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Here's a fun modern pillow we found at WeAllSew from Bernina. Vanessa Christenson has created a piece of wonderful fall decor to enjoy year round.
Just in time for fall, it's a great way to use up those "leaf"tover 2 1/2" strips.
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Listen as Ricky talks about his quilt, Faded Glory, the quilt he created for the annual AAQI (Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative - www.AlzQuilts.org) Celebrity Invitational Quilt Auction.
Artist Statement: I veered from my typical bright colors and used these paler hues as a symbolic reference to how a once-vibrant person afflicted with Alzheimer's fades to become a shadow, a veiled and foggy representation as it were, of their former self. The flower is dropping petals as each memory fails. Only a hint of what was once thriving, strong, beautiful, and vibrant remains. The spirits of others who have shared the same fate stand on either side, patiently waiting - understanding.
The auction is a rare opportunity to own a one-of-a-kind work of art and benefit the AAQI. This year's participants include some of the giants of quilting, many of whom have joined us here at TQS. The auction will be held the first 10 days of November. Click here for more details and to see the quilts.
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Linda Taylor and Cheryl Meineke-Johnson have made an astonishing quilt. They even had to alter the show so that both sides could be seen. Go to the Zoom Quilt area to get close to both sides.
SEE BOTH SIDES UP CLOSE! 
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Let's take on the most important issue in Longarm history. How do you spell it??? Give us your opinion.
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Here's a quick and simple pattern from Julie at The Crafty Quilter. Julie does "Christmas Once a Month" where she prepares one project each month for the holidays. This month it is this adorable project.
The tutorial gives tips on making pinwheel blocks, square-in-a-square blocks, and working with a binding that has a 45-degree angle.
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It's Libby's birthday on November 12. We want the TQS family to shower her with cards for the occasion. So hit the Hallmark or make your own and let's shower Libby with love!
Please send your card to:
University Place Nursing Center
Libby Lehman
7480 Beechnut, room 625W
Houston, TX 77074
Alex's Visit:
While John and I were (and still are) in Houston we had the delicious opportunity to visit Libby. I want to report it was an amazing experience. First off – she recognized us right away and even got a little emotional. We then chatted for about 2 hours! I was AMAZED at her mind and responsiveness. She laughed at every joke we made –which made us realize that she was taking in everything we said, even if we only understood about 30% of what she said. Also in her perfect southern hostess style she asked for pictures of Lev!!! On a good day people don’t ask to see other peoples grandbaby pictures! LOL Physically she looked adorable. A little lip-gloss and spiky hair – ala natural. Her skin was radiant, and of course dressed in bright colors. As imagined, she is frustrated because her brain is working full speed but the connect from her lips from her brain is very difficult. Also, she lifted her left hand to her head a few times (a stroke has affected her left side)! I told her she was fighting the good fight and that everyone (and that means you) asks about her all the time. Together let’s say “Hip hip hurray – Libby – keep up the hard work as we keep you in our prayers!”
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Bob Ruggiero is the voice on the PA at Quilt Market and Festival. He keeps everyone updated about the all that is happening. However, his timing is not always conducive to good video production.
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Opal's Cherry Tree
Ellen White - Saint Augustine, FL USA
Width: 8.5" Length: 10"
Designer: Original design
Materials/Techniques: Batik background with hand carded and dyed yarn that was couched into place. Hand embroidered. I used beads from a broken necklace of hers that my mother wore in the 1950's.
Artist Statement: I made this quilt to honor my mother, Opal Eiford.
Dedication: To Opal Eiford, my mother, who died from Alzheimer's disease.
It was #11,239 and raised $60 for the AAQI.
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Ellen White, a prolific Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt maker, donated Opal's Cherry Tree to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative® (www.AlzQuilts.org). The AAQI is a national, grassroots charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. The AAQI auctions and sells donated quilts, and sponsors a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's disease. The AAQI has raised more than $973,000 since January 2006. Their goal is to raise $1,000,000 prior to the end of 2013.
Ami Simms of Flint, Michigan is the founder and executive director of the AAQI, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operated entirely by volunteers. She is a quilter. Her mother had Alzheimer's.
The AAQI currently sponsors two major programs:
Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope
The first is a nationwide traveling quilt exhibit called "Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope." It features 182 "Name Quilts" six inches wide and seven feet tall, containing the names of more than 10,000 individuals who have or had Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. Hanging among the Name Quilts are 53 small format art quilts (9" x 12") that each interpret Alzheimer's in some way. The exhibit toured the United States until September 2013.
Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts
The second is the "Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts" project, so named for the urgent need for research dollars and the hope that quilters across the country would make participation in this project a priority. These small quilts fit inside flat rate cardboard Priority Mailers from the USPS, which the group uses to ship quilts to winning bidders after monthly online auctions. (In fact, all of their quilts are mailed in USPS Priority Mailers).
Ellen's quilt was a Priority: Alzheimer's Quilt and it went up for sale at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in 2012.
