A quilt that covers Denali Park—Wow! They sure do things big in Alaska!

MILE 231, PARKS HIGHWAY, ALASKA... As otherwise noted in this blog—Quilters (DQ's) are a strange breed. This applies especially so to DQ's who live along the upper Nenana River where it flows along Alaska's Denali National Park.

At 6 million acres, this park, with Mt. McKinley peaking at 20,320 feet, is a bit of a challenge to cover. Of course, quilters really like projects that are demanding, elaborate, and even grandiose. Thus quilting a map of the park apparently was an undertaking the Denali Quilters accepted with sharpened needles and roller cutters at the ready.

As reported by Kris Capps in Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's July 12 issue, the Denali Quilters created a "fabulous" quilt. At 12-by-12-foot, this quilt took 1,000 hours of cutting, piecing, ironing, and hand sewing over a four-year period.

Definitely sounds "fabulous"!

As Kris notes, the quilters created an interesting set of border blocks,

"Twenty-two blocks surround the map, each depicting a close-up view of selected plants and animals. There is the nose and curl of a Dall sheep horn, among rock and mountain avens. There is the hind end of a swan feeding in a pond and incredible blocks showing colorful vegetation.

Each quilter designed her border block, which all provide an illustrated legend for the map."

Yep! At 12-by-12, those Alaskan DQ's sure do things big in Alaska.

Final question is—Who has a bed that needs a quilt that big?