JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL QUILT ASSOCIATION

SPRING 2015

R E P T I L E W I S D O M ( 7 2 " x 7 2 " )by KAREN K. STONE of Beaumont, Texas. First Place, Traditional Pieced. Original design, inspired by antique quilt in Gerald Roy’s collection.

Category sponsored by From Marti Michell.

The 2014 IQA JUDGED SHOWFirst Place, Art-Abstract, Large

Category sponsored by Hoffman California/International Fabrics

H U R R I C A N E ( 7 6 . 5 " x 6 7 " )by JANNEKE DE VRIES-BODZINGA of Kollumerzwaag, Friesland, the Netherlands.

Original design.

Photo by

Mike McC

ormick

JOURNAL OF THEINTERNATIONAL

QUILT ASSOCIATION

V O L U M E 3 6 N U M B E R 3

letter from the presidentStevii has a BIG announcement about anupcoming IQA event. Here’s a hint: Water,water everywhere!

from the iqa libraryBooks written by IQA members reviewed in thisissue: Double Wedding Ring Quilts by VictoriaFindlay Wolfe, Quilting…Just a Little Bit Crazyby Allie Aller and Valerie Bothell, and AppliquéMastery by Philippa Naylor.

winners galleryart, painted surfaceSome say that quilting is like “painting withfabric.” Read quiltmaking stories from thewinners in this category from last year’sJudged Show who really took that analogy to heart!

2015 judged show sponsorsOur complete list of generous corporate donorswho, combined, will give away $94,250 in cashprizes at this year’s Judged Show. And – best ofall – winners get to keep their quilts!

winners galleryinnovative piecedPiecing is one of the foundations of quilting andone of its most treasured techniques. Winnersfrom last year’s Judged Show tell how theymade their unique works…piece by piece.

quilting 101 – new york beautyThe Statue of Liberty isn’t the only gorgeousgal hailing from the Empire State! In thisarticle in our continuing series, learn thehistory of this traditional pattern of circles andtriangles. And see which contemporary artistsare making amazing versions with their quilts today.

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contents

L E t t E R F R O M t H E P R E S I d E N t

Dear IQA Members,

I’m very excited to announce IQA’s latest activity—Cruiseapalooza Panama Canal Adventure! Yup we aregoing cruising! Quick, grab your calendar and mark off April 8-18, 2016 for cruising time with IQA.

The ship leaves Ft. Lauderdale and travels to the Bahamas,Aruba, Curacao, into the Panama Canal, cruise around Lake Gatun, then back out theCanal for stops in Panama and Costa Rica. The cruise will end back in Ft. Lauderdale.

Classes on a quilting cruise only happen the days the ship is at sea. Quilters nevermiss the opportunity to take advantage of shore excursions offered by HollandAmerica, our cruise ship operator.

We have four teachers teaching on Cruiseapalooza. Marti Michell will be teaching handand machine piecing. Linda Pumphrey will be teaching a piecing class, an EnglishPaper Piecing class, a memory quilt class and a fusible appliqué class. Karen Seivertwill be teaching piecing classes and an edge finishing class. I will be teaching a handappliqué class and embroidery classes.

There is no need to haul a sewing machine, sewing machines will be waiting for you insewing machine-required classes.

In addition, there will be open sew times scheduled. I have traveled on HollandAmerica ships often and have also traveled with our tour organizer, Deb Roberts, and Ihighly recommend them both.

Go to http://iqaquiltcruise.com for more details. Hope to have you all join us on theCruiseapalooza Panama Canal Adventure!

Keep quilting!

Stevii GravesPresidentInternational Quilt Association

B O A R d O Fd I R E C t O R S

president

Stevii Graves

vice president

education

Vicki Anderson

vice president

finance

Brenda Groelz

vice president

membership

Michele Muska

vice president

public service

Victoria Findlay Wolfe

secretary

Sandra Leichner

treasurer

Linda Pumphrey

founders

Jewel Patterson (1910-2002)Helen O’Bryant (1914-2005)Karey BresenhanNancy O’Bryant

j O U R N A LS t A F F

editorial

director

Nancy O’Bryant

editor

Bob Ruggiero

writer

Deb Hensel

design and

production

Hunter-McMain, Inc.

