Longing for the Past - 54" x 31" by Nancy Prince -  Thread is the tie that binds this quilt together. Approximately 12,000 yards of thread, over 100 thread colors and clost to 3 million stitches are intertwined throughout the thread painted designs.  No embroidery cards were used.  Hand painted fabric was used for the background and painted quilt bias binding created each individual board of siding on the house and chruch. Longing for the Past is a step back into a seemingly simpler moment in time.

Nancy shares a great story about standing near it at a show and overhearing a man who, after reading that the quilt took over 600 hours, said to his wife, "That woman's got way too much time on her hands."

Learn more about Nancy in Episode 1004 - Nancy Prince - Painting with Thread.

Longing for the Past - 32 pieces non-rotating

Longing for the Past - 98 pieces non-rotating

Longing for the Past - 98 pieces rotating

Longing for the Past - 300 pieces non-rotating

Longing for the Past - 300 pieces rotating

Joanne Baeth's quilt, Sunset and Sandhill Cranes has won a number of awards including: AQS DesMoines 2009, Best Machine Workmanship, Denver Quilt Festival 2010, Best of Show, IQA Houston 2010, Best Pictoral, Road to California 2011, Masterpiece and Pacific West Quilt Show 2011, Best of Show.  Her quilts are influenced by her environment.  Here is what she has to say.

I am fortunate to live in an rural area in southeastern Oregon with wetlands, refuges, forests, and lakes nearby. This amazing area is the largest migration route in the Pacific Northwest for over 300 species of birds. I became inspired by the wildlife and nature surrounding me and started taking photographs and drawing birds, animals and landscapes. My husband and I are in the outdoors often which gives me the opportunity to observe wildlife in settings that are different with each season.

To learn more, visit Joanne's website.

Sunset and Sandhill Cranes - 36 pieces non-rotating

Sunset and Sandhill Cranes - 100 pieces non-rotating

Sunset and Sandhill Cranes - 100 pieces rotating

Sunset and Sandhill Cranes - 252 pieces non-rotating

Sunset and Sandhill Cranes - 300 pieces rotating

Sheila Frampton-Cooper, aka Zoombaby, had another quilt in Road to California 2012.  Her quilt, A View From Above, took 3rd place, Art Abstract.  Here is what Sheila has to say about her quilt.

This originally started as a very small color study, but to my surprise and enjoyment, it decided to grow. I've observed that when you allow the energy to flow without an agenda, you are given a gift. Several people said, "hey, it looks like the view from the plane when you are flying over the midwest". I recently flew from OH to LA, and looked out of the window and wow, there it was, my view from above.

It took Sheila three solid months to piece the top and another 6 weeks to quilt it.

A View From Above - 35 pieces non-rotating

A View From Above - 96 pieces non-rotating

A View From Above - 96 pieces rotating

A View From Above - 252 pieces non-rotating

A View From Above - 300 pieces rotating

Here is a detail of the Amazing Eight Quilt.  Click on the picture for a 35 piece puzzle.

With Male Call: Quilts by Men, coming to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden, CO, we thought we'd choose David Taylor's award-winning quilt, Marmalade's First Snow for our TQS puzzle.

Here's what David said about his quilt, "My friend Jane McLeod snapped this picture of her barn cat, Marmalade, and when she showed it to me, I knew I had to turn it into a quilt.  I always enjoy creating "barn wood' from fabric and this quilt has now become a favorite, and, I think, one of my best.  Marmalade's whiskers are hand embroidered, and the quilt is a combination of hand applique with machine piecing on some of the longer sections of 'wood.'"

This quilt recently was the winner of Judges Choice - Kelly Gallagher Abbott at Road to California.

Marmalade's First Snow - 35 pieces non-rotating

Marmalade's First Snow - 99 pieces non-rotating

Marmalade's First Snow - 99 pieces rotating

Marmalade's First Snow - 270 pieces non-rotating

Marmalade's First Snow - 270 pieces rotating

This week's Top 100 Puzzle, Row Houses by Flavin Glover is a cover girl.  It graces the cover of A New Look at Log Cabin Quilts from C&T Publishing.  It is also one of the twentieth century's best american quilts.

This quilt, created in 1985, was inspired by the "painted ladies" row houses in San Francisco. The whole design was created entirely from log cabin blocks.  Flavin was aided by a picture postcard and suggestions from a paint store brochure.  It is 83" x 104" and was created from cotton fabric, machine pieced, and hand quilted.

Flavin has long been drawn to the log cabin block, she says, "Log Cabin quilts truly keep one connected to the taproot of American patchwork."

You can visit Flavin and learn about her incredible career at her website, www.flavinglover.com.  You can order a signed copy of her book by clicking here.

Row Houses - 35 pieces non-rotating

Row Houses - 99 pieces non-rotating

Row Houses - 99 pieces rotating

Row Houses - 252 pieces non-rotating

Row Houses - 252 pieces rotating

Coming this Monday, January 16, is our latest Episode 1002 - The Value of ... Value! with Michelle Jackson. In this episode, the 2010 Niche Award-winning fiber artist demonstrates the relationship - and difference - between color and value, and the important part value plays in determining what one sees when viewing a quilt.

In this quilt, Bucky, Michelle shows you what can happen when you meet a camera-ready friend at the zoo. The quilt is 47.5" x 43."  Bucky, himself, is much taller. It is made from 100% cotton fabrics and is fused applique and machine quilted.  The quilt was completed in 2010.

Bucky - 35 pieces non-rotating

Bucky - 100 pieces non-rotating

Bucky - 100 pieces rotating

Bucky - 252 pieces non-rotating

Bucky - 252 pieces rotating

This stunning hand-appliqued and hand quilted masterpiece from Zena Thorpe took a year and a half to complete.  Not an unusual amount of time for Zena who averaged 3-4 hours a day on the work.  Crowned with Glory - Right Royally came about when she visited Parliament and was inspired by wall hangings from the Royal School of Needlework. Other inspirations included red carpets with crown designs, leather upholstery in the House of Lords, and a church-supply catalog with ecclesiastical motfis.  It was completed in 1996 and is 82" x 90" materials include cotton damask, tricot-backed lame, and metallic thread. 

To see more of Zena's spectacular quilts, visit her website: www.zenasquilts.com.

Crowned with Glory - Right Royally - 36 pieces non-rotating

Crowned with Glory - Right Royally - 100 pieces non-rotating

Crowned with Glory - Right Royally - 100 pieces rotating

Crowned with Glory - Right Royally - 252 pieces non-rotating

Crowned with Glory - Right Royally - 252 pieces rotating

Here is one of Susan Cleveland's latest award-winning quilts.  Psychedelic Big Bang won 3rd place at IQF 2010 Houston, 2nd place AQS show Paducah, several awards at the NQA show in Columbus 2011, including 1st Place Small Quilt Mixed Techniques, Best Use of Embellishment, and Best of Show Small Quilt.  It was completed in 2010 and is 75" x 47."

Note the wonderful use of prairie points.  Learn how Susan makes them in Episode 1001.

Psychedelic Big Bang - 35 pieces non-rotating

Psychedelic Big Bang - 96 pieces non-rotating

Psychedelic Big Bang - 96 pieces rotating

Psychedelic Big Bang - 252 pieces non-rotating

Psychedelic Big Bang - 252 pieces rotating

This week's puzzle comes from Barbara Olson, a TQS Guest artist in Episode 105: Jump-Starting Creativity. Barbara (TQS member name barbartquilt) is a renowned fiber artist, author and international teacher.  She is also the creator of this mesmorizing quilt, In the Beginning, which also happens to be one of the Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts.

It all started with a doodle and Barbara had the quilt on her design wall for over six months. It includes foundation piecing, machine applique, and machine piecing.  The quilt is made from cotton, hand-marbled fabrics and contains metallic, rayon, and satin threads.  It is 59" x 59" and was completed in approx 1994.  It is currently in the Collection of the International Quilt Association.

In The Beginning - 35 pieces non-rotating

In The Beginning - 100 pieces non-rotating

In The Beginning - 100 pieces rotating

In The Beginning - 255 pieces non-rotating

In The Beginning - 255 pieces rotating

This week's puzzle was created by TQS member, Carol Ann Sinnreich (CASinnreich), from Lawton, Ok. Winter Encounter is a beautiful outdoor scene depicting the cold of winter and reality of nature.  Here's what Carol has to say about her work, "Snow, cold wind, predators and opportunity force wildlife to keep moving. Winter scenes are more colorful. Reflective light from snow creates a multitude of colors setting the mood and the challenge."

The quilt is 54" x 46 1/2" and is made from cotton.  It is appliqued, has machine thread embroidery and some pigma pen.  It is hand and machine quilted.

Winter Encounter - 36 pieces non-rotating

Winter Encounter - 100 pieces non-rotating

Winter Encounter - 100 pieces rotating

Winter Encounter - 252 pieces non-rotating

Winter Encounter - 252 pieces rotating

This week's puzzle is by Sheila Frampton Cooper.  It is Life in the City and recently won an Honorable Mention in the Art Abstract Large category at the Houston International Quilt Festival 2011.

