Portland Modern Quilt Guild - The Guild Medallion

PMQG Guild Medallion - top before quilting

At the end of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild meeting and holiday get together Thursday night, I turned to a friend and started telling her about a couple from the Northwest Quilters, Bob and Maureen Orr Eldred. Bob and Maureen always buy a lot of raffle tickets at the meetings, and it's always fun to see the reaction when they win something every time. My friend smiled. She knew Bob and Maureen, too.

About half an hour earlier, at the end of the social I still hadn't bought my raffle tickets, so I made my way over to the table. Tickets were $5 each or 5 for $20, so I bought 25 tickets, thinking about how Bob and Maureen always buy their raffle tickets and have such good luck. Maybe one of the tickets would be the winning ticket for the incredible Guild Medallion, one of the two beautiful quilts up for raffle. Even if I wasn't the lucky winner, proceeds would go to the guild, and they deserved every cent.

Kelly talks about the Guild Medallion - what a gorgeous quilt!
A second raffle quilt, a stunning Ohio Star, is displayed on the wall.

Minutes later, everyone was seated again and the drawing was taking place. The number was 6851, and the room was abuzz as people looked at their tickets, and looked around the room. It took a minute to look through all the tickets, and there was number 6851, the fourth of my 25 tickets. Almost uncanny, but I knew the more tickets I bought, the better the chances would be. Still, it was a little stunning to see Bob and Maureen's strategy at work. Now I'm a believer.

The Guild Medallion is a special quilt, made by a very special group of people-- the 2014 officers of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild. It was beautifully quilted by Nancy Stovall, an expert long-arm quilter who has a long-arm quilting business here in Portland, and was a year-long project. At every meeting during the year, I admired the progress with the quilt and other "medallion-alongs" made by guild members. There were 19 of them on display at the Thursday's meeting, and I was very impressed.

The quilt is stunning!

Earlier in the evening I went to see Elizabeth Hartman at Modern Domestic. Elizabeth is a very impressive quiltmaker and member of Portland Modern Quilt Guild. She was showing quilts and signing books, and after I bought all three of her books and got them signed, I told her I planned to buy a lot of raffle tickets at the meeting later in the evening. So, I dashed off to find an ATM.

learning to sew

Have you ever met an award-winning quiltmaker who didn't know how to sew? Well, here I am. Of course, calling myself an award winning quiltmaker is completely tongue-in-cheek. The truth is, I can barely thread a needle and it takes me about an hour to do that. Sure, I've got a couple ribbons and maybe eight quilts under my belt, but they were all a big challenge to make because I never had much formal sewing instruction. To me, the quilts felt like outsider art, and I had no complaints about that.

"House of Wonky" 2012, Viewer's Choice
Small Wonders Challenge, Sisters, Oregon

"Wild Eyed Susans" 2013, Honorable Mention
Small Innovative, Pacific West Quilt Show

For a little while, I got by on my art school background, with a good working knowledge of color theory, design, and some inspiration from quilt history. Other than a retreat in Sisters in 2013, the only sewing instruction I received was in 7th grade, Home Economics with Mrs. Schweitzer at Moorestown Middle School in New Jersey. I made a ghastly lightbulb pillow, and it was wonky. We also learned how to make a streusel coffee cake, which I felt was a much better life skill at the time.

"Oregon July" 2014, quilted by Jolene Knight - click on photo to enlarge

Last time I made a quilt, "Oregon July",  I realized I needed some serious help. My machine, a vintage 1930s Singer Featherweight, was giving me troubles and I couldn't get a long, straight seam going without the threads becoming hopelessly tangled. I brought the top in three pieces to Jolene Knight, who was also doing the long-arm quilting. She finished piecing it together, quilted and bound it for me, and did a wonderful job.

