Daily Blog

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Gammill artist, Judy Woodworth talks about her award winning quilt, Avatar Revisted, at Paducah 2012. Judy won the APQS Longarm Machine Quilting Award.

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Alex was recently the Special Guest Quilter at the Auburn Quilt Show in Auburn, CA.  It was a beautiful day in this "vintage" Northern California town and lots of folks arrived to see the many wonderful quilts on display. Held by the Foothill Quilters Guild, their 2012 Quilt Show theme was "30 Years in Review."

The Guild has some fun ideas about displaying the quilts such as including a picture of the quilter along with description of the quilt and decorating the clothespins that held the labels.

Here is just a portion of the quilts in the show, grab a cup of coffee, there is lots to see!

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I'm excited to be heading to Shipshewana, Indiana for the Shipshewana Quilt Festival 2012 which will be held June 20-23. It would be great to see tons of TQS members there. As you know, Shipshewana is the heart of beautiful Amish country. I was there in the wintertime a couple of years ago (see my photo above) and now I get to go enjoy Shipshewana in the summer sunshine.

Consider entering a quilt in their show (so I can see it too)! There is still time to enter! The deadline for submitting quilts is May 15th. Here is a link to the details for entering your quilt.

Teaching at the event will be Kaye England and Darlene Zimmerman along with other exciting teachers. If you would like to take a class, check out the schoolhouse information here.

Check out all the activities associated with the Shipshewana Quilt Festival.

Raise your hand if you are coming!

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Debbie Caffrey and Charlotte Angotti make a great team, particularly if you love a mystery. Quilt artists and design teammates, they define what constitutes a mystery quilt, and share how they collaborate on their mystery-quilt designs.  Take a look as they film Episode 1010: It's a Mystery!, available May 7th, 2012.

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(L to R: Mike Spangler, Tracey's Tables; Michael Hinton, Gammill Quilting Systems, Cheri Page, Alsea, OR, Grand Prize winner; Georgia Chiarella, Carlsborg, WA, 1st Place winner; Ken Gammill, Gammill Quilting Systems founder; Meredith Schroeder, AQS, and Gloria Bolden, AQS)

Here's the news, straight from AQS Quilts Views & News!

Oregon quilter, Cheri Page, wins the Grand Prize in the Paducah AQS Dream Studio Giveaway, including a Gammill Vision 18-8 Quilting System, quilting and cutting tables from Tracey’s Tables, and a trip to the Paducah AQS Quilt Show. Cheri says, “I am ready to rearrange the furniture to give my new machine and tables a home, and I can’t wait to start quilting on my new Gammill machine.”

First Place winner, Georgia Chiarella, Carlsborg, WA, also received a free trip to the Paducah show. Georgia called her trip to Paducah, “a trip of a lifetime!”

Gammill Quilting Systems and Tracey’s Tables sponsored the Paducah AQS Dream Studio Giveaway.

CLICK HERE for a complete list of winners in the AQS Dream Studio Giveaway in Paducah.

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Ami Simms, Founder & Executive Direction of the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative wanted to share a letter from Dr. Domenico Praticò, Professor of Pharmacology at Temple University in response to receiving a research grant from the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Dr Praticò has also volunteered to be a part of the AAQI's Scientific Advisory Board.

With this letter I would like to express the most sincere and the deepest gratitude to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative for funding our research proposal entitled, "Corticosteroids, 5-Lipoxygenase and Alzheimer's Disease."

As you know today stress and the associated glucocorticoids imbalance are recognized as important environmental risk factors for developing Alzheimer's disease. However, the causes responsible for this association are unknown. The main goal of the funded studies will be to discover them, and by doing so to provide new knowledge on possible therapeutic approaches for individuals who have this risk.

The trust and faith that the AAQI has put in our group by supporting our research is highly appreciated especially in a time when funding for research is tight.

Thus, despite the enormous amount of work done and significant new knowledge in our understanding of Alzheimer's disease gained in recent years, there is still so much to accomplish, but financial support to reach this goal can be at times a serious limitation. The contribution of the AAQI supporting our fight against AD is important, highly appreciated and most welcomed, the reward for it will be simply immeasurable.

With gratitude,

Domenico Praticò, MD
Professor of Pharmacology
Temple University

Says Ami, every quilt you sew, every quilt you buy, are important. They serve a higher purpose. They make it possible for ordinary people like you and me to make a difference. Scientific research is the only way we can ever conquer Alzheimer's.  Research costs money. We've already raised more than $713,000. Can we raise a million? 

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Some colors are "crazy" and some reduce your appetite.  Which ones??  Join Michelle for a fun look at color. Lesson 6 is open for everyone.

In Lessons 7 & 8 she shares with you how to choose colors for your quilts.  These lessons are for Star members.  Join us now for these courses (and a great lineup of teachers to come) and great shows with hosts Alex & Ricky.  

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Learn tips from Laura Wasiloski as she shows you how to take your fused quilts from "pretty" to "pretty amazing" with the addition of hand embroidery. Laura's book, Fanciful Stitches, Colorful Quilts, gives you step-by-step guidance that makes it a snap to create your own whimsical and charming "little quilt." It's brimming with lots of great tips, too. Here are a few:

Hand-dyed and batik fabrics work best for raw-edged, fused quilts, as the color penetrates all the way through the fabric.

• Select fabrics with a high thread count as they fray less when cut.
• Use the release paper from your fusible as a base for building your project elements. When the entire layered element has been built, pull it away from the paper and apply to quilt top as one unit.
• A variegated size 8 pearl cotton thread is the most versatile for hand stitching; it adds interest and shows well on your work.
• Stitch through the quilt top and batting layers only, using a maximum 18" length of thread. Too long a thread is unwieldy and tends to fray at the eye of the needle.

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As you may recall, four amazing quilts disappeared from C&T Publishing's booth at 2011 Spring Market.  TQS is happy to report that all four quilts have been found and safely returned to their owners.  They had been mis-marked in a long-term storage box.  Great news! (This is a screen shot from C&T, images will not enlarge.)