Here's what Sheila had to say about her quilt:

My inspiration for this quilt is simply my love of color, espcially in nature.  As a native of Los Angeles, this is my representation of life in the city -- the parks, trees, flowers, birds, busy intersections, my love of driving, and colorful people.  I truly enjoyed participating in its creation.

You can learn more about Sheila from her interviews with Sharon Pederson at festival. Click here and here to watch her interviews.

Life In The City - 36 pieces non-rotating

Life In The City - 100 pieces non-rotating

Life In The City - 100 pieces rotating

Life in the City - 255 pieces non-rotating

Life In The City - 252 pieces rotating

This lovely quilt created by Joyce Becker, TQS Guest artist in Episode 912: Doubleheader Today: Landscapes and Longarm, required a number of different techniques.  It uses hand-dyed fabrics, machine embroidery, textile painting and an overlay of organza.  Red Skies at Night - Sailors Delight was made in the summer of 2000 and measure 50" x 52."

It is a sample for Joyce's Luscious Landscapes Workshop.

Red Skies at Night - 36 pieces non-rotating

Red Skies at Night - 100 pieces non-rotating

Red Skies at Night - 100 pieces rotating

Red Skies at Night - 255 pieces rotating

Here are some of hints for this quilt.  It is the cover quilt for Machine Quilitng a Primer of Techniques by Sue Nickels, available by clicking here.  And, it is the backdrop for Sue's free episode this weekend, Episode 402 - Quilting to Perfection.  It is called Blue Tulips on Pink Skies.

Blue Tulips on Pink Skies - 36 pieces non-rotating

Blue Tulips on Pink Skies - 100 pieces non-rotating

Blue Tulips on Pink Skies - 100 pieces rotating

Blue Tulips on Pink Skies - 289 pieces rotating

This little quilt, Ashley's Flower Basket, by Sue Nickels, is something you can create yourself.  It is the first pattern in a series of flower basket designs that Sue created for JWD Publishing. You can find the pattern here. The quilt was created using raw-edge fusible machine applique which Sue focuses on in the AQS book Stitched Raw Edge Appliqué co-authored by Sue and her sister, Pat Holly. This book is available from AQS at www.AmericanQuilter.com. You can also visit Sue's site by clicking here.

Ashley's Flower Basket - 35 pieces non-rotating

Ashley's Flower Basket - 100 pieces non-rotating

Ashley's Flower Basket - 100 pieces rotating

Ashley's Flower Basket - 289 pieces rotating

Red Wings is a 16" x 16" quilt that Sue Nickels created for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative Stanley Cup Quilt-Off 2011.  This quilt raised $710 for the AAQI.   This quilt is a "wholecloth" quilt which Sue quilted with red thread.

Sue is the author of Machine Quilting: A Primer of Techniques. This book is available from AQS at www.AmericanQuilter.com. You can also visit Sue's site by clicking here.

You can also watch Sue this weekend in Episode 402 - Quilting to Perfection as this show is open to all until Sunday, 11/27.

Red Wings - 36 pieces non-rotating

Red Wings - 100 pieces non-rotating

Red Wings - 100 pieces rotating

Red Wings - 289 pieces rotating

Tea at Tenby by Sue Nickels and Pat Holly won Best of Show at the 2009 Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England.  It also took 1st place, Bed Quilts, Home Sewing Machine at the AQS 25th Annual Quilt Show & Contest.

Sue and Pat coauthored Stitched Raw Edge Appliqué and Sue is the author of Machine Quilting: A Primer of Techniques. Both books are available from AQS at www.AmericanQuilter.com. You can learn more about Sue and Pat at Sue's website by clicking here.

Some of you may have been fortunate enough to see the quilt at Quilting in the Garden 2010, where Sue was the featured artist.

You can also watch Sue this weekend in Episode 402 - Quilting to Perfection as this show is open to all until Sunday, 11/27.

Pat was also a guest at TQS in Episode 608 - Mastering Machine Applique.

Tea at Tenby - 36 pieces non-rotating

Tea at Tenby - 100 pieces non-rotating

Tea at Tenby - 100 pieces rotating

Tea at Tenby - 289 pieces rotating

This week's puzzle is the Grand Prize winner of the Alliance for American Quilts "Alliances" contest.  Here's what Jamie had to say about her quilt.

Soul Sisters - 36 pieces non-rotating

Soul Sisters - 100 pieces non-rotating

Soul Sisters - 143 pieces rotating

Soul Sisters - 255 pieces rotating

Sharon Pederson was able to talk with Sharon Schamber in front of her award-winning quilt at the Houston Quilt Festival this year.  Sharon discusses her design process from beginning to end.

Here's a quick puzzle of Sharon's quilt, Crimson Promises.  It's your opportunity to create a Sharon Schamber quilt is less than a day!

Crimson Promises - 36 piece non-rotating

This quilt comes from the master of the Mariner's Compass, Judy Mathieson. Judy created the quilt in 1986.  It is 73" x 88."  It is made from cottons, is machine pieced and hand quilted.

Judy's first attempt at quiltmaking in 1973 was with a Mariner's Compass block.  Through the years she explored its many possibilities and ultimately created her masterpiece, Nautical Stars.  It was inspired by a watercolor drawing of roses in the Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum.

Judy has been a guest on The Quilt Show. In Episode 707: Stellar Star Circles, she joined Alex and Ricky to demo her technique for precision paper-piecing with no paper to remove!  She also talked about how she builds her star circles, segment by segment.  And if that wasn't enough, she gives tips on what judges look for when judging a quilt show.

Nautical Stars 35 pieces non-rotating

Nautical Stars 99 pieces non-rotating

Nautical Stars 120 pieces rotating

And just for fun,

Nautical Stars 250 pieces non-rotating

This week's puzzle is an award winner from last year's International Quilt Festival in Houston.  It is Ambrosia by Gina Perkes of Payson, AZ.  Gina's quilt took First Place Innovative Applique in the 2010 A World of Beauty Exhibition.

Gina has visited TQS before in Episode 308: Artistry on a Long Arm.  In this episode Gina walks you through the process of creating intricate grids and continuous curves.  After watching her step-by-step approach, you'll be a pro in no time.

Ambrosia 36 pieces non-rotating

Ambrosia 100 pieces non-rotating

Ambrosia 110 pieces rotating

It's just a few hours until Halloween so we've chosen a quilt to honor the occasion.  Enjoy EEEEK! from Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool (where you can purchase the pattern).

As Verna says, it's creepy and it's spooky, it's all together kooky!

To learn more about Verna and her amazing applique creations, watch Episode 806: Having It All with Hand Applique.

EEEEK! 35 pieces non-rotating

EEEEK! 154 pieces non-rotating

EEEEK! 99 pieces rotating

This week's puzzle is from one of our latest guests, Dianne S. Hire.  She created a curved quilt without templates that is fast to assemble.  It is a Curvaceous Squares quilt. You can learn more about Dianne's methods in Episode 908: Wedgies, Danglers, and Funkies...Oh, My! And look for her book, Vivacious Curvy Quilts where you can find 100 photos of Dianne's work and pieces by her students.

Curvaceous Squares - 36 pieces non-rotating

Curvaceous Squares - 100 pieces non-rotating

Curvaceous Squares - 100 pieces rotating

In honor of PIQF, we are highlighting a quilt by one of our own TQS Members, Sherry Reynolds (aka wyomingquilter).  Sherry's quilt, Christmas All Around, won 1st place traditional in 2010, as well as, the Viewer's Choice award. It most recently won Best Machine Workmanship at the AQS Lancaster Quilt Show 2011.  Sherry said that she designed the quilt on graph paper and wanted to capture the favorite colors, icons, and memories, and the sparkle of Christmas.  The piecing and quilting on this quilt are absolutely stunning.

It is 88" x  88" and was quilted on a 20-year old Bernina 1001.  The sparkle is courtesy of Swarovski crystals.

P.S. Sherry's entries into PIQF this year are equally as stunning, you can see them by clicking here and heading over to the Forum.

Christmas All Around - 35 pieces non-rotating

Christmas All Around - 100 pieces non-rotating

Christmas All Around - 100 pieces rotating

TQS Guest Gina Perkes recently took BEST OF SHOW at the 2011 AQS Quilt Show & Contest - Des Moines
September 28 - October 1, 2011 with her quilt Ambrosia.  This quilt has won several awards including 1st Place - Innovative Applique at the 2010 IQA show in Houston.

Gina visited TQS for Episode 308: Artistry on a Long Arm.  In the episode, Gina walks you through the process of creating intricate grids and continuous curves. Her easy to follow step-by-step instructions will give you the confidence to design your own masterpiece.

Congratulations Gina!

Ambrosia 35 pieces non-rotating

Ambrosia 110 pieces non-rotating

Ambrosia 120 pieces rotating

In honor of Quilting in the Garden this week at Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore, CA, we have two quilt puzzles, one from each of the two featured artists at the show.  Ladies first, it is Verna Mosquera's, Enchanted Autumn, followed by Rob Appell's, Percula Clownfish, part of the Endangered Species Quilt Project. You can see the work of both these artists in Episode 806: Having it All with Hand Applique featuring Verna Mosquera and Episode 812: Protect our Planet...with Quilts featuring Rob Appell.

