Award winner - Alliance for American Quilts contest

My 4 block applique antique reproduction quilt, Virginia is for Lovers, is the 3rd prize winner in the Alliances Quilt Contest with the Alliance for American Quilts. What an incredible honor as there were more than a 100 quilts in the contest. Thank you to everyone who voted for my quilt. Click here to see all the award winning quilts.


What did I win, you ask? A gift basket including items from The Quilt Show.com, Quilters Club of America, Fons & Porter, Dharma Trading Company, Darlene Zimmerman, Riversilks, and C&T Publishing. I'll post a pic when the basket arrives.
And if you aren't tried of voting, the Alliance is now holding a viewer's choice voting. You can vote as a web viewer or in conjunction with a live exhibit like last week's show in Paducah.  My friend Bonnie from Georgia posted great pics of my quilt and the 4 award winners hanging together in Paducah.  Thank you.

Quilt 117 is my entry. Click here for the link to vote. Or go directly to the ballot
Votes will be tallied and a Viewer's Choice award will be given for each exhibition venue and one additional award will be determined by web viewers.
The voting will close on Monday, October 24 at 9 pm Eastern.

Thanks again for the votes and all the support and especially the wonderful comments. And if you haven't seen the full quilt or the story of its making, scroll down to prior posts about it or click on Alliance in the label list below.  And see my antique quilt blog for even more about this quilt.

I'm in the Final Four - Alliance for American Quilts Contest

  I'm positively over the moon excited to announce that my quilt "Virginia is for Lovers" has made it to the final four in the Alliance contest.  Thank you to everyone who voted for it in the first round, there were over a 100 quilts and I cannot believe my quilt is one of the last quilts standing.  It will either win grand prize or 1st, 2nd or 3rd -- Wooo HOO.
  So please vote for my quilt in the final round.  Ballots went out to Alliance members Friday a.m. and voting closes Monday night.  (Alliance membership is required for voting). The winners will be announced Wednesday.  So stay tuned.
  It would be a huge honor to win the contest and the grand prize of a Handi Quilter quilting machine would be absolutely amazing.
  Thanks again.

Alliances: People, Patterns, Passion Contest Voting

The voting for the 2011 Alliance for American Quilts is now open -- through April 20th.  My entry is quilt #117, Virginia is for Lovers.  It is hand appliqued and hand quilted and based on an antique quilt in my collection.
I would love to win the Handi Quilter quilting machine and hope that you will consider voting for me.  You must be a member to vote but it is not too late to join the Alliance;  an excellent organization that does so much to preserve the history of American Quilts.  I especially enjoy the Quilt Index.  If you join by April 19th, Amy will email you a ballot.  You can join on the Alliance website and pay by credit card or paypal, it is only $25.00 (tax deductible) and again it goes to a great group.


Here is  my challenge quilt along with the antique inspiration, a circa 1845 crib quilt from the Shenandoah valley of Virginia.  Thanks for visiting and for considering my quilt.

1845 Antique Crib Quilt- Alliance for American Quilts

I am very pleased to share the 3rd quilt I have made for the Alliance for American Quilts Challenge Contest. It is a reproduction of a very romantic antique crib quilt circa 1845 from Virginia with lots of hearts and cupid's arrows -hence the title "Virginia is for Lovers". Don't forget to look at my prior posts to see lots of photos of the quilt's progress. You can click on 2011 on the blog archive to read more about it.  And you can see even more about both quilts on my antique blog.  It was quite hard to part with it and I think my Mom even thought about hiding it so she could keep it.



Virginia is for Lovers 2011   16 x 16"
Hand Appliqued, Hand Quilted

 In April, Alliance members will vote to determine contest winners - so join now to vote for my quilt (subtle hint). And on April 27-30 the 2011 contest quilts will debut at the American Quilter's Society's 27th annual show in Paducah, Kentucky. So please stop by and see my quilt if you are lucky enough to be in KY.

Old and New, 1845 and 2011

But seriously, I hope all of you already know about and have joined the Alliance. It is such a great organization "whose mission is to document, preserve, and share our American quilt heritage by collecting the rich stories that historic and contemporary quilts, and their makers, tell about our nation's diverse peoples and their communities." What an inspiring mission and it is such a great resource.

