Saratoga Campfires measures 66" x 66" and is an original design from TQS Guest Ann Petersen. This quilt was a finalist in the New Quilts from an Old Favorite - Burgoyne Surrounded contest held by the National Quilt Museum in Paducah.
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 and a beloved teacher here at TQS.
This week's puzzle is Enchanted Garden from Cathleen Miller of Albuquerque, NM. Cathleen's quilt took Second place, Bed Quilts - Hand Quilted at 2013 AQS QuiltWeek in Lancaster. It is another stunning mix of applique and quilting.
Gaven was created by Charlotte Warr Andersen in 1990. Gaven means "the gift" in Danish. Charlotte made the quilt for a competition held in Denmark and it was the Grand Prize Winner of the 1990 Kjeldsen's Fairy Tale Contest. As one of the top three winners, Gaven was printed on the lid of butter cookie tins.
These adorable creatures can be found on the grounds of the Nine Quarter Circle Ranch in Montana where Alex and Ricky met up with Charlotte Warr Andersen for a taping. Charlotte got down on the ground to take photos of these animals so she could make Overrun.
Click here to watch the trailer for Episode 1209 - A "Roundup" of Techniques from Two Terrific Teachers Featuring: Georgia Bonesteel/Charlotte Warr Andersen.
Tribute to Tolkien by Sue McCarty has won numerous awards including the Pfaff Master Award for Machine Artistry in IQA Houston 2009. It was also voted Viewer's Choice.
The quilt was inspired when her brother convinced her to read The Lord of the Rings. She decided she wanted to create the piece for her brother, a Tolkien devotee of over 30 years.
The centerpiece of the quilt depicts Aragorn's victory, his coronation as the King of Gondor, and his marriage to Arwen.
It is a wholecloth quilt and uses a variety of threads, many of which are metallic. It took Sue close to 500 hours from design to completion.
Giant Clam by Hollis Chatelain is one of a series of quilts she created based on the beauty and serenity of the underwater world. It is 25" x 36" and uses hand-dye-painted fabric and is machine quilted.
Artist Statement:
During the last years I lived in Africa, I could see the ocean from my studio window. When I started noticing how many water related dreams and drawing ideas kept surfacing, I realized how living by the ocean for the first time was affecting my work. I became increasingly intrigued by the contrasts between the often rough and wild surface of the ocean and the beauty and serenity of the underwater world. I decided to make a series of underwater quilts to translate these feelings and emotions into my art.I love the graphics of the giant clam and made up the colors to suit what I thought it should look like.
It is 42" x 34" and is machine appliqued and quilted. Hollis used blue jean fabrics, hand-dye painted fabrics, poly-cotton batting, and polyester threads.
Artist Statement:
Denim Flow is the beginning of a new path for me. My love of denim led me into a new way of making quilts. This technique of combining blue jeans and hand-dyed fabrics creates a soft sculptured impression. When I finished this piece it seemed to resemble a topography map.
To see more of Hollis' work, visit her website at www.hollisart.com.
Precious Water took Best of Show at the 2004 International Quilt Festival in Houston. It measures 77" x 85" and is made of 100% cotton fabric with polyester batting. It is hand dye-painted with thickened fiber reactive dyes on cotton fabric and machine quilted.
Artist Statement:
In the spring of 2000, I dreamed of a yellow piece that spoke to me of the continual droughts that threaten so many places on our planet. Our fresh water is precious and limited. This is a worldwide problem that affects us all which is why the images represent four different continents. "Precious Water" is painted with dyes using six values of yellow, then quilted with over 200 different colors of thread.
Since we didn't have a puzzle in the Weekend Fun over International Quilting Weekend, we are going to give you an extra puzzle this week.
Here it is, Fairy Journal, by Lauren Vlcek. It is a small art quilt that Lauren adapted from a Patti Culea pattern. It measures 12" x 17." It was machine appliqued and quilted and embellished with beads, charms and crystals.
To learn more about embellishment, visit Lauren's class Fabric Fancification or watch her show, Episode 1206: The magical World of Mixed Media.
This week's puzzle is a bit of a departure. It is actually the cover of a scissor and needle case created by TQS Guest and Teacher, Lauren Vlcek.
You can watch Lauren in Episode 1206: The Magical World of Mixed Media debuting on Monday, March 11, 2013.
You learn about embellishment in Lauren's classroom, Fabric Fancification.
