Hawk Studios

Stardate 2015.335.1

One Quilt Challenge Down; Another to Start…

I’m not a huge “quilt challenger” person, but when themes strike me, I like to see if my mind can come up with something. 

Earlier this year (2015), the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum had a 25^th Anniversary Challenge.  The museum, in Golden, Colorado, had its 25^th anniversary this year and challenged quilters to encompass 25 years of the things that have influenced them into one, 25” square quilt.  Fifty quilters answered the challenge – quilters from in-state and out-of-state, including me.

Here’s what I came up with.  I titled it, “Pressing Flowers in Newspaper” and it brings together influences from nature, the contemporary (or modern) quilting movement, Ruth B. McDowell (quilt artist extraordinaire), and Dale Chihuly (glass artist, extraordinaire).

The finished quilt.  25" square.

I designed the quilt from a photo I had taken of a sunflower earlier in the summer, and my brain got the idea from the way I’d photographed a Chihuly sculpture at one of his exhibits at the Denver Botanical Gardens.

Here's the Dale Chihuly sculpture that I drew inspiration from.

  

My sketches and notes for the design I ultimately used...

I used the piecing techniques of Ruth B. McDowell to piece the quilt together.  And yes, the circular center of the sunflower is sewn in – not appliqued (her techniques are awesome!).   Here’s the back of the quilt, so you can see all the seams. 

A shot of the back of the quilt before adding the backing.  

My quilt, along with the 49 others, was on display in the museum for half of the summer and the museum auctioned off the donated quilts and the funds went to benefit the museum.  In the end, my quilt was auctioned for $200!  I was surprised and overwhelmed!  I’m quite proud of the quilt and will remember if fondly as it goes to its new owner to enjoy.

Now, off to start on another challenge the museum has in store.  “Patchwork Pundits take on Politics” is the theme of their latest call for entries.  Check it out as it could be fun and interesting.

Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum 

While there to view the 25^th Anniversary quilts, the museum had a quilt on display which was made around 1900 called, "Whig's Defeat" and it would have been made by women

The Whig's Defeat quilt. Circa 1900.

who supported the Democratic party at the time as quilting was a way for women of that day and age to express their political affiliation.   My brain stewed on the pattern, and I finally made the connection that I had a similar pattern in a book I’d bought years ago about quilts made by Talula Gilbert Bottoms.  The book, titled, "Family Ties: Old Quilt Patterns from New Cloth" by Nancilu Butler Burdick, includes the pattern, "Lifeboat", which is nearly identical to Whig's Defeat, and the narrative talks about the pattern being popular in the Piedmont area of North Carolina.  Don’t know why it was so exciting for me to make the connection, but it was. I think just making that connection to the past validated that we all carry on a long-standing tradition with our quilts which will continue to carry into the future for other generations to enjoy...

At first, I couldn’t think of an idea for the new challenge. Then, while in the middle of a jog one evening, my brain made a connection and an idea filtered in.  I’m currently trying to piece together an idea for a quilt; trying to put a few puzzle pieces together into a cohesive mass that will say something.  We’ll see how we progress.  Check out the challenge – it’s always fun to challenge the brain and the quilting ideas…

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced...