A challenge for quilters across the state of Maine to create an art quilt based on a favorite children’s book has provided a unique display for Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers in Farmington, which is showcasing the resulting “Inspiration Transformation” quilt show this month before it tours to the Saco and Portland Public Libraries.

Last fall when DDG owner Kenny Brechner first learned about the 2011 project of the Art Quilts Maine, he offered his store to kick off the tour. Fortunately, it didn’t require too much prep. “We stripped the area around our children’s section,” says Brechner, who then mounted the 17 quilts in the empty space. Beneath them, he set up a table featuring the picture books on which the quilts are based, from Barbara Cooney’s Miss Rumphius (three quilts) to a considerably older tale, the 1877 story Lotty’s Visit to Grandma, author unknown.

Brechner prepared a hand-out listing the book titles so that viewers could match books and quilts. As an added incentive, he is holding a drawing for a $25 gift certificate for all those who are correct, or “in the ballpark.” “We’ve had a terrific response,” says Brechner, who has had to lower the standards a bit and allow mostly right answers because a few of the books are somewhat obscure. Toni de Gerez’s Louhi, Witch of North Farm, anyone?

But others are very familiar favorites, as the complete list reveals:

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

A Bad Case of the Stripes by David Shannon

Fishes by Brian Wildsmith

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Louhi, Witch of North Farm by Toni de Gerez, illus. by Barbara Cooney

The Calico Jungle by Darlov Ipcar

Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman

Lotty's Visit to Grandmama by author not known (1877)

What the Sea Left Behind by Mimi Gregoire Carpenter

The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen

Katje the Windmill Cat by Gretchen Woelfle

In addition to having to adhere to size constraints and the need to complete the quilts within a few months, the quilters have had to be careful about their interpretations of the books. “We realized that we had better consider copyright issues before designing our pieces, a very hot topic in the quilting world,” says quilter Anne Walker, who chose Mimi Gregoire Carpenter’s What the Sea Left Behind. In order not to violate copyright, the quilters were not allowed to copy any illustrations in the book or on the cover. Instead the quilters interpreted the art in unique ways.

Walker says that she decided to focus on the colors and the textures of the illustrations and the lines the tides make on the beach. “I ended up with a piece that is striated, using fabrics that reminded me of seaweed, lobster shells, driftwood, oyster shells, and sand,” she explains. She also added shells, sea glass, and driftwood, and named her piece Tide Lines.

Brechner says that he will miss the quilts when they come down. They added a touch of color to the store, and are “very beautiful," he says. "They took people's breaths away.”