Enchanted Autumn - 100 pieces non-rotating

Enchanted Autumn - 100 pieces rotating

Percula Clownfish - 100 pieces non-rotating

Percula Clownfish - 100 pieces rotating

With Fall just around the corner and Halloween not too far behind, we thought we'd feature one of Tonya Ricucci's Word Play quilts for this week's TQS Puzzle.  In Episode 907: Get UnRuly: Playing with Words, Alex, Ricky, and Tonya talk about her inspiration for Happy Halloween.  Does the style look familiar...think Gwen Marston...think Liberated Quiltmaking...does it ring a bell?

Happy Halloween - 35 pieces non-rotating

Happy Halloween - 100 pieces non-rotating

Happy Halloween - 100 pieces rotating

Turnabout is fair play, we recently featured one of Alex's quilts, so this week's featured puzzle is a quilt from our own Ricky Tims.  Brazilian Fantasie is part of his series of Rhapsodie Fantastique quilts.  If you'd like to see more of the quilts in this series, click here.

Brazilian Fantasie - 40 pieces non-rotating

Brazilian Fantasie - 100 pieces non-rotating

Brazilian Fantasie - 100 pieces rotating

This week's puzzle quilt, Bouquet, is by our latest featured artist, Katie Pasquini Masopust. You can catch some fleeting glimpses of the quilt and the original work of art from which it was created, if you watch the Behind-the-Scenes slideshow for Episode 906 or Episode 906: From Music to Masterpiece: A New Perspective on Design. It is 53" x 54" and here is the best part, you can own this quilt. It is currently for sale on Katie's website, www.katiepm.com, click here for more information.

Bouquet - 35 pieces non-rotating

Bouquet - 100 pieces non-rotating

Bouquet - 100 pieces rotating

This week's puzzle is by a favorite TQS guest, Paula Nadlestern.  The quilt was created in 1996 and is part of a series of kaleidoscope quilts.  There are four 12-sided off-centered mandalas with 29 smaller scopes bordering the center of the quilt.  The fabric is Liberty of London which contains the bilateral, symmetrical motifs required to create the kaleidoscopes.  Kaleidscopic XVI: More is More, was created on Paula's 42" round table in the kitchen of her apartment, so while "More is More" works for fabric, you don't really need a huge space to design perfection.  The quilt is 64" x 64" and was gifted to the American Folk Art Museum by Paula.

A current exhibit of Paula's kaleidoscope quilts is being held at the Akron Art Museum through October 2, 2011.

To see Paula in action at TQS, watch Episode 307: Puzzle Quilts or Episode 508: Paula at the American Folk Art Museum which features her kaleidoscope quilts.

Kaleidoscopic XVI: More is More - 35 pieces non-rotating

Kaleidoscopic XVI: More is More - 100 pieces non-rotating

Kaleidoscopic XVI: More is More - 100 pieces rotating

The top 100 puzzle quilt this week, Ray of Light by TQS favorite, Jinny Beyer may be one of the most recongizable on the planet.  Jinny's quilt was chosen as the winner of The Great American Quilt contest sponsored by Good Housekeeping, the U.S. Historical Society, and the Museum of American Folk Art to celebrate's the US Bicentennial.  Almost 10,000 quilts were entered into the contest.  The quilt is made from Indonesian batiks and American cottons.  It is hand-pieced and hand quilted and is part of Jinny's personal collection.  It was completed in 1977 and measures 80" x 91".  The Hindi translation of "Ray of Light" is Kiran, which is also the name of Jinny's daughter.

To learn more about the quilt, visit Jinny's site at www.jinnybeyer.com.

You can also watch Jinny on The Quilt Show in Episode 601 - Perfect Your Hand Piecing and Episode 313 - TQS Quilting Legend 2008.

Jinny also has classes here at TQS.  Visit her classroom by clicking here.

Ray of Light - 35 pieces non-rotating

Ray of Light - 100 pieces non-rotating

Ray of Light - 100 pieces rotating

Bear West is Alex's award winning quilt. Boasting Best of Show in a regional show, it granted her young family the opportunity to take a trip to Orlando, Florida (Disneyworld)!  Ask Alex the story someday of how this quilt got its name and she'll remind you to always pay attention to the rules when submitting a quilt to a show (she didn't).  We give you a little puzzle hint below if you need it.

Bear West - 35 pieces non-rotating

Bear West - 110 pieces non-rotating

Bear West - 110 pieces rotating

Here's a little sneak peek of a small portion of the quilt.

This week's puzzle is an award-winning quilt from Sarah Vedeler.  It won an honorable mention in Paducah and 1st prize at Houston in the Computer Aided Machine Embroidery category.   The Houston show was the first show in which Sarah had entered a quilt. The cool thing is that you can make this quilt too!  GO! Be Dazzled utilizes AccuQuilt GO! dies and they can be found on the GO! Be Dazzled CD.  Click here to learn more.

To learn more about Sarah, watch Episode 904: The Wonderful World of Embroidered Applique posting Monday, August 15, 2011.

GO! Be Dazzled - 36 pieces non-rotating

GO! Be Dazzled - 110 pieces non-rotating

GO! Be Dazzled - 110 pieces rotating

Created in 1999, Baskets by Velda Newman. is a prime example of her ability to create a work of art inspired by ordinary objects found in the everyday world.  The quilt is 42" x 44" and you can see another view of it in the Behind the Scenes slideshow for Episode 903.

To see how Velda creates her art, watch Episode 903 - Realistic Imagery: How Does She Do it? 

Also available from C & T Publishing is Velda's book, A Workshop with Velda Newman, "Take inspiration from nature, then use color, shape, and texture to translate the world around you into amazing works of quilted art!"

To go to Velda's website, click here.

Baskets: 36 pieces non-rotating

Baskets: 100 pieces non-rotating

Baskets: 100 pieces rotating

This week's puzzle, Puzzling Memories, was created by Peggy Mages and was part of the "Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece" traveling exhibit, a 54-quilt traveling exhibit about Alzheimer's, sponsored by the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiate (AAQI).  The exhibit has now been retired and the quilt will be auctioned off, along with other quilts from the exhibit, beginning Monday, August 1, 2011.  All proceeds will fund Alzheimer's research.

To learn more about the quilt and its maker, click here.

To learn more about the auction, click here.

Puzzling Memories 35 pieces non-rotating

Puzzling Memories 100 pieces non-rotating

Puzzling Memories 100 pieces rotating

This week's quilt is Ancient Directions by Alison Goss, created in 1990.  Having lived in many places, Alison has always been inspired by her surroundings.  According to The Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts, edited by Mary Leman Austin, Alison states, "I made this quilt about nine months after an extended stay in the San Juan Mountains in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest.  I was overwhelmed, and still am, by the beauty and meaning of this area.  I tried to put as much of my feeling as possible into Ancient Directions." 

Joen Wolfrom, in her book, The Magical Effects of Color says, "Some spectacular examples of contemporary quilts with vague traditional roots include: Ancient Directions by Alison Goss with its dimensional design based on a simple diagonal four-patch."

However you feel about Ancient Directions, you can't help but be drawn into depths and beauty.

The quilt is 80" x 67"  It uses hand-painted and commercial cottons and is machine pieced and quilted.  It is in the collection of the National Quilting Museum.

Ancient Directions 35 non-rotating

Ancient Directions 100 non-rotating

Ancient Directions 100 rotating

Our current guest in Episode 901 State-of-the-Art Quilting: Tradition Meets Innovation - Susan Brubaker Knapp, has a delightful block of the month pattern entitled, Heart's Desire.  It is Susan's take on a Baltimore Album quilt and finishes at 62" x 62"  It has a modern twist and features hearts, vines, and leaves.  Susan used hand-dyed fabrics, but image what this would look like on a white background using prints or batiks.  The pattern is available at Susan's site.

Hearts Desire 1 - 35 pieces non-rotating

Hearts Desire 2 - 100 pieces non-rotating

Hearts Desire 3 - 100 pieces rotating

Molly Upton's ideas were inspired by the fine arts, painting, architecture, dance, music, and literature, and she found a method for creating her ideas through fabric. Torrid Dwelling, created in 1975, was far ahead of its time. In fact, at the time of her death at the age of 24, her work was being represented in a Madison Avenue art gallery. Torrid Dwelling uses a wide range of fabrics and innovative strip-piecing techniques. Molly commented that she drew inspiration from "wandering through ruins, active streets and deserts; from past civilizations, and (from piano) keyboards."  This quilt is 98" x 92" and is in a private collection.

Torrid1 - 36 pieces non-rotating

Torrid2 - 100 pieces non-rotating

Torrid3 - 100 pieces rotating

On this July 4 we brought back the puzzle for American Life.  Okay it's 1930 not 2011, but it's a fun quilt.  How fast can you do this?

