BLOCK OF THE MONTH OUTSTANDING QUILTS Part 2

Every year since 2008 THE QUILT SHOW has presented a beautiful BLOCK OF THE MONTH quilt project FREE for Star Members. These quilts have been created exclusively for The Quilt Show by the various designers, available only for that year from this worldwide quilting community, an Internet based show. 

These quilts always provide excellent instruction for exceptional designs. Everyone who completes one of these quilts has learned a lot and can be proud of their accomplishment.

Here are just a few of the many BOM quilts that have won awards at quilt shows around the world. Enjoy and be inspired:

 2021 COLOR MY WORLD designed by Wendy Williams. When I first saw this design, two years before it was our BOM, I loved it and knew it would be a success. The taping for the January 2021 show had to be done in August 2020. Do you remember the PANDEMIC? It was clear in April that Wendy would not be able to travel from Australia to the US to tape the show. I was sent the kit and had 8 weeks to make it, quilt it, and travel to Dallas for the taping. Here is mine:

                                                        

This quilt has won MANY awards at shows worldwide. It often wins VIEWERS CHOICE. This next quilt deserves special recognition. Carole Berry made this as her FIRST QUILT EVER. And she used WOOL! 

As she was making it, she shared progress photos on the FORUM of The Quilt Show. When it was complete, I told her she simply had to enter it in major competitions. So she did. 

Let her tell you how this quilt has done in competition. Don't think she is bragging, she is humble and gracious and deserves all the awards this quilt has brought her way:

Carole Berry "HOME"  Quilted by Cindy Paulson

FROM CAROLE: Attached is photo from the 2024 AQS Daytona Beach Show where I got first place in my category of Wall Quilts-Moveable Machine Quilted and Viewers Choice.

Other accolades "Home" received:

 

2023

AQS Grand Rapids 2nd Place

Maine Quilts 1st Place, Exceptional Handwork, Viewers Choice

Cocheco Quilters Guild 1st Place, Exceptional Merit, Viewers Choice

 

2024

Road to California 2nd Place

AQS Daytona Beach 1st Place, Viewers Choice

AQS Branson 3rd Place

AQS Paducah 3rd Place

AQS Lancaster 3rd Place

 

2027

AQS Engagement Calendar 

Thank you for encouraging me to show this quilt! I never imagined all the places it would bring me and the wonderful people I would meet. I’m currently working on a temperature quilt to commemorate our travels in 2024 following Home around the country. 

Here are photos I was sent from The Quilt Show members: 

Barbara Colvin York Quilters Guild

Karon Rufenacht  Natrona County WY fair - People's choice, 1st place and sweepstakes ribbon.  WY state fair - blue ribbon

Cec Larsen

Jacquelyn Jacobi 1^st place ribbon at the Victoria (BC Canada) biennial judged quilt show. In the bottom left I have substituted the Parliament Building in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, and in the bottom right I have substituted the Skylon Tower in Niagara Falls Ontario, my home town. 

Jan Aji Ribbon Winner at her local show. 

Sandra Bonomo kept hers round when she had printing trouble and decided this was large enough. It is hanging at the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier. She made a facing and adding tubing to create the perfectly round shape for display.

Several people made this design their own by changing the Skyscrapers in the four diagonal corners to represent buildings important to them.. Here is one of my favorites, made by Sunday Sew and Sew Donna Daniel. She added her church, the bell tower at the University of Alabama, the Saturn V Rocket at the Space Center here in Huntsville and the Washington Monument:  

                                            

2022 GARDEN PARTY DOWN UNDER designed by Irene Blanck. The taping for this BOM was August 2021 and guess what? The world was still on lockdown and Irene could not travel from Australia to Dallas for taping. So, once again, I had 8 weeks to make this quilt, quilt it and travel to the taping.

This was only possible with the help of my Sunday Sew and Sews. And since the kit would not be available for months yet I used my own fabric. Over two long days Joan Cook helped me cut kits for 9 of us to use--each person made one pieced block and one appliqued block. They had exactly one month to complete their task--all met the deadline. In the second month I made the borders, assembled, basted and quilted it. This is one of my most favorite quilts because of the friendships that made it happen. Here it is on the set of The Quilt Show in Dallas:

                                                

Others I was sent:

Barbara Colvin Best Use of Color, York Quilters Guild

Janet Miller, Best of Show, 1st place Large Appliqué Quilts, and Best Domestic Quilting, The Arapahoe County Quilters, Festival of Quilts, 2023. Located in Colorado.

