolls – all different! She said, “Judy, you’ve got to get that pattern out to people!” We embarked on a great adventure together. Here’s that first quilt. It became the basis for my first 4 pantos. At the top was the Rainforest, then Jungle and Safari. At the bottom the trees turned upside down for Fishy Business.
