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Group 1 bids for the Quilt Alliance auction quilts will be ending Monday, November 20, 2017. These quilts will make beautiful gifts or a treasured keepsake for quilters and non-quilters, alike. Don't miss this opportunity to obtain a beautiful one-of-a-kind quilt and support the Quilt Alliance at the same time.

View the quilts and learn how to bid at:   www.QuiltAllianceAuction.org

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The nonprofit Quilt Alliance launched its annual quilt auction this week with 48 quilts made by artist members from the United States and abroad.

This is the eleventh year the QA has presented a contest, exhibition and auction of small wall quilts, a key fundraiser that supports their mission of documenting, preserving and sharing the history of quilts and their makers. The initiative is also an important opportunity to showcase and record the work of quilters on any given year. Each year, the quilts offer a snapshot that catalogs and showcases imagery, materials, techniques, color palettes, concepts and concerns.

The 2017 theme was "Voices" and the only requirements were that entries must be a quilt (3 layers--top, filling and backing), must be 16"x 16" and must include a label. All techniques and materials were encouraged, and range from quilting on leather, to ice-dying, to burned fabric, to dimensional use of machine embroidered pieces.

First Place winner Carol Poole, used a label that included a QR code to extend her quilt's message. The artist recorded a video message and synched it to the label's QR code via the StoryPatches website. Carol's quilt is titled "My Alzheimer's Voice" (pictured below). Watch Carol's video message here.

(Make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Flash.)

 

 

 

Auction group dates and times are as follows:
Week One: Began November 13 at 9:00 AM EST and ends November 20 at 9:00 PM EST.
Week Two: Begins November 27 at 9:00 AM EST and ends December 4 at 9:00 PM EST. 
Quilts not sold in week one will be relisted during week two.
 
The Quilt Alliance contest, auction and exhibition is sponsored by Handi Quilter, Moda Fabrics, Aurifil Threads and StoryPatches.

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Laura at SewVeryEasy has a great method for creating a scalloped border (any size you choose) with a flange. The trick is using paper!

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This week I have been enjoying a variety of arts...culinary gastronomy, cinematic story telling, and fiber textile creations. It is interesting that when you venture out and let yourself experience things that are not part of your repertoire, your world gets broader. I think it might be the idea of engaging all of your senses...is this kind of woo woo...or do you think I am on to something?

I especially love it when I stumble upon a fiber art form that I have never seen! The one thing about the Portland Airport is that it is reflective of the city of Portland, which is an art saturated community. They regularly have a rotating art exhibit in various locations at the airport and I highly recommend that if you ever take a flight in or out of Portland that you allow yourself extra time so that you can not only enjoy the shopping...but, the music and art exhibits!

I was rushing to my gate when I was stopped in my tracks by the art work of Greta Latchford. A combination of fiber, stained glass, and beading on a base of wood, which allows for the creation of a multidimensional mixed media art that tells a powerful story.



I don't know about you, but there is something hopeful in my heart when I see art on display in public places...it helps me focus on what is wonderful in our world. You can check out Greta Latchford on her website, https://glatchford.com/ Here are just a few of the pieces on display at the Portland Airport. Have a wonderful week...I hope Greta's artwork inspires you in some way.

 

 


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Philippa Naylor's quilt, Wearable Art, is a teeny tiny quilt, less than 12" x 12", but it won a big prize in Houston. It features some of Philippa's favorite things. Watch the video and see Philippa talk about the quilt below the photos.
 
Philippa's quilt won the Superior Threads Master Award for Thread Artistry.
 

Star Members can watch Philippa in Show 606: Showstopping Trapunto.

Just in case you were wondering, here's a pair of Philippa's beloved shoes.

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Make a super quick and easy Tablet Holder beginning with just two 12" blocks. This pattern works for a tablet 8" x 11" or smaller. Wouldn't these make great holiday gifts?

Materials to sew the Maple Star Tablet Holder by Denise Jones, found at WeAllSew.com:

  • 4 Fat quarters of you favorite fabrics for the quilt blocks (I used the Anything Goes fabric collection by Benartex Fabrics)
  • Daisy design from Edge to Edge Quilting on Your Embroidery Machine by Amelie Scott Designs
  • Batting: Cut 15″ x 27″
  • Backing: Cut 16″ x 28″
  • Binding: Cut 2 strips 2 ¼ inches wide by width of fabric (44″)
  • Clover Wonder Clips (optional)
  • Patchwork Foot #37/37D
  • Edgestitch Foot #10/10C/10D
  • Your sewing machine. They recommend a BERNINA 570 QE.

Follow the Maple Star Block directions from the BERNINA Block Party of the Month to complete the piecing for the two-block set and Go to Tutorial for the rest of the instructions.

 
 

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Judy shares some of her beautiful work which she created through the use of Photoshop, thread painting, and Peltex.
 