In 1930, Mrs. Cecil White created a quilt with vignettes of American Life.  Her style seems similar to cartoon art.  She included everything from a shoe shine parlor to an elopement and a trolley ride.  The quilt is 77" x 66" and made mostly of cotton fabric.  It is hand appliqued and quilted.  Not much is known about Mrs. Cecil White but anyone can enjoy her look into everyday life in 1930.

cecilwhitequilt1 - 60 pieces non-rotating

cecilwhitequilt2 - 60 pieces rotating

This week's puzzle is from TQS guest, Susan Brubaker Knapp of Blue Moon River.  This lovely quilt while bold in design, is small in dimension.  It is only 12" x 12" and can be found in Susan's latest book, Point, Click, Quilt! Turn Your Photos into Fabulous Fabric Art.  Susan created this quilt using cotton fabric, acrylic textile paint, cotton threads and cotton batting.  It is thread sketched and free-motion machine quilted.

Susan's Episode 901 will post on Monday, July 4, 2011.

African Beads - 100 pieces non-rotating

African Beads 1 - 100 pieces rotating

African Beads 2 - 35 pieces non-rotating - Great for beginners!

This week's puzzle, Hydrangea, is quite a large quilt at 100" x 97".  It was created by Velda Newman in 1989 using hand applique and hand quilting.  Velda used hand-dyed and commerical fabrics as well as discharge-painted leaves.  She added another unique touch by including a contrasting red edging and black and white binding.  Velda makes very few quilts, but all are masterpieces of art and design.  

Look for Velda in the upcoming 900 series where she'll be teaching painting on fabric.

Hydrangea1 - 90 pieces non-rotating

Hydrangea2 - 90 pieces rotating

Hydrangea3 - 35 pieces non-rotating

Copyright 2002 - Velda E. Newman

This is a record-breaking quilt, Mosaic #3, was pieced by Albert Small and quilted by his wife Eva and daughter-in-law, Marian.  It was created during the war years, 1941-1944, when fabric was hard to find.

Albert worked on Mosaic for four years, sewing four hours a day, six days a week.  He told one reporter that it took about 6000 hours. The quilt contains a total of 123,200 hexagons, each 1/4 inch in diameter. There are 15.08 hexagons in each square inch of the quilt. Six of these hexagons are smaller than a dime.

Because he was a large man who worked with explosives by day and a needle by night, he received quite a bit of attention.  He established correspondence with a number of "famous" quilters of the time including Florence Peto and Grace Synder, who asked for a copy of his hexagon template.

To read more about Albert Hall and see some of his earlier quilts, click here.  The quilt is in the collection of the Illinois State Museum.

We've put up a much easier puzzle this week for anyone who hasn't tried a puzzle before. They are great fun, give it a whirl.

Mosaic1 - 35 pieces, non-rotating

For those of you who have been doing this for a while, here you go!

Mosaic2 - 90 pieces, non-rotating

Mosaic3 - 90 pieces, rotating

It took quite a bit to get this quilt together, but probably not the way you think.  Sharon Pederson began this quilt in 2009 and with the help of her friends from all around the world, she organized and ran the Rose of Sharon Block Challenge.  You'll want to read the whole story at Sharon's website.  Here are the names of the designers of the blocks, including one from Sharon.

Starting at the upper left corner and going across the top, they are:

Simonetta Marini of Bologna, Italy, Judy Best from Ontario, Canada, Dianne Gronfors also from Ontario, Canada, my block, Leslie Collins from California, USA, Jo Moury of Virginia, USA, Rebekah Reinheimer from Jerusalem, Israel, Suzy Pricket of Florida, USA, Barb Vlack from Illinois, USA, Candace Door of Nebraska, USA, Pat Daniels, from Manitoba, Canada, Claudia Change of Taipei, Taiwan, and Kari Bauer from Illinois, USA.

BTW, our own Alex and Ricky judged the final blocks!

Rose of Sharon 1 - 120 pieces, non-rotating

Rose of Sharon 2 - 100 pieces, rotating

Visit Sharon's website. 

This week's puzzle is by our guest this week, Cheryl Lynch.  It is a small quilt, barely the size of a piece of writing paper, titled, Joyous Gates.  Cheryl created this quilt after experiencing "The Gates" created by Jeanne-Claude and Christo in 2005.  They were curtains of tangerine fabric hanging from metal arches in Central Park.  To get the whole story of how and why Cheryl created this quilt, head on over to her blog by clicking here.

Joyous Gates - 108 pieces - non-rotating

Joyous Gates 2 - 99 pieces - rotating

This week's puzzle was created by Ida W. Beck between 1952 and 1954.  Ida Beck was a shut-in and did needlework and monogramming, which was her speciality.  She spent several years planning and making the Rainbow Monogram and Initial quilt.

In the center of the quilt is a fully entwined alphabet monogram which is 14" x 24".  There are 9 other alphabets in different scripts and fonts included on the quilt.  Each of the scalloped border sections is a month of the year along with its gemstone,  holiday, and flower.  There are approximately 400 letters, 50 flowers and a dazzling array of birds and butterflies which are worked in embroidery or button-hole stitch applique.  It is handquilted with feathers, diamonds, and diagonal lines.  The quilt measures 94" x 90" and is in the collection of the Shelburne Museum.

Rainbow1 - 100 pieces non-rotating

Rainbow2 - 100 pieces rotating

For the puzzle this week, we choose one of Sue Spargo's quilts, Silk Road.  This quilt was inspired by a colorful flower garden.  She used hand dyed eggplant wool of different textures for the background.  The appliqued flowers are a combination of wools, cottons, taffeta silks, and hand dyed velvet.  The pattern can be found in Sue's book, Contemporary Folk, published by Quiltmania magazine in France.  For more information, go to Sue's Website.

Silk Road 1 - 100 pieces non-rotating.

Silk Road 2 - 100 pieces rotating.

To watch Sue's show, Episode 811, Folk Art in Fabric, Inspirations and Techniques, click here.

This is Grace McCance Synder's most famous quilt, Flower Basket Petit Point.  She asked permission from German artist Wendelin Grossman if she could copy the pattern she found on a china plate.  The China was made by the Salem China Company in Salem, Ohio.  It took Grace 16 months and 85,875 patches.  Each of these patches is a triangle or square and when sewn together are about the size of a postage stamp.

One of Grace's wishes, that she told her daughter Nellie Synder Yost, was "I wished that I might grow up to make the most beautiful quilts in the world, to marry a cowboy, and to look down on the top of a cloud."  

Grace wrote about her life growing up in a soddy on the plains of Nebraska in the book, No Time On My Hands.

The quilt is 94" x 92" and was made 1942-1943.  It is in the collection of the Nebraska State Historical Society, Museum of Nebraska History, Lincoln.

Flower Basket 1 - 110 pieces - non rotating

Flower Basket 2 - 100 pieces rotating

This beautiful quilt was appliqued by Katurah Elisabeth Tooley in 1938.  Unfortunately, the quilter is unknown. Red Birds (or The Garden)  was inspired by Arsinoe Kelsey Bowen's 1857 quilt in Ruth Finley's Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them.

Prior to 1943, when a commercial pattern was published for the quilt in Women's Day, each quiltmaker had to come up with her own way to create it.  Katurah's husband figured out a way to project the image and then Katurah traced it.  She stayed true to Bowen's design, including bright cardinals surrounding the cabled swags, hence the name, Red Birds. 

Red Birds 1 - 100 pieces non-rotating

Red Birds 2 - 100 pieces rotating

The Heritage Quilt was created by Mary Pemble Barton from 1966-1976.  Her research into her heritage and the beauty of this quilt landed Mary a place in the Quilters Hall of Fame in 1984. The quilt tells the story of her family as they cross the United States and settle in Iowa.

Each part of the quilt has significance, including an 1869 newspaper item which relates the pioneer's story in the lower left corner, pioneer women in dresses composed of some fabrics over 100 years old, and miniature quilt patterns.  The center of the quilt is significant in that it portrays the center of the settler's lives, their churches.  The eagle is the symbol of their new-found homeland.

The quilt is made of cottons, hand-pieced, appliqued, embroidered and quilted.  It is in the collection of the Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines.

Heritage 1 - 90 pieces non-rotating

Heritage 2 - 90 pieces rotating

Herbert Hoover's quote "prosperity is just around the corner," inspired this wonderful humorous quilt created by Fannie B. Shaw between 1930-1932.  It is 72" x 86" and is hand appliqued, pieced, and quilted.

In her Prosperity Quilt, she has her applique figures depicting women, businessmen, baseball players, a farmer, a cowboy, and more peeking around the corner expectantly. Mrs. Shaw even included herself in her hallmark apron.  She used a variation of the attic windows pattern and quilted footprints in the sashing to show movement and the search for jobs.  This quilt sent a powerful message that spoke for the whole nation.

Around the Corner 1 - 99 pieces non-rotating

Around the Corner 2 - 99 pieces rotating

For this week's quilt puzzle, we are using a quilt by our featured guest, Jo Morton, who is known for vintage inspired quilts.  You can get a peek at this quilt by watching the slideshow; click here to peek.