Check out IQA on Facebook!www.facebook.com/InternationalQuiltAssociation

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Appliqué MasteryPhilippa NaylorDragon Threads Ltd.128 pages, $29.95

If you want to master turned-edgesappliqué, this book has the tools youneed. Instructions are given forseveral ways to stitch down appliquépieces, both by hand and machine.

Philippa also gives instructions forseveral quilt edge treatments. Theinstructions (with a full size patternpull-out) for the Bird by Bird, a 70" x 70" quilt, is broken down into12 month segments to help you, oryour sewing group, keep on trackwhile constructing this quilt.

If you are a current member of IQA (or publisher of a current member) and have a book or DVD that you would like to submit forpotential review, please mail it to: Bob Ruggiero, c/o IQA Journal, 7660 Woodway, Suite 550, Houston, TX 77063.

Materials cannot be returned regardless of whether or not they are chosen for review.

Quilting…Just a Little Bit CrazyAllie Aller & Valerie BothellC&T Publishing119 pages, $29.95

There are two talented authors withtwo different styles writing this book.There are 10 projects and 30techniques, with each author doingindividual interpretations of fivedifferent themes.

It is fascinating to see how each authorworks. Also included are tips anddirections for stitching and embellishingby hand or by machine. The tips forhow to make even hand embroiderystitching is especially valuable.

Double Wedding Ring QuiltsVictoria Findlay WolfeStash Books by C&T Publishing111 pages, $24.95

Most quilters have a Double WeddingRing quilt on their Bucket List. If youwant a different twist on thetraditional DWR pattern, this book isa “must have” for your library.

These are not your grandmother’squilts, but she would be happy if youmade one for her! The most charmingpart of the book is the stories Victoria(who, full disclosure, is an IQA BoardMember) tells about why she madeeach of the quilts and how it relatesto her family history. She also listsideas on how to push the patternfurther if the readers want to makethe quilt for themselves.

from theiqa library

b y s t e v i i g r a v e s

FIRSt PLACEO N E F I N E D AY ( 6 8 " x 7 0 " )

by LAURIE BRITT of Bakersfield, California, USA.

Art – Painted Surfacewinnersgallery

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Photo by

Mike McC

ormick

Laurie Britt began her journeytoward art quilting as a smallchild, making doll clothes from

the scraps her mother gave her.

“As an adult, I became interested in doll and teddy bear making, aswell as painting, but I was neverinterested in quilting,” Britt says.

“My mother told me for years Ishould start quilting, that I wouldlove it! My standard response wasalways, ‘Why would I want to cut upperfectly good fabric just to sew itback together again?’”

A 2009 trip to see a quilt show inPismo Beach ultimately convincedher to try.

“That trip changed my life,” she says.“At the show was the first time I hadseen art quilts. I was amazed. I hadnever seen quilts that look likepaintings. I was hooked.

“I haven’t seen a style of quilting I don’t like—now that I haveaccepted the fact that I’m a quilter,”she adds. “My passion is makingpictorial art quilts. It gives me themost satisfaction.”

Britt begins her quilts with adrawing to create a pattern, andthen selects the fabric. She usesMistyfuse to create her raw-edgeappliqués. Then, she paints thesurface, using any medium that willgive her the desired effect.

Photographing each stage of thequiltmaking process helps revealany potential problems and keepsthe composition on track.

Today, she relies on her husband forcritique and support, but stillcredits her mother for enduringquilting advice.

“No matter how frustrated I wouldget with a quilt, my mom would tell me ‘keep going; it’s going to work out fine; it’s only one piece at a time.’” Britt says. “I will always be grateful to her for teaching me to quilt and her wonderful words of encouragement.”

Artist’s Statement: “This quilt was a true experiment! I normally make fantasy artquilts, which allows me to have no boundaries. This one is a little different. This is the firstphoto-realism type of quilt I’ve made. I had to capture the true caricature of a living being.”Original design

CAtEGORY SPONSOREd BY tHEQUILtSHOW.COM

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Art – Painted Surface

SECONd PLACEO S C A R ( 8 0 " x 8 2 " )

by CATHY WIGGINS of Macon, North Carolina, USA.

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Cathy Wiggins says thisunique quilt was born out of a conversation with

friends, wherein she was describingher desire to make a quilt thatrepresented a leather-bound book.Her friends suggested she use realleather as the binding material—not your typical quilt fabric!

