"Jersey Girls" for the Quilt Alliance

Every year the Quilt Alliance hosts a contest/fundraiser, where people create 16" X 16" quilts around the theme for the year.  The quilts are auctioned off after winners are selected by a panel of judges, and tremendous prizes given!

I have loved making these quilts over the years, and have learned a lot from them as they are small enough to free me up for great experimentation.  For a detailed overview of my Alliance quilts, check out this post on their blog for lots of process and pictures:

https://quiltalliance.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/growing-quilts-harvesting-support/

This year's theme is "Animals We Love".  The contest rules are here.  You still have time to enter!  Deadline is May 1.

Most of you know I spent ten years as a dairy farmer and I still love Jersey calves the best...I miss them!
So I loved making this quilt, "Jersey Girls", because I could look down on their sweet faces the whole time I stitched.

I started by printing up a photo and playing around with the lay-out.  Those white flowers were crocheted for me by my daughter-in-law, Esther, for Christmas.  I really love them and had to use them.

The antique block was perfect, cut in half, to make part of the frame.
I ended up using the lace a different way, though.

Here we are midway through. I've quilted around the calves' faces before appliqueing the photo to the background fabric and surrounding it by trim.
Those little green dots you see are stuffed velvet circles...

...that became the centers of silk ribbon flowers, made with 13mm RiverSilks.  I had to really restrain myself on the frame, not overdoing it or making the colors too bright.  I wanted all the attention to be on those darling girls.

This was a quick 3 day project...you don't have to always spend a lot of time to realize your vision..or enter the contest!

Twenty Years in the Garden....Progress

Ohhhhh it has been fun!

The mid-ground area is about completed.  I brought the number of sunflowers up to twenty (people were counting them!)  Then I finished the hydrangeas, zinnias, and marigolds, and some tall grass.  Remodeled the little yellow house a bit too, but it needs more work...

About those grasses...

I love this ribbon by my friend Vicki Day.
But it was too poofy for how far back in the composition it is, so I just lightly stitched over it with clear thread and I think it worked.  ;-)

See, there it has been flattened, but not too much.

I've shown this to a few people and every single one of them counted the sunflowers, so now there are 20 of them.

We always leave them to go to seed for the birds in fall.  Doesn't take them long to eat everything!

The middle border has the annuals I always sneak into Robert's vegetable patch...

This year will be no different!

I gave the house a little more detail work, but it's not done yet.

But for now, it is time to decide which crops to plant.
Just like in real life!

**Remember, this quilt is for the "Twenty" contest to benefit the Quilt Alliancce.  You have plenty of time to create your entry! Guidelines are here.**

"Home is Where the Quilt Is"...

Every year I am most happy to support the annual quilt contest and fundraiser held by the Alliance for American Quilts.  I am not eligible to win, being a board member--and the prizes are really great--but I love the design challenge and to join my fellow quilters in this effort.

This year's theme is "Home is Where the Quilt Is", and the quilt must be shaped like a simple house, in the set dimensions of 15" X 19 1/2".

Did I love making my quilt!  It was inspired by this part of the view out my sewing room window.

Especially that little barn.....

I did have to simplify everything of course...
Here are a few more details...

This tatting was given to me by Marie, who was in my last post. I just brushed it with some Tsukineko ink to turn it into the sun.

I can't leave out three dimensional flowers, can I?

It's been too long since I've played in the flowers!  Spring must be coming to the Washougal River Valley....

I have been collecting vintage quilt blocks for a long time and felt that they would help with the theme of this quilt.  I pieced those white and green flying geese using vintage fabrics oh...about...20 years ago!

The contest quilts will be displayed all over the country this summer, and then auctioned off on EBay in the fall, as in years past.  The income is critical for the Alliance for American Quilts which as a non-profit accomplishes so much on a very lean budget.  I hope you will make an entry too; find the information here.

There is a HandiQuilter out there for the winner, as well as many other prizes.  But most of all, you will be supporting a great cause and participating in a wonderful challenge, keeping our quilting tradition fresh and new!  The deadline is June 1, 2012, so you still have lots of time....

"Alliances: Soil and Sky"....New Project

The Alliance for American Quilts is once again holding its annual competition/fund raiser.