Liberty Star Sampler 1 - 100 pieces non-rotating

Liberty Star Sampler 2 - 100 pieces rotating

This wonderful hawaiian quilt was created by Hannah Ku'umililani (Hannah Cummings Baker) in 1938.  Hannah is a major figure in the history of Hawaiian quilt-making having begun quilting in the 1920s and continuing through the 1970s.  She was teacher and kept the Hawaiian tradition alive by passing on her knowledge to hundreds of women throughout the islands.  More importantly she collected and designed hundreds of patterns.

Hannah made her designs accessible to the public and encouraged other Hawaiian quilt-makers to share as well, thereby preserving what might have been lost.  

This quilt, Pikake Lei and Tuberose is a break from tradition in that it is a light pattern on a darker, blue/green, background.  It is 86" x 86", made from cotton, hand appliqued and quilted with a machine-stitched edging.

Pikake Lei 1 - 90 Pieces, Non-Rotating

Pikake Lei 2 - 90 Pieces, Rotating

Hannah Hayes Headlee created this quilt betwen 1935-1940.  The quilter is unknown.  Hannah was considered the artist in the family as she made numerous applique quilts and also taught watercolor and china painting in Topeka, Kansas.  She supported herself through her artistic endeavors and married three times. Miss Headlee is remembered as the first women in town to have a bicycle in 1914.  Hannah rarely entered contests because she felt her quilts might be copied and she wanted to remain an "original."  It sounds like she truly was.

Garland 1 - 90 pieces non-rotating

Garland 2 - 90 pieces rotating

Just to change it up a bit, this week we are offering a puzzle with a quilt by Ronda Beyer, our featured guest in Episode 807- Shhh!!! A Prize-winning Quilter Shares Some Secrets.  The quilt is Gypsy Rosalie and it recently won Best Wall Quilt at the 2011 AQS Quilt Show & Contest in Lancaster.  Congratulations Ronda.

Gypsy 1 - 90 pieces - non-rotating

Gypsy 2 - 90 pieces - rotating

This is one of the few quilts in the top 100 made by a man.  It was made by Carl Klenicke in 1900 as a wedding gift for his daughter.  Carl was a tailor and he most likely made the quilt from elegant dress fabric scraps from his shop.  It even includes fabric made from women's veils.  It is thought that the two horses in the center of the quilt represent Carl's home country, Germany.  It is also believed that many of the motifs in the quilt had special meaning to, Laura, Carl's daughter.  It is 72" x 60."

Wedding Quilt 1 - 90 pieces - non-rotating

Wedding Quilt 2 - 90 pieces - rotating

This is one amazing quilt created by Mrs. B. W. Riley in 1939.  Mrs. Riley kept detailed records of the making of this Miniaturized Postage Stamp quilt.  Here are some of the statistics.  Each square measures less than one-half inch, a nine-patch measures one full inch.  The total weight of the quilt is 7 1/2 lbs.  She used 69,649 pieces and 3,694 yards of thread.  It took Mrs. Riley 194 days to make it, not counting the 524 hours to cut it out.  It contains approximately 1,810,874 stitches.  The truly amazing thing is that this is just one of the 200 quilts she made in her lifetime.

Postage1 - 100 pieces, non-rotating

Postage2 - 100 pieces, rotating

Ruth Lee was born in Nebraska and moved to Kansas at the age of three. She liked to tell the story of tumbling out of the wagon and rolling under the wheel, but suffering no serious damage to her daughter Loretta.

She was an excellent seamstress and earned money tailoring furs and remaking men's suits into women's. This quilt was made in 1930 and is about 70" x 90."  It is made from cotton and hand pieced and hand quilted. Of all of the thousands of Grandmother's Flower Garden quilts, this one stands above the others.

To learn more about Ruth, click here.

Grandmother's Flower Garden 1 - 99 pieces non-rotating

Grandmother's Flower Garden 2 - 90 pieces rotating

This amazing quilt has delicate applique, elaborate quilting (with trapunto), beautiful colors and and interesting subject matter; unfortunately all we know of the maker are the initials "AY."  It was created in 1937, possibly from a pattern.  It is made up of cottons and hand appliqued and hand pieced.

Medallion1 - 100 pieces non-rotating

Medallion2 - 90 pieces rotating

This wonderful Diamond in a Square quilt was created by an unknown Amish artist around 1925.  It is 77" x 77" and is made of wools, hand pieced, and hand quilted.  It is a classic Lancaster County Amish quilt.  The Lancaster Amish focused on the simplest of pieced patterns.  In this example there are only 29 pieces of fabric. The simplicity of the design combined with the bold colors and magnificent quilting create a quilt of quiet power and beauty.

Amish1 - 100 pieces non-rotating

Amish2 - 90 pieces rotating

The AIDS Memorial Quilt has been displayed in its entirety only five times -- in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992 and 1996. Each display was on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The quilt was founded in 1987 and is a memorial to those who have died from AIDS and is used as a tool in the prevention of HIV.  Each section is twelve feet square and is typically made up of eight individual 3' x 6' panels sewn together.  Each panel memorializes the life of someone lost to AIDS.  There are currently more than 44,000 panels.  To learn more, click here.

Memorial1 - 90 pieces non-rotating

Memorial2 - 90 pieces rotating

Can't you just hear the pounding of the hooves, see the dirt flying through the air, feel the energy of the horses as they explode down the track?  Shirley Kelly has combined her love for horses and her love for quilting into this fabulous quilt, Two Minutes in May.  Her dad was a jockey, her grandfather used horses in his business, and her daughter's horses share her property.  I think Shirley might just know what she's quilting about.  Keen attention is paid to every detail of the horses' musculature and movement.  It seems as if they are coming right at you, better jump out of the way.

Two Minutes in May was completed in 1995.  It is 78" x 41" and made from cottons, hand-appliqued and pieced, and machine-quilted.

May1 - 91 pieces no rotation

May2 - 91 pieces with rotation

This is the second week in a row that the Top 100 Puzzle has featured a quilt by Jonathan Shannon.  It is a quite different quilt than Air Show.  As Jonathan said,

"Amigos Muertos' is a memorial to all those artists who have died from AIDS and cancer, and espeically to my friend, Lynn Piercy, who died as the quilt was being completed.  In quiltmaking, there is an honored tradition of using this medium to express personal feelings of both joy and sorrow.  Making this quilt was my way to feel close to those who have died too young.  For 16 months I used my finest stitches in their honor.  It is a loving, even joyful, work.  These skeletons play music and dance in a field of flowers and vines surrounded by a border of intricate cutwork applique.  While we who are left behind may be saddened by death, who is to say the dead are sad?"

Amigos1 - 90 pieces non-rotating

Amigos2 - 81 pieces rotating

In 1992, Jonathan Shannon was the first man to win Best of Show in Paducah.  Jonathan always loved planes and enjoys the fact that the quilt appeals to quilters and non-quilters alike.  He chose early model planes for their graphic design and nostalgic appeal.  Everything about this quilt embodies the qualities of flight and motion.  This is not Jonathan's only quilt in the Top 100.  In the future you'll see another of his designs.

AirShow1 - 81 pieces non-rotating

AirShow2 - 81 pieces rotating

Margarete Heinisch's quilt, In the Heart of Europe, graced the cover of Quilter's Newsletter in 1998 (just one of three of her quilts that have graced the cover).  The quilt honors Margarete's Viennese heritage.  Each dancing couple represents one of Austria's nine provinces and the border of grapes symbolizes the wines which are produced in the country.  The outer border illustrates scenes of her family.  The quilt is 76" x 80" and is made of cotton, silk and wool.  It is hand appliqued, machine pieced, embroidered, and has ink drawings.  It is in Margarete's personal collection.

Europe1 - 72 pieces non-rotating

Europe2 - 72 pieces rotating

This quilt was traded to Alex Manor for some chickens.  It was made on the Crow Creek Reservation of South Dakota.  It was stolen and turned up in a pawn shop.  Alex' sister, Hattie Anderson, kept the quilt and it was passed down through her family.  In 1975 the quilt was taken back to the reservation in an attempt  to decode the pictures.  It is said that the story begins in the upper right corner and ends in the lower left corner and tells tales of hunting and Indian family life.

The Pictograph quilt was made c. 1900 and is 70" x78"  It is made from cottons and is hand appliqued and quilted.

Pictograph1 - 80 pieces non-rotating

Pictograph2 - 72 pieces rotating

This large hand pieced, appliqued, and embroidered quilt created by Mildred Jacob Chappell in 1931-2, depicts the settling of the west.  It has an embroidered salute to the pioneers who settled the countryside calling them "indomitable and unafraid."  Everyone from Lewis and Clark to Geronimo are depicted in this imaginative quilt, Settling the West.  Mildred's love for the Old West earned her many accolades including success at the Century of Progress national competition in 1933.

Mildred added an inscription to the back of the quilt which reads,

I, Mildred Jacob Chappell, made this quilt as a labor of love.  Love for the 'Old West' as I have known it in history and books.  Love of the "New West' as I have known it in travel.  My only regret is that I could not have lived one hundred years earlier to experience those stirring times, instead of only having made this quilt to commemorate them.

