Little Birdies

2011 Riley Blake detail, click on pics to see more details

This little birdie is part of my entry for the 2011 Riley Blake Challenge, he flew in from an 1850 Rose of Sharon Quilt.  I fussy cut the bird from a large scale floral fabric (he is one fabric including the perfect eye and beak, I did add a wing piece) .  Don't you love when things work out!  I used vintage teeny rick rack for his legs and couched thread for berry stems.  And here is the original little fellow:



 



Here is the full 2011 Riley Blake Challenge quilt made for the Home Machine Quilting Show. It is a "modern" fabric version of the reproduction I made for the Alliance for American Quilt Challenge (below) plus the little bird. We had to use selected fabrics from the fun and funky Isabella fabric line from Riley Blake. It is hand appliqued and 'minimally' machine quilted (required) -- not my forte. So my next project is to hand quilt the heck out of it like I did on the Alliance entry.



2011 Alliance for American Quilts CHallenge Entry- 3rd prize winner



 

 

 

Wow, what a huge difference the fabric choices make! And here is the original 1845 antique crib quilt which started the whole journey.





Bloggers Quilt Fest -- Cheddar Stars over Moab

Cheddar Stars Over Moab, 2010
20" x 24"

This antique reproduction is one of my all time favorite quilts, I love the little 3 inch stars and the wonderful texture of the quilting.  I hand quilted the heck out of it!  Click on the photo to see a close up of the quilting.  Cheddar refers to the strong orange fabric which looks like cheddar cheese.
It was made for the 2010 American Quilt Study Group (AQSG) antique quilt study of 19th century star quilts.  The original antique quilt had to be star quilt made between 1800 and 1899. One of 10 quilts patterned and highlighted in the new Kansas City Star Book which shows the 39 antique quilts and their reproductions that were part of the quilt study.
If you click on the above link, you'll see my sister Donna's pink and cheddar star, which is also one of the patterns, quite an honor -- only 10 were patterned and 2 were ours.  Needless to say this is our favorite quilting book ever!!!!

New Stars Book available NOW

 Here's the 1890 antique quilt from my collection which was my inspiration- and my matching process.  See I'm working hard to find the perfect reproduction fabrics to exactly reproduce the original.  And if you need another cheddar fix, click here to see my first reproduction of my antique cheddar star but done in modern fabrics for the 2010 Riley Blake challenge.  I posted it for last year's spring Bloggers Quilt Fest and it includes a full shot of the antique quilt. 


Antique 1890 Cheddar Star with reproduction blocks and fabrics

 Click here to see my 2nd Bloggers Festival entry, my antique 1850 Rose of Sharon Applique - Quilted Joy quilt.
  Now back to visiting all the other wonderful quilts in Amy's Bloggers Quilt Festival (click on words not button).  Thanks AMY!

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.

B&W&Pink Mini Blog Fest - Fall 2010

Scrappy Color Play 8.5" x 11"

This is one of my all time favorite quilts, made for the Journal Quilt Project and shown at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. I love the graphic nature of the pink, fuchsia and black and white. It was a lot of fun to do such small piecing (the blocks are are about 2.75"-yes less than 3"). The paper pieced pattern was designed by my sister Donna and this is a sample for her class. It is a mix and match sampler: there are 6 pairs of blocks with the same pieces but each twin looks different based on color placement. See if you can find the match for each block.
There is a pattern available.

Don't forget to visit my other favorite -- part of my antique quilt collection (a cool blue and white schoolhouse quilt).
http://utahquiltappraiser.blogspot.com/2010/10/bloggers-quilt-festival-fall-2010.html

And click on the icon to visit even more of the quilt festival

it's in the cards, part 1 . . .

I wanted to share, while they're still fresh in my
memory/thoughts, some of the challenge quilts
that were on display at our last guild meeting.
Our guild alternates a challenge show with
a quilt show; this year was the challenge.
I shared with you the quilt/card my darling friend,
Tina, entered on Friday. Here's a few more
of my favorites, along with the cards that inspired them.

This card is a picture of the quilter's home.
She'd commissioned an artist to draw her home for
note cards for her husband

Based on the card, she created this quilt . . .

It won best-of-show! Check out the clouds -- love it!

I adore fall, so it's no surprise this entry caught my eye . . .

In fact, I think this may have been my personal favorite.

I voted for this one as "best representation of challenge"
and that's indeed what it won!
(Along with a place in its category!)

I thought this one was a cute card . . .

My picture of the quilt hardly does it justice.
I loved her attention to details -- and that she
doubled the cupids and had them blowing kisses
to each other. So sweet!


This was a beautiful little quilt. The quilter told
me she'd found the vintage card at an antique shop!

She won first place with her entry!

Last -- for today -- is this darling little bluebird card and quilt . . .


Blue birds have always been a favorite of mine.
This quilter did a wonderful job replicating the card onto fabric!

Enough for today . . . I've got another handful to share later.
Again let me say, we have such incredibly talented and
creative quilters in our guild!
I'm hoping it will rub off on me . . . LOL!

Happy 'over the hump' day!

:)

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.

Bloggers Quilt Festival

I made this quilt this spring for the Riley Blake challenge-charity fundraiser for the 2010 Home Machine Quilting Show. It was quite a challenge to use all of the required fabrics since the fabrics initially didn't want to play well together especially the pinks and reds. But when I pulled out a reproduction antique cheddar solid, it really brought all the colors together. It still looks a bit wild but wait until you see it with my inspiration- an antique quilt in my collection. Here is a bit of the challenge quilt and the inspiration quilt together:

And finally here is the inspiration quilt-a circa 1890 variable star with double pink centers and cheddar orange sashing. Don't forget to click on the picture to see the sawtooth borders (only on 1 side and the bottom). Don't know if she ran out of steam or if it was made for a bed that went against a wall. I love being an Certified Quilt Appraiser and having a reason to collect antique quilts. I just did a couple of trunk shows and had an antique quilt exhibit at the Home Machine Quilting Show. In fact both of these quilts were part of my lecture Rising to the Challenge.

Go to my antique quilt blog to see another 1890 antique star quilt- double pink blazing star quilt.

Please click on the festival icon to see a lot of great quilts and meet many fun quilters.

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.