“This seemed like the perfect timeto give Oscar his quilt. So Oscar ispainted using textile mediums andpaint sticks and the silver ‘bookbinding’ is quilted leather,” Wigginssays. “Thus, Oscar is the quilt thatstarted my journey in making quiltsusing leather.”

The book cover is created in twosections using silver leather with Oscar’s image painted onwhite muslin.

Wiggins says she wanted to tellOscar’s story via images thatappear in the background. In orderfor the prince to win the heart ofthe princess, he must first becomefriends with Oscar, the dragon.Because she did not want the storyto include an unhappy endingwhere the prince slays the dragon,Oscar continues to protect theprince and princess in their castle.

Oscar is one of the final quilts in aseries of 14 that Wiggins calls “Justfor Fun.”

“I love creating quilts that tellstories, make people smile and reallydraws the viewer in for a closer look,”she says.

“There are no rules in quilting,” shecontinues. “Follow your heart. It’sthe love and energy from your heartthat makes a memorable quilt!”

Artist’s Statement: “Oscar, the dragon, has been with me since childhood, and Iknew he would one day make it into a quilt.” Original design

CAtEGORY SPONSOREd BY tHEQUILtSHOW.COM

tHIRd PLACEC A E S A R A N D M E ( 8 2 " x 8 2 " )

by PATRICIA A. SMITH of Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA.

Art – Painted Surface

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While visiting an art museum,Patricia Smith says she tooklots of photos.

“I had not been quilting very longand didn’t know the rules, but Ithought it would make a greatquilt,” she says. “It took me morethan a year to figure out how tomake it.”

Smith says she tried a variety ofmeans to the end, includingdesigning on the computer, anoverhead projector, and templates,but nothing worked to suit her until

she found some fusible webbingwith a grid imprinted on it.

First, she drew all the elements ofthe mosaic and then fused the gridto her background fabric beforestitching each geometric shape.Then, she painted the quilt withfabric paint and a stencil with ¼-inch squares. Each square was thenpainstakingly quilted to make itresemble mosaic tile.

“I certainly had a great appreciationfor the artist who made the originalmosaic,” Smith says of the wholecloth

quilt endeavor that took her fouryears to finish. The title reflects thefact that the artist put so much ofherself and her time into the effort,so she shares top billing with Caesar.

“I just enjoy the moments whenpeople look at it and makecomments, not knowing I am theartist. They can never figure outhow I did it,” she adds. “Only otherartists can understand—it’s notabout the end, it’s about the process.”

Artist’s Statement: “The design of this quilt was inspired by an ancient Romanmosaic I saw at the art museum. I was fascinated with the geometric configuration and theimages they created.” Original design inspired by Roman mosaic

CAtEGORY SPONSOREd BY tHEQUILtSHOW.COM

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HONORABLE MENtIONFA I R Y G A R D E N ( 8 0 " x 6 0 " )

by CATHY WIGGINS of Macon, North Carolina, USA.

Art – Painted Surface

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CAtEGORY SPONSOREd BY tHEQUILtSHOW.COM

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Cathy Wiggins says she wasintroduced to quilting by anew neighbor when she

first moved to Lake Gaston inNorth Carolina in 2002. There, sheattended her first guild meetingand has not looked back since.

Fairy Garden began with a designpainted on white muslin with oilsticks and textile medium. Shebegan with a 10" by 12" sketch that

she projected onto the muslin andtraced in pencil.

After painting the entire drawingand giving it ample time to dry,Wiggins says she spent another 250hours quilting, then 300 hours ofhand embroidery and beading toadd details to each fairy.

“When using paints and mixingyour own colors, make sure you mix

enough to cover the area you will bequilting,” Wiggins advises.

“I ran out of the border color on the Fairies, and had to spend ahalf-day remixing.”

“Before quilting, I painted,” shesays. “I knew, at some point, thetwo would cross paths.”

Artist’s Statement: “I love hand embroidery and beading, so I created Fairy Gardenfor that purpose.” Original design

*These prizes also include airfare to and hotel accommodations for Quilt Festival.

