by Quilt Alliance | Mar 24, 2013 | Uncategorized
Can I Call Myself a Quilter? Michele Rae Muska That’s a question I have been asking myself for years. I’ve made a few quilts in my life but it’s not the only medium I work in. I always thought the title of “Quilter” came with the honor of living and breathing quilts and making them every day. And wouldn’t I also need a large body of work to back it up! I only have a few handfuls. I made my first quilt when I was about nine. My Mom had taught me to sew on her old cast iron Kenmore with a knee pedal..(oh I wish I still had that machine) and it was what I sewed that sweet little nine patch out of all of the scarps from her stash. It was filled with squares and half triangles from my school and party dresses and of course some of hers. She made amazing clothes from those gorgeous Vogue patterns with the chic women on the front. That was her to a T. That quilt was with me for years. My husband and I used it for picnics and my little boys would sit upon it in the backyard when they first learned to sit up. We found it awhile back and it was worn and tattered with love like an old teddy bear. I will have to see if I can find it again. My Mom and her sisters were my creative inspiration from the beginning. They were painters, quilters, farmers, gardeners and wonderful cooks! My Mom doesn’t do all of those but she is creative right down to her soul and doesn’t even know it. She will often ask me, “where did you get all this from?” She answers herself every time the same way: “it must be from my sisters and Aunt Sadie, she was a quilter”. Oh, and Aunt Sadie, Fern and Mercy are a whole blog post in themselves! The women in my Mom’s family were pioneers in Northern Maine’s Aroostook County. Fur wearing, deer hunting, trout fishing, potato farming women. Recently I was walked the show at Quiltcon and had such a wonderful time, I truly felt at home. While I was viewing the quilts I heard some of the attendees talking about being a quilter and what does it mean, they were from a more traditional background and weren’t sure about what they were looking at. I can venture to say that most of us probably started that way. I met up with Luella Doss, fabulous fabric designer and artist and I think she summed it all up for our little group that had gather to discuss this thought. “They are all just a fabric sandwich and everyone loves sandwiches, right?” (or very close to that). Yes, a sandwich with thread I added. So I think that was my answer, if I make a fabric sandwich with thread I’m a quilter. I love each piece I work on like it’s a dear friend. That’s probably why it takes so long to finish one… I want it to stay around so we can spend time together! So even though my Mom has only made one quilt I think she’s a quilter too. And with that said I guess I am too. It is truly an honor to be among the women and men that call themselves “Quilter” Michele Muska Michele is a fiber/textile artist and the Marketing Communications Manager for Simplicity Creative Group which includes the brand EZ Quilting. Her fiber jewelry is sold at museum shops and boutiques across the country. Michele’s designs and quilts have appeared in national craft, quilt and food publications as well as on air in Quilting Arts, It’s Sew Easy and Creative Memories. Michele joined The Quilt Alliance as a board member 3 years ago and focuses on business membership and is on the development committee. You can see more of her work at…
by Quilt Alliance | Mar 11, 2013 | Uncategorized
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by Quilt Alliance | Feb 24, 2013 | Uncategorized
Outrageous Embellishments Frances Holliday Alford I enjoy making my Outrageous Embellishments pieces. The collection of materials is part of the fun. This week I have been making a small piece for a close friend with a February birthday. Purple is her favorite color and amethyst is the birth stone for the month, so color choice is easy. I start with a very stiff interfacing such as peltex or other non-woven material If you cannot find a stiff enough piece, use two layers. I like to use a background fabric which is opposite on the color wheel from the chosen color. Most of it does not show, but there seems to be more life in the piece when the small glints of bright color show through. I baste a piece which is a little larger than the interfacing piece. This piece is 12×20 with a yellow orange background fabric. Chosing the embellishments for the piece is by intuition. I like to use some Austrian crystal, some nicer glass beads, mother of pearl buttons, and some seed beads. I also like to use plastic pieces, often from children’s toys , buttons, or jewellery. Toys or sparkle pom poms work well. If you have a Venus of Willendorf lying around, use her too. Sew each piece down separately, using at least three strands of embroidery floss or a double strand of Silomide beading thread. I use a sturdy large eyed embroidery needle for the larger objects. After the piece is completely covered, you can put a fabric backing on it. I used purple violet floral fabric because it is the birth flower forFebruary. When you make any piece of art work, be sure to put a label on the back with your name and the date of completion. By: Frances Holliday Alford…
