Catching Up

First of all, while I was away on the east coast I've received photos of finished projects from my classes.

Maureen Nass from the Mt. Tam Quilt Guild finished her version of Lotus.

Very nice!  Thanks, Maureen for sending along the picture.  I'm so glad you enjoyed the process of making a tile quilt.  She said it was fun and she enjoyed using up some of her scraps.

Jane Toro from East Bay Heritage Quilters sent along a photo of her finished tile blocks using the Starry Orange Peel patterns which she put to use as a Huppah Canopy for her son's wedding.  Notice the sun shining through.  Now that the wedding is over, she will put the blocks together as a quilt.  Thanks, Jane!  I'm so pleased that you used the tile quilt style in such an innovative way.

And congratulations to the Bride and Groom and the parents standing under the Huppah!

While I was in Virginia, the timing was perfect for me to attend the opening of the exhibit of American Quilt Study Group's 2010 Study of 19th Century Star Quilts at the Virginia Quilt Museum.  The Museum is located in Harrisonburg, in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley.  The AQSG Studies are close to my heart as I was the coordinator for many years and the idea was born in my living room!  In order to participate, a quilt in the chosen topic is studied by making an interpretation of the original.  The interpretations are restricted to 200'' in overall size so the original quilt is either scaled down or only a portion is included.  These 25 quilts, chosen from the entire results of the Study, have been on tour since 2010.  I loved seeing my quilt again!

The quilt I chose to study was a Mennonite quilt.  I loved the Lone Star center and the applique motifs were very unusual to me.  I scaled mine down and did not include the outer border with beautiful feather quilting as it would have ended up too narrow to be effective.

The original quilt is in the collection of the Mennonite Heritage Center in Harleysville, PA. Unfortunately, the maker is unknown but it is known to have come from a Mennonite Family in Souderton, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Here is my interpretation on exhibit at the Virginia Quilt Museum

with my good friend, Barbara Gaffield, from Williamsburg.

The quilts from the exhibit are published in a book, Stars, A Study of 19th Century Star Quilts, published by Kansas City Star Books.

And last but not least.  When I was at the American Quilt Study Group Annual Seminar in Charleston, SC, Virginia Vis shared a picture of a new tile quilt she saw at the Arlington (VA) County Fair 2012.  The quilt maker called it "Ticker Tape".  Not made in the style that Carol and I used for our book, but more in the method of the original quilts though not as random. It's fun to see. 

That's it until I go to the Glendale Quilt Guild next week!