Liz Anderson Viewer's Choice and Best of Show, Cadiz, Ky show

2023 HOMEWARD BOUND designed by Sarah Fielke: 

Susan Wolak Quiltfest Rochester NY 2024

Joyce Cambron On Display at Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2025

2024 PICK A PETAL designed by Jen Kingwell:

Pick a Petal by Jen Kingwell 

2025 LAUREL RIDGE designed by Lynne Wilder:

Barbara Colvin York Quilters Guild, First Place and Best Traditional Quilt  

Evelyn Spaudling, Teal Time, Fanfare 2026 Huntsville AL 

2026 GAME ON! designed by Becky Goldsmith--this is the current year's BOM so no one has entered it in any shows yet. I expect to see ribbons on this design in the future too:

I recently completed both the SOLID and PRINT tops: 

2027 FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE, designed by Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson. This is a spectacular design that will teach you a LOT! I am learning things. Patterns will be released monthly starting in January 2027, FREE for Star Members Only:

OCEAN WAVES Colorway

MOUNTAIN MEADOWS Colorway

I will be helping to teach this project with lots of tips and suggestions. I sure hope you will join us on this Joyful Journey!

NOTE: A few of the photos were taken from the GALLERY on The Quilt Show. There are many quilts there to inspire and educate you. 

To see the Block of the Month quilts from 2008-2020 see PART 1

Let's quilt.

Barbara

GARDEN PARTY DOWN UNDER -- QUILTING IDEAS

Many people have gotten their Garden Party Down Under top finished and are starting to think about the quilting process. See some of these tops on the Forum topic: Show Your Completed Top Here, you do not have to be a Star Member to see quilts on the Forum.

Here is mine, made in 2021 with the help of 8 of the beloved Sunday Sew and Sews. This photo was taken on the set while taping The Quilt Show in August 2021:

I quilted it on my Bernina Q20 sit down long arm machine. Here are some detail shots:

The Back--a busy print hides a lot of things better left hidden, and thread changes if there are any:

Resting on the spare bed after all the quilting was done:

A variety of thread colors and weights. The majority of the quilting was done with Superior's Microquilter in white on the top, and Bottom Line in the bobbin. Accent colors were used on the vases and larger motifs: 

I love ruler work so I often develop continuous designs using rulers that move nicely across the quilt. Using a circle I was able to move from one end of the diamond borders to the other, then go back in the opposite direction, creating a flowing curving design that complements the diamonds: 

See the same design used on the Dogtooth borders around the center:

Here is my basic process when quilting:

1. Good basting is imperative. I use safety pins and most often baste on my dining room table. I tape the back firmly to the table, wrong side up, using painter's tape at the top and bottom. Clamps are used to hold the edges securely to the left and right sides of the table. The batting is laid on top of the back, followed by the top, right side up--it helps to have another set of hands to spread out the batting and top. After pinning the middle, I untape/unclamp the quilt, and slide it to one side, retape/reclamp then pin that side. Repeat for the opposite side. After all the pinning, check to be sure you have no puckers/pleats basted into the back--they have to be fixed. I tend to get them near the corners. 

2. Make a small test "sandwich" with the same back and batting and some of the top fabrics so you can test the thread color and tension before you begin. I write a note for tension setting for each thread so I can get it correct each time I work on the quilt. This project took almost two weeks to quilt, a few hours a day.

2. I used Microquilter thread in the top and Bottom Line in the bobbin, white in both, for the majority of the quilting. The first step is to quilt straight lines from top to bottom, starting at the middle of the quilt. I pretty much follow the seam lines the same way the top was constructed. This serves to stabilize the quilt, allowing some of the safety pins to be removed. My favorite ruler for straight quilting is the Line Tamer by Four Paws Quilting, a great ruler. 