by Quilt Alliance | Feb 17, 2013 | Uncategorized
If you are attending QuiltCon consider bringing a quilt with you to share with the world! Our new project, “Go Tell It at the Quilt Show!” is designed to capture the stories of quilts where quiltmakers gather. The formula for Go Tell It! is simple: one person talking about one quilt in front of one video camera for three minutes. Unlike our Quilters’ S.O.S. – Save Our Stories project where the interviewee must be a quiltmaker, the Go Tell It! interviewee profile is much broader. Go Tell It! interviewees can be the maker of the quilt they bring to talk about, they can be the owner of the quilt, or they can tell the story on behalf of the quilt’s owner or maker. Maybe you’d like to tell the story of your first quilt, the history of a special family quilt, or one with a funny story. Whatever your motivation, every quilt has a story and we are eager to document, preserve and share that story for the education and inspiration of today’s quilt lovers and tomorrow’s historians and genealogists. To reserve a time slot for your Go Tell It! interview, just sign up on this online schedule. On the sign up sheet, please add your full name and select up to 3 time slots that you would be available during the show to show & tell the story of your quilt. Then email us (qsos@quiltalliance.org) with your name and cell phone number so that we can notify you of any schedule changes during the show. We will then reply with day/time confirmation, information on what to bring with you to your Go Tell It! interview (your quilt!) and what you can expect. There is no charge to participate, but we hope that once you see this project, and all the work we’re doing to save quilt history, you’ll want to become a Quilt Alliance member. During the show you can sign up for a Go Tell It! interview time slot by coming to the Quilt Alliance booth (#107). We have a limited schedule (Thursday-Saturday), so sign up today! The Quilt Alliance launched the Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! project last year at the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo in Raleigh, North Carolina, . We were excited to partner with OS&QE along with Quilters’ Newsletter TV to pilot this video oral history project. Interviewees featured on this gorgeous video are Frieda Anderson, Sherri Driver, Tula Pink and Diana Bell-Kite. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nTdFAk2mXs?rel=0] The amazing creative team at Original Sewing & Quilt Expo have also conducted Go Tell It! interviews (watch the one below with quilter Dorenda Hubbard), and we also documented some wonderful interview sessions at other Alliance events in 2012 (those coming soon to the Quilt Alliance Youtube channel). [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qml3sqjVj4I?rel=0] We envision this project as a grassroots oral history collection. In the next phase of development, quilt lovers everywhere will be invited to document the stories of quilts with equipment as simple as a cell phone and upload them to the Go Tell It! archives for all to see and remember. Hope to see you at…
by Quilt Alliance | Dec 31, 2012 | Uncategorized
Did you know that Alliance members who are current with their dues are eligible to win some fabulous prizes if they renew or join by Monday, January 7? We’ve extended the deadline by a week to be sure everyone has a chance to participate. Prizes include: — The AURIfil Suitcase contains 216 colors of fabulous Italian-made AURIfil cotton threads in 50wt. Compliments of Alliance board member Alex Veronelli of AURifil. — “Look, I’m in the Book!”–Alliance board member Marie Bostwick is going to name a character after you in an upcoming novel in her bestselling Cobbled Court series. — Tell Your Personal Quilt Story on the Radio: join the ever-amusing and inspiring Mark Lipinski, also an Alliance board member, as a guest on his weekly radio show, Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski. To be eligible for these drawings, renew your membership or join for the first time by Monday, January 7 at midnight Eastern. Join or renew online here or phone or email Debby Josephs, Alliance Office Manager at 828-251-7073 or admin@quiltalliance.org to arrange for payment by phone. Winners will be notified by Tuesday, January 8 and announced here. Thanks for being a member of the Alliance. And if you’re not a member yet, please join today. The drawing is a sweet incentive, but the real benefit is knowing that you are helping to ensure the documentation and preservation of the history of quilts and their makers for future…