Linda Ebaugh, the daughter-in-law of Pam and Harry Herrick of Orleans, MA, purchased Opal's Cherry Tree. She says, "As far as choosing Opal's quilt, I was drawn to the cherry tree because I had them at my home outside of Pittsburgh growing up, and I always had a cherry pie instead of a birthday cake for my birthday. It's my favorite food. When my husband-to-be brought me to Cape Cod, seeing the giant cherry trees in Pam and Harry's yard was kind of a subtle reassurance that I'd fit in with my new family. While they hadn't been picking the cherries much in past years, when I set about getting out the ladder and picking, Harry was the one who least thought I was crazy and the only one to join in with me for the pitting. Since that time, I've given him various cherry pitters for Christmas presents and, once, a fruit picking attachment for an extension pole (from Buffalo Hardware here in Houston), which didn't actually work that well."
She was hoping this quilt would provide Harry with some memories, as he has Alzheimer's. Harry is the former headmaster of the Dedham Country Day School (DCD) in MA.
(Linda and Harry pitting cherries.)
Pam e-mailed a note to Ellen and told her how excited she was to get the quilt. Ellen forwarded this note to Kathy Kennedy-Dennis, who lives in Houston and works with Ami Simms. Kathy then wrote to Pam and asked her if she might know Carolyn and Marion Kennedy (Kathy's sister and mother) as they also live in Orleans, MA. It turns out that Pam knows Kathy's sister, Carolyn, the director of water quality testing in Orleans, as they both attend water quality meetings.
Not much later, Kathy and her mom, Marion, met up with Pam in MA. They took a picture of the quilt with the cherry trees.
Kathy took a researcher quilt (a quilt that the AAQI gives to researchers that receive grant money) with her on the visit, as she wanted to add Harry and some other's names to the quilt.
(researcher quilt)
Sometime after this, Marge Farquharson, who has purchased a number of quilts from the AAQI, was contacted by Ami to drop off the researcher quilt to the Boston University Medical Center.
Marge has her own perspective on Opal's Cherry Tree. She first became involved with the AAQI in 2010 when she convinced her quilting group, The North River Appliquers, to make quilts to be sold by the AAQI. Their group made 34 quilts, and these were among those held and sold on-line and in Houston in 2010. Their quilts contributed $1500 plus to the AAQI.
(The North River Appliquers with Marge on the left in the black t-shirt.)
Harry had retired when Marge joined the faculty, but she had met him and Pam many times at DCD events. There is a framed picture of Harry that hangs in the school library, right next to her circulation desk. His name is also inscribed on a quilt that she made with a group to hang in the school. DCD even has a building named after Harry, Herrick House.
(Harry reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas to his grandson with Linda.)
Marge headed to Boston to present the AAQI quilt to Dr. Ikezu and the story of Opal's Cherry Tree came full circle.
(Dr. Ikezu's quilt made by Kathy Kennedy-Dennis and presented by Marge.)
From Florida and Texas to Michigan and Massachusetts, Opal's Cherry Tree touched many lives, Ellen White the quilt maker, Pam & Harry, their daughter-in-law, who purchased the quilt, Carolyn and Marion Kennedy who were friends of Pam & Harry in Massachusetts, Kathy Kennedy-Dennis, the AAQI Quilt-a-Month coordinator, Marion's daughter, Carolyn's sister and Cape Cod visitor, Marge Farquharson, and of course, Ami Simms.
If you will be attending the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX, October 30 to November 3, please stop by the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative booth in the Exhibit Area and purchase a small quilt like Opal's Cherry Tree. The AAQI will be bringing more than 2,500 quilts to sell and each one has a story. Quilts are also available online at http://www.alzquilts.org/quiltsforsale.html.
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Did you enjoy Napkin Folding as Art? Do you want to be Joan Sallas, the man who demonstrated that napkin folding can be beautiful and creative? Well, we are going to help you do that. Here is more napkin fun just in time for holidays.
Not sure who Joan Sallas is and what the fuss is all about?
In Pam Kitty Morning's Fall Clubhouse she guides you through embellishing "store bought" napkins to create your own one-of-a-kind hostess gift.
Here's a quick and easy pattern to make some nifty tree napkins. Click here for pattern.
Want to learn some folding techniques? Here are two videos to get you started. Your holiday table will be folded perfection!
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It's time again for the gang and members from TQS to descend upon the city of Houston, TX, for the annual International Quilt Festival, and a chance to meet, chat, and visit. This year, we'll be in booth 1210. Stop by for the daily 1:00pm meet/greet, join us at the TQS member hosted dinner, and take advantage of the opportunity to catch up in person with some of your online friends.
PS: Don't forget to wear your TQS badge. Don't have one? Here is the pattern and some examples of other badges.
Did you know that you can get the artwork for badge right here on the site? Click here for the artwork.
Need a little inspiration to get your juices flowing before you make your badge, take a look at some of these...After you've watched the show, make your badge, find your friends, and tell them, "It's A New Day!"
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