a West U quilt

Welcome to my post for the fall Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy of Park City Girl. The quilt I wish to feature is one that was made especially for the 80th anniversary of ...

West University Elementary School.

This is a T-shirt quilt featuring t-shirts from school spirit shirts as well as many school activities (book fair, auction, carnival, etc.) My challenging task was to assemble this diverse collection into one cohesive quilt, and finish it in time for the PTO's fundraising auction (nothing like a firm deadline to crunch then rush one's creative energy).


After much struggling with a uniform block size, I chose to trim each item, leaving a 1" - 2" border framing the individual logos. Next stumbling block was to add borders to these trimmed blocks. Could I find one fabric to use for all the blocks, uniting the quilt? No. Instead I opted to frame each logo with a themed print in colors to match. This required shopping for fabrics such as hot-air balloon, jungle, & golf prints (a delightful task). With school colors of red, white and blue, the spirit shirts were the easiest to frame. As I pieced the fabrics around the t-shirt logos, the blocks grew larger, still keeping their different sizes and shapes. Sewing the blocks together into one quilt top required more puzzling and thinking. Look closely to spy the spacer bars of school-themed prints I added to fill in gaps. The final outer border, an alphabet print, unified the diverse blocks into one quilt.

Curious note: Some of the blocks are not t-shirts. They are scanned and printed images from an original item loaned for this copying purpose. One logo was actually cut-out from a baseball cap ... can you guess which one that is?

I must extend special Thank you's to:
Kay for printing the computer transfers;
Carrell for donating many of her own t-shirts;
Avril and Catherine who worked tirelessly remembering which events were missing and hunting down someone with the logo to share.
and last but not least, Thank you to Mike Walton of Astro Quilting Systems (713-522-7876) for the custom machine quilting that finishes this school quilt.

For all my friends and acquaintances .... no, I do not make t-shirt quilts, but fear not ... I have not one, but two friends that do. If you are interested in turning your child's keepsake t-shirts into a one-of-a-kind memory quilt please contact either of these friends:

Sharon Dixon's Katy T-shirt Quilts
and
Betty Baker's T-Shirt Quilts of Texas

Last note: the quilt was not complete at the time of the school auction (Hurricane Katrina and a broken arm interrupted the progress that fall). Nevertheless, the quilt-top was a hot item at the auction that attracted many, until the bidders united to purchase the quilt and donate it back to the school! I could not be more pleased! My quilt now hangs in the front entry of West University Elementary School.

Anticipation ....

I wandered over to the George R. Brown Convention Center today,
in anticipation of the upcoming Quilt Market and
35th International Quilt Festival (IQF).

This is what I found ....

Empty walls waiting for quilts.

The IQF Grand Prize Winners will be displayed here a week from today.
Imagine throngs crowding for a closer look and a chance to speak with the winning quilters


"The Eye of the Quilter: Inspiration" will be on display here. I am proud to have an photo in this new exhibit of digital photographs.

Imagine more caverns of emptiness (and plenty of parking outside) .... waiting silently for the excitement that is just around the corner.

I can hardly wait, can you?

P.S. For friends, quilters and fellow fiber enthusiasts who are coming to town....
while you're here, be sure to stop by Second Seating to enjoy fun and quirky Houston. For a look inside, click here.

Unique Centerpieces

The Texas Federation of Fiber Artists began their biennial conference this past week-end with the opening of Celebrating Our Creative Spirit, an exhibit of their work at the Houston Contemporary Craft Center (HCCC). Fiber enthusiasts came from across the state: from far (Alpine) and wide (the Rio Grande Valley) and from Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and surrounding smaller towns for this show and to mingle with their fellow fiber artists at the biennial conference.

During the conference, at each of Saturday's meals, table centerpieces featured colorful necklaces. Curiously each had a small number nearby. We were told that everyone would receive one of their table's necklaces as a keepsake of the day. We learned that trading was allowed, but perhaps more interesting was to see artists scouting out centerpieces before sitting down at the next two meals. I do not think that I was the only one to do this, or am I mistaken?


Breakfast featured funky necklaces made of clothespins, bobbins, paintbottles, etc.

This is my new treasure, and yes, the whistle really works. The assorted doo-dads include luggage keys, buttons, needle case, paper clips and more. This necklace reminds me of the old game show Let's Make a Deal. Remember when Monty Hall would challenge the audience to come up with something crazy from their pockets or purses?


Lunch featured fun necklaces.