Artist statement:
This contemporary scissor and needle case features an original print on canvas of a painting I did of Frida Kahlo. The case measures 6 inches by 6 inches when closed. It opens to 6 inches by 15 1/2 inches and utilizes 2 magnetic snap closures. The needle pages are made of wool felt. The fabrics on the interior and exterior of the case are modern 100% quilting weight cotton supported by 2 kinds of interfacing for a sturdy hand. The appliqué on the cover is made from handwoven Burmese silk.
This week's puzzle is a lovely pictorial quilt by Sue Rasmussen. The quilt is titled, Woodland Doe. It measures 52" x 68" and is currently in a private collection. To learn more about Sue's technique for simple piecing of pictorial quilts, watch Episode 1205: Picture This: Simplified Pictorial Piecing.
Cathy made the Star and Plume quilt after she wrote a song of the same name for her third quilting CD, A Quilter's World.
It tells a happy-ending story about our favorite quilt gal, Sunbonnet Sue, who finds true love after some dicey moments with an intruder, using 46 quilt block names to tell the story. Thanks to Barbara Brackman for her wonderful "Encyclopedia of Quilt Block Patterns", where Cathy not only got the names of the blocks, but also what they look like. If you have "A Quilter's World," you can "follow the bouncing ball" and read along with the quilt as the song is playing!
Machine and hand pieced and appliquéd, machine quilted. Each block is 9." Finished in her car on her way to Texas, January 2005.
This week's puzzle is The Beat Goes On by Ricky. It was made the week following his heart bypass in 2000.
If you'd like to learn all about this quilt, you can read Ricky's interview with Quilt Alliance which he gave at the International Quilt Festival Houston 2000.
Today's TQS Puzzle is from the queen of feathered star quilts, Marsha McCloskey. Marsha's quilt is called "California Star." If you'd like to learn more about feathered stars, you can read Marsha's books, Feathered Star Quilt Blocks 1 and Feathered Star Quilt Blocks II, available on her website, www.marshamccloskey.com.
This week's puzzle is also from modern quilter, Jacquie Gering. The original photo is by Joe Hancock and the quilt, illusions, can be found in Jacquie's book with Katie Pedersen, Quilting Modern (Interweave 2012). This quilt is created with what Jacquie calls, "improvisational curves."
To see more of Jacquie and her work, watch Episode 1202, Make It Modern!
In Episode 1202 Make it Modern! with Jacquie Gering, Jacquie shows Ricky how to create improvised Log Cabin blocks. Blue Ice was created in a similar manner with crazy pieced centers in a straight set. Blue Ice can be found in Jacquie's book (along with Katie Pedersen) Quilting Modern (Interweave, 2012).
Sue and Pat's quilt, The Beatles Quilt, won Best of Show in the 1998 AQS Show in Paducah and is currently in the collection of the American Quilter's Society. The quilt measures 95" square. Each block represents a Beatles album. All the lyrics to the songs were handwritten by Sue and Pat on the back of the quilt. To learn more about the quilt, visit Sue's website.
Let's start the New Year with a Celebration by TQS member, quiltlady2200, otherwise known as Shirlee Carter. Shirlee made the quilt for her local quilt guild challenge. She waited five years to make Celebration after acquiring the pattern and fabric. Her celebration was finally having acquired the skills to make it. And, it won 1st place - art quilts in the Santa Rosa Quilters Guild Challenge 2011!
How about you? What are you going to accomplish in 2013?
This is my vision of a family of horses, Dad standing proud and tall, Mom leaning protectively over her baby (giving you the evil eye!), and the colt just standing there looking so cute! The horses are all painted and appliquéd. The virtual border of lone stars is pieced and appliquéd onto the background.
Roses of Shenandoah (90” x 90”) by Rita Verroca (TQS member, whigrose) of Westlake Village, CA This quilt won First Place - Traditional Applique at the Houston International Quilt Festival 2009. Rita hand embroidered, hand quilted, hand appliqued, and hand pieced her original design.
For the TQS Puzzle this week, we thought we'd highlight Ricky's award-winning quilt, Fire Dragon Rhapsody, as our featured puzzle quilt. Fire Dragon Rhapsody won the award for Best Machine Quilting at the 2006 AQS Show and Contest in Paducah.
The dragons in the quilt are based on the iron grillwork from the old post office in downtown Pueblo, CO. The quilt measures 60" x 60" and uses 100% Cotton Hand-dyed/Hand Painted fabrics. Ricky machine quilted it on a domestic machine (Bernina).