Star Members can watch how Judy creates her work in Show 2110: Creating Collage and Fabric with Your Computer.

 

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Inspired by Italy and made in Japan, this stunning quilt, Santa Maria del Fiore by Mieko Sasano, features exquisite symmetry and hand craftsmanship. The roses look so real you can almost smell them.

 

 

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It is with great sadness that TQS reports the passing of Nancy Zieman, longtime host of Sewing with Nancy. She passed away Tuesday morning after a long battle with cancer.
 
Fans and friends hoping to share their memories of Nancy’s life and inspiration are welcome to leave comments at NancyZieman.com/blog.
 
Click on Read More for a lovely tribute by Wisconsin Public Television.
 
 
 
 

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This looks like some kind of Gordian or Celtic knot. What do you think it's called? Play the game and find out.

 
 

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This week in our Design to Quilt program, we focus on Unity. Unity can be thought of as everyone in a group working together. Unity represents calmness and order through repetition, either by shape or color. It can be achieved with pattern, color or theme.

Let's use the example of a quilt guild annual quilt show. Such a project requires many entries. Everyone in the guild is encouraged to include a quilt that will, of course, be displayed. Quilts on display will fall into various categories (e.g. Traditional, Contemporary, Art, Mixed Media, etc.) and due to the exhibit space may only be between the sizes of A-B inches high and Y-Z in width.

As the quilts are dropped off at a designated location, workers begin sorting. You know the drill. You might have even helped with your local guild quilt show set-up. All of the Traditional quilt here. All of the Contemporary one's there. And so on...until all of the quilts have a place. The quilts are then hung by group in their designated areas. By presenting all of one grouping together, it offer the show attendee a unified and harmonious view. All of the handmade traditional quilts play well together, while all of the contemporary quilts play well together in their area as well. It is this unity that makes for a sense of harmony.


In this example notice how all of the circles on the left are the same color while in the area on the right all of the circles are different color, but the same size.

 

 

 

 

 


 

Now that you understand the ways that you can create Unity, let's look at some excellent examples of quilts featuring Unity:

 

This week, Ann P. Shaw (Show 2006) shares how she auditions fabric for a quilt from start to finish when looking to create maximum visual Unity by incorporating a variety of the same type of fabric.

         Unity from Variety by Ann P. Shaw (Show 2006)


Fabric selections are a good way of creating unity with variety in a quilt design. Often, when we think about fabrics for a quilt, we choose a few colors that blend or select thoughtfully coordinated colors and prints.  And when we run out of some particular fabric have way through a project, it can lead to a desperate search for another yard of the same fabric to complete the quilt.

For many of my quilts, I like to think broadly about how different printed fabrics can have a very similar visual impact. This is a good way to expand one’s use of fabrics and develop a richer look to one’s quilts.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


My quilt, Grant’s Zebra, is a good example of creating unity from variety in my fabric selections.  I love Zebras and I’ve seen many wonderful zebra quilts where individual black fabric pieces are appliquéd or fused onto the white body of the zebra to create its stripes. However, I thought it would be an interesting challenge to create a pieced zebra quilt where the fabrics did the design work  without having to piece each individual stripe.  That meant I would need to carefully consider the black and white printed fabric I would use.  In this case, different fabric choices, each with some kind of black and white stripy print would help create the overall look of the zebra.

 

I started pulling black and white prints from my stash and found a zebra print (Image on the left).  Perfect, but the scale of my other zebra prints was too small (Image on the right).  Besides, I knew that using other kinds of prints would add spark to the overall look of the quilt.


   
Some prints had swirls or dots or leaves, but didn’t provide the look of a zebra ((Image on the left). Other prints had a stripy look, but had too much black (Image on the right). 

As I began winnowing down my choices, I focused on stripy-like prints, and found several prints that were the right large scale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                
I then experimented with the placement of each print, using the largest print in the neck of the zebra (Image middle) and smaller prints around the eye (Image far right). The trick was to use prints that had a stripped look and had similar amounts of white (or cream) background.  I also liked that some of the prints had little bits of other colors (even lime green, my favorite color!) that helped break up the mass of black and white.

To create unity from variety in a quilt design, identity printed fabrics that:

  •  Have a similar range of colors
  •  Have a similar scale in their prints
  •  Have a similar unifying background color
  •  Have a similar visual effect (such as stripes, overall texture, etc.).

 

Practice Exercise: Creating Unity and Variety

by Don Masse

This exercise can be done using scraps of printed fabric or paper. Fabric will be a bit more tricky, so we recommend that you starch heavily before cutting out the 6" squares.

Supplies

6" x 6" squares of white and colored paper
1 large sheet of paper to mount your finished squares (e.g. poster board, foam core)
Scissors
Glue Sticks
Crayons, colored pencils or markers

For instructions, click on the link below:

Building Unity and Variety by Don Masse