“Birds of Color,” an incredible work of art by Anne Morrell Robinson has been stolen from the New York State Fair Arts Building. On Saturday, August 24, 2002 at about 9:45 PM while the show was still open, it was pulled of the wall at the state fair and it disappeared. This quilt had won a second place ribbon in the applique and pieced division. A police report has been filed, but we need your help to recover this quilt.

The design for this 108″ by 108″ original quilt begins with a pheasant in the central medallion. Twelve album-type bird blocks surround the center. The outer border has peacocks and seasonal flowers in the corners. Flying geese blocks form the sashing. The colors are bright: red, green, gold, brown and blue. The pieced background is white on white. Many of the fabrics used are feather prints. The backing has a large bird and floral print with two strips of blue border print depicting birds and baskets. This quilt is machine appliqued, machine pieced, and hand quilted. There are feathers quilted into the background with a 1/4″ grid.

After two years of work on this one-of-a-kind quilt, Anne finished it in 2002. Anne embroidered her name on the front of the quilt in the right corner on a ribbon that is in a bird’s mouth. It says, “Anne C. Morrell 2002” . The quilt also has a hand appliqued label in the lower left corner of the back. The label has Anne’s name and address along with a picture of an envelope with birds sitting on it.

Anne is a well established, award winning quilt artist and teacher. She says it feels like “someone has stolen two years of my life.” If you know any information about this stolen quilt, please contact Anne at kingross@ns.sympatico.ca.