Life in Holly Ridge was created by TQS guest and classroom instructor, Nancy Prince. This quilt took approximately 50,000 yards of thread and 5 million stitches. It measures 75" x 54" The background fabric was hand painted and Tsukineko Inks were used to in the houses on the hill and the windows and doors on the bias-sided town buildins. Nancy's grandchildren are the merchants in the town. Life in Holly Ridge took Nancy 1500 hours to complete. Click here to visit Nancy's website.
Spring Bouquet is a lovely applique quilt created by Edyta Sitar. It is created from 10 beautiful applique blocks which can be put together by hand, machine, or fusing methods. Edyta has made laser cut fabric shapes with pre-applied fusible webbing available for this quilt. To purchase the pattern, click here.
Watch Edyta's latest episode, 1112: She's Back! Lesson from Grandma, a New Contest, and More, debuting on 12/3.
Imagining India was created by Pat Holly (one of the designers of the TQS 2013 BOM). Pat says, "I continue to be inspired by antique textiles from around the world, particularly India. This quilt was designed and made before I was lucky enough to visit India. It is entirely machine appliqued and machine quilted."
Imagining India was created from silk and lame fabrics, purchased trims, silk, rayon, and polyester thread. It is embellished with decorative machine stitches.
Pat's quilt won Second Place, Innovative Applique, at the Houston International Quilt Festival 2012 and Best Wall Quilt at AQS Paducah 2012. You can learn more about it here.
TQS Member, wyomingquilter, AKA Sherry Reynolds, AKA Best of Show Winner at the Houston International Quilt Festival, created this fun quilt for the 2012 IQA Celebrity Silent Auction. It measures 25" x 25" was machine pieced and quilted on a domestic machine and those "rhinestones" are actually Swarovski crystals.
Lucid Moments III was created by Libby Lehman for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative Celebrity Auction 2012. It is 16" x 16" and was made from cotton and sheer fabrics. If you'd like to learn more about Libby's techniques as used in this quilt, don't forget to watch her Threadplay video, available until December 31, 2012.
This week's puzzle comes straight from the TQS Quilt Gallery. This multi-awarding winning quilt is Skeletons From My Closet by Teri Barile. Teri made the quilt for a Day of the Dead Challenge. Teri says it "Represents my not nearly dearly departed art quilter friends at a show and tell.
Aegean Memories by Karen Eckmeier was created using her raw-edge fabric collage process as described in her book, Happy Villages. The fabrics are lightly glue basted and then machine stitched with a layer of tulle. The quilt was created in 2010 and measures 43" x 43."
Positive Energy 4 is a quilt Karen Eckmeier created using her "Layered Curves and Peaks" technique.
Here is what Karen says about her technique, "I like the term “playing” with fabric. The more I can touch and manipulate fabric, the happier I am. My “Layered Curves” technique began in 1997 when I got frustrated with the tedious process of curved piecing. I just wasn’t enjoying the sewing stage anymore – so I tried cutting wildcurves into the fabric, ironing the edges under ¼”, then topstitchingto another fabric, I would cut the underneath fabric away and continue the cutting/layering/topstitching process until I either ran out of fabric pieces or I got bored. The result was a happy combination of two techniques – curved piecing and fabric collage."
Positive Energy 4 is 33" x 43." You can learn about Karen at her website, www.quilted-lizard.com.
Tulip by Barb Persing was created from white cotton fabric, hand painted with ink, and free-motion quilted. It measures 44" x 62" and is based on an original photograph. To see more of Barb's work, visit her website, www.barbarapersing.com.
This week's puzzle is created from the This and That Sampler from Bernina that you can create if you follow along with the latest Bernina Instructional Videos.
To watch the Bernina Educational Videos click on to the left of your screen. This set of videos began on September 7th and will roll out every two weeks until February 22, 2013.
This week's puzzle is a wallhanging created from a 10-part series that Tami and Kim will be posting on their website monthly, demonstrating layered art quilting and clever thread illustration. It was created for TQS when Tami and Kim came to visit. The first two blocks, Red Flower and Whacky Birds, have already been posted.
This week's puzzle is not a quilt. It is a photograph of one of the vignettes in Brian Haggard's studio. It contains many of the inspiring bits of whimsy that surround Brian has he works on his contemporary crazy quilts.
