Getting ready for the Birthday Block of the Month!
We Are Our Stories
Why QSOS is Special
Quilt Puzzle: The Darwin Quilt
Quilt Puzzle: Bat Love
Do you love Baltimore Album Quilts?
If you love Baltimore Album Quilts, then don’t miss the recording of “The Mysteries of Baltimore Album Quilts: 4 panelists = 100 Years of Obsession,” originally presented by the Quilt Alliance in partnership with Quiltfolk magazine for Textile Talks on Wednesday, February 16, 2022. View the recording below. Presenters: Meg Cox, moderator Panelists: Deborah Cooney, Mimi Dietrich, Nancy Kerns, and Ronda Harrell McAllen. Download the Baltimore Album Quilt Resource document prepared by our panelists. If you enjoy this content, please help us continue documenting quilt mysteries like these. Don’t let the stories of these important historic cloth documents fade away. Join or make a donation to the Quilt Alliance today. SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER Thanks to Quiltfolk magazine for their support on this episode, and we thank all of the Textile Talks sponsors for underwriting this free series. To see a schedule, register for talks and find a link to all recordings, visit our Textile Talks page….
read moreQuilt Puzzle: If the Baltimore Ladies Had Batiks
Quilt Puzzle: Everyone Needs a Roof Over Their Head
Giving Quilts
This month, we have a little gift for you: seven hand-picked quilt stories from our projects, each one about the different ways we give quilts — and what quilts give us! As Tomme Fent says in her 2002 QSOS interview, I do think quilters are very generous. And quilters are so friendly. It’s like having a family connection the world over. You can go anywhere and find quilters, and just immediately strike up a conversation and have something to talk about. One thing I think is so great about quilting is what it’s done for me, and it’s also done for other quilters… Quilting is the most incredible creative expression. It’s a way of expressing grief, or joy, or love. You can just be as wild as you want or as conservative as you want. You can try something that’s totally outside your personality, outside the box. Or you can do something that’s just calming and relaxing. Tomme’s thoughts resonate with me as I think about what it means to give someone a quilt you’ve made. It’s not only the gift of a beautiful handmade object, but also the gift of time, attention, and memory. But Tomme’s quote also got me thinking about also what a gift it is to be among quilters. A diverse, resourceful, clever and–most definitely: generous!–group. Thank you for being so generous with your support and your stories this year. We can’t wait to keep celebrating quilts with you all again in 2022! Meg Cox https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug9q_QpCpn4 Our first Giving Quilt story comes from Meg Cox, who tells us about the memory quilt she made for her granddaughter, Lucy. Jeanette Farmer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGV0360FzX4 In this Go Tell It! interview, Jeanette Farmer talks about a quilt she’s made for a local child experiencing homelessness. Making charity quilts to give to those in need is a perfect example of the generosity of quilters. Judy Whitson, QSOS interview Betty Jean Weaver, interviewer: Another question is how have you given quilts as gifts? Judy Whitson: Oh yes, I love to give. It is a sign that you really care for somebody when you give them a handmade item like a little baby quilt or a quilt for their bed or something, and it is more or less a memory quilt. I always put a signature block on there saying who it is for, the date, and who designed it and who made it, quilted. Starla Phelps https://youtu.be/5m9k_PE4-IM Starla Phelps made this quilt for her husband — and it was the very first quilt she EVER made! Eliza Hardy Jones https://youtu.be/jw_ZCYCmXhc?t=186 In season 3, episode 3, of our Running Stitch podcast, Janneken Smucker talks to musician and artist Eliza Hardy Jones about her quilts that interpret songs. They begin by talking about how Eliza began quilting: in the hopes of making gifts for friends and family. Steve Nabity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gXMkl0bNlw Steve Nabity, then-CEO of Accuquilt, shared the moving story of this graduation quilt, made for his daughter. As he says in the interview, “every quilt has a story. Every quilt. And don’t take it for granted, because every quilt means something”. Kim Van Etten https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt-pxkjsuO8 And our final Giving Quilt story: Kim Van Etten shares a quilt made by her grandmother, who gifted a quilt to more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As Kim says in the video, “she’s the reason I quilt”. Kim still uses her grandmother’s sewing machine to make her own quilts. Want more quilt stories? Visit our giving page now for three great examples of the work…
read moreQuilt Puzzle: Holiday Edition: Five Calling Birds
Your Quilt Jigsaw Puzzles for December are below! Do you love the monthly Quilt Jigsaw Puzzle? We’d love to have you as a member or donor if you’re not already on the team! We rely on the generous support of donors and members to sustain our projects. If you support our mission of documenting, preserving, and sharing the stories of quilts and quiltmakers, join us by starting and maintaining an annual membership, making a donation, or learning how your business or corporation can become a supporter of the Quilt Alliance. We thank our members each month with special content like StoryBee episodes and QSOS interviews. Tip: for best results, solve puzzle on this page on a desktop computer or laptop. If you are solving on a mobile device, click on the puzzle piece icon in the lower righthand corner to solve on the Jigsaw Planet website. Welcome to another quilt jigsaw puzzle from Quilt Alliance! The beautiful quilts in our puzzles have all been entries in past Quilt Alliance quilt contests. Do You Have a Bernina by Yvonne Porcella This puzzle spotlights a quilt titled Do You Have a Bernina? made by Yvonne Porcella of California for the 2009 Quilt Alliance contest and auction, Crazy for Quilts. Materials and processes: Silks fused, cotton, Dream Green batting, machine applique and quilting. Artist’s Statement When I was stitching on this quilt, I kept thinking how wonderfully my Bernina sewed all the satin stitches and how easy