The Beatitudes. Matthew 5: 1-16.

Interpreted by Carole W. Crabtree, February 23, 1996. Dedicated to my mother Diana C. Wilson, who taught me to sew and to love the word of God. 14 x 10.5 inches. 11 leaves, each being two interlined panels of pale blue oxford cloth surged at the edges and overstitched along the spine with a heavy canvas spine covering. Slight wrinkling and faint residue to the lower cover, overall bright and clean.

A book of contour portraiture accompanying each beatitude, rendered through freehand machine sewing.Made by a Kentucky woman, Carole W. Crabtree (1956-2016), its recent date makes it a major outlier for our usual stock, but the portraits are unexpectedly mesmerizing--reminiscent of art school quick sketch exercises (and, in one case, the 1991 Nirvana Nevermind album art.) Crabtree was a member of Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society and exhibited her original work in local museums.