In honor of our latest classroom, Little Fused Art Quilts with Laura Wasilowski and Frieda Anderson, we have two quilt puzzles this week. Laura's quilt is Leaves and Frieda's quilt is Walks in the Woods.
More of Laura's quilts can be found on her website, www.artfabrik.com. Frieda's quilts can be found at her website as well, www.friestyle.com.
This wonderful quilt was created by Brian Haggard. Buttons are quite a passion with Brian and he's the current president of the Indianopolis Button Club. In this quilt however, he created the images of the buttons on this quilt by using his computer. He put the buttons face down on his scanner bed and arranged them with old scissors and needles cases. He then printed his "fabric." You can read more about it on Brian's blog.
You can watch Brian in Episode 1106: "Go Crazy" for (Contemporary) Crazy Quilts debuting on 9/10.
Colossal Scrolls from Cara Gulati (photographed by Gregory Case) was the quilt that started her 3-D Explosion series. Cara says, " Playing with swirls and perspective really inspires me to make lots of great quilt designs." The quilt is quite large measuring 87" x 108" and was completed in 2002.
Cara's book, 3-D Explosion: Simply FABULOUS Art Quilt Illusionsis available on her website, www.doodlepress.com, but is GOING OUT OF PRINT. If you want a copy, order soon.
This bold, colorful quilt, Star Gazer, is the latest art quilt from Cara Gulati. Completed in 2012 it is a large quilt, 92" x 74." A wonderful mix of stripes and curves adds dimension and delight to the joyful design.
Here's a large quilt from our latest instructor in the TQS Classroom, Laura Nownes. The Big Tumble is is an oversized version (72" x 82") of a classic pattern. It features y-seam construction and is appropriate for an intermediate level quiltmaker. If you'd like to make the pattern yourself, click here to purchase from Laura.
If you need a little help with that Y-seam construction, watch Episode 710 - Conquering the Y-seam Tumble where Laura shares her simple, two-pin technqiue for stitching a Y-seam.
Just found out that one of Ricky's quilts has been selected as a finalist for 2012 Quilts: A World of Beauty at the Houston International Quilt Festival. Since we don't want to ruin the suprise, (you'll have to wait until Houston to see the quilt) we thought we'd show you Ricky's award-winning quilt from 2010. Asternoon Delight won an Honorable Mention in the Digital Imagery category sponsored by C&T Publishing.
Here's what Ricky has to say about this quilt.
Alternately it is called Alight Lunch or Kiss my Aster. I took a photo and then used Photoshop to stylize it. It was then printed full size (44" x 36") on my Epson 11880, then stitched/quilted with a variety of colors of thread.
This week's puzzle is Jan Krentz' Safari. This is a wonderful Lone Star quilt featuring large pre-printed African pillow panels and coordinating animal fur prints. It was created in 2000 and measures 64" x 64." If you'd like to make a similar quilt, you'll find the pattern in Jan's book, Lone Star Quilts & Beyond published by C&T Publishing.
This week's puzzle is Dancing African Ladies by Jan Krentz. It is a Framed Diamond Quilt which features two compatible fabrics, the stripe and the large-scale print. The stripes were cut using the Fast2Cut Quarter-Diamond ruler and the large-scale print was fussy cut using the Fussy Cutter Diamond ruler. You can find the pattern in Jan's Book, quick Diamond Quilts and Beyond.
To learn more about Jan, watch Episode 1103 - The Skinny on Stripes debuting on July 30.
This quilt, The Boss Thanks You, was a commission created by Luke Haynes for a department head at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The image of a child in a bucket was to remind them of who they work for. They call her "The Boss."
Luke Haynes made this quilt, Hammer, as the first piece in his Man Stuff series. It is a large quilt, 72" x 84." Here is Luke's statement:
I wanted to call to mind "the Floor Scrapers" Gustave Caillebotte, with the perspective and the diagonal visual movement towards the lower right. This series is a testament to my place in the art world as a male making art with a process that has been dominated by women primarily as utility. I wanted to show a "Man" item in a way that illustrates the use of fabric and light and stitching as notations of an art piece.
To visit Luke's website, click here. Learn more about Luke in Episode 1102 - Super Quilts from Salvaged Duds premiering on July 16, 2012.
This quilt, Sparkling Vases, by Tom Russell was awarded Best Quilt from First Time Entrant at Road to California 2004. The original design was created as a six-month BOM pattern for hgtv.com. He wanted to create an art quilt that might seem complicated at first glance but was really quite simple to create. It is made in six simple sections which are joined together to create the quilt.
