Daily Blog

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Leap of Faith was created by Mary Elizabeth Kinch and inspired by the colors she saw in a photograph containing seeds and peanuts and is in her book, Small Blocks, Stunning Quilts. Pieced by Mary Elizabeth Kinch (2007) and machine quilted by Sandra Reed.

Learn from Mary, and see the quilt, in Show 1502: Small Pieces, Big Impact.

Original Photo: Gregory Case Photography

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Awestruck at the Kelp Forest by Cynthia Minoli was inspired by a visit she took the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California with her granddaughter. Featured at PIQF inn 2019, Cynthia loved how "the kelp forest sways with the current, making you feel so small," like her granddaughter pictured at the bottom of the quilt. Utilizing machine appliqué and machine quilting, "the construction was completed was raw edge appliqué and free motion quilting."

Awestruck at the Kelp Forest by Cynthia Minoli of Galt, California was featured in the Wall Category at the Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) 2019.

Original Photos: Lucas Davis

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The Quilt Alliance's Running Stitch podcast is back for an all new season and their first guest is none other than our own Ricky Tims. Read below to see what the Quilt Alliance has to say:

"Running Stitch is back for Season Two, again digging into the QSOS oral history archive to explore the meaning of quilts in American life. In this episode, host Janneken Smucker talks to quiltmaking legend Ricky Tims about the role of creativity in his life. As a quiltmaker, musician, composer, co-host of The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, and founder of Quilt Life magazine, Ricky embodies creativity. We’ll revisit his first interview for the QSOS project, recorded two decades ago in 2000, and continue the conversation with a new interview exploring the intersection of music and quilting, his perspective on the creative spirit, and Ricky’s new novel, Lizzy Albright and the Attic Window, co-written with Kat Bowser."

Click Here to listen to Ricky's Episode. (Listen Below for a teaser of the Podcast)

Subscribe at: Apple Podcasts – Spotify – Google Podcasts – Stitcher

Also available on Quilt Alliance website. (See who else is coming up this Season and who was on Season One)

From the Quilt Alliance:

Running Stitch, A QSOS Podcast is hosted by Janneken Smucker, Professor of History at West Chester University. Join us as we explore quilt stories, revealing the inner thoughts, feelings, and motivations of contemporary quiltmakers by drawing from Quilters' S.O.S. — Save Our Stories, the long running oral history project created by the non-profit Quilt Alliance in 1999.

Quilts and quiltmaking serve as a lens to examine some of today’s most pressing issues, including activism, public health, politics, race, and the economy. We’ll dig into the QSOS archive to listen to excerpts from past interviews, and bring back interviewees to ask them about what they are working on and thinking about presently. Upcoming guests include Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Carolyn Mazloomi, Thomas Knauer, Melanie Testa, and Jinny Beyer.

And here's the trailer for the rest of Running Stitch Season Two:

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Alex is giving away a whole bunch of great goodies and gifts for your quilting pleasure, but you can't win if you don't enter!

You'll need to scroll down the blog window to enter your information.

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The Endless Dance of the Ponytail is the cover of Leni's book, Photo-Inspired Art Quilts: From Composition to Finished Piece. It measures 29" x 30" and was created in 2008.  

Take a closer look at the ponytail, Leni says, "Combining patterns in commercial fabric is what gets me motivated. Finding the unexpected pattern that does what I want in the ensemble is the thing that keeps me going."

Star Members can watch Leni in Show 1413: From Film to Fabric - Photos as Inspiration (which features this quilt) and Show 2204: The Human Form from Portrait to Art Piece.

(Book Photo From Leni Levenson Wiener's Website)

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Which Kind of Quilter are you? Vote below.

You've been quilting all day and you know you are going to want dinner. What do you do? Put it all in the slow cooker and smell the lovely aroma as you settle in to sew? Do you have a list of take-out numbers taped to the side of your machine? OR do you leave it to the rest of the family? They have to eat too...

(Picture by Lauren Vlcek)

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Tips for making Simply Chic can be found in Eleanor's Book, Forty Fabulous Years. It is made up of 6" blocks and was created using a jelly roll. We love the ric rac and curvy border.

Watch Eleanor Burns in Show 2713: Quilt Legends Masterclass, Show 2309: Celebrating 40 Years and Still Entertaining, and her own Legend showcase in Show 913: TQS Quilting Legend 2011.

Original Photo: Mary Kay Davis

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Now that you've watched Ricky's brand new Christmas concert, Comfort & Joy!, take a behind the scenes look at what it took for Ricky to record his part when none of the other players could be in the same room as him.

Comfort & Joy! is streaming now and will be available from December 18, 2020 through January 1, 2021.

Ricky will be joined for this one-of-a-kind Christmas concert by Kat Bowser, keyboardist for Lady A (formerally Lady Antebellum) Jonathon Long, and newcomer and singer/songwriter Allison Mahal. It's experience for the holidays that you don't want to miss! Tickets are on sale now with single tickets being $25 and group tickets, two or more people watching, being $40.

Both Single and Group Tickets are available.

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TQS continues its feature of quilts exhibited in 2020 at QuiltCon as part of The Quilts of Victoria Findlay Wolfe exhibit. The exhibit is described as:

"Purposeful play is a deliberate free-form practice with one goal in mind: to ultimately improve the outcome of the finished product while capturing a thought, emotion, or technique. Always fascinated by color, pattern, and quilters who came before us, Victoria Findlay Wolfe found her life's true joy in exploring her grandmother's quiltmaking as a starting point.

Her diverse and exciting body of work stirs quilters worldwide to dig deeper, take risks, and experiment with fabric. This retrospective exhibit features a selection of Findlay Wolfe's inspiring quilts and the stories behind them."

Please enjoy Victoria's thirteenth quilt from the exhibition.

Title of Quilt: Color Play

Quilter's Name: Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Year Made: 2015

Quilt Size: 96" x 96"

Original Photos by Mary Kay Davis

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Sometimes a quilt can capture just as much as a photograph, and in some instances even more. Bandoneon by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry is based on a photo her husband took of a "musician as he played the bandoneon (national instrument of Argentina)." Caryl "edited and printed the photo and created a background to compliment the image of the musician." By including the background of two shadows dancing, Caryl has enhanced her quilt from the photo by adding a story to it. Featured at PIQF 2019, her quilt utilizes machine piecing, machine appliqué, and "the quilted vine pattern echoes the decorative motif on the end of the bandoneon."

Bandoneon by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry of Port Townsend, Washington was featured in the Wall Category at the Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF) 2019.

Learn from Caryl by watching Show 1308: Techniques, Tips...and a Very Special Tour for Quilters.

Original Photos: Lucas Davis