The fabric she chooses features a melange of blues, from sky to Carolina to navy. Pulling in swatches of yellow, gray and white, she snips each one into a shape. She selects shapes to sew to other shapes and to her blue base, the accents helping to form a square. Then she repeats the process, block after block. Their sizes vary, because this is a human creation, but the results fit together in uneven rows. Eventually, a perimeter of twisting leaves frames a border of squares surrounding a deep-blue field dotted with what look like little white tadpoles. A massive eight-point star of stunning complexity rules from the center of the quilt.

Laurie Robinson, an understated 62-year-old from Logan, Utah, is pleased. Behind the quilt’s face, she will fill it with batting — stringy fluffs of prac

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