In Episode 1101, debuting July 2, Tom Russell will be discussing and demonstrating the art of embellishment as he shows Alex and Ricky how to use beads and buttons on their quilts. This quilt, Scrapbag Bouquet was created for the Simply Quilts Scrapbag Challenge and has beads galore. For the challenge, Tom was given 103, 5" squares and one month to create the quilt.
Tom talks about the quilt and why he loves challenges on his blog, read the story here.
Here is one of Susan Shie's older pieces from 2006, Greetings from Wooster. It is 50" x 75" and is a a whole cloth painting on fabric. The colors were airbrushed on and then she used airpen drawing and writing on fabric. It is machine crazy grid quilted with one row of hand sewing on the inside edge of the border. There is ons Gree Temple Buddha Boy bead and one Peacy Cozy applique.
Of course, there is a story to the quilt. See the the story below from Susan's website.
I made this piece for the Quilt Art email listserv's challenge about our hometowns - The Travel Challenge. There will soon be a page of all the art quilts made for this show online. Stay tuned.
Wooster, Ohio is one of those energy meridian intersections. The three main Native American trails in Ohio cross here, and Wooster was selected by the men who surveyed Ohio in the early 1800s, as the place they would live out their lives. We have the largest Amish population in the world in our county and the next one south of us (Wayne and Holmes Counties), and we're a Nuclear Free Zone. Less than 30,000 people live in Wooster, in the gently rolling farmland in the bottom left corner of Northeast Ohio. It's a really friendly and peaceful place to live and make ar!
Wooster was chosen as an All American City in 1975, and the first Christmas Tree in the Midwest was in Wooster. We were the world headquarters for Rubbermaid for over 50 years, and we still have many really cool industries. My favorite places in Wooster are shown in this piece, along with a map of downtown Wooster. My friend Early's antique mall, Uptown/Downtown; The Parlor; The Food Co-op; The Big Picture; The Art Center; our house; Laura's Shoe Store; Matsos' Greek Restaurant; The Courthouse; The College of Wooster; and former Rubbermaid. I wrote stories off the top of my head, about each place, and also about some of the adventures my family and I have had there. I threw in some Wooster history, too.
I guess of all of these, I'd always pick Wooster Natural Foods, which used to be called The Wooster Food Co-op, as my total favorite. I've been involved with it since its start in the late 60s, and have been on the council most of the time. Am now the council president, and my brother Jimmy has been the assistant manager since 1987. Over half of the food co-ops have faded away, but ours is going strong! You can get really good organic eggs, organic milk, local honey, and so many other good things there. I love the co-op!
I think my second favorite place is a tie between Matsos, The Parlor, Early's store, and the Art Center. I graduated from The College of Wooster in 1981, so that's right up there, too, and there are lots of places I love which didn't make it onto this piece, though some are on the map.
The OARDC Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center is here, along with The ATI Agricultural and Technical Institute, a part of The Ohio State University. Wayne County is called "Ohio's Foremost Agricultural Area," and everyone goes to the County Fair. Everyone! But I am so glad The College of Wooster is here, too, along with a nice mix of Unitarians and Quakers, to keep the liberal side of things alive.
I wrote a little book called My Own Private Wooster a few years ago, and made a quilt to go with it. It's a tour guide of Wooster, and I think this new quilt is another aspect of that book. I could make a big quilt about each one of so many places. There are tons of good stories about this town. Jimmy and I both grew up around here and know lots of wonderful folks. It's a place you don't get tired of.
Susan became very interested in a band that she discovered through NPR known as The David Wax Museum. The band combines American folk, Mexican son, and bits of bluegrass and the blues. After watching one of the band's videos she decided to create a work that illustrated the band. There is, of course, quite a bit more to the story of David Wax Museum: 3 of potholders (Coins) in the Kitchen Tarot.
The quilt was begun 4-29-12 and finished on 6-9-12 and is 60.25" x 76.25" It is a whole cloth, painted quilt. To learn the whole story behind the quilt, click here.
Hearts Alive #2 is one of Sonya Lee Barrington's latest pieces of silk work. It is a small piece measuring only 12" x 12." It is made of dupioni silk, machine pieced, and hand appliqued. Sonya hand quilted it with copper metallic thread and embellished it with Mother of Pearl vintage buttons, glass beads and other objects. It hangs freely from a stand created from copper tubing.
