And what is it you do? & It's a Winner

Remember this quilt I was working on this winter for the national AAQ contest ??? Well it won an Honorable Mention and is the only CQ in the winner's circle....

I get so tired of people asking "And what is it you do?" and they assume sane the minute they hear the word quilt... Last year Cathy Kizerian was encouraging everyone to get CQ out into the public eye... Well I realized she was so right and I am determined to enter CQ whenever I can so here's my big splash . There were well over 100 quilts entered so I am really happy...

So thanks to Cathy's urging and Allie's encouragement it is out there... and the best part it is touring quilt shows all over the country and will be auctioned on ebay in Nov. to raise funds for AAQ.

What I did learn is when entering something that black is not the best color choice... It does not photograph well. I had the absolute most yummy black velvets, brocades, satins, and textures in this piece and it all photographed flat.. Take a look at the winners here and go to the gallery to see all the entrants..

I want to do something for Kerry's altheimers project and enter the Hoffman this year... I have some of my block on stiff interfacing so I can plop them on stands and display them anywhere. Have blocks...will show!!

And off it goes!!!

Well for better or worse it's off in the mail to the Alliance for American Quilts Fundraiser... It is hard to photograph all the black on black texture on it.

This is the first of three charity pieces I intend to do this year... I also want to do a wall hanging for the CQI cancer project and one for the Alzheimer's charity quilt project that Kerry has posted about... I'll have to check the deadlines before I decide which to do first.. I have both of them pretty firmed up in my mind...




This is the back of the piece with lace on the rod pocket for hanging. I included my artist's statement (75 words or less) on the back.. Allie was a big help and answered a lot of questions... It's going off in a pizza box. It will be in a lot of quilt shows around the country as part of a traveling exhibit and then they are auctioned on e-bay in the fall with the proceeds going to AAQ.





ps.... I have not been overrun with suggestions or names for the little clip I'm searching for...

AAQ entry and Pat's magazine

My entry for the Alliance for American Quilts entry is in it's last stage... I just need to stitch down the gimp around the center section and do a label for the back... It will be entitled "It's a Man's World Unless Women Vote" I just HAD to add beads and fringe to the bottom even though it affected the overall size... Allie assured me that they wouldn't send it back because of it... I want Cathy K to see it in person next week and then into the mail it goes... It will tour the rest of the year and then go up for auction on e-bay in the fall..

I am so excited about Pat's magazine and can hardly wait for it to get here.... The cover alone is priceless. I ordered three copies...one for me, one for the granddaughter who loves my buttons, and one for a novice CQer who can use it as a resource..

AAQ center finished

I had promised myself that I would not rework this quilt which always makes me so slow so this is how it's going into the contest....I used the magic of Photoshop to show it with the border... I will embellish the border with black lace and sequin trim...

I believe it does fit the theme which is "Alliances: People, Patterns, Passion", celebrating cooperative relationships that work towards a common goal.

The very last and one of the most important embellishments were the chain and padlock... It was a prime strategy for the suffragette movement to attract media coverage and get arrested by chaining themselves to doors, fences and gates of important government buildings and facilities... and it worked.

It's odd to work with so many images but on the suffragette quilt there will be enough blocks to spread out the images... I was sorry to cover up most of my favorite patches of fabric... I'll start on the quilt this evening....hooray!!! January 4 and I can see I will attain a goal....

PS: I was considering some changes but left both images on the computer screen for about an hour and decided to go with it as is...... YOU MUST read Momma Bear's comment... her auntie chained herself to a building...

AAQ Entry...moving right along

I'm getting ready to baste down the last two images in the center of the block... I love the juxtaposition of these two photos with the men all facing backward the women facing forward. Once basted, I can start adding the top layers of lace, buttons and ribbon embroidery. I have soooooooooooo many images collected for my suffragette quilt it is going to be hard to choose which to use...

It looks a little cluttered and chaotic at this stage but the last layer of lace and embellishment will bring it all together...

I finished the top corner and is that seam to die for or what...??? I have to spend a good part of the day tomorrow at the clinic while DH has a procedure and will spend the time finishing my "seams only" RR. I really am having fun with the seams on it also....

I edged this replica of an old poster with some ticky-tacky copper ribbon which by itself was far too gaudy....but once I ruched some brown ribbon on it and added beads, it adds a nice touch of bling.

Finally this campaign button was basted down with a running stitch and then beaded... Sorry about the focus...

Number quest continues...

Well I found a phone so our home phone is safe...so far at least... This was more difficult to take apart than I thought it would be but the buttons are the right dimensions except for height...too tall... I tried to make them shorter using a different razor blades but they're a very tough nylon.


I can sand them but doing them by hand would take forever so I'm going to put the belt sander in the big vise to hold it steady and try that... I can get a good grip on the small number buttons with pliers so it should work... If I mess up I'll be looking for another phone to disassemble... I'm always leery of the belt sander because I did catch a finger in it once and had to have extensive plastic surgery on that finger...

Numbers Game - Alliance Quilt Progress

I'm slowly making headway on my entry for the AAQ contest - my theme "From fan messages to text messages." The seams are mostly done except some need more beading but I'll wait until motifs are in place... I'm trying to resolve 2 problems... One is the black lace.around my granddaughter. I have been through my lace stash about 3 times and nothing speaks to me. I'll make a thrift store run today and give it more thought..

The immediate problem is the cell phone... It is a little more than twice the size of a regular cell phone and I'd like to start beading it....The problem is the numbers on the phone. I ordered "number" beads but they were too small and not the right shape and I couldn't find anything larger. The number on an electric calculator are a tad too big which is too bad because I have a couple old ones I could disassemble... Then I'm looking at my cordless phone...just absolutely perfect... Am I obsessed enough that I will disassemble our home phone for a CQ project......... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...... I'm thinking about it... Before I do though I will see if I can find one at the thrift store and if not I will go to Earthworks (our recycling spot for such things)...

Seams, seams, and more seams...

I'm still plodding away at seams a little each day and only have 8-10 more to do... Very anxious to get to the fun stuff....motifs, buttons, etc... Started the 2 seams on the upper right last night and will finish them tonight...

Alliance Quilt - progress

Well, it was time to stop and put this on the bulletin board and make decisions... Of course I wish I had started with a smaller block to allow for a border large enough that I could have worked text into it but since that's not to be, I'm just forging ahead. Also wish I'd made a lot less seams...


Last night I played around with sizes and placement of the cell phone and photos. I ended up with this size cell phone which is larger than I had first planned... It needed to be large enough to relate to the fan... It will be beaded on a hoop so when I do put it on I can fuss with placement.

Then there's seams which are NOT my forte... I've done entire blocks without an embellished seam. Then I used motifs as a reward... "Do two seams Gerry and then you can do a motif!" But since there will be few motifs on this blocks besides the focal points, the seams on this block are important and I will do them all first.

1. The block is large and the focal point (fan, phone, and photos) are large so I needed bold seams.
2. I wanted layered seams so they will a point of interest in themselves.
3. I'll intersperse black in a lot of the seams as a way to move the eye around the block and hold the block together.

So I made this seam first and it is my "benchmark" for size for other seams...
I keep referring to it as I start another seams... I often go to Lauri's site as I not only love her whimsical blocks.... even her seams are playful and fun.... But I'm making headway...

















I'm happier with some of the seams than others but determined not to start ripping seams out as I would never make the deadline.. I will put this aside for a few days to finish Cobi's stumpwork block... I felt I had overpowered it with leaves and blossoms and wanted to take a break from it and see if I need to rip some out... But I want to mail it Monday so it's time to decide on that also.... decisions, decisions, decisions.........