Michelle Freedman shows me how to piece at Modern Domestic PDX

In a lot of ways, "Oregon July" is more Jolene's quilt than my own. If it was ever to receive a ribbon, I'd hand it to her. That got me thinking about getting some sewing instruction so I could do more of the work on my quilts. Modern Domestic is one of many shops catering to the sewing community in Portland, and it is a hub for Modern Quilters. Several friends from Portland Modern Quilt Guild (PMQG) shop there and work there. Michelle Freedman, Past President of PMQG is one of the teachers. She is also one of the first people I met in the guild.

citrus wedges fabric I designed using Spoonflower

Michelle understands what it's like to go to art school. She went to Otis/Parsons in LA and New York, and one of her teachers was Tim Gunn! So, I signed up to get some one-on-one instruction with Michelle. We talked about some ideas beforehand, and I decided to bring some of my recent Spoonflower fabrics.

sashing and cornerstone repeats designed with Spoonflower

We met last week for a couple hours and put together a "Fruity Beauty" block, sash and cornerstone set. Yesterday we met again and continued with the project, finishing a small, four-block top. There are some things I need to work out with the fabric in terms of sizing and spacing, but I have a good idea of where I'm going with it. My goal is to eventually make a 16-block quilt with the fabrics.

composite photo made from first block, sash and cornerstone sample

Some of you may be wondering...since I have a house full of incredible, historic quilts and 70 in the New York Beauty family, why would I want to make one? After spending a lot of time working on my upcoming New York Beauty book with Quiltmania this year, I was inspired.

antique pieced quilt, an inspiration for my "Fruity Beauty"

There are a lot of ideas bouncing around in my mind, and many of them are for quilts. I always thought it would be fun to make a "New York Beauty" quilt, but never thought I would actually make one since it is such an advanced pattern. Sewing is something I can't seem to escape, though. Everyone around me is sewing, here in Portland and all around the world on social media. People are even sewing on TV when I tune into Project Runway. With all this sewing going on around me, I was beginning to feel like the only person who couldn't sew.

The "Fruity Beauty" project is basically cheater fabric designed as blocks, sashing and cornerstones without all the elaborate piecing. It is a postmodern, digital-age spin on historic quilts. I came up with the idea as a way to create an impressive looking New York Beauty quilt without having advanced skills. There is cutting and piecing involved, and precision is important, there's just not as much as there would be with a traditional New York Beauty. Michelle pointed out that Modern Quilters do not often include traditional sets of blocks with sashing and cornerstones in their quilts, and mastering these elements is harder than it looks. She's right about that, but with her guidance and great information, I did pretty well matching up corners.

It was a good time to learn how to sew, and I am enjoying the one-on-one instruction with Michelle at Modern Domestic. It's like being back at art school with a friend in another department, and in fact we both went to art school in New York at the same time. She was at Parsons studying fashion design with Tim Gunn and I was just blocks away at School of Visual Arts studying photography with Andy Grundberg, then photography critic for the New York Times. Sewing is a whole new thing for me, another process-oriented practice, and no longer a spectator sport. I thoroughly enjoyed working on my own project while learning how to make it work.

"Make it work!"

Where have I head that before?!?

Cultural Fusion Quilts by Sujata Shah

When I heard Sujata Shah had written a book, I was very excited and preordered a copy right away. The book is called Cultural Fusion Quilts, A Melting Pot of Piecing Traditions, 15 Free-Form Block Projects, and was recently published by C & T Publishing. It is simply wonderful!

Sujata is a Facebook friend, and we share a lot of "likes" in common. Whenever people post pictures of brightly colored, slightly offbeat but harmonious improvisational quilts, we are clicking "like" to give the thumbs-up. Every so often she treats us to a picture of a quilt in progress, and I am always drawn in by it.

I love the book. Sujata has a distinct point of view, drawing inspiration from around the globe. The quilts are exuberant but grounded, a balance artists rarely achieve with such success. Her vivid, free-form quilts mingle handmade traditions from around the world in a modern way, and she demonstrates how surprisingly versatile a single block pattern can be. Highly recommended, I am thoroughly enjoying this book!! For more details, click here.

Happy Rainbow Quilt

This cheerful 1970s pictorial quilt will soon join my collection. It is tied, made of cotton, and has an inscription and date, 1977, in the lower left corner. Marjorie Childress, a quilt collector in New Mexico posted a picture of it on Facebook a while back, and it was love at first sight. Marjorie has a wonderful eye for quilts. Objects in her collection have recently been featured in new books by Roderick Kiracofe and Bob Shaw. She finds some of the most incredible things.

