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CQ 2013 Challenge, First quilt
Coastal Quilters 2013 Challenge: Favorite Place
Hi all…yes, I’ve been seriously missing, and as usual, that also means BUSY. Among other things (which I will blog about in the coming days), I made this small quilt (in this photo, not yet quilted….that tells you how busy…it’s done except for sewing down the facings now). Among other things that keep me busy and happy, is Coastal Quilters, the local chapter of Maine’s Pine Tree Quilt Guild. I’ve been active on the board doing this or that for, well….basically since we moved to Maine 7+ years ago. At the moment I am co-Program Chair and co-Challenge Coordinator.
Every August, CQ has a picnic at one member’s camp cottage (a “camp” in Maine is usually a rustic, uninsulated building somewhere in the woods or on a pond or lake). Like most camps, this one is reached by a dirt road which astonishingly now has a name, not jut R.R. (rural road) or F. R. (Fire Road) plus number. But the road is still dirt, still so bumpy you need to drive at a crawl, and has “camp tree”…. a tree at the fork in the road with boards nailed to it. Each board has a name and some sort of arrow so you know which way to go. Joan also kindly always puts out some cheater-cloth dresden plate squares as flags to keep us going to the right place: the family cottage on the shores of Pitcher Pond.
Why this digression? well, we announce the Challenge in December or October, so by August I am starting to think about getting things organized. And for the past two years, I have deputized all present at the picnic to be my advisory committee! Since it was rainy and dreary this year, there were only a few of us (five, plus Joan’s husband and their dog). Eleanor had been greatly inspired by the Twelve by Twelve book and Challenge. See, my friend Deborah Boschert is one of our mini-group as well as part of the Twelves (see their website here), and she came from her home in Maryland for our show this summer at the library (see here 1, here 2 and here 3). Eleanor really wanted to do a challenge like that. So we summarily decided that in addition to the 2012 Challenge (using a vintage block, inspired by Mary Kerr’s Vintage Revisited, here), we would ALSO announce the 2013 challenge! We came up with a list of themes, and will announce one every other month at the unveiling of the “current” theme quilts.
Our first theme was Favorite Places. Eleanor also completed a quilt (interestingly, I chose my spot on the sofa in the living room, and Eleanor did a site map of her home–totally unknown to each other), and since this challenge was her idea, I asked her to pick from our list of themes for the next one: Cycles! Try Googling cycles and you’ll come up with all sorts of cool possibilities. I hope we get more participants; I hope to let others choose the themes.
So that my local chapter members have a place to look, I’m going to include the instructions right here, along with the themes. Hope you enjoy–feel free to adapt / use these guidelines to set up your own challenges!
Themes:
- Due December 2011: Favorite Place
- Due February 2012: Cycles
The 2013 Coastal Quilters
Chapter Challenge!
In a nutshell:
- Every two months from October 2011 to April 2013 we will issue a challenge theme.
- Make a 13×13 inch quiltlet that relates to that theme and bring it to share two months later.
- You do NOT have to make ALL the challenge themes. You can make one, several or all.
- For at least ONE of the challenges, you must incorporate a traditional quilt block pattern/design/something into the piece is some fashion. You may do this just once, a few times, or for every challenge.
- Please include a label on the backs with this information (see below for possible limits on display)
Your First Name Last Name
Date (May 2012 or whatever)
Coastal Quilters 2012 Chapter Challenge
Your address/contact info
More details:
At the 2011 Picnic at Joan’s camp on Pitcher Pond, Eleanor said she was inspired by Deborah Boschert’s Twelve By 12 Challenge group and the book. She wanted to do something similar. Sarah deputized those present (Joan, Louisa, Louisa’s sister, Eleanor) as her Challenge Advisory Committee, and we came up with the general guidelines and themes for this 18-month challenge to be shown at Maine Quilts in 2013. Here’s what we decided:
- Quilt must be 13 x 13 inches to go with the year 2013
- Puns are allowed/encouraged
- Each quilt must have a front, batting, back and suitable edge finish
- You must include a traditional block in some fashion in at least one of your challenge pieces
- We will have 9 themes distributed over 18 months
- The first three themes are decided; we have ideas for the rest, but participants may suggest additional themes and we might possibly revise the list
If we have too many 13×13 quilts, Sarah will figure out how many we can display, then set a maximum number that any individual can have on display. Those with less than that number may display all their quiltlets. Those with more than that number will select which ones they want to hang at Maine Quilts. As has happened the past couple of years, Sarah will do up the entry for our challenge and arrange the display.
Please include a label on the back with this information
Your First Name Last Name Coastal Quilters 2013 Chapter Challenge—[theme]
Date (May 2012 or whatever) Your address/contact info
More information:
If you have any questions, contact Sarah Ann Smith at sarah@sarahannsmith.com.
The Twelve by Twelve International Art Quilt Challenge book is available in many locations, including on Amazon.com.
ISBN-10: 1600596665 or ISBN-13: 978-1600596667