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!

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.

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.