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the 2015 Quilts: A World Of Beauty judged Show Sponsors

$94,250 in non-purchase cash awardsNote: Click on a company’s logo to visit their website

The Handi Quilter® Best of Show Award$10,000*

The Founders AwardInternational Quilt Festival

$7,500*

The World of Beauty AwardBaby Lock $7,500*

The Pfaff Master Awardfor Machine Artistry

$5,000*

The Koala Studios MasterAward for Innovative Artistry

$5,000*

The Superior ThreadsMaster Award

for Thread Artistry $5,000*

The Robert S. Cohan MasterAward for Traditional Artistry

$5,000*

The Gammill Master Award forContemporary Artistry

$5,000*

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Each Category Award Totals $2,000

($1,000 for first place, $700 for second, and $300 for third)

Embellished Quilts Group QuiltsDigital Imagery Handmade Quilts

Merit Quilting, Machine-FrameInnovative Pieced Merit Quilting-HandInnovative Appliqué

Merit Quilting, Machine-Stationary Mixed Technique Traditional AppliquéMiniature

Judge’s Choice $250 each Honorable Mentions $50 ea.From Marti MichellTraditional Pieced

NEW

Spon

sor!

Art-Abstract, Large Art-Abstract, Small Art-NaturescapesArt-Miniature

Art-Painted Surface Art-WhimsicalArt-People, Portraits, and Figures Art-Pictorial

NEW

Spon

sor!

MamasLogHouseQuiltShop.comViewers’ Choice $500

NEW

Spon

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FIRSt PLACEG E O R G E T O W N W E D D I N G ( 7 4 " x 7 5 " )by ANN PETERSEN of Aurora, Colorado, USA.

Innovative Piecedwinnersgallery

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Ann Petersen says her quilt,Georgetown Wedding, startedwith a fabric collection of

dark browns and orange-toned pinksthat she had been collecting for years.

“I tried to make several differentquilts, but never liked what I wasdoing and stopped. Then, in 2013 at aquilt show, I saw a display of antiquepink and white quilts. One was aGeorgetown Circle, and I loved thedesign,” she says. “Around this time,it occurred to me that my resistanceto Double Wedding Ring quilts was a

little ridiculous since so much of mywork involves curved piecing.

Petersen said she decided to combinethree ideas and drew the GeorgetownCircle blocks digitally. The coloringdiagram came from a book aboutdesigning Double Wedding Ringquilts, and she copied it to create thepieced center with colored pencils.

The result is a prize-winningcombination of Georgetown Circleblocks and Double Wedding Ring.

“The asymmetrical appliqué borderreally makes this quilt stand out,”Petersen says. “I loved it before Iput the border on, but was amazedat how it all came together with the border.”

Now, Petersen says curved piecinghas won her over.

“Curves add such flair and movementto the geometry of pieced work,” shesums up.

Artist’s Statement: “I fell in love with piecing design as a little girl watching mygrandmother make quilts, but in my 20s, when I took a class, I hated templates andinexact piecing. Only in the late 1980s, when I saw strip-piecing on PBS TV programs, didI take to quilting with a vengeance.” Original design

CAtEGORY SPONSOREd BY tIN LIZZIE 18

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SECONd PLACEM A G I C A L M O M E N T S I N T I M E ( 7 7 " x 8 3 " )

by LOIS PODOLNY of Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Innovative Pieced

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Lois Podolny has never had idlehands, having enjoyed a varietyof pastimes, including cooking,

needlepoint, building dollhouses,embroidery, and sewing.

“I was attending a craft show in myhometown, Cincinnati, Ohio, and oneof the vendors was a quilter. I told herI had always wanted to make a quilt.She told me she had a little quilt shopattached to her house. If I wanted tolearn, I should come out and shewould be happy to teach me,”Petersen recalls.

Undaunted by the challenge of curvedpiecing, Petersen took up a DoubleWedding Ring quilt for her first project.

“I cut the pieces by hand, sewed themby hand, and quilted the quilt byhand,” she says. “That’s what Ithought quilting was.”

In 1998, she took a class from PaulaNadelstern and fell in love withKaleidoscope patterns. After collectingthe appropriate fabrics for more thana decade, she says she found thecourage to begin her kaleidoscopequilt. The title comes from the ideathat the images seen inside akaleidoscope are often only visible fora brief second.

“Each scope is made up of a numberof wedges, all adding up to 360

degrees. In my quilt, there are scopes with eight, 12, and 16 wedges,”she says.

