From “Folklife in Louisiana” website. “Quilting bees are a traditional setting for women to swap stories. Here Doris Ellzey, Dovie Flores, Opal Clower, and Ivy Solis, also known as the Los Adais Quilters, demonstrate their skills at the Sabine Parish Fair, September 18, 1990.” Author: Susan Roach. Photo: Dayna Lee.

The photo at right, taken by Dayna Lee on September 18, 1990, accompanied an article by Linda Roach for the 1992 Louisiana Folklife Festival booklet. Roach is Director of the School of Literature and Language at Louisiana Tech University and director of the Louisiana Quilt Documentation project.

It’s been almost thirty years since this photo was taken, and group quilting is still practiced and enjoyed amongst today’s quilters. In many ways, the notion and practice has expanded. Quilters can now toggle between working virtually through online communities and coming together in person for collaboration, classes or shows. At the 2014 International Quilt Festival, the Quilt Alliance documented seven members of such a group called the Amazing Eight.

The friends, who hail from Mississippi, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois and Minnesota, met via a popular community forum hosted by The Quilt Show.com. In 2009, the group of virtual friends made plans to meet in person at Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas. At the show they met for dinner and enthusiastically started discussing the idea of making a quilt together. Inspired by that first dinner gathering, the group made two collaborative quilts. In 2014, their third collaborative quilt, “Amazing Aztec–Nicolor Dream Quilt” won first place in the Group Quilt category in the Quilts: A World of Beauty Judged Show at Quilt Festival.

Seven members of the group shared their story about the quilt at Quilt Festival by recording a Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! video: Karen Fitzpatrick, Mary Holman, Wanda Myers, Cindy Neville, Carol Moellers, Dana Lynch and Mary Kay Runyan. (The eighth Amazing member is Bridget Lilja.)

We’re proud to capture the stories of quilt makers and quilt lovers where they gather through the Go Tell It! project. We encourage everyone with a quilt to document, preserve and share the story of that quilt before it fades away. Instructions for making your own DIY Go Tell It! video can be found on our website here.

Click on thumbnails below to view each video.

Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! interview with Karen Fitzpatrick

Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! interview with Mary Holman

Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! interview with Wanda Myers

Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! interview with Cindy Neville

Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! interview with Carol Moellers

Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! interview with Mary Kay Runyan

Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! interview with Dana Lynch

How To Trim Flying Geese Without A Specialty Ruler

If you don’t have a Bloc-Loc ruler, you may find trimming these flying geese challenging. But by following these steps, you should be able to get four accurate geese in each color!

First, line up your ruler so the point of the flying geese unit will be trimmed exactly ¼” above the point. Try to line the unit up as straight as possible on the other three sides.

Next, flip the unit over. Line up the edge you just cut on the 2” line of the ruler as shown below, and trim the excess from the top.

Flip the unit right side up again. Line the lower left corner up with the 3 ½” mark on your ruler as shown above. Trim the excess on the right.

Finally, flip the unit over again so the point is pointing towards the 2” line. Align the left edge of the unit with the 3 ½” ruler mark as shown above and trim the excess on the right. Your flying goose unit is now ready to be pieced into your block!

Quilt Documentation Tip

Andrea’s block story is all about the importance of quilt guilds. Quilting can feel solitary, but guilds bring us together. It’s a topic of conversation that was discussed with two Birthday Block of the Month Designers in a recent Textile Talk where the participants all shared emotional stories about their love for their guilds.

Did you know that your guild can document your quilts as a group? Consider hosting a quilt documentation day in your guild! Follow these instructions and have members share three minute stories about one meaningful quilt in the Quilt Alliance’s signature Go Tell It documentation program. You could even host a screening so all of your members can see the videos! Get in touch at: qsos@quiltalliance.org

See You in October for Month Seven!

Thank you so much to everyone who has participated in the Quilt Alliance’s Birthday Block of the Month so far! Our designer for next month, the seventh block we’re making together, is Bonnie Hunter herself!

Be sure to tag @quiltalliance and @3rdstoryworkshop on Instagram with your block photos this month, and use the hashtag #QuiltAllianceBOM. And leave any questions about this month’s block in the comments below!

Quilt Documentation Tip

See You in October for Month Seven!

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