The Grocery Challenge, Part 2
Wednesday, September 7th, 2011Alas, I missed Maine Quilts this year, where these quilts debuted. (The good news is that I was teaching at Quilt Nebraska…more on that soon!) Here is the display (thanks Louisa for the photo!) of our challenge quilts at the Maine Quilts show:
And a close up of someone looking — and the photos and tags:
From all reports, the quilts and display got lots of attention. On the far left and far right I included a blurb about the challenge itself (the requirements I talked about in the previous post). I then pinned photos of each of the products and asked viewers to figure out which photo went with which quilt. I numbered the quilts, then made tags with lift-up fabric to reveal the identity of the quilt by number, the maker, the title, and the product.
And here is the right hand panel that I’ll feature today–you’ll note that the photos don’t necessarily correspond to the quilts on that panel, I wanted to mix things up!
A Thousand Flowers is at the top left:
I wanted to do something Maine-ish, and trolled the aisles looking at labels for a while. I found my inspiration in something I don’t usually drink: beer!
While at Quilt Festival last November, I chanced upon John Flynn’s booth. I had mulled over how to do the storm at sea border that I had in mind: fused? painted? Then I spotted his miniatures quilt. Yes, insane. The small square in a square block FINISHES at 1 1/8 inch! I also learned that miniatures are VERY bumpy and I would have done better to set aside my beloved “skimming” free-motion foot and used the hopping “darning” foot. I had to tug to get the lumpy bits under the skimmer foot, and that wasn’t so good for the quality of my stitching. Bummers. Oh well…lesson learned!
Millie chose sardines for One in a Million:
And her interpretation in cloth:
Barbara Melchiskey is a master at appllique, which she used to great effect with Heinz 57 Ketchup:
Next is Maggie’s Maruchan kid…she even got written permission from Maruchan to make this design using the logo on the ramen package:
And in the final dash to done with me was my co-program chair Gail Galloway-Nicholson. She sent me this photo and said it was a Cline Vinyards wine. I immediately replied: “Cline Vinyards? From California? As in Nancy Bunting Cline?” Now how the heck is Gail supposed to have a clue what I’m yabbering about…
So I head (where else) to Google, source of instant knowlege. Yes indeedy, it is Cline Cellars! And why is this such a big deal? Well.. I went to high school in California (just north of San Francisco, San Domenico School) with the then-Nancy Bunting. A few years later this funny lady (she is still witty) married a guy named Cline. And they started their own vinyard. And I can now go buy their wine here in Camden, Maine!!!!!! How utterly amazing is that????????? I checked the Photo Gallery pictures and yes indeedy that is Nancy…like me a bit older, a bit of gray, but still Nancy! Shall we all join hands and sing a chorus of “It’s a Small World After All” while enjoying Gail’s quilt, with 3-d awning over the shop and soft and fuzzy fabric for the Cashmere in the window?
I cannot tell you how thrilled I am at the challenge, the results, and the outstanding work done by these 11 ladies and one gentleman! Here’s to the next two years of challenges!