3. After all the straight line quilting was done in all directions, I thought about how to quilt each block. I If the background fabric had a good design, I followed that--like swirls or straight lines. If I needed to create a design, I played with a piece of plexiglass and a dry eraser marker to "audition" designs directly on the quilt--be sure to wrap the edges in painters tape so you don't overshoot the edge of plexiglass with the pen--a disaster you don't need. Designs can be tried out, erased and more designs tried again and again until you like what you see: 

4. Very little quilting was required on the motifs since most are small. The vases are large and need some quilting to secure them. I played with the plexiglass, drawing curvy shapes on the vases to try to give the vase some "round" dimension. While quilting the background of each block, I got close to the appliques, echoing them to help them stand out.

5. The borders were perfect for using a circle template (ruler) to create curving designs that move from one end of the borders to the others. 

6. The two small "floater" borders were the perfect place for some circles. I freehand quilted them: 

I  have written about my quilting process several times before:

Ruler Work -- My Favorite Kind of Quilting

Blueberry Hill -- the Quilting

Ruler Work -- the Basics   this is a long post and has LOTS of information.

UPDATE--on the December 2, 2022 LIVE broadcast I was asked about the corner flowers and my label. Here is the corner flower, with simple echo quilting on the background and around the shapes:

I make permanent labels for all my quilts. Find my TUTORIAL for LABELS HERE  My label:

This is one of my most favorite quilts. I love the fabrics. I love the design. l am happy with the quilting. And I LOVE the friends who helped me make the top:

You can find some photos of the quilting on Irene Blanck's quilt in our Gallery of Quilts: Monthly Guide . These photos were used for the Monthly patterns. Irene's quilt was quilted by Australian Longarm quilter Rebecca Rae. Find her on Instagram as @astitchnline_machinequilting.

Remember. the patterns for GARDEN PARTY DOWN UNDER are only FREE FOR STAR MEMBERS until December 31, 2022. After this year, the designer regains the rights to the patterns and you will have to buy them from her.

If you join The Quilt Show now, you can still download/save all 12 months of Garden Party Down Under and be ready to jump right in to the 2023 Block of the Month quilt, Homeward Bound, beginning January 1, 2023: 

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Garden Party Down Under Class Efforts

 A group of great students worked on Garden Party Down Under during 2022 as part of a year-long class. We met 6 times, every other month for a Lecture/Demo class at Sweet Home Quilting and Supplies. All sewing is done at home. I provide tips and tricks for the current and upcoming month's patterns. We enjoy "show and tell" and  best of all, many of the students have become friends.

Here you can admire their efforts.

Mary-Louise is making her GPDU from men's ties on a black background. She didn't bring it to our final class as she is deep into making baby clothes for her first grandchild. Her daughter has named her   "Mistress of the Wardrobe" so she started playing with fat quarters to see what she could make: 

One of the flower motifs from GPDU:

Cyndi has a great eye for fabric, color and design--I would love to play with her scraps. 

Cyndi designed her own corner blocks, using an idea from one of the skinny vases: 

Cyndi pieced the Diamond borders and they are ready to go: 

Sally is making this quilt so much her own. Lots of wool and hand embroidery, along with regular applique. I admire her work so much:

Fanny is using a beautiful, soft pastel color palette, so different from some of the others. It is such a lovely quilt: 

Victoria has used this project to help her through some life obstacles. She tends to second guess her ability. Each class we are able to assure her she is making a great quilt and has made it her own by adding birds and other personal motifs: 

Claudia is using the Kit as well as some of her own favorite fabrics. Her work is meticulous and coming along beautifully:  

Julie has a great sense of color--I love everything about this block: 

Remember, it is not too late to make your own Garden Party Down Under--or even to just acquire the patterns for FREE. All 12 of the monthly patterns are available to Star Members of The Quilt Show through December 31, 2022. After that the rights to the patterns return to the designer, Irene Blanck, and you will have to buy them from her. 

I enjoy teaching these Lecture/Demo classes locally. There may be one set up for the 2023 Block of the Month quilt for The Quilt Show if there is enough interest. Local folks, please let me know by December 1 if you want to participate. You must be a Star Member of The Quilt Show to get the patterns for HOMEWARD BOUND, designed by Sarah Fielke exclusively for The Quilt Show::

Here is mine in progress, I used a different background so I could start in September: 

Let's quilt.

Barbara