Fabric choices serve to disguise theseams, and the quilt is composed ofapproximately 18 to 57 pieces perwedge, with 19 scopes ranging in sizefrom 12 inches to 36 inches. Petersensaid she wanted to leave enoughbackground behind them to have funwith free-motion quilting.

“I love traditional quilts as well as artquilts—any quilt that is well done,”Petersen says. As always, it was a joyto win a ribbon in Houston.”

Artist’s Statement: “This was by far the most difficult quilt I have ever attempted.However, I am encouraged by its success and have begun another one. This is definitely alearning experience.” Original design

CAtEGORY SPONSOREd BY tIN LIZZIE 18

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tHIRd PLACER H Y T H M & R O S E S ( 4 4 " x 4 7 " )

by KAREN ECKMEIER of Kent, Connecticut, USA.

Innovative Pieced

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Karen Eckmeier says she fellin love with quilting after sheand her husband bought a

hand-quilted Star of Bethlehemquilt at a craft fair.

“I wanted to learn how to do that,but didn’t know how to sew, letalone make a quilt. So at the age of30, I taught myself how to sew so Icould make my first quilt,” she says.

“It started out with what I called‘rhythm sections,’ which consisted of topstitched curves and angles

combined with one of my RandomRose blocks. I wanted the roses toreally vibrate with the music, so Igradated the colors and added thesolid black,” Eckmeier continues.

Beading the quilt took almost aslong as the quilting, she adds.Eckmeier says she loves creatingabstract designs and the challengeof capturing the essence of a subjectin geometrics, colors, and lines.

The name for the quilt came fromanother of Eckmeier’s interests.

“I attended a spiritual handdrumming class, and the teacherstarted talking about ‘layeredrhythms.’ Immediately, my mindwent to my layered wavestechnique (topstitched curves) thatI have been playing with since1998,” she says.

“So, I decided to make a quilt thatcombined waves, rhythm, andmusic. The title is a take off on themusical phrase ‘rhythm and blues.’”

Artist’s Statement: “Rhythm & Roses feels the most ‘electric’ of my pieces, which isa good thing, since I usually aim for glow in my quilts.” Original design

CAtEGORY SPONSOREd BY tIN LIZZIE 18

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HONORABLE MENtIONB O H E M I A N I I I R A I N ( 4 8 " x 4 0 " )

by SANDRA PETERSON of Muncie, Indiana, USA.

Innovative Pieced

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Awedding gift for her oldestson got Sandra Petersonstarted on the road to

quilting in 1992.

Although she was already a confidentseamstress, there was no familyhistory of quiltmaking, so she taughtherself by reading and researchingspecific blocks. Her first queen-sizequilt relied heavily on the ChurnDash block, but within a few years,she was designing her own quilts.

For Bohemian III Rain, Petersonsays she wanted a three-dimensionaldesign of the original fractal wheelsshe created for a series of quilts. Thetheme of the Bohemian Series issummer, she says, and is based on

her memories of playing in thesummer rain as a child.

“I also had been developingtechniques for curved foundationpiecing and wanted to use thosetechniques on this quilt. The designanswer was umbrellas. Thesimplicity of design, except for theumbrellas, was done to give anOriental feel and allowed me touse a wonderful woven black fabricfrom Japan,” she says.

The hand quilting carried out thetheme of this quilt by using color-matched and metallic silver threadin uneven straight-line quilting torepresent rain. She also quiltedrepeated consecutive ripples on the

woven black fabric to create theillusion of someone having thrown astone into a puddle.

Bohemian III Rain was a newexperience, she says.

“I hand-draft my patterns and hadbeen thinking of designing the wheelto show perspective without using thevalue of color to do it,” Peterson says.

“Drafting the umbrella sections anddesigning the patterns of thesections to incorporate curves forfoundation piecing makes BohemianIII Rain a standout for me.”

Artist’s Statement: “I use traditional techniques when machine piecing and handquilting, but my quilts are innovative in their design. My style is to use lots of color andpattern in my fabrics, and to use lots of fabric, which makes a very intricate, intense quilt.I do, however, find myself drawn to the simplicity of the ‘modern’ quilts I am seeing now.There is something calming about blank spaces.” Original design

CAtEGORY SPONSOREd BY tIN LIZZIE 18

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there’s something about theintricate spires and curves of a New York Beauty quilt that

make it beautiful to behold, butintimidating for many quilters.

