Amish quilts: Striking solids

The Iowa Illinois Quilt Study Group was held at the Kalona Historic Village, which features a nationally known quilt and textile museum.

There also is an Amish population near Kalona, Iowa, so the museum has a gallery dedicated to traditional Amish quilts. I love the look of Amish quilts. The solid colors are so simple on their own, but when they're put together the quilts come alive.

What is even more remarkable, is the women who made the antique Amish quilts didn't have an education past the eighth grade and no training in geometry.

Family stories in quilts

I went the the Iowa Illinois Quilt Study Group for the first time last weekend. The study topic was family quilts.

The only family quilts I have are ones that I'll make and pass down to my children someday. And I hope that these hypothetical children will cherish these quilts so that they don't end up at an estate sale or on Ebay when I'm gone.

That's where appraiser and lecturer Janette Dwyer purchased many of the baby quilts she brought to show as part of her lecture, "Baby Quilts: A blanket with a heartbeat."

As you can imagine, antique baby quilts in good condition are rare since most of them received several washings and were used until they were worn out. Many of the surviving examples we have came from wealthy families who could afford to make more than one baby quilt.


Some of the most adorable quilts Janette brought with were quilt kits from the 1950s of embroidered scenes such as bears, babies and animals.

Janette's advice for deciding when to buy an antique quilt is: "If I want it or I don't have it. ... Also if you touch it twice, then buy it."

One thing that was emphasized over and over again was to get as much information as you possibly could about a quilt from the seller when you buy it. But take the provenance with a grain of salt, because sometimes oral histories are not correct and the information garnered from the fabric and pattern put it in a different time period than family history places it.

I'll be writing more posts about the Study Group later this week. It was pretty neat, and I have lots of pictures of some really amazing quilts.

It's Christmas in my mailbox

I'm the lead designer for the Mississippi Valley Quilters Guild Christmas tree for the Festival of Trees this year.

For those of you who aren't in the Quad-Cities, the Festival of Trees is a fundraiser for Quad-City Arts in which artists design Christmas trees, stockings, wreaths, hearths and entire rooms with Christmas decorations of their own creation. Then the Christmas decorations are auctioned off to benefit arts programing in the Quad-Cities.

Part of my duties include making a Christmas tree skirt. Quilting By-You, LLC., is the benefactor for the tree, and co-owner Charlene Thode suggested Judy Niemeyer's Christmas Celebration Tree Skirt pattern. I loved it and today it arrived in my mailbox.

I'm so excited to dig into all these paper pieced points and curved seams. I know, I'm a gluten for punishment.

Blue ribbon quilts from the fair

I went to the Mississippi Valley Fair this week and spent some time looking at the quilts entered for judging. There were some beautiful quilts and for the first time, I felt like my skills are pretty comparable with some of the ones on display.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I'm good enough to win a blue ribbon. But I'm definitely good enough to enter and not feel embarrassment when my quilt is hung next to the other entries. So next year my goal is to enter a quilt in the fair. We'll see how I do.

The fair is going on through Sunday in Davenport. Check it out if you want to see the quilts in person.

Raffle quilt for K9 Kindness Rescue

I love my dogs. I have three of my own and a foster dog from K9 Kindness Rescue, Inc.

A few months ago K9 Kindness took in Rosie, a heartworm positive dog that was pregnant. Her delivery was very difficult and costly because of the heartworm, but because of K9 Kindness, Rosie and her pups are doing well and some have found forever homes.

When I heard about Rosie, I decided to make a raffle quilt for K9 Kindness Rescue to help pay for her veterinary costs which were about $1,000. The quilt guild I belong to makes raffle quilts for big events and they always make good fundraisers. Folks who wouldn't normally spend hundreds of dollars on a quilt are more than willing to spend a couple bucks for a chance to win one, especially when the money goes to a good cause.

In less than two weeks, the quilt has raised close to $250, so I'm crossing my fingers that we'll reach the $1000 goal by the drawing in June.

Now here are some fun facts about the quilt. The Hidden Pinwheel pattern is of my own design and was inspired by a vintage quilt I saw. The blocks are set on point for effect. The first border is made with mitered corners and the second one is made from more than 100 hundred of flying geese circling the quilt.

The bright teals and turquoise fabrics remind me of a beach vacation every time I look at them. The quilt is quilted with variegated teal and white thread with designs inside every triangle. The backing is made from snugly flannel fabric for extra softness and warmth.

The quilt measures 56 inches by 84 inches and is large enough for a twin-sized bed. Although this size also makes a great couch throw because you can cover up with it completely while watching TV.

The drawing for the raffle quilt is June 11, 2011, at the rescue's Dog Dayz of summer Beach Pawty and Dog Wash at the PETCO in Moline, IL. You do not need to be present to win.

I'll be at PETCO in Moline with the quilt and raffle tickets at a K9 Kindness Adoption event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 9. We're working on some other locations to display the quilt at. You can also purchase tickets at StephanieSoebbing.Etsy.com. They are six for $5 or $1 each.