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!

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.

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.

1860's Quilt Extreme Makeover

I adapted the basket border from an 1860's red and green princess feather applique quilt, turned it into a four block design and gave it a color makeover. I think the woman who made it would be glad her design still works but would be a bit surprised with the black, white and hot pink color scheme.
Hand appliqued and hand quilted.

Antique Quilt Blog

Recently I started a new blog to showcase my antique quilt collection and my quilt appraising activities. Please check it out to see a variety of quilts from early 1800's to vintage 1930's and 40's and everything in between. Below is a sneak preview of quilts that are already on the new blog or will be soon. From left to right: c. 1830 strippy flying geese with c. 1800 copperplate toile, c. 1830 9 patch, and c. 1850 strippy star quilt.


Here is another preview: c. 1840 Hickory leaf or reel, c. 1885 blazing star, early 1900's redwork

Rocky Road

Collections have been discussed this week on QuiltArt, prompting people to post photos of their stuff so I'll play too. I collect quilts and this 1930's Rocky Road to Kansas quilt was made by my great grandma Isabella Rogers. I love purple and scrappy quilts and this is one of my favorites. The back is purple home dyed flour sacks. The quilt is being held by AQS appraisers/instructors Bobbie Aug and Gerald Roy at our appraisal classes in Idaho Falls in May 2005. I'll be posting more photos of my collection but you can see a few more on my June 07 posting
http://starleyquilts.blogspot.com/2007/06/st-george-quilt-appraisals.html

St George Quilt Appraisals

It's about time I share an action shot (sort of) of me doing quilt appraisals. This is my booth at the Dixie Quilt Guild Show in St. George Utah in April 2007. You can see a bit of my quilt collection: Bethlehem star (Pa.) c.1900, small scale log cabin w/strippy back (Pa.) c. 1890, pink Goose in the Pond (Ohio) c. 1900 and red/white/blue quilt which will be discussed later. I had a great time and saw some nice quilts and visited with good friends--who could want more?