it was to change feet on the machine for specific areas of stitching. The two birds look like they are talking – Imagine the larger bird suggesting if the smaller bird had a Bernina machine, it also could have a long tail. E Pluribus Unum by Loree Marquardt This puzzle spotlights a quilt titled E Pluribus Unum made by Loree Marquardt of Colorado for the 2011 Quilt Alliance contest and auction, Crazy for Quilts. Materials and processes: 100% cotton fabric, warm & natural cotton batting, cotton thread, foundation paper piecing, hot fix swarovski rhinestone crystals, machine quilted. Artist’s Statement With a few artistic liberties this is my rendition of the Great Seal. The Great Seal is a symbolic reminder of the unity between the thirteen colonies and becoming the United State of America. Chintz Bird by Pat Holly This puzzle spotlights a quilt titled Chintz Bird made by Pat Holly of Michigan for the 2008 Quilt Alliance contest and auction, My Quilts/Our History. Materials and processes: Decorative machine stitched background, stitched raw edge fused, machine appliquéd, machine quilted. Artist’s Statement This quilt reflects many aspects of my quiltmaking journey. I love antique textiles (this was inspired by an 18th C. Indian chintz fabric) and want to bring these old images to the present. Embellishing the background with machine stitches is a technique I’ve been using for years. I enjoy using modern machines and exploring ways to incorporate the stitching into my quilts. Finally, I continue to be intrigued with the bird image, both real and imagined. Chickadees at Home by Cynthia St. Charles This puzzle spotlights a quilt titled Chickadees at Home made by Cynthia St. Charles of Montana for the 2012 Quilt Alliance contest and auction, Home Is Where the Quilt Is. Materials and processes: Cotton – handpainted, block printed, screen printed, fused applique. Fabric paint. Artist’s Statement The birdfeeder outside my dining room window attracts large groups of lively chickadees year around. I’ve been able to get good digital photos of them, which I converted for screen printing. I began with white cotton fabric, then hand painted, block printed and screen printed before adding machine quilt to crate this piece called “Chickadees at Home”. Beulah and Irene by Sue Rook Nichols This puzzle spotlights a quilt titled Beulah and Irene made by Sue Rook Nichols of California for the 2015 Quilt Alliance contest and auction, Animals We Love. Materials and processes: The materials I used were 100% cotton with low loft polyester batting. I fused the raw edge applique to the background and stitched them down with a straight stitch. A double layer of batting is behind Beulah and Irene to make them stand out. I quilted this on my HQ 16. The binding is machine applied and hand stitched to the back. Buttons were added for eyes. Artist’s Statement Beulah and Irene, our two hens, used to hang out on our patio and watch us through door. Every so often they would peck on the glass as if to ask “Hey! Can we come in?” Before this I never realized that chickens have such funny…
read moreQuilt Puzzle: Contest Quilt
Your Quilt Jigsaw Puzzle for November is below! Do you love the monthly Quilt Jigsaw Puzzle? We’d love to have you as a member if you’re not already on the team! We rely on the generous support of donors and members to sustain our projects. If you support our mission of documenting, preserving, and sharing the stories of quilts and quiltmakers, join us by starting and maintaining an annual membership, making a donation, or learning how your business or corporation can become a supporter of the Quilt Alliance. We thank our members each month with special content like StoryBee episodes and QSOS interviews. Tip: for best results, solve puzzle on this page on a desktop computer or laptop. If you are solving on a mobile device, click on the puzzle piece icon in the lower righthand corner to solve on the Jigsaw Planet website. Welcome to another quilt jigsaw puzzle from Quilt Alliance! The beautiful quilts in our puzzles have all been entries in past Quilt Alliance quilt contests. Contest Quilt by Klara Schafler This month’s puzzle spotlights a quilt titled Contest Quilt made by Klara Schafler of Landesberg, Israel for the 2006-7 Quilt Alliance contest and auction, Put a Roof Over Our Head. Materials and processes: cotton, applique, machine quilting Artist’s Statement During the last decade we have witnessed all over the world a growing number of hungry and homeless people, caused not only by nature’s disaster but by globalization of the economy. I think it is about time for the world’s “great” powers to unite and find a solution to all the…
read moreQuilt Puzzle: Still Crazy After All These Years
Your Quilt Jigsaw Puzzle for October is below! Do you love the monthly Quilt Jigsaw Puzzle? We’d love to have you as a member if you’re not already on the team! We rely on the generous support of donors and members to sustain our projects. If you support our mission of documenting, preserving, and sharing the stories of quilts and quiltmakers, join us by starting and maintaining an annual membership, making a donation, or learning how your business or corporation can become a supporter of the Quilt Alliance. We thank our members each month with special content like StoryBee episodes and QSOS interviews. Tip: for best results, solve puzzle on this page on a desktop computer or laptop. If you are solving on a mobile device, click on the puzzle piece icon in the lower righthand corner to solve on the Jigsaw Planet website. Welcome to another quilt jigsaw puzzle from Quilt Alliance! The beautiful quilts in our puzzles have all been entries in past Quilt Alliance quilt contests. Still Crazy After All These Years by Ramona Bates This month’s puzzle spotlights a quilt titled Still Crazy After All These Years made by the Ramona Bates of Little Rock, Arkansas for the 2009 Quilt Alliance contest and auction, Crazy for Quilts. Materials and processes: Old crazy quilt c. 1900’s (I think). Hand embroidery, applique old lace, some beads. Machine pieced & quilted. Artist’s Statement I used an old crazy quilt top as the “beginning” of my quilt. This was my way of “salvaging” the work of some woman from the early 1900’s. That’s why the name – “Still Crazy After All These Years”. [Also, I love the Paul Simon…
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