The Rainbow Quilt reminds me of my childhood, growing up in the 1970s, watching Schoolhouse Rock during Saturday morning cartoons. It has a whimsical quality, reminiscent of a child's drawing. Vintage pictorial quilts are rare, but I have another one with a rainbow. It came from Ohio and was made in the 1930s.

I am happy to have a dated, pictorial 1970s quilt joining the collection. It will also join the group of quilts to be displayed at QuiltCon and the Benton County Museum. Can't wait to see it in person. Will post more pictures when it arrives.

The Best

"The Best" 2014 by Yvonne Porcella
photo courtesy of the Alliance for American Quilts

I adore Yvonne Porcella. Long before the day when I was lucky to finally meet her in person I admired her work. It is full of joy, playful, and she has an extraordinary sense of color and design. Her work is signature. When you see one of Yvonne's quilts, you instantly know who made it.

The Quilt Alliance (Alliance for American Quilts) held its annual auction over the last few weeks, and one of Yvonne's quilts was in the group that ended last night. There were many other quilts I would've loved to bid on, some made by friends, but there was something about Yvonne's quilt. I absolutely had to have it. Funny thing is, I have not been collecting much this fall. Instead, I have been thoroughly engaged in many projects involving quilts in my collection, and trying to save up for France. So that's how much Yvonne's quilt stood out.

We met last year at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles during my exhibition of New York Beauty quilts. After the museum gathering and tour of the exhibition, we attended a private dinner for museum supporters at Nancy Bavor's home and sat with Yvonne.

One of her quilts, best described as the psychedelic burger quilt, was on display as part of a food themed exhibit during my exhibition. So I got to meet Yvonne, see one of her quilts in person and have dinner with her all in the same day. The whole experience was the best, and having one of her quilts will be a wonderful reminder. I have the best luck sometimes! 

ARBA Bicentennial Quilt Kit

Recently I received a note from fellow blogger Julie Sefton (Quiltdivajulie) about a Star of '76 Bicentennial Quilt Kit she had for sale. Of course, I snapped it up. When it arrived, I took a closer look at the package and realized it was an Officially Recognized Commemorative of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA) and was manufactured by B & B Needlecrafts of Memphis, Tennessee.

The kit includes precut fabric, printed foundation, instructions a label, and certificate of authenticity printed with the name of the woman who ordered the kit, Mrs. Joseph Curtis Matthews. In mint condition, Mrs. Matthews may have found the idea of all the appliqué daunting.

ARBA also produced Bicentennial flags, among other commemoratives. A while back, I acquired a nice, large one. It was manufactured by the Baldwin Regalia Company of St. Louis, Missouri.

I have not yet found an example of the finished ARBA quilt, not even a picture of one that I can recall, but the design is similar to the Mountain Mist quilt and pillow featured previously on my blog.

If you search my blog, you will find several posts in the archive related to Bicentennial quilts and textiles. To read more about the Mountain Mist Bicentennial Quilt pattern, click here.

Generation Q

 

A wonderful article by Susan Beal in the latest issue of Generation Q Magazine includes quilts from my collection, and one I made. The subject is wool, and Susan is the perfect person to write about it. She recently published a book with Pendleton called "Hand-Stitched Home, Projects to sew with Pendleton & other wools" - a must-have, in my opinion.

Three of the antique wool quilts illustrating the article are from my collection. One is an old New England patchwork quilt; one is an embellished crazy quilt from the late Victorian period, and the other is a sampler from the turn of the century. All three show the richness and versatility of wool, a material that can be used in many ways. 

old New England patchwork quilt, c. 1810

wool Crazy Quilt, c. 1900

sampler quilt made for Jasper Barnthouse, PA 1902

It was fun to see my "Wild Eyed Susans" quilt included with the article. This little quilt is probably ready to sign autographs with all the positive attention it has received. Props to the unknown person who made the tufted stars, upcycled and used as flowers.

Love everything about this magazine, the articles, the pictures, the staff-- and I'm honored to be included in it. Thank you, Susan Beal and Generation Q!!