While it may not be the best choicefor a beginner, it’s not as difficult tomaster as one might assume,experienced quilt instructors say.

“I think people get intimidatedbecause designers sometimes make itseem too hard. I have been a teachermy whole life, and I like to take theintimidation out of projects and findways to make them attainable,” saysJean Wells, owner of The Stitchin’Post in Sisters, Oregon and author of nearly 30 quilting books.

“If you can introduce them to paperpiecing, they will end up withperfect points.”

New York Beauty quilts may behard to make, but they’re harder tofind, says collector Bill Volckeningof Portland, Oregon.

“With such a high level ofcomplexity, it took time, skill, anddetermination to create one. It tooktime to collect them, too,” he adds.

quilting101:new york

beauty b y D e b H e n s e l

Collector Bill Volckening shows off aquilt he made in front of a display of 50

of his New York Beauties in France.

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Fifty of his 72 New York Beautyquilts were on display in Nantes atPour l’Amour du Fil in France inApril, and the French magazine,Quiltmania, has recently publishedhis book, New York Beauty, Quiltsfrom the Volckening Collection.

“Central to the New York Beautyquilt design was an important andfamiliar icon—the sun. The ancientmotif surfaced in Americanpatchwork in the second quarter ofthe 19th century,” Volckening says.

“With the New York Beauty, aradiating circle was broken in fourquarter-circle wedges or arcs, whichwere placed in the corners of ablock, with points radiating fromthe curved seams toward the centerof the block,” he adds.

“It was an advanced design, andquilts were made with rows ofblocks, set with elaborately piecedsashing and small, radiatingsunburst cornerstones. Theintersecting points of four blocksrevolved around the cornerstones,and the arcs in the corners of thefour adjoining blocks formed alarger broken sunburst.”

This pink and green Beauty from the InternationalQuilt Festival Collection measures 83" x 87".

QUILtS APPEAL tO tHE EYE ANd CHALLENGE tHE MAKER

The name New York Beauty wasnot commonly used until 1930—about a decade after patterns were included in the packaging ofMountain Mist batting, a division of Stearns and Foster.

Contrary to the suggestion of thename, the New York Beauty did notactually originate in New York.

Mountain Mist renamed many of thepopular patterns of the ColonialRevival period. In the South, theseearly quilt patterns from which theNew York Beauty sprang may havebeen called “Crown of Thorns,”“Rising Sun,” “Rock Mount,” or“Rocky Mountain.”

In Texas and surrounding states,they may have been known as “Polkin the White House” or “Polk DallasTexas,” to commemorate the electionof U. S. President James K. Polk in1844, according to historicalinformation published by the NewEngland Quilt Museum.

“There was no information availableabout how the name New YorkBeauty was chosen by MountainMist, but New York was one of

New York Beauty

This New York Beauty from the InternationalQuilt Festival Collection features a variety of

color choices and measures 80" x 89"

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America’s largest, most populatedcities in 1930,” Volckening says.

“Two recognizable landmarks werethe Statue of Liberty, opened in 1886,and the newly completed ChryslerBuilding. Both icons of the Americanurban landscape became associatedwith the New York Beauty quiltdesign. They shared visual elements,particularly the triangular pointsradiating from curved lines. In thecrown ornamentation of the ChryslerBuilding and the Statue of Liberty’scrown, the design elements seemedrelated to the quilt pattern.

“The Mountain Mist New YorkBeauty was a very specific quilt. Itwas made of orange, yellow andwhite solid fabrics, set on a diagonal,and it included two-color LeMoyneStars as cornerstones,” he continues.

“Red, white, and blue was thesecond of two recommended colorcombinations, and the suggestedquilting design included overlappingcircles,” he adds. “The quilt was amodern day, streamlined version ofthe earlier renditions, with freshcolors and half the number of piecesas some of the earlier quilts.”

Contemporary quilters have adaptedthis intricate pattern to include amuch wider spectrum of colors. Theyalso have tossed aside the idea of atraditional, repeating block in favorof interlocking designs with varioussized spires and fabric selections.

Wells said she first learned how tocreate the New York Beauty in aworkshop led by quilter KarenStone, and subsequently, taught itto her daughter, Valori WellsKennedy, who is now teaching herown daughters to quilt.

