Petite New York Beauty

“Petite New York Beauty” was inspired by the 2008 Q.U.I.L.T.S. (Quilters United in Learning Together Schenectady) raffle quilt, a full size bed quilt using the same pattern. This 11 and ¾ inch square piece has over 150 pieces of fabric. I used the 2 and 5/8inch sample blocks as the paper-piecing foundations from Karen Stone’s book “New York Beauty.” It is machine quilted on my Viking home machine.
In October 2009 , “Petite New York Beauty” won a First Place award in the Miniature Quilts Category at the Empire QuiltFest. Miniature quilts are defined as any quilt 24 inches or less in length and in width with all aspects of the quilt reduced in scale. This is quite an honor as the Empire QuiltFest included over 200 quilts from numerous guilds in the eastern part of New York State. Then my "Petite New York Beauty" traveled to the Vermont Quilt Festival (VQF) in the Summer of 2010, and earned 83 points (the ribbon cut off is 85 points). I was thrilled as VQF is one of the oldest and most competitive quilt shows drawing from the USA, Canada and abroad. Finally, this quilt went to my local guild show and earned a First Place.
My husband likes "Petite New York Beauty" so much that he has requested a series created in different color palettes. We will see about that!

Meanwhile, here is the link for the Vermont Quilt Festival Contest Winners 2010:
http://www.vqf.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=4

Lenten Reflection in Collage

With Easter being so late this year, I almost forgot about Ash Wednesday. It actually surprised me. In the middle of two other deadline driven projects, I took a little spiritual reflection break and made this little piece of art.

Purple, the color of Lent, set the tone and the book "Collage Sourcebook: Exploring the Art and Techniques of Collage" (Authors: Jennifer Atkinson, Holly Harrison and Paula Grasdal, Quarry Books, ISBN 1-59253-101-6) provided the inspiration. Next came the layering and gluing. Soon my spiritual life was appearing in this little work of art.

First, the roofline of my first church appeared and then symbols of my faith followed in the lace cross and the butterflies. Second, fabric from our bed quilt containing love letters and purple polka dots (It is "P" week at preschool!) from my daughter's world appeared. Finally, the hexagon with pansies comes from the "I-Spy" quilts I'm making for friends. Therefore, it represents an outreach of our family.

Lastly, I utilized the fancy stitches built into my Viking Designer I sewing machine and "quilted as I went" into the final stage of this project. Small enough for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (Maximum size 9" by 12") this will make a nice donation after Easter.

Do you have experience with fabric collage? I'd love to hear about it. Please comment below or e-mail me.
Thanks,
This Quilting Mama

Inspiration Comes from Above and Mrs. P’s Scrap Bag

The first Thursday of the month I have the pleasure of attending my local quilt guild meetings. Mrs. P knows that I quilt for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (www.alzquilts.org) and always presents me with a bag of scraps to use for my little projects. This past week was no exception.

Once I arrived home to find a quiet house and a happy family, I sat down and explored Mrs. P’s scrap bag. The most beautiful black and white fabrics all cut in wedges fell onto my table. With them, I instantly pieced a fan type piece. It was lovely, but too large for the Alzheimer’s Priority Quilt Project (The maximum size being 9 inches by 12 inches and able to fit in a USPS Priority Envelope).

So, in a moment of inspiration directly from above, I took the rotary cutter and began to slice. What you see above is the result of this seemingly violent act that led directly to the creation of this beautiful little work.

What do you think I should name it?

The Gift of a Snow Day

This Quilting Mama has been working on these "Frank Lloyd Wright" inspired quilts for over one year. The first was a Christmas gift and surprise for my husband. Unfortunately at the time, I mentioned the second one and, therefore, my darling husband put the first on the wall off to the side leaving space for the other. Each time I entered the dining room I was reminded of my promise by the odd look of the wall. Months and much life went by before I was finally able to complete the project. So, with the gift of numerous snow days this winter the twins were reunited!

These twins are modified from the pattern "Charles Ennis House" quilt from Jackie Robinson's book Quilts in the Tradition of Frank Lloyd Wright (Animas Quilts Publishing:Eureka, MT, 1995).