This art quilt was inspired by our daughter’s journey when she traversed the entire Appalachian Trail.  The magnitude of the trek was often too overwhelming to think about so she preferred to simply focus on just putting one foot in front of the other.

Our daughter, Liz (Derstine) Anjos, set out from Springer Mountain GA, to set a Fastest Known Time attempt during the summer of 2020.  We visited her often along the trail since we live in Philadelphia and the trail within driving distance.  Her trail name was Mercury and she was supported by Warren Doyle, a well known figure in the Appalachian Trail community who has traversed the trail 18 times.  She was haunted by painful shin splints and saw the goal slipping away but persevered in spite of it.  She reached Mt Katahdin with a Northbound Supported Female Record of 51 days, 16 hours and 30 minutes.  She is the second fastest female to achieve this goal.  You may read more about her journey on her blog here.

https://mercuryontherun.com/about/

This art quilt is created on a hand dyed background.  Trees and foliage are fused, painted, couched, and thread painted.  The figure of Liz is a digitally manipulated photo, printed onto silk, fused and thread painted.

This quilt won a second place ribbon in the Full Size Quilt: Innovative category at the 2021 Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza.  It also won Popular Choice Award and Best in Show Award at the VMRC Juried Art Show in 2022.