“New York Beauty quilts havealways fascinated me. The circularshapes and precise points draw mein and start me thinking of otherdesign possibilities,” Valori WellsKennedy writes in her book,Radiant New York Beauties.

“I had no idea what these quiltblocks were in my 20s when I saw a quilt on the wall that mom wasmaking,” she says. “I thought itwould be fun to draw up my ownblock and did a rectangular designwith the points different sizes.” LINDA HAHN

QUILtS APPEAL tO tHE EYE ANd CHALLENGE tHE MAKER

Linda Hahn created a New York Beauty as the backdrop for appliquéd water lilies. Thequilt called Tottenville Toadsmeasures 72" x 72" and is fromthe book, New York BeautyDiversified, from AQS Publishing.

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“When you look at the quilts in mybook, you will see how one idea ledto another once the process was inplace,” she suggests. “And I foundways to be creative with the basicblock. Be adventuresome, and try toput your own twist on a block.”

Quilter, designer, and author LindaHahn of Manalapan, New Jerseyconcurs that the New York Beautypattern offers an opportunity toplay and improvise. Hahn is theauthor of two books, New YorkBeauty Simplified, New York BeautyDiversified, and has a third book,New York Beauty Electrified,coming in 2017.

The evolution of the design toincorporate a more artistic, free-formapproach probably occurred withinthe last 15 years, Hahn theorizes.

“People have just realized they havepermission to do that,” she says. “Itjust takes one person to spark that.”Hahn adds the first quilter she sawcreating that spark was Karen Stone.

Quilters may be reluctant to try theNew York Beauty because theythink paper piecing involves a lot of

New York Beauty

A simple red-and-white pattern makes this NewYork Beauty stand out. From the InternationalQuilt Festival Collection, measuring 76" x 93".

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waste and they’re intimidated aboutmaking points.

“They don’t relax and enjoy theprocess,” she says. Hahn created herown method—totally by accident—ofmaking New York Beauty blocksthat requires only one pin and twoadditional measurements to ensureall the spires are consistent. Thereis no stress and no cursing involved,she adds.

“People shouldn’t be afraid of tryinga new block. There’s something thatwill work for everyone,” Hahn says.“I’d rather do a New York Beautythan a nine-patch. There’s just somuch you can do with them.”

Whether they are appreciated fortheir artistry, adaptability, or theirhistory, New York Beauty quiltshave certainly gained a foothold inthe world of quilting.

“During my 25 years collecting andhandling these quilts, I have heardall kinds of interesting tales aboutthe origins of the New York Beautyquilt design,” says Volckening. “Theregionalist folklore had to make mewonder, but the quilts clearly had

their own agenda. It was just amatter of paying close attention, andthat’s the funny thing about quilts.They have voices of their own.”

Another gem from theInternational Quilt FestivalCollection is pieced in patrioticred, white, and blue andmeasures 70" x 70".

QUILtS APPEAL tO tHE EYE ANd CHALLENGE tHE MAKER

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judgedshow

Have you submitted yourentry for the 2015 JudgedShow yet?

the deadline is May 28!

Click HERE for the rules, entry form,and information. More than $94,000 incash, non-purchase prizes will be givenaway this year at the “Winners CircleCelebration” on October 27. Send yourwork in to compete with the world’sbest quilt artists!

The 2014 IQA JUDGED SHOWFirst Place, Embellished

Category sponsored by Koala Studios

A F T E R H A D R I A N ( 8 3 " x 6 3 " )by SUE MCCARTY of Roy, Utah.

Original design inspired by Medieval art, history, and literature.

Photo by

Mike McC

ormick

The 2014 IQA JUDGED SHOWFirst Place – Group Quilts

Category sponsored by APQS

A M A Z I N G A Z T E C - N I C O L O R D R E A M Q U I LT ( 8 4 " x 8 6 " )by CAROL MOELLERS, DANA LYNCH, MARY HOLMAN, MARY KAY RUNYAN, CINDY NEVILLE,

WANDA MYERS, BRIDGET LILJA, AND KAREN FITZPATRICK of Greene, Iowa. Inspired by the “Aztec Cosmos” drawing of Tomas Filsinger.

Photo by

Mike McC

ormick