West1 - 100 pieces - non-rotating

West2 - 72 pieces - rotating

Therese May made this quilt in 1969.  It is 72" x 90" and is made up of cotton, machine pieced and appliqued, and then tied with yarn. It is the Therese Quilt.  The Therese Quilt uses self-portraits and photography to create the overall picture.  Each roughly-cut patch is appliqued onto the quilt.  According to The Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts from C&T Publishing, this quilt shows "the early style of a university-trained fine artist who devoted her art career to making quilts which flaunt "imperfect workmanship" to emphasize spontaneity and passion rather than control and precision."  

Therese was responsible for much of the embellishment movement in quilting and helped promote the idea that anything goes.  For her, it was more about the creation of the art than the perfect workmanship. Perhaps this is something we should all keep in mind when our points aren't always perfect.

Therese1 - 90 pieces non-rotating

Therese2 - 70 pieces rotating

Dr. Jeannette Dean Throckmorton was quite a lady. Born in 1883 she graduated from medical school and went on to receive degrees from three other universities. In 1938 she was listed in Who's Who Among Physicians and Surgeons. She was also the medical librarian for the Iowa State Medical Library for 35 years. Dr. Throckmorton was known for stuffed and corded applique.  While she used the quilt kits of the time, her skill level propelled them above the ordinary. She used the "quilt-as-you-go" method and made many, many quilts and gave away so many quilts that she eventually lost track. Enjoy this bit of Sunflower color on a dreary winter day.

If you are having trouble finding pieces, you'll need to check under the menu and sometimes you'll have to move the whole puzzle to check underneath.

Sunflower1 - 90 pieces non-rotating

Sunflower2 - 80 pieces rotating

The top 100 puzzle this week is an applique masterpiece by Wisconsin quilter, Charlotte Jane Whitehill.  It was made in 1930 and was quilted by an "unknown" quilter.  Indiana Wreath measures 90" x 90"  Charlotte came to quilting a bit later in life. Born in 1866, she made her first quilt in 1929.  For the next fifteen years or so, she appliqued 35 quilts and pieced at least 2.  According to Barbara Brackman, the Indiana Wreath design was quite popular after many women saw a similar quilt in Marie Webster's 1915 book, Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them.

Wreath1 - 81 pieces non-rotating

Wreath2 - 80 pieces rotating

(Please ignore the yellowing in the white background fabric, that is unfortunately a problem with the original photograph and is not part of the quilt.)

Myrtle Melvins Fortner completed The Matterhorn in 1934.  It is a large quilt, 95" x 105".  She used hand-dyed and commercial cottons.  It is hand pieced and quilted.  Myrtle was quite a lady, after losing everything in the early 1930s, she moved to the California desert and built a house with her own hands.

While she made a living painting canvases and china plates, she spent years working on this quilt.  The Matterhorn is based on photographs that Myrtle had from her niece's trip to Switzerland.  There are 9,153 1" square pieces.  Once it was finished, she hung it in her home and covered it with curtains to protect it from light.

Matterhorn1 - 80 pieces - non-rotating

Matterhorn2 - 80 pieces - rotating

Faith Ringgold created The Men: Mask Face Quilt #2 in 1986.  It is 62" x 70" and is made of cotton, acrylic on canvas and sequins. It is the Collection of the International Quilt Study Center. Faith is known for her story quilts. In this example, she fills the spaces with half-torsos and faces that seem to go with the torsos.

The Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts asks the question, "Are we sure they go together as Faith has placed them?  Masks, after all, conjure stereotypes; but they also hide the person underneath. Faith's painted faces are individuals, each with his own features and dress.  By presenting 15 faces, which at first seem so similar because of their placement in the overall pattern of the quilt, as individuals, she forces us to look beyond stereotypes."

Mask1 - 100 pieces non-rotating

Mask2 - 80 pieces rotating

Conway Album (I'm Not From Baltimore) was designed and finished by Irma Gail Hatcher in 1993.  It is 90" x 90" and is machine pieced and hand appliqued and quilted.  Based on an antique quilt, Irma Gail made it her own by adding stuffed and padded applique, ruching, gathered petals, folded rosebuds and yo-yos.  This quilt has won many major awards, including a $10,000 award for hand workmanship from the AQS in whose museum the quilt currently resides.

Conway1 - 100 pieces non-rotating

Conway2 - 90 pieces rotating

Judy B. Dales, Dancing on the Dark Side of the Moon, was created in 1997.  According to the Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts edited by Mary Leman Austin, Judy says "this particular quilt was created in a frenzy of creativity.  Three days before leaving for an annual trek to our cottage in Vermont, I decided to start a new quilt.  I chose one of my airplane doodles, edited it a bit and began the quilt.  One day for pattern preparation, one day to cut the fabric, one day to embellish the background pieces, then the whole thing was packed up and transported to Vermont."  Look what comes from doodling...

DancingontheDarkSide1 - 88 pieces non-rotating 

DancingontheDarkSide2 - 70 pieces rotating

This is one of the largest quilts created by Terrie Hancock, generally considered one of the first artists to work in mixed media and embellishment  In the late 1980s she began painting on canvas. Terrie then cut up the canvas and worked them into quilts.  The quilt measures 123" x 99" and was quilted by Sue Rule in 1985.  It is made of cottons and cotton blends, is hand appliqued and machine pieced, reverse appliqued, embroidered, and uses beadwork and other embellishment.  It is in the collection of the International Quilt Study Center.

Click here to learn more about the quilt.

Saints1 - 70 pieces non-rotating

Saints2 - 80 pieces rotating

Anthurium was created by Mary Manoi.  The applique was done in 1912 and the quilting in 1939.  It is 84" x 91" According to The Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts, edited by Mary Leman Austin, it is "atypical of Hawaiian quiltmaking in two respects:  it lacks a central motif and it uses four colors, accenting its basic green and cream palette with red and orange-yellow flowers."  The flower is based on the Anthurium, Hawaii's most popular flower.

Anthurium1 - 63 pieces non-rotating

Anthurium2 - 63 pieces rotating

Helen Kelley was inspired by 1976 trip to Norway to create this Renaissance quilt.  It was made in 1983 and is 30" x 70".  She made a study of Norwegian coverlets which revealed the use of geometric patterns much like those in American quilts. Helen studied designs for more than two years and put together detailed drafting designs in order to insure geometric accuracy.  She struggled with finding appropriate fabrics and decided that including calico was required in order to blend the old world with the new. "Renaissance" is an American quilt tapestry which depicts the Christmas story.  It is made up of cottons, machine pieced, hand appliqued and quilted.  It is in the collection of the Minnesota Historical Society.

Renaissance1 - 70 pieces non-rotating

Renaissance2 - 80 pieces rotating

Double Mexican Wedding Rings #4 was designed and pieced by Nancy Crow and quilted by Marie Moore. It was created in 1989-90 and measures 72" x 72"  It is made up of cottons and machine pieced and hand quilted. The quilt is in the collection of John Walsh III.  This quilt is from an earlier period of Nancy's career when she used templates and commercially printed fabrics.  From 1990 on she worked improvisationally and would just cut into the fabric and let it see where its inspiration would take her.

WeddingRing1 - 72 pieces non-rotating

WeddingRing2 - 72 pieces rotating

The Bible Scenes quilt was made by a member of the Drake Family around 1900.  It is 71" x 76" and is in the Collection of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia.  The two scenes depicted are "Adam and Eve," and "The Crucifixion."  Some of the symbolism in the quilt is not clear.  The quilt is made of cotton, hand appliqued, pieced, and quilted with feed sacks on the back.  It is difficult to know who made the quilt as census records for African-Americans in the South were not officially recorded at the time. 

If you are missing pieces, move the menu on the upper left.  Also, move the entire almost completed puzzle to see if pieces are underneath. Let us know if this solves it for you.

BibleScenes1 - 90 pieces non-rotating

BibleScenes2 - 80 rotating

This quilt was created in 1978 by the talented Michael James.  It is called "Aurora" and measures 96" x 108." Aurora is part of a series of sky-themed quilts.  It is an abstract composition which breaks through the traditional idea of a drunkard's path block.  Michael was inspired by the French painter/designers, Robert and Sonia Delaunay.  This quilt is in the collection of the International Quilt Study Center.

Aurora 1 - 80 pieces non-rotating

Aurora 2 - 80 pieces rotating

Rio Hondo (80" x 64") is a fractured landscape masterpiece by Katie Pasquini-Masopust.  She takes a photograph, enlarges it, and then fractures the surface into vertical sections.  For movement, she adds diagonals. Rio Hondo is a river that runs between Taos and Santa Fe.  Katie says, "I am interested in portraying places I have been, into a surreal world of my own."  This quilt was lost at a show and was missing for nine months.  A salvage company found it and tracked Katie down because she had written pertinent information on her quilt label.   So remember to ALWAYS INCLUDE A QUILT LABEL.

The quilt is in the collection of John Walsh III.  It was made in 1995, mostly from cottons.  It is machine pieced, appliqued, and quilted.  

Rio Hondo 1 - 80 pieces non rotating

Rio Hondo 2 - 80 pieces rotating

(Some people have had missing pieces.  If this happens to you please put in a comment so we can see how many people are affected.  Remember you can move the menu bar on the left to look for the missing piece.)

