28 May 2007

Fabric of Legacies

Double Wedding Ring

The Fabric of Legacies started as a juried quilt show 25 years ago to raise funds for Crossroads Safehouse, an organization for victims of domestic violence. The mission was to put on a quilt show, make a raffle quilt and sell tickets to raise money for Safehouse. That first year (1982) the Fabric of Legacies was a small quilt show held in an empty store front in a mall. It raised $11,200. Over the years it has turned into a major fund raiser for the organization and I believe that it raised over $60,000 last year (but I can't substantiate that figure). This quilt show has come a long way from it roots; more on the current show at the bottom of this post.

Here is the quilt I entered, o so many years ago. This is my second or third quilt. I obviously didn't know what I was doing entering a juried quilt show, but I was accepted! The melon pieces were hand stitched by my step-grandmother, Vera. It took me five (5) tries but I got the setting sections drafted to fit. I also hand pieced just like Grandma. She used muslin, I used muslin. I didn't know how to do borders and didn't measure the center so, you guessed it, the borders flutter. See those folk-arty flowers? I cut a stencil and stenciled those flowers on using Plaid Acrylic Paints. Yes, you read that correctly -- I used those little bottles of craft acrylics that cost about 67 cents each. I then used the same stencil as a quilting pattern for the hand quilting. The quilt is now 25 years old, has been washed and dried (by machine) several times, is currently hanging on the wall in my sewing studio and really doesn't look any the worse for wear. Unfortunately, I used a poly bat (gasp!) and it bearded. But my quilting stitches were fairly even and consistent. All in all, it's a good effort for a beginner.

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Judges' comments: nice blending of traditional and contemporary. Does that make me maverick?

The Fabric of Legacies quilt show has become an Art Quilt show. It is no longer hung like a quilt show but is installed as art. All quilts are behind plexiglass in a gallery installation. Because I can't show pictures of the current show without contacting the artists, I am going to lead you to the flyer. It is a .pdf file and you will need Adobe Reader to view it. There are some excellent photos in the flyer. Much better than I could ever shoot.

13 comments:

  1. I find that quilt shows exhibit more and more art quilts and less and less traditional. It must mean that the public's and/or the judges' tastes in quilts have evolved. In my beginning quilting days I had no interest in art quilts but over the few years of my quiltmaking history I have discovered that I do like art quilts - not all - but many. And I hope to someday make some artsy piece of my own design. Yet my first love remains the traditional look of pieced patterns.

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  2. Those are two gorgeous quilts, and such a great cause. What a treasure to have this show every year.

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  3. Wow, what a wonderful post...you combined "Fabric of Legacies" with your own 'fabric of legacy'...this is just great! I am impressed by this groups success, as well as your own! You really put your own 'stamp' on your step-grandmother's pieces from the past and I think it is an awesome early quilt! You truly have been quilting a long time, Miss Paula, the Quilter!

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  4. I love your quilt. What a beautiful tribute. The art quilt is gorgeous and the cause is worthy.

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  5. You maverick, you. I love the freedom associated with rule-breaking before we ever knew there were any "rules". Your plaid-painted masterpiece is wonderful in that is it yours, the way your heart and mind saw it through to completion. Well done. The raffle quilt is a stunner... oh, my!

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  6. You're not going to believe this, but I was looking at Joanns ad for acrylic paints and was wondering if Carol could have used those for her denim quilt. Hmm, now I know.
    Wow, you've made a wedding ring quilt as one of your early quilts?!?! That's one I want to make, but I am waiting until I get to the right skill level to do it.

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  7. What a good job you did early on! Of course most of us wouldn't do now what we did when we started, but it's all part of the learning process, and your quilt is pretty darn good!

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  8. Love your early quilt -- paint and all. I'm impressed you tackled wedding rings so early on. I'm still working up the courage to tackle those kinds of curves!

    Love the raffle quilt -- and what a wonderful cause!

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  9. Good for you - entering a juried show. I think we are all better served as beginners when we just dive in - and no one stops us. My first class had curved pieces - the teacher tried to talk me out of it . . . but I NEEDED that tree skirt and I didn't know it was supposed to be difficult - heck, it was all difficult *s*

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  10. Love the quilt with the blue background...

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  11. I love it - thanks for sharing your story. That's definitely a story of enjoying that you did!

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  12. Nice story and a great cause.

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  13. Lovely quilts! You were ahead of your time with the stencils, but a great idea!

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