Antique Valentine Hearts

Here is  valentine to my readers: the 4th block in my reproduction of the 1845 crib quilt along with the original antique block. I'm reproducing it for the Alliance for American Quilts 2011 Challenge. Scroll down to see my first block and go to my antique blog to see the other 3 blocks and the original blocks and also the full quilt. Now onto the hand quilting.

 
 

 
And here is a special Valentine's Day preview of my new quilt- with 2 very valentiney blocks. Don't you love the hand throwing the arrow at the heart? There are several blocks with hearts and other wonderful little drawings. It is a dated 1850 Quaker friendship album quilt from Chester County Pennsylvania. From the Worrall, Hoopes, Davis, Windle, Umstead, Hicklen, families.
 

Here is one of the blocks that has numerous names.  What a historical treasure trove.  Enjoy.

1845 Virginia Crib Quilt- Revisited

Reproduction of crib quilt block 7"  2011

This is the first block in my quilt for the 2011 Alliance for American Quilts Contest. I am reproducing, in reduced size and fewer blocks, the utterly charming c. 1845 quilt from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia shown below.



c. 1845 Crib Quilt Virginia 37" x 49"



Another block from the original quilt.

To read more about this quilt, stop by my antique quilt blog, and hope you will keep me in mind when the voting begins for the Alliance contest (subtle, tasteful plea).  Again, the Alliance is such an important organization and I hope that you will visit their website and consider becoming a member.

Awesome Alliance Quilt - 1930's Scrappy Mix and Match

Two of a Kind, 16 x 16", Donna Starley 2010

This is my sister Donna's paper pieced quilt made for the 2010 'New From Old' Alliance for American Quilts Challenge. She used her original scrappy mix and match sampler pattern She used 1930's reproduction fabrics to create eight different foundation pieced 2 1/2" traditional blocks. Each block was used twice in the quilt but looks different based upon color placement within the block. She's mixed up all the blocks--can you identify all the matches? Donated to the Alliance fundraising and auctioned on eBay last month (luckily we were able to buy it back).

This is the same pattern that I used in my black, white and pink puzzle quilt, see previous entry. It is amazing to see how different the two quilts turned out, it is a very cool pattern.

Speaking of the Alliance Challenge, the 2011 contest was just announced, click on the logo to see the details, and please note the deadline is much earlier this time, March 7, 2011. Hope you will consider joining the Alliance and also donating a 16 x 16" quilt for the challenge.

New From Old - Reproduction from my Antique Collection

"I've Got the Blues...But Things Are Looking Up"
May 2010 16 X 16"

My donation quilt for the Alliance for American Quilts 2010 New From Old Challenge. Voting is open from June 14 -June 20 for Alliance members, click here to see the quilts (my sister Donna also has a wonderful 1930's inspired quilt). I appreciate any and all votes and if you are reading this before June 20th, you can still join online and vote. I was honored last year to win an honorable mention award. All the quilts will be auctioned off on eBay this fall. This weekend they will be on display at the NQA show in Columbus, Ohio.

I was inspired by my antique c. 1890 blue/white 9 patch arrow/blue cross quilt that demands to be displayed with the arrows pointing due north. The title plays on the juxtaposition of the positive direction with the blue (aka sad) fabrics.

c. 1890 antique Blue & White Arrows, 9 Patch Quilt 72" X 92"

NEW and OLD TOGETHER
I used c. 1890 antique indigo and cadet blues in the 5 large arrows and then reproductions for the rest of the quilt. I'm impressed with how closely the reproductions match the antique fabrics as can be seen with this photo. My arrows were paperpieced from my pattern and the small white arrows centers are 1" finished. I machine quilted in the ditch and added 9 patches and arrows to the plain blocks. It was fun working small but hard to cut into the 120 year old fabric.

New from Old 2010 Alliance Contest

Calling all creative quilters especially lovers of antique quilts and collectors of bits of old quilts. The Alliance for American Quilts has announced its 2010 contest New from Old "a broad theme that celebrates the past in the frame of the present". Very simple rules: a new 16" X 16" quilt inspired by something 'old' and sent by May 31, 2010. Old and New are up to you--put a new twist on a traditional pattern, recycle antique blocks or find some old ones in your UFO box. Contest quilts become a donation to AAQ. All entries will be auctioned on eBay with all proceeds supporting the AAQ and its projects.

There are great prizes involved due to generous sponsors and the quilts will be exhibited on The Alliance's website as well as national venues including the National Quilting Association's annual show in Columbus, Ohio, June 17-19, 2010 and the American Quilter's Society Show in Knoxville, Tennessee, July 14-17. The quilts will become part of quilt history as part of the Quilt Index. The quilts also get a lot of exposure on during the eBay auction.

Come join in the fun. Scroll down or click on the link to see my 2009 entry.

Alliance Crazy Quilts Auction on eBay

It is time for the first round of the Alliance auction. My Crazy quilt pictured above will be auctioned off this week. Click on the logo above for more details and to see all the quilts.

All contest quilts will be auctioned via eBay
Click on an auction week below to view or download an auction guide for that week.
Week One: Monday, Oct. 26 - Monday, Nov. 2
Week Two: Monday, Nov. 2 - Monday, Nov. 9
Week Three: Monday, Nov. 9 - Monday, Nov. 16
The bidding for each quilt will start at $50 and each 7-day auction week starts and ends at 9:00 pm Eastern.
All proceeds will support the AAQ and its projects.

My Quilt in the News and back story

9-8-9 Update -my quilt was one of the honorable mention winners in the challenge.

Exciting news: my quilt for the Alliance for American Quilts Crazy quilt Challenge is one of 4 quilts highlighted in their June newsletter. Here is the direct link. My sister called with the news the day before my birthday- what a fun surprise present. It is pictured above (from the back) I wanted to show off all the threadwork and I think it is interesting to see quilt backs which are often forgotten. To see the rest of the quilt, see the previous entries below and the link above. More than 70 quilts were made and donated to the Alliance for this challenge and they will be auctioned off on eBay in late October and early November to benefit this valuable quilt resource.

Still Crazy

Here is the crazy quilt, now with stitched swag border. I can't believe how much the swag has changed the quilt. It completes the quilt, pulls all the elements together and adds a funky sophistication.

I really like the black and pink polka dots binding. So much better than the fuchsia binding. Guess that means I have to tell my sister that she was right about the dark binding.

There is a lot of stitching on this quilt. I went through a whole spool of pink bobbin thread. Thanks for looking.

Crazy update

I've made quite a bit of progress in a week--on the home stretch and the deadline is looming. I've got to finish up tomorrow or really this afternoon. Now to figure out the border and binding and buttons-- oh my! By the way, the bottom border is a test strip of my proposed quilting design: a scallop swag border inspired by many antique quilts though those are done with applique instead of decorative stitching.

My sister could visualize on the phone that the quilt needed a black or almost black binding but I was sticking with the fuchsia until I did the above mock up. On camera the fuchsia disappears and is really blah. I think I'll use the black polka dots, it is more fun than either of the batiks. She's also thinking that the border would be better with just buttons and no decorative stitching but I think that I'll do the quilting. Of course, I'll do it a bit more evenly and with two lines of stitching to give it a 'real' swag look. Got to get quilting before I'm really in a bind-ugh. Hope this quilt doesn't make me completely crazy.

Crazy Quilt part 2

I'm made quite a bit of progress on my quilt for the Alliance for American Quilts Crazy quilt challenge (read more about it in my previous post). I've already used a 100 fabrics. I trust you can 'read' the quilt - it spells out crazy quilt. I'm taking the challenge literally.

Now to figure out the center 2 blocks and decide what fabric(s) to use for the small 2" border. Any suggestions are welcome.

C is for Crazy Quilt

What I'm working on --a crazy quilt for this year's Alliance for American Quilts challenge. They are currently accepting entries/donations of 'crazy quilts' which will be auctioned this fall on EBay to help with their mission of preserving American Quilts and quilt history. In honor of their 16th year, the quilts are 16 inches square and must be postmarked by June 1, 2009. If you are a quick worker, there is still time to join in, and anyone can buy a quilt on EBay to help support the Alliance. I'll post when it is time to vote for your favorite and again when it is time to starting bidding.

I'm taking the theme literally and spelling it out, as you can see in the sneak peek block. Drafting paper pieced letters in a log cabin, cq format with strong graphic appeal of black and white and hot pink/fuchsia. What a lot of fun for a great cause.
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Update on the last Fiberart For A Cause (FFAC), my donated raven postcard raised $50.00 for the American Cancer Society, thank you Donna. Virginia Spiegel with a lot of help from her friends has now raised almost $200,000.00 for ACS. What an amazing woman.