MY JOURNEY: QUILT # 18

 Another quilt from the Special Exhibit My Joyful Journey, part of the Virtual Quilt Festival, December 3-5, 2020.

QUILT #18: RED AND WHITE--BY THE NUMBERS, 88" X 105". machine pieced, hand and  machine applique, longarm quilted by Pam Dransfeldt, 2013

The Story: The other quilt that changed everything and the one I am most known for. I worked on this quilt throughout 2012, a free block of the month from www.justtakes2.com. I kept  track of the number of pieces and fabrics. There are 2770 pieces, including those in my original pieced border design, and 59 different fabrics. I replaced two of the applique' blocks with two of my favorites from Elly Sienkiewicz. The smartest thing I did was have Pam Dransfeldt quilt it.

This quilt was selected as the Commemorative Quilt for the 2014 Ruby Jubilee, celebrating 40 years of International Quilt Festival in Houston. It was featured in all the advertising for the show, on banners throughout the George R Brown Convention Center and the entire downtown of Houston. Truly the highlight of my quilt life. It is in the Corporate Collection of Quilts Inc. 

I tell those who want to know about what this quilt meant to me to read this blog I wrote to try to explain it: Red and White Wrap Up

For lots more detail photos, see this blog written by the late Sue Garman--she stood in front of the quilt for a long time, taking many great photos that I am thrilled to have as I no longer own the quilt: Sue's Look at Houston 2014

Let's quilt.

Barbara

The Challenge

Our guild Challenge was last night so now I can show you my piece.  The theme was "A Road Less Traveled. It had a whole bunch of rules, size, there had to be a discernible "path", the path had to enter from the left and exit from the right, and the size was fairly small, 18" to 24" per side only.  You could interpret the theme in any way you chose.  Here is mine:

This is how it appeared on display.

This is what the base looks like:

Some of those fabrics are 30 years old starting on the left.  The path moves into more current fabrics, exiting on the right with fabrics I'm using in a current project today. If you've been quilting that long, take a close look, I know you used some of those fabrics too.  The quilt blocks represent some of my favorite patterns. The words tell  my quilting story, more or less. 

Here is the 9" feathered star I made from some of the fabrics used in my original Red and White--By the Numbers:

 My original plan had been to piece the feathered star into the quilt but when I got the star done I liked it enough to finish it separately and add it on top of the base quilt.  No one last night saw the base quilt as shown above.  

My next Challenge is preparing for a "Pretend I Am Moving" Sale--my closets are bursting at the seams and there is just too  much stuff everywhere.  The last four days in August I've invited my guild and all their crafty friends to come get great stuff at terrific prices.  So now I have to prepare.  So far, I've sorted out at least a hundred spools of thread and 30 books.  Then there are patterns, and notions, and lots and lots and lots of fabric.  My friend, Jenny K Lyon, recently remodeled her home and studio and wrote about moving into that studio here.  She is much more fastidious about order than I am, my space is much more chaotic, but she did make me think about the mess I have been surrounding myself with and the need I feel to pare things down a bit.    After the sale, if there is really great stuff, I'll post those items in my Etsy store.  I'll let you know when that happens.

I'm still working on The Splendid Sampler, keeping up though I occasionally change the block:

The bottom row are blocks 41-46.  Block 44 I colored with Crayola Crayons instead of more hand embroidery--so much faster!

And I got back to making more blocks for my Lifetime Quilt--joining four 10" blocks into a 20" unit--this will make it easier to take them off the wall when I need to:

Next week I'm going to start a series on Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Quiltmaking--so be watching for that.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

How Are You?

That's a question often asked here as people meet up again after a year apart.  My answer is "I'm Great!"  If they know about my quilt, they get it; if they don't know, they quickly get it when someone tells them the Red and White quilt is mine.

This is a special moment in time in my life and I am trying to absorb it, feel it, appreciate it, and know this will never happen to me again.  When it is over, it's over.  But for now, I feel like the belle of the ball and all the sincere congratulations will go with me forever.  And when I get home, I'll still have it cook dinner, do the laundry, and mow the grass.  In Houston, this year, I get to feel like a rock star!

My lifelong motto is my high school quote from Alfred, Lord Tennyson: "I am a part of all that I have met".  This experience brings this home to me again.  Along with joining the Marine Corps at 20, marrying my husband (who asked me to marry him on our first date), and giving birth to two tremendous boys who are fantastic men, this is about as happy a time as I could imagine.  

Here are a few more shots.  The group is the team who came to help with Market.  Eleven more of the team will arrive tomorrow.  I hope you can tell that the entrance to the show is breathtaking, not just my quilt but all the red and white quilts, the antique ones, contemporary ones, and the miniatures.

Best of Show Makes My Day!

"Our guild has its' bi-annual quilt show this weekend, October 11-13, 2013.  Our members are a very talented bunch and our show is a beautiful, exciting, and eclectic display of textile art/quilts.  I am thrilled to have received the Best of Show Award for my quilt, Red and White, By The Numbers:

 Inspired by the 2011 NYC exhibit “Infinite Variety”, these blocks were free patterns from 2 websites in 2012.  There are 2770 pieces and 59 different fabrics. 

It was quilted spectacularly by Pamela Joy Dransfeldt, the Joyful Quilter, from Camarillo, CA.  Here are a few detail shots:

On the Frame

So this weekend I get to enjoy this experience, do the happy dance, then it's back to normal on Monday. 

Let's Quilt!

Barbara