Show and Tell and Other Tidbits, May 2007

Many thanks to my ace reporters in the field for this Show and Tell:

Pictures are by Dotty Eisenhour and the text is from notes taken by Anne Poulin.


Alzheimers quilts by Kathy Edwards. She has set herself a goal of raising $1,000 for the organization. After the quilt show in June she will be submitting all 14 of our Alzheimers quilts to be auctioned off. She has been working very hard on this project.


This hearts within hearts is a quilt Kathy Edwards bid on and won in the Quilt Pink auction. The back of the quilt had a fabric envelope which contained a story about a woman who loved a full life and why no one should die of breast cancer. It is a wonderful small quilt.

Lucy Petit showing a quilt made from a pattern by Ann Oliver in the 1970's. Lucy hand pieced the quilt and Marjorie Parkyn's daughter quilted it.

Marjorie Parkyn - a fun, lively, quilt

A lovely quilt with butterflies and bright colors. Marjorie made six of these quilts to help pass a bad month!

Marjorie's black and white quilt

Cathy Hanratty made this plaid Scotty dog quilt for her granddaughter for Christmas. The dogs are appliqued on an embroidery machine.

Cathy bought this pink dogwood quilt in honor of her sister-in- law who has breast cancer.

Pat Alfredson made this beautiful whole cloth sweatshirt jacket

Pat hand appliqued this pansy quilt and thought it looked boring, so added the border to jazz it up!

Mary Mazzuchi - This project was an "I've got to get some of these things finished" baby quilt.

Mary also made this embroidered Alzheimers quilt, "Kay's Clowns"

Dotty Eisenhour showed her "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" (from Gyleen's class) which she just had machine quilted by Aby Dolinger. Aby used a little thicker batting to hide some of the bias edges that got a little stretched!

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Kathy Zahaczewsky's crayon challenge of a bouquet of tulips on a blue stripe background. The backing fabric was crayon fabric.

Beverly Dasch showed a quilt top that her husband brought home from Afghanistan. It is of beautiful silk fabric and was made "to wrap a gift" The fabrics are from the 1960's and came from Russia and China.

Ann Berard made this dark green and floral quilt from a kit that she ordered.

Frankie Carroll's quilt is a snail's trail within tumbling blocks.


FOLDING QUILTS ON THE BIAS
Against the Grain by Ann Fahl
Stamp Out the Center Crease. Let’s save our quilts!
(This image goes with the article. Click to enlarge.
Many thanks to Pat Alfredson for sending this along, and for retyping the text.)
When I attend a guild show-and-tell, I find it distressing to see a beautiful quilt with big fold lines going through the center. As quilts age, such furrows cannot be removed. For years, I avoided “the crease” by rolling my quilts to ship them to shows or teaching engagements. I had to purchase bulky shipping tubes to ensure my quilts would arrive wrinkle-and-crease-free at their destinations.

Then, while having dinner one evening with other quilters, I learned a better way: one woman mentioned that she only folds her quilts on the bias. Of course! Folding fibers on an angle causes less crimping than folding them back on themselves. This could preserve the integrity of both the batting fibers and the yarns in the fabric. This was a life-changing revelation. I realized her easy technique could not only solve my shipping problems – my quilts now travel snugly in my suitcase, saving me a lot of money at the post office – but also ensure that quilts packaged for gifts, toted to guild meetings or stored in closets would enjoy a long life.

I asked this woman where she had learned her simple, quilt-friendly technique. She replied that she had learned it from a friend, who had learned it from a friend, and so on. So now I’m passing it on to you with the hope that you will help stamp out the center crease. Let’s save our quilts!

At first, this folding technique might seem awkward. Stick with it. Keep trying. Go to your quilt storage area and fold all the quilts you have – all you need is a flat surface for folding. Immediately you will feel how the bias folds are softer and more pliable than folds along the grain. And now that you know this simple bias-folding technique, pass it on. Tell your friends, your guild, the take-down committee at your local quilt show. Save the quilts of our generation for the next one. Help make all quilts crease-free.


Pat Sloan's Luncheon and Fall Workshop
(click to enlarge image)

We’re less than one week away from our much anticipated lecture, “From Then to Now” with Pat Sloan. I hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am!! See you on May 22, 2007 at 12:30pm.

That brings me to the reason for this email…based on your feedback; we have selected "Wild and Free Appliqué" as our choice for the workshop with Pat on September 18, 2007. This workshop uses asymmetrical, playful and free flowing appliqué pieces with lots of color. Tailoring the workshop to our request, Pat has graciously agreed to demo her hand appliqué technique that she calls ‘running stitch’ appliqué as a part of our workshop. Thank you to all who took the time to weigh in.

The first thing we will do in the workshop is a color study….FUN! Pat will offer one-on-one advice on color selection for your backgrounds and the placement of applique pieces. We will spend most of the day working on our backgrounds with the goal of creating a quilt that is indeed “uniquely you.”

You will have your choice of two patterns, Ma Ma’s Garden or Slice of Heaven. Patterns are included in the cost of the workshop and will be distributed on the day of the workshop. Supply lists will be given out once you have registered for the workshop. To view the pattern choices, please visit www.quiltershome.com Pat has also posted examples of student work on
her blog…the choices are endless!

Please read the cancellation policy included on the registration form. To be fair to the membership, it is necessary for us to implement cut off dates for refunds and if necessary to cancel the workshop if there is not enough interest to fill the workshop. This is a unique and wonderful opportunity offered to you as a member of the Mt Vernon Chapter to study
with one of our area’s finest quilt artists and designers…don’t miss it!

Space is limited and will be filled on a first come basis. To secure your spot in the workshop, please send your registration form and payment in full to: Rhonda (contact her at the meetings, or check the MVQU Directory for her info).

IT’S TIME FOR THE BIG REVEAL!!
Do you know who your Secret Pal is?
Join us at the Mt Vernon Summer Block Party and Luncheon on June 5, 2007 for the Revealing of Secret Pals.
Please bring a fat quarter with the name of your Secret Pal on the outside and your name safely hidden inside. Place it on the Secret Pal table until the “Big Reveal.” Hope to see you there!


Close-ups of Gene Ives Quilt

Rhonda writes: These are photos of Gene Ives' quilt. It will hang at the Quilt show in June and is truly stunning. The quilt is a 50th anniversary Quilt made up of hand appliqued blocks with signatures from their friends. A beautiful tribute, beautiful quilt.







Reminder: Newsletter entries are due a bit earlier this month, because of Elizabeth's travels in June. Please send by the 29th of May (Tuesday) for inclusion in June's newsletter. Thanks!