A Baltimore Album masterpiece created by queen of applique, Elly Sienkiewicz and contest-winning blocks submitted by the readers of one of her books.  Elly herself made many of the blocks and designed the quilt for her daughter Katya.  Good Ladies of Baltimore is made up mostly of cotton fabrics although there is a bit of embellishment from silk, lame, rick-rack, and ruched ribbon.

The other quilters who contributed to this quilt are:  Agnes Cook, Nonna Crook, June Dixon, Zollalee Amos Gaylor, Jeanna Kimball, Virginia Lemasters, Eloise Lewis McCartney, Sylvia Pickell, Mary Toda, Albertine Veenstra, and Carol Jo White.

It was created in 1988 and is 91" x 91"

GoodLadies1 - 100 pieces non-rotating

GoodLadies2 - 81 pieces rotating

This is an early quilt of Chris Wolf Edmonds who is well-known for her excellence with a needle when working in both pieced and applique quilts.  While living close to Cherokee territory she became interested in their tribal history, particularly the Trail of Tears which was a forced march across the United States.  Less than 12,000 survived the ordeal.  The figures represent a despairing Indian, a struggling woman and child, and the great leader, Chief Sequoyah.  The symbol of the Phoenix suggests that the Great Cherokee Nation will rise again.

Cherokee Trail of Tears was created in 1979 and is 56" x 80"  It is made up of cottons, machine pieced, hand appliqued and quilted.

TrailofTears1 - 77 pieces non-rotating

TrailofTears2 - 60 pieces rotating

Unfortunately this quilt was created by an unknown Amish artist.  It is c. 1930, 94" x 108" made of cottons, machine pieced, and hand quilted.  This is a midwestern Amish quilt in a Tumbling Blocks pattern.  The illusion of v-shaped steps was created by placing the lightest-color diamond at the top of each block and then arranging the similar colored blocks into intersecting diagonal rows.  The use of black also keeps the eye moving around the quilt.

This one could be tough, make sure to give yourself enough time.

StairwaytoHeaven1 - 64 pieces non-rotating

StairwaytoHeaven2 - 64 pieces rotating

This week's Top 100 Puzzle was created by Jennie C. Trein in 1932.  It is called Sunday School Picnic. Jennie was quite a woman.  She made her first quilt at 10 and completed over 100 in her lifetime.  Quilting wasn't her only passion, she played the piano and cornet, sang in the church choir for over 60 years, taught bible classes to children and made over 300 rugs.

Jennie said about the quilt "and tho my hands were busy I looked out into the orchard where was a homemade table, from which we ate the world-famous cooking of the Pennsylvania Dutch.  Then and there my thoughts ran into space.  To design and make (for myself) a 'Sunday School Picnic' quilt."

SundaySchoolPicnic1 - 81 pieces non-rotating

SundaySchoolPicnic2 - 64 pieces rotating

This week's puzzle from the Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts is titled appropriately enough, The Quilt Show, designed and made by Bertha Stenge in 1943.  It is 77" x 92" and made from cottons, hand pieced, appliqued, and quilted.  It is in the Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago as a gift of Mrs. Prudence Fuchsmann.

Bertha Stenge was from the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from art school.  She entered her first quilt contest in 1929.  It wasn't until 1943, after Bertha won two major competitions, that the Art Institute of Chicago invited her to have her own exhibit.  People delighted in her miniature display quilts in The Quilt Show and she received high praise for this quilt.  Look for Bertha again as she had another quilt selected as one of the Twentieth Century's best.

QuiltShow1 - 80 pieces, non-rotating

QuiltShow2 - 63 pieces, rotating

This week's quilt, Dan'l Boone Kills a Bar, was unfortunately destroyed in a fire in 1987.  It was a large quilt, 120" x 120" designed by Edward Larson and made by Waynie Thomas in 1975.  It is mostly hand pieced, appliqued, quilted, and embroidered.  Edward Larson is a folk artist with an almost primitive style.   He designs his quilts down to the specific details and has others create them.  In this case, it was Waynie Thomas, a prolific quiltmaker, who helped to incorporate her own special touches.  It is a whimsical, wonderful quilt done with just a touch of tongue-in-cheek.

DanlBoone1 - 81 pieces - non-rotating

DanlBoone2 - 64 pieces - rotating

This week's quilt is the World of Tomorrow, made by Pearl Willard Roberds and designed by JoRo Betts.  It was originally created for the 1939 World's Fair Quilt Contest that was sponsored by Good Housekeeping and Macy's.  Unfortunately, the quilt was disqualified from the competition because it did not represent all 64 of the flags from the nations of the world at that time.  It only had 53.  Pearl didn't use them all because they wouldn't fit. After her death, her daughter, JoRo Betts, added the eleven missing flags on the left side of the quilt.  Even though it was disqualified from the contest, Macy's displayed it and it won several ribbons at Kansas fairs.  It was heavily influenced by the Art Deco movement.

WorldofTomorrow1 - 64 pieces, non-rotating

WorldofTomorrow2 - 64 pieces, rotating

This week's quilts was created by Rose Kretsinger.  Rose was included more than once in the Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts top 100 list.  This quilt, Paradise Garden, is considered by many to be her masterpiece.  It was created in 1946 and is 93" x 94."

Quilt historian Barbara Brackman notes:

Paradise Garden is in the collection of the Spencer Museum of Art, at The University of Kansas.  Sadly, it is not known who completed the quilting.

paradisegarden1 - 81 pieces - non-rotating

paradisegarden2 - 64 pieces - rotating

This week's puzzle is Anthurium (84" x 91") by Mary Manoi. It is a Hawaiian applique masterpiece. The quilt is atypical from traditional Hawaiian applique in that its lacks a center motif and is composed of four colors, rather than the traditional two colors. The motif is the anthurium flower, one of Hawaii's most popular flowers. While difficult to see in the puzzle, the quilt has intricate wave-like quilting which follows the contour of the flowers. The applique was completed in 1912 and the quilting in 1939.

anthurium1 - 64 pieces - non-rotating

anthurium2 - 81 pieces - rotating

This week TQS is bringing you a new format for the Top 100 Puzzle.  There are all types of options you can try. Some of which will make you absolutely crazy.  You can change the shape and difficulty of the puzzle pieces by selecting Change Cut.  You can also shuffle the pieces or have it solve the puzzle for you.  As always, there is a timer. Good Luck.

Click on the Picture.  If you have trouble with the puzzle, try another browser.

Want to try it in the old puzzle style? Emma Craig -The Garden

The Garden was created in 1933 by Josephine (Emma) Craig and is 86" x 85".  Josephine earned national fame in the 1930s when she won the 1936 Eastern States Exposition held in Storrowton, Mass.  It was one of the first national quilt contests.  It was inspired by an antique quilt described in Ruth Finley's 1929 book,  Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them, as "the acme of the art of applique."  At the Kansas State Fair it was rated by the judges as "100-percent perfect."

The quilt is currently part of the collection of the Kansas State Historical Society.

This is a TVA quilt designed by Ruth Bond.  She thought it would be interesting to make quilts that depicted the new opportunities offered by the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). The quiltmaker, Grace Reynolds Tyler, liked the interesting style of Ruth's design, but didn't really think about its symbolism.

Ruth, described the quilt by saying that the uniformed hand is the TVA offering a job to the man who must choose between work and frivolity, which is represented by the guitar and figure of a woman on the right side of the quilt. It was a contemporary quilt for its time, which was 1934.

It measures 65" x 81" and is made of cottons, is hand appliqued, and hand quilted.

TVA1 - 63 pieces - non-rotating

TVA2 - 63 pieces - rotating

The top 100 puzzle this week was created by Amy Chamberlin in 1986.  It is called Guardians of Liberty.  It is 86" x 91".  Amy regards it as her bicentennial quilt as it has cameos of 39 presidents of the United States and the Statue of Liberty surrounding the U.S. Presidential Seal. You can understand why it is her bicentennial quilt when you know that she started it in 1974 and completed it in 1986. All the motifs were created on Amy's sewing machine.  It was created from cotton fabrics and then machine pieced and appliqued.  She used free-needle machine embroidery.

This week we are adding an additional "difficult" puzzle to test yourself to the limit.

eagle1 - 42 pieces, non-rotating

eagle2 - 42 pieces, rotating

eagle3 - 100 pieces, rotating

The latest quilt was created c. 1925 by an Unknown Amish artist.  It is made of wool and hand pieced an quilted.  It is a classic Lancaster County work.  It has a powerful minimalist design and intricate hand quilting.  It is made of only 29 pieces of fabric.  This one could be tough.

Amish1 - 64 pieces non-rotating

Amish2 - 64 pieces rotating

Have you been learning to applique in Alex's classes?  Once you get that techniques down, maybe you can begin work on a quilt as beautiful as Marie Daugherty Webster's Grapes and Vines.  Made in 1914, this 76" x 76" masterpiece of applique reflects the Arts and Crafts inspiration from nature that was prevalent at the time.

