Psst...It might be a secret, but we brought in Roberta Griebler and her assistant (AKA Spouse) for our April program.  Roberta's husband is a retired career CIA agent and Roberta also landed with the CIA. While they have been stationed in many countries around the world, the Philippines is their favorite, and her program focused on the skills that she learned from mentor Mryl Lehman Trapunto, an American quilter married to a Philippino.  After learning the basics of quilting from Mryl, Roberta convinced her to offer classes to the village residents.  Both women and men became fabric artists under Mryl tutelage with the goal of selling their work to earn money for dental and healthcare for the residents of the village, particularly the children. This program has been aptly named Operation Smiles!
In retirement, Roberta can be found at The Quilted Cow in Raymore, MO or on the road sharing her experiences and quilts.

-In the gallery you will first see the quilt Roberta named Sunshine and Rainbows, the first quilt that she made and hand quilted. 
-The sampler quilt in green and mauve was made during a quilt class and is now appraised at $3000. Roberta loves to learn new techniques and a sampler quilt is the best way to show off new skills.
-Those brilliant-colored stars are the product of Roberta's first paper-pieced efforts. She designed this to hang over a partition as a way to show off both halves of the quilt.
-Roberta's favorite quilt was made with love as is evident with the heart in its center.  The watercolor fabrics add beauty and peace to this king-sized quilt that she uses on her bed. She has told her family that she is to be buried in this quilt.  Instead, I predict that this heirloom piece will be preserved in the family.

-Zoom in on this hand-embroidered baby quilt and you may see tiny footprints trailing through the letters.  A Philippino child walked past the quilt while it was being worked on and left a trail of dusty footprints across the floor, which turned out to be an inspirational moment.  Footprints were duly added to this sweet quilt.
-Without the luxury of the internet for ordering patterns, Roberta created some of her own as demonstrated in the quilt with offsetting stars on a cream background with blue and pink accents.
-The lovely quilt with pastel stars was made for the wife of a commander at Clarkson AFB in the Philippines. Note the intricate hand quilting on this beauty.
-Finally, the framed needle work was made by one of Mryl's proteges and was gifted to Roberta. These stitches look machine-generated, but are done by hand!