This year's theme is "Alliances: People, Pattern, Passions"; the quilt size is again 16" X 16", and the deadline is March 7th, 2011. (The deadline is early this year because all the quilts will be shown at the American Quilters Society show in Paducah, Kentucky in April!) You still have plenty of time to create your entry.
There are many great prizes; check them all out here, along with the contest guidelines. The Grand Prize is the winner's choice of any long arm machine made by HandiQuilter. Winners are selected by online voting of Alliance members...you can become one and support this great nonprofit for the small fee of $25. This about covers the entry fee for the competition, too, which is but $5.00 for members, $25 for non-members.

Because I am currently serving on the board of AAQ, my quilt will not be eligible for the contest. But I still love participating, and my quilt will be auctioned off with all the others on Ebay in the fall.

I've just started my entry, "Alliances: Soil and Sky". I've been wanting to make this quilt for a long time.

I gathered my elements....

....started laying out my basic background with pins....

...and sewed it down with clear monofiliment thread in a narrow zigzag stitch.
These paintings (except the top one, which is by Manjiree) are by Julius Guzy. Both artists graciously gave me permission to use their work in a quilt.

I have begun arranging a possible frame around the perimeter.

We'll see...
Naturally all kinds of green shoots are going to emerge from the soil, and some pithy phrase will go across the top...I love working this way and am so glad to be starting on my Alliance quilt. It's about Spring, too, isn't it? ;-)

Ink Jet Floral Fabrics

I have until early next week to play with a new project....then I'll be working steadily on preparing for my classes in Baltimore.
So I decided to play with some of my flower imagery and had some fun printing this morning.

I've combined my home printed flower fabrics with commercial fabric in crazy quilts before, but I want to see how a quilt looks with only my own prints in it. And lace of course. And stitching, ribbonwork, beading, etc.
16" X 16", say, for another Alliance quilt?

I wonder how much trouble I can get in over the next 5 days?

Crazy for Quilts...New Contest Info

Amy Milne, the brilliant and dedicated director of the Alliance for American Quilts, has just sent out this letter...I think the news is exciting...and she does a fine job of explaining what the Alliance is all about.

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Dear Alliance for American Quilts contest quilt donor,

I am so pleased to write you with exciting news. This year we will add all contest entries (this year’s and the last two year’s contests) into the Quilt Index, an online database now with over 18,000 records of contemporary and historical quilts, and soon to reach 50,000 records. The Quilt Index, a joint project of the AAQ and Michigan State University, is essentially a virtual museum bringing new access to detailed information and images of quilts from museums, historical societies, guilds, documentation projects and private collections. Putting your contest quilts in the Quilt Index is another way that we can document, preserve and share the history of quilts, providing inspiration and information to our audience today and for generations to come.

I hope that this new incentive will encourage you to enter our 2009 contest- Crazy for Quilts. Full information and entry forms are available at: http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/projects/crazy/. This year we’re asking for the same small format (16” x 16”), and we’re celebrating the crazy quilt. As usual, all techniques, media and approaches are welcome—from traditional to artistic and all styles in between. As one member put it during our voting last year: “I appreciate the variety of techniques and designs. It's refreshing to see traditional patchwork and art quilts displayed together.”

Last year’s My Quilts/Our History quilt auction and 2007’s Put a Roof Over Our Head quilt auction raised a combined total of over $16,000. This much-needed income allows the AAQ to continue doing the important work of collecting and archiving the incredible achievements of quiltmakers like you. Thank you for playing a critical role in this effort with the contribution of your incredible quilts and stories!

If you’re not already an AAQ member, please consider joining now or when you send in your Crazy for Quilts entry. Members who join or renew for as low as $25/year can enter the contest for only $5/quilt. Another great reason to become an AAQ member is that you will become eligible to vote on the Crazy for Quilt entries (including your own). In a contest like this—the opportunity to vote for your own quilt (and maybe enlisting friends and family to join too J) can significantly increase your chances to win!!

Join online or download an order form at: http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/support/support.php.

Sending you best wishes and creative vibes,

Amy

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Debra Spincic, Deb Hardman, and my cousin Tracy are joining in. Each of their quilts will reflect something totally unique about crazy quilting.

Won't you please join us? If not to enter the contest, then to become a member.
Let's make sure that future historians see how valuable our quilt work is!