Marie herself was quite a woman.  She is credited with writing the first full-length American quilt book.  Written in 1915, Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them, was a historical study of quiltmaking.  Ladies Home Journal published many of Marie's patterns and she even had her own pattern company, the Practical Patchwork Company.

full_grapes1 - 60 pieces, non-rotating

full_grapes2 - 60 pieces, rotating

This quilt was made in 1920 by Mary Mittie Belle Agner Barrier.  She used new fabrics and recycled scraps from her family's clothing.  Belle's design was based mainly on the animals found on her farm.  It is 71" x 80".  Every block has a complete scene.  She was very proud of this quilt and even unravelled a pair of her father's socks to use for thread.  It was passed on to her granddaughter with the inscription, "To Cathy, from Grandmother Mittie 1973" in the corner.  It is a masterpiece of crazy quilting.

crazyquilt1 - 60 pieces - non-rotating

crazyquilt2 - 60 pieces - rotating

This red and white beauty was created in 1910, but unfortunately, no one knows who made the quilt.  If you look closely, you'll see the squares aren't exactly squares and they become smaller and smaller to create the circular design.

 It is such a engineering challenge and sad that it is anonymous.  It is 85" x 85", made from cottons, hand pieced and appliqued.  The truly astonishing fact is that this is one of two nearly identical quilts.

Kaleidoscope1 - 60 pieces - non-rotating

Kaleidoscope2 - 40 pieces - rotating

Yvonne Porcella created this quilt, Keep Both Feet on the Floor, in 1990.  It is 54" x 77"  It is made of cotton, machine pieced, hand-appliqued and quilted with button embellishment.  Yvonne is known for her wild colors, energetic movement, and humor in her quilts.  This quilt is pure Porcella.  It has her signature color, red, and uses checkerboards and stripes.  It is one of a series of quilts that references cardboard and wooden articulating dolls.

This quilt was influenced by a trip to Dollywood where Yvonne notes that the tour guide said, "that the trolley would not proceed toward the entry gate until everyone had both feet on the floor and all body parts inside."

KeepBothFeetOnTheFloor1 - 60 pieces, non-rotating

KeepBothFeetOnTheFloor2 - 40 pieces, rotating

The puzzle is going to be a bit 'old-school' this time.  We're heading back to the first quarter of the 20th century with a Hexagon by Sarah Haynes.  It is 74" x 88" and is made of 33,782 tiny silk triangles. Hexagon was begun in 1892 and took Sarah 17 years to complete the quilt.

According to Marsha MacDowell and Ruth D. Fitzgerald in Michigan Quilts: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition, "She purchased the silk in half-yard lengths, and, for each of the half-inch pieces of silk, she cut a tiny paper template. The quilt was then pieced with mathematical precision in the English manner, overhand, from the back of the quilt. Haynes finished the quilt with a maroon silk ruffle and silk-covered buttons at six-inch intervals. The result has been described as a "tribute to obsession."

The quilt has quite a history.  In 1929 Sarah won a $15 First Prize at the Women's International Exhibition in Detroit and it was later used in lieu of a fee to pay an attorney.  It was also part of the Esprit Collection until it was acquired by the Michigan State University Museum.

Hexagon 1 - 60 pieces; non-rotating

Hexagon 2 - 40 pieces; rotating

Nancy Halpern has a degree from Berkeley and has studied at Radcliffe and the Boston Architectural Center. She has taught quiltmaking around the world for over twenty years and has been exhibited around the world as well.  Archipelago was the first work commissioned by the New England Quilter's Guild.  It is hand pieced and hand quilted in an undulating pattern that echoes the movement of the ocean.  Her original design features the houses and trees on the islands off the coast of Maine where Nancy lives.

Archipelago, 1983
96" x 74.5"
Cotton, cotton blends

We made the puzzle a little bit tougher this time.  Have fun!

halpernarchipelago1 - 60 pieces non-rotating

halpernarchipelago2 - 40 pieces rotating

Ellen Oppenheimer created Log Cabin Maze in 1992.  A "Log Cabin" is a traditional quilt block pattern which uses strips of fabric that form a spiral around a center square.  Ellen use this design to create this magnificent quilt. Due to the design composition it can be difficult to see the log cabin pattern and the Log Cabin Maze is born.  

It is screen printed, hand-dyed, cut, machine-sewn, and hand-quilted cotton and cotton polyester with procion dyes.  It measures 73" x 72".

Because of the complexity and coloring of this quilt, we've created puzzles with fewer pieces.  It's a little easier this week, so if you haven't tried the rotating puzzle, now's the time.

log cabin maze1 - 20 pieces, non-rotating

log cabin maze2 - 20 pieces, rotating

Lura Schwarz Smith has been producing textile art for over 30 years.  She originally created traditional bed quilts with her mother in the 1960s.  Lura began showing in galleries in the 70s and 80 and has been receiving awards at all levels.

 Along with having this quilt named as one of the "100 Best American Quilts of the 20th Century," she was also included in the "30 Distinguished Quilt Artists of the World" exhibit at the first Tokyo Dome quilt show in 2002. 

Seams a Lot Like Degas 

52" x 48"

1996

Degas1 - 40 pieces, non-rotating

Degas2 - 40 pieces, rotating

Hollis Chatelain created this 80" x 60" masterpiece using hand dye-painted fabrics and machine quilting on 100% cotton fabric with Cotton Classic batting.  It depicts the Sahel region where the baobab tree is called the "tree of life" because it provides food, medicine, and shade for the people who live there.  According to Hollis, The quilt is a "tribute to the beauty that I discovered in this part of the world."

sahel1 - 60 pieces, non-rotating

sahel2 - 40 pieces, rotating

Goldie Richmond creator of the Papago Reservation Quilt.  In 1932, Goldie and her husband opened Tracy's Trading Post at San Simon, 110 miles west of Tucson on the Tohono O'odham (formerly known as Papago) Reservation. Goldie stitched quilts to sell at the trading post.  She developed exceptional pictorial designs for which she won many awards. Goldie's original appliqué quilts depicting scenes of Tohono O'odham daily life are magnificent fabric portraits of the Sonoran Desert and its people and you can see why it was chosen as one of the Top 100 Quilts of the 20th Century.

This quilt, The Fairy, was created in 1936 by Ruby M. Lanning Lundgren.  it is 76" x97".  It was created for her daughter, Elaine Lundgren Carlson.  The hair is solid hand embroidery and for the gossamer gown she used some crayon.  It took about a year to make the quilt.

Fairy 1 - 42 pieces, non-rotating

Fairy 2 - 42 pieces, rotating

Joy Ride is an 80" x 80" masterpiece from  Libby Lehman.  Libby is know for the incredible use of thread in her designs and the complexity of her surface stitching,  She is the author of Threadplay with Libby Lehman.  

JoyRide - over 40 pieces without rotation.  Can you do it without peeking?

JoyRide2 - over 60 pieces with rotation.  Are you up to this new challenge?

Here's your Top 100 Puzzle for the week starring Orchid Wreath by Rose Kretsinger from 1929.  Rose actually has two quilts in the Top 100 Quilts of the 20th Century.

orchidquilt1 - 64 pieces, non-rotating.

orchidquilt2 - 36 pieces, rotating

Here's an interesting puzzle for you to try.  The quilt is Mosaic by Grace Snyder.  It's from the second quarter of the Top 100 Quilts of the 20th Century.  Grace was inducted into the Quilter's Hall of Fame when she was 98 years old. The original quilt had 58,640 pieces.  We made the puzzles with just a few less pieces.

gs_mosaic1 - 60 pieces, non-rotating.

gs_mosaic2 - 40 pieces, rotating.

Here's a beautiful floral quilt made by Florence Peto.  It was originally seen in a 1951 Woman's Day magazine. It is called "Calico Garden" and is 39" x 49."  It contains applique, broderie perse and tiny 1" squares on point. The puzzle is a little bit easier this time. So what's your time this week?

Calico Garden 1 - 40 non-rotating pieces.

Calico Garden 2 - 40 rotating pieces.

It's harder this week.  Ready, Set, Go!

The latest puzzle is Gypsy in my Soul by Jane Blair.  It won AQS Best of show in 1987 as well as other awards.  It is 66" x 84".

GypsyinMySoul-01 -Approx. 60 pieces, Non-Rotating

GypsyinMySoul-02 -Approx. 60 Pieces, Rotating.  Highlight the piece and then use the direction arrow keys to rotate the pieces.  If you need a hint, click the "Image" button to see the quilt.

naiad without Rotation.  40 pieces.  You should be getting good at these by now.

naiad2 with Rotation.  40 pieces.  Highlight the piece and then use the direction arrow keys to rotate the pieces.  If you need a hint, click the "Image" button to see the quilt.

Here is another Top 100 done by one of our own.  Suzanne Marshall is a mentor of Ricky Tims and is featured in our show #203.

toujours_nouveau without Rotation.  40 pieces.  Try it without seeing a picture of the quilt.

toujours_nouveau2 with Rotation.  40 pieces.  Highlight the piece and then use the direction arrow keys to rotate the pieces.  If you need a hint, click the "Image" button to see the quilt.