To see more of Sonya's work, please visit her website or watch her in Episode 1012: Beyond Cotton: Working with Wool and Silk.
In Episode 1012 - Beyond Cotton: Working with Wool and Silk with Sonya Lee Barrington,Sonya demonstrates how to work with wool while showing Ricky how to make a purse out of a jacket. This quilt is also a "re-cycled" piece. The quilt top is 100% recycled wool and the buttons are recycled as well. It is machine pieced; hand embroidered and hand quilted. The back is new Pendelton® wool and the batting is wool as well. The quilt measures 48" x 72".
The Jigsaw site changed the look. You can increase the puzzle to full screen by clicking the little box and arrow icon in the lower right corner. You can see it in the picture below.
After you make it full screen use the gear icon to rescatter the pieces.
Alex began this quilt in a Charlotte Warr Andersen class at Asilomar. She didn't want to do the face of a person, so she decided on the eagle. It measures 66" x 72" and is pieced and appliqued. It is her own original design and unfortunately, no pattern is available.
Carol Ann Waugh is known for her Stupendous Stitching quilts (see Episode 1011), but she has other types of work that are just as staggering in their beauty, color and design such as Yellow Submarine. This quilt is 28" x 25" and has been juried into a number of exhibits and published in books and magazines including:
Juried into 1,000 Artisan Textiles, Quarry Books, 2010 Juried into Art Quilts Lowell, Lowell, MA Juried into Connecting Threads, Front Range Contemporary Quilters, CO Featured in Artscape: New England's Culture Magazine, October 7, 2007| Juried into Fusion, Fremont Center for the Arts, CO Juried into the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Festival, NM Featured in the book "A Fiber Artist's Guide to Color & Composition"
TQS Member, Diane Phillips (MadisonMtn) combined Toni Whitney's "Spirit" Eagle with Ricky Tims Desert Visions Rhapsody Quilt. This turned out to be a winning combination as Spirit Landing won second place in the 1st Entry in an AQS Paducah Contest sponsored by the YLI Corporation at the AQS Paducah show. The quilt is 50" x 50" and was made from cotton fabrics. It is machine pieced, appliqued, and quilted.
Peony by Barb Persing is 57" x 57" and was created on white cotton fabric. It was hand painted with ink and free motion quilted. Barb used cotton batting and Aurifil cotton thread. The quilt is based on an original photograph and was exhibited at Quilt Odyssey, 2011.
Barb will be teaching in the TQS Classroom beginning May 22, 2012. She'll be teaching her four-step approach to designing the quilting for your quilt, in Listen to Your Quilt.
In honor of its recent recovery, the TQS puzzle this week is Floral Sampler (28" x 42") by Deborah Kemball. This quilt is the cover of Deborah's book from C&T Publishing, Beautiful Botanicals, and was recently found after having spent almost a year hidden away in long-term storage box.
Deborah is a good friend of TQS. To watch her interview with Alex, click here.
Birdland is another stunning, wonderful quilt from Laura Wasilowski that reflects a joyful and colorful life. The piece is 40" x 51" and is made from her unique, hand dyed fabrics and machine quilted. This quilt and others can be found at Laura's website, www.artfabrik.com.
Three Sisters in Autumn by Laura Wasilowski is 33" x 45" and is made from her hand-dyed cotton and silk fabrics. It is machine quilted. Laura's quilts are inspired by her family and friends and she loves to create stories in cloth.
To take a look at more of Laura's quilts, click here.
This week's puzzle from Robbi Joy is a little bit different from her usual style. Created in 2000, This 60" x 64" quilt is a still life in the vibrant colors that Robbi Joy loves. It also won First Place in the Large Art Category at the 2000 IQA show at the International Quilt Festival in Houston.
Pepper Cory traveled the world as a child of a military man. She knows how difficult it is when someone you love is away from home. She designed The Road Home quilt for the cover of her friend's, Elaine Gray Dumler, book which was created to help smooth the transition home for those who have been deployed overseas. Pepper is offering the pattern for free as a gift to you.
The quilt is 82" x 82" and the blocks are 6". Pepper made it in red, navy blue, and sand.