This one is long and brightly colored (and lightweight when compared to my first). I must have traded three or four times before I ended up with this necklace. I saw that it is easiest to trade with the closer table-mates. As soon as that first trade happens, everyone comments on which necklaces they like, leading to the next trade. It was quite entertaining. I am pleased to own this necklace, even though I liked the ones I traded away. Perhaps the fun was in making the trade?


The evening banquet necklaces were fancy and quite simply, fantastic!

I fell instantly in love with the one that I originally drew, so I traded with no one. The knot is wonderful and appeals to the scout leader that lives within me. To learn who made each my three necklaces is now my goal ... perhaps I will find out at our next HAFA meeting which is this week (yea! I can hardly wait.)

These centerpieces were a wonderfully fun, unique decorating idea. First - the necklaces made colorful centerpieces, yet each was different from every other one. Second - giving away the necklaces before the meal's end provided an easy ice-breaker. You met everyone at your table to admire the necklace they received. Third - all the necklaces made wonderful keepsakes of this great conference.


Kudos to the Houston Area of Fiber Artists (HAFA) who organized this biennial conference. Kudos to Iva Jensen and her fabulous team who spent many hours making necklaces as well as planning the many activities of the week-end.

Save the date now:
The next Texas Federation of Fiber Artists Conference will be co-hosted by
San Antonio Fiber Artists (SAFA)
&
Austin Fiber Artists (AFA)

February 24-26, 2012
Kerrville, Texas

Art Now for Autism

Announcing the Opening of

Art Now for Autism 2009

An online exhibit and reverse auction benefitting autism awareness and research.

October 1-10, 2009

http://www.artnowforautism.com

October 1-4 : Preview of Art.
Opens at 9am EST on October 1.
Art exhibit will be open online at www.artnowforautism.com.
All work will be viewable but not on sale.

October 5 & 6
Reverse Auction Opens AT 9AM EST.
All Art is $90

October 7 & 8
Unsold art drops to $60 at 9AM EST on Oct. 7.

October 9 & 10
Final two days
Final price starts at 9AM EST on Oct. 9.
Any remaining art is $30

This year's exhibit includes the work of 89 artists from around the USA, Canada, France, Italy, Australia, Brazil, and the Netherlands. Included in this amazing list of artists are a number of artists with autism spectrum disorders. 160 pieces of fine art and craft are included in the exhibit. There is something for everyone!

100% of art sales will go to Autism Speaks through their National Walk Now for Autism Speaks event.

Any questions? Please email Claudine Intner, the organizer of Art Now for Autism at artnow@artnowforautism.com

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Art Now for Autism

Support the cause and get some great art, too!

Exhibit and Reverse Auction: October 1-10, 2009

Our Home

Our Home is my piece in the 2009 Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit which debuted at the American Sewing Expo. My 12" quilt features a yellow brick cottage with my favorite three people peeking out the windows.

Love is in the air, as I love being home with my family -- so for this year's theme of Home, I created a montage of my family in our little bungalow. Of course it isn't home if someone is missing (namely me), so if you open the door ....

You will discover that I am there too, with my camera in hand to record all our family fun.


Every thought of home includes memories of my childhood home and my sweet kitty cat, especially since this year's exhibit raised funds for A Place to Bark, a rescue organization which saves dogs, cats and other critters finding them new, loving homes.

I dedicate my quilt to my Tabitha.

Thus the 2009 Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit, Home, has begun its year of travel. Click here to learn where else it may be travelling, or contact Lynn Krawczyk to request bringing this exhibit to a venue in your own home town.

American Sewing Expo

The American Sewing Expo in Novi, MI is the annual debut
for the Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit
curated every year by Lynn Krawczyk.

For the second year, Breaking Traditions has raised funds for a charity as one aspect of the exhibit. Nearly $800.00 was raised this year for Bernie Berlin's A Place to Bark, an animal rescue operation that finds new, permanent, happy homes for abused and abandoned animals. Hence the theme for this year's exhibit is Home and inspired 73 fiber artists to create the 84 art quilts seen above. My piece is there -- can you find it? It is the little brick home with smiling faces in the windows and a tree in the sideyard. While you look for mine, aren't you amazed at the other wonderful pieces in the exhibit? I am!

(hint: click on the photo to see an enlarged view)

By the way, how would you define home?

and the winner is ...

Breaking Traditions 2009 Exhibit Favorite is a wonderful quilt made by .... are you ready for this ....

the wife of Maj. IBOL Guy!!!

Congratulations to Kristin LaFlamme!

Rooted IX
the 2009 Breaking Traditions Exhibit Favorite

Click here to learn what prizes Kristin has won or click here for more information about Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit.


my, my, it is a small world after all ...

Note: See the previous 3 posts to learn what an IBOL is and more.
You'll be glad you did!