Daily Blog

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There was a wonderful booth at the International Quilt Festival in Houston that showcased the One Million Pillowcase Challenge sponsored by American Patchwork & Quilting.

APQ is challenging quilters to join their "efforts to Make a Pillowcase, Make a Difference. Every pillowcase can make a difference in your community. A pillowcase can provide comfort for a cancer patient, hope for a foster child, encouragement for a battered woman, or beauty for a nursing home resident."

At the show, anyone could come in and make a pillowcase to donate. One thousand kits were made up for the show and a counter kept tabs on the progress. These particular pillowcases were going to be given to a local Houston charity.

The program ends in 2010.  Did you make a pillowcase this year?

For more information about the challenge, click here.

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Faith Ringgold created The Men: Mask Face Quilt #2 in 1986.  It is 62" x 70" and is made of cotton, acrylic on canvas and sequins. It is the Collection of the International Quilt Study Center. Faith is known for her story quilts. In this example, she fills the spaces with half-torsos and faces that seem to go with the torsos.

The Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts asks the question, "Are we sure they go together as Faith has placed them?  Masks, after all, conjure stereotypes; but they also hide the person underneath. Faith's painted faces are individuals, each with his own features and dress.  By presenting 15 faces, which at first seem so similar because of their placement in the overall pattern of the quilt, as individuals, she forces us to look beyond stereotypes."

Mask1 - 100 pieces non-rotating

Mask2 - 80 pieces rotating

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Carol Doak was in the TQS booth in Houston demonstrating these fun-to-make paper-pieced cards. Available from C&T Publishing, Carol Doak's Keepsake Frame Cards come in a pack of 4 premium blank 5" x 7" frame cards with envelopes.  Each package contains a free quilt block pattern.  The card "frames" your paper-pieced block.

What's wonderful about the cards is that you can express your creativity through any block you choose and then you can go wild with stamping, stitching, and stenciling. It's also a great way to use up your tiny scraps, you know, those ones you just can't throw out. Once you have finished having fun, you'll have a beautiful card to send to your friends or family.

To learn more about Carol's methods for paper-piecing, watch Episode 602 - Paper Piece Like a Pro.

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These Japanese artists have created stunning quilts all by hand.

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While in Houston, Patricia Eckstrom stopped by the TQS booth to show something to Alex.  This is what she had. It looks sort of familiar, doesn't it?  Any ideas?

It is from a WWI French Sewing Kit and this one is in very pristine condition.  It has spools for thread and the needle is set inside the tool.  On the left is a photo of a similar kit as it might have been given to a soldier.  On the right, after it has had some use in the field.

You just never know what you're going to see at a quilt show.  Thank you Patricia.

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California was in the 70s (F) 2 weeks ago.  Now there is a chill in the air!!  I know that you won't feel sorry for us, but I thought this was Sunny California!

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One of the advantages of being a TQS member is that you get to see exhibits that might not normally be shown online. SAQA: Creative Force 2010 is one of those exhibits. TQS was allowed to photograph the exhibit at the Houston International Quilt Festival. Here is a taste of that wonderful exhibition of art quilts by the Studio Art Quilts Associates, a non-profit international organization whose mission is to promote the art quilt through education, exhibitions, professional development and documentation. 

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We all knew it was a gorgeous quilt, but our TQS members have taken it to another level.  The 2009 TQS BOM "Stars for New Day" is a huge winner in the quilting world.  Look at all the ribbons it has won in Texas alone!!!

Viewer's Choice - Lone Star Heritage Quilt Guild Show, Sulphur Springs, TX; Sept., 2010
Quilter's Award - Lone Star Heritage Quilt Guild Show, Sulphur Springs, TX; Sept., 2010
Best of Show Theme - Heritage Quilt Guild of Van Zandt County, Canton, TX; Oct., 2010
Second Place, Heritage Quilt Guild of Van Zandt County, Canton, TX; Oct., 2010
Quilter's Merit Award - Heritage Quilt Guild of Van Zandt County, Canton, TX; Oct., 2010

Also see these winners we have reported on the blog:

TQS Member, sharequilts, took "Best of Show" Quilting at the San Mateo County Fair in California 

midge4quilts who took home the First Place award in the large quilt category as well as the Past President's Choice Award at the Hemet Valley Quilters Quilt Show in Hemet, CA.

Submit a comment and let us know if you finished the quilt, if you submitted it into a show, and if you won a ribbon.   

Thanks to Sue Garman, our wonderful BOM quilt designer - She's another winner in our book!  Take a look at next year's BOM - Ruffled Roses and get your scissors in gear...

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Quilters love cotton thread, but what about polyester?