Here's a quilt with plenty of color from Michelle Jackson. Here's what Michelle says about the quilt, "Adobe Sun Dance depicts an old adobe at Sky City on the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico as the late afternoon sun dances through viegas onto the exposed adobe bricks.This dance is emphasized here through the unusual use of color. I worked around the color wheel starting with violet at the top and ending with yellow-green at the bottom. Notice how the sunlight color becomes the compliment of the color of the surrounding adobes."
The quilt is 40" x 32 and is made from 100% cotton fabrics using fused applique. It has been shown at A World of Beauty 2006, PIQF 2008 and NM Fabrications, State Capital Rotunda Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Don't forget to head on over to Michelle's TQS Classroom beginning March 27, 2012 to see her lessons on color.
To wrap up St. Patrick's Day and International Quilting Weekend, we've selected a wonderful, award-winning quilt created by Denise Havlan, denisehavlan, one of our TQS members. The quilt is Celtic Creed and the center celtic cross iimagery is hand-painted. It measures 53" x 62" and is appliqued and quilted on a domestic machine. Denise says "I knew that one day I would do a quilt do celebrate my heritage." We think she did a spectacular job!
In honor of St. Patrick's Day the puzzle this week is by Denise Labadie. St. Kevin's Monastery II is a quilt of the Trinity Church. One of seven church ruins in St. Kevin's Monastery City, Glendalough, Co., Wicklow, Ireland. The quilt is 55" x 66" and is made from 100% cotton hand-dyed/hand painted. It is pieced, appliqued and quilted on a domestic machine. You can visit the quilt at the ShawCramerGallery.com on Martha's Vineyard.
This week's puzzle selected from theTwentieth Century's Best American Quilts, is March Study. It is Nancy Crow's "lucky quilt." It was the quilt that earned recognition for her from The American Craft Museum in New York. In 1980, the museum displayed her quilt in the front window and on the cover of their magazine. In 1993, they honored Nancy with a solo exhibition and in 1999 she was named a Fellow of the American Craft Council.
March Study was made in 1979 and is 80" x 80." It is made from cottons and is machine pieced and hand quilted by Mrs. Levi Mast.
Here is a snippet from Nancy's artist statement on her website:
The purpose of my quilts is to make something beautiful for me but at the same time they are a means of expression representing my deepest feelings and my life experiences. In addition, my quilts are all about how I see color and color relationships; how I see shapes; and how I see line and linear movements. They are also about complexity, sadness, and hope.
My style of quiltmaking is contemporary in that I want to express my experiences now and not copy old quilts. They are traditional only in that they are pieced and hand-quilted.
To learn more about Nancy, click hereto visit her website.
Grape Harvest was Best of Show at Road to California 2009. It was made by Gina Perkes, Lynn Drennen, Jessie Marinas and Marilyn J. Smith and quilted by Gina. It was completed in 2008 and is an original design. The quilt measures 96" x 62."
Artist statement: This quilt depicts a day in the life of vineyard workers as they harvest grapes. The "Grape Harvest" was created using a variety of machine techniques including: pintucking, Broderie Perse, threadplay, and freehand quilting.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
My closest friend and I often send each other e-mails that have "coffee break" in the subject line. It is our way to sit down at the computer with a cup of coffee, tea or even a glass of wine and read each others catch up news. What could be more fun that cups and saucers on our heads? Dedicated to women friends!
You can hear an Artist's Statement direct from Jamie, by clicking here.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Created in 1999, Basketsby 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.
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!"
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.
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 toThe 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
(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.
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."
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.
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...
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.
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.
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 Americanquilt 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
(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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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:
"Rose was one of the few people who was able to take the things she’d learned from jewelry design, a lot of art nouveau design, a lot of the naturalistic, very organic looking flowers, very realistic flowers, and apply that to quiltmaking. One thing that was important about her was that she was a good teacher. If she had just worked by herself, and no one ever really learned from her, she wouldn’t have influenced anybody. But she was always willing to draw up a pattern for somebody. She was always willing to give them advice on color and she was very willing to help."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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 inMichigan 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.
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!
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Corona2 Puzzle with Rotation. Only 20 pieces because this is our first time to try it. 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.
Corona2 Puzzle This is our standard 42 piece puzzle without rotation. Do this one without seeing the picture of the quilt.
The quilt will be featured this weekend in our rerun of one of our favorite slideshows.
You can make one of the 20th Century's Top 100 American Quilts. You have heard of Quilt in a Day, now see if you can make an award winning Quilt in less than 8 minutes. Later today see a slideshow with closeups of this quilt by Pine' Eisfeller.
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