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Hollis Chatelain's, Silk,  won the Superior Threads Master Award for Thread Artistry and a $5,000 prize at the Houston International Quilt Festival.  

Click on the button to see more of the spectacular thread painting.

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TQS Guest Edyta Sitar recently suggested that there might be a giveaway of some of her journals and 2013 calendars...and she was right!

All you have to do is click on the button below and you can enter to win either a copy of Edyta's 2013 Journal or her 2013 Wall Calendar.  More than 20 journals and 30 calendars, which have been generously donated by Landauer Publishing, will be given away to some lucky TQS members.  It could be YOU!

Contest ends, 12/9, Midnight PST.  Winners will be announced in the December 11 Newsletter.

Star Members can watch Edyta in Episode 1112 - She's Back! Lessons from Grandma, a New Contest, and More.

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November 14 - February 3, 2013
Collecting Treasures: Celebrating 35 Years

The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles-the first in the United States to focus exclusively on quilts and textiles-commemorates its thirty-five year anniversary with a large survey exhibition, Collecting Treasures: Celebrating 35 Years. Drawn exclusively from their permanent collection, it showcases important early and historic quilts, recent acquisitions of contemporary fiber art, as well as ethnic costume and textiles.

For more information regarding the exhibit, click here.

Highlights of the exhibit include:

• The first quilt accessioned into the collection (a Crazy Quilt, 1883-1884).

• A quilt by the wife of Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star Spangled Banner" (Grandmother's Flower Garden by Mary Tayloe Lloyd Key).

• A woven piece with a poignant message on the Gulf War but applicable to today's ongoing conflicts (Weep for the World, 1991 by Mary Balzer Buskirk)

• Drawing on the presidential election theme, a quilt with humorous caricatures of forty-two presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush (Presidents, by Dorothy Vance)

• A never-before-exhibited, oversized ritual dance costume from the Yoruba people of West Africa (The Egungun Ceremonial Garment).

• A contemporary ritual textile inspired by traditional Japanese by Yvonne Porcella (Firebird Kimono).

(Quilt: Pineapple Variation or Windmill Blades, c1890

Unknown Maker, American
Silk, velvet
Pieced, quilted
71 x 70
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, 2004.308
Donated by Jacklin Vanmechelen)

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Poking around the Bernina We All Sew site we stumbled upon some cute projects that we thought we'd share with you to get a creative start on the holiday season.

Felted Trees by Gayle Schliemann would be great for a mantel or centerpiece on your holiday table.

How about a Pocket Advent Calendar Banner from Stitched by Jen Buffington?  Think of the little treats you could hide inside.

Want something a bit more "quilty?"  Take a look at the Quilted Holiday Stocking created by Lisa Klingbeil.

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With the 2012 BOM winding down (don't forget to print out your patterns by 12/13/2012) we thought we'd give you an update on what TQS members have been creating for the past year.  Full of variety and imaginative, every quilt shines with individuality.

See the slideshow then visit Show & Tell.  

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We recently showed Part 1 of the Modern Quilt Guild Showcase exhibited at the Houston International Quilt Festival.  With that exhibition the question arose,  What is a Modern Quilt?  We went to the Modern Quilt Guild website to get an answer.

Here is the short answer,

Modern quilting is a new and rapidly growing movement in the quilting world. A group of quilters applied their current tastes and points of view to this traditional craft and shared their work online.  Their fresh approach and new designs attracted sewers and quilters and the modern quilting movement was born. Modern quilting, like all art, changes, grows and adapts from quilter to quilter as they find their own voice. Modern quilts reflect each quilter's personality and personal style, and as the movement has grown, a modern quilt aesthetic, a set of principles that define and guide the movement, is beginning to emerge.

Modern quilts and quilters:

• Make primarily functional rather than decorative quilts
• Use asymmetry in quilt design
• Rely less on repetition and on the interaction of quilt block motifs
• Contain reinterpreted traditional blocks
• Embrace simplicity and minimalism
• Utilize alternative block structures or lack of visible block structure
• Incorporate increased use of negative space
• Are inspired by modern art and architecture
• Frequently use improvisational piecing
• Contain bold colors, on trend color combinations and graphic prints
• Often use gray and white as neutrals
• Reflect an increased use of solid fabrics
• Focus on finishing quilts on home sewing machines

For more on the topoic, head on over to their website, www.themodernquiltguild.com. 

Check out the slideshow for Part 2 of the Modern Quilt Guild Showcase Exhibit.

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The Houston International Quilt Festival hosted the The Modern Quilt Guild Showcase 2012. Members from Modern Quilt Guilds around the world were invited to submit their works for this new exhibit.  Sponsored by Stashbooks - an imprint of C&T Publishing and Moda, here is Part 1.

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Enjoy some of the beautiful garments created for the Wearable Art Exhibit at the Houston International Quilt Festival 2012.  Sponsored by Hobbs Bonded Fibers, the top winners were:

• First Place - Composition by Gilbert Muniz of Houston, TX.
• Second Place - Thai Tutti Frutti by Eve Kovacs of Woodridge, IL
• Third Place - Happy New Year to You!! by Rami Kim of Rocklin, CA

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Enjoy an oldie, but goodie, from Gayle Thomas - Quilt - A tribute to the unique and long-established art form of patchwork quilting. This is a short animated film which uses computer and experimental techniques to choreograph quilt motifs and designs to music.

Quilt by Gayle Thomas, National Film Board of Canada