Our guild theme for the year has been Community and we’ve chosen to adopt Community as the theme for our 2024 guild challenge. Members were encouraged to celebrate a community important to them and to reinterpret a traditional block. Quilts can be of any size. Community can be represented in many ways – i.e. the quilt design, fabric colors or perhaps by asking members in the maker’s community to contribute to the quilt.
We thank Cary Quilting, Oliso, and Fat Quarter Shop for their sponsorship of our guild challenge.
Voting for Viewer’s Choice closed on November 9.
Congratulations to Karen Jones Kepley for the quilt Unfair Lines: Gerrymandered 2024 which won Viewer’s Choice, Congratulations to Vicki Price for the quilt My Village which won 2nd place. (edited 11/11/2024)
Please note that quilts are displayed below in the order they were submitted. Each entry has two photos – the full quilt and a detailed closeup.
I’ll Keep the Porch Light On by Robin Thomas @rct_quilts
39″ x 28″
Growing in a small mid-west farming community it was customary that people left their porch lights on in the evening. It was a sign that visitors were welcome. Only once everyone was home and settled in for the night did the porch lights go off. This quilt shows a porch light shining down on the porch railing as a reminder of the importance of community.
Traditional Block inspiration: Log Cabin
Quilted by Robin Thomas
Possimpible by Melissa Woodard @meliwoodcrafts
57″ x 54″
I took a workshop at QuiltCon 2024 on 3D design, which is the technique used to design this quilt. The QuiltCon workshop community was a huge inspiration and catalyst for this.
This quilt features an impossible geometric three dimensional shape illusion: a Penrose triangle made of cubes. The medium of quilting, shape manipulation, and color placement make the impossible possible. “The place where the possible and impossible meet to become…the possimpible” –Barney Stinson
Traditional block inspiration: Tumbling Block
Quilted by Melissa Woodard
Summer by Erin Bell
21″ x 43″
The quilt is a representation of flowers in my front yard. The flowers are enjoyed by us, by the people walking down the street, and by the pollinators who visit them. Later, the dried heads serve as living birdfeeders for groups of goldfinches, who bring additional delight to the people who see them.
Traditional block inspiration: Orange Peel
Quilted by Erin Bell
Retirement by Jane Herlihy @herlihyjane
26″ x 34″
Much of the joy of retirement comes from getting involved in new communities — trying new things and meeting new people. My personal “color” changes a bit when I join a new community; my life is enriched. Some of the communities I try may not be a good fit and I cast them off. It is stressful to be involved in too many communities at one time. Life gets crowded and so I gently move away. There are always new communities to explore.
Traditional Block Inspiration: Double Wedding Ring
Quilted by Jane Herlihy
Unfair Lines: Gerrymandered 2024 by Karen Jones Kepley @karen_jones_kepley
90″ x 78″
Unfair Lines, Gerrymandered 2024 visualizes the manipulation of voting districts in North Carolina, combining art with a call to action against gerrymandering’s impact on democracy. The Court House Steps block provides a structure that symbolizes our complex electoral process. Hand-printed fabric with vintage lead type highlights themes of history and community. This work prompts viewers to reflect on how these boundaries shape their lives, encouraging critical engagement and advocacy for equitable representation.
Hand printed text on fabric using vintage church bulletin lead type. Quilting in red thread represents Republican leaning voting districts, blue thread represents Democratic leaning voting districts, proximity of quilting lines represents degree of density in the area.
Traditional Block Inspiration: Courthouse Steps
Quilted by Karen Jones Kepley
Field of Sunshine by Alice Parish
38″ x 47″
The community of caregivers and family who love and support those living with Alzheimer’s and dementia are represented with sunflowers. My mother-in-law has early onset Alzheimer’s and I have seen how many people are involved in her care and it makes me think back to just how many were also involved in my grandma’s care – in both the big and the small ways. Caregivers give so much of their time, energy, and love to making sure those affected are living a quality life. These sunflowers represent love and compassion of each caregiver as well as bring hope for more treatment options in the future.
Traditional Block Inspiration: Sawtooth Star Block
Quilted by Alice Parish
Nicholle’s Toppling Triangles by Jenn Marks @sewistry_nc
60″ x70″
This quilt was created by two TMQG members as a gift to the person who introduced us, Nicholle. I knew Nicholle from the YMCA yoga community; Tatyana knew her from her work community. Nicholle saw the common thread of quilting between us & knew we needed to become friends!
Traditional Block Inspiration: Pinwheel Block
Quilted by Jenn Marks (machine) and Tatyana Kelly (hand)
Hidden Button by Tatyana Kelly @greytat
60″ x 70″
Jenn Marks and I collaborated on this two sided quilt, made for the friend that brought us together in community.
Traditional Block Inspiration: Pinwheel Block
Quilted by Jenn Marks (machine) and Tatyana Kelly (hand)
Six Hours by Itnuit Janovitz @itnuit, Joann Iannuzzelli @joanniannuzzelli, Leslie Hocking @les51991, Patty Dudek @elmstreetquilts, Sara Young @spanishquilter, Susan Reinhard @dontcallmesu,
33″ x 42″
Fueled by sourdough bread, chocolate, and much laughter, our group of 6 quilters decided to make a quilt to celebrate our weekend retreat. The rules were simple. Each quilter had 1 hour to build on the work of the person before them. You were allowed to cut away pieces of the quilt top but were required to add everything back on before you were done. We drew numbers to determine the order. The center square on square block was block 1 and wasn’t cut in half until quilter #6.
Traditional Block Inspiration: Square in a Square
Quilted by Sara Young
Prairie Point Variation #4 FLOCK by Rachel Brown @rdbeatific
38″ x 50″
A flock is a community of birds. When large birds, like geese, fly in a “v” formation they flap their wings in perfect sequential order. Each downward wing stroke creates a vortex of air currents and an updraft which the next bird behind uses to fly more efficiently. A former turbulence researcher, I enjoy both the science and the metaphor: In community we must both uplift others and allow ourselves to be uplifted.
Traditional Block Inspiration: “Flying geese” but utilizing prairie points. Also a minimalist take on Pine Burr quilts.
Quilted by Rachel Brown
Stepping Stones by Patty Dudek @elmstreetquilts
27″ x 36″
Stepping Stones is a celebration of the groups of people who bring joy, laughter, friendship, and love into my day. My Pickleball group, other early morning swimmers, my local guild, my IG friends, my neighbors, and, of course, my family – each group and each person contributes to my sense of well being. These groups are made up of wonderful and unique individuals and I am grateful to have them in my life. (This quilt is not participating in the Viewer’s Choice voting.)
Traditional Block Inspiration: Hexagon
Quilted by Patty Dudek
Recovery by Pat Cummins @Peacockcreekdesigns
11″ x 11.5″
In August, 2024 I attended a sewing retreat in rural Maine. The group of 30+ makers who attended with me became, by the end of the week, a community of support, acceptance, peace and friendship far beyond what I had anticipated. One of the classes we all attended was making an improv hand pieced and quilted small quilt project. Many of us continued to stitch on them throughout the week and to provide encouragement for each other as we watched the pieces take shape. As I cut and stitched these different pieces of fabric together later after I returned home, I felt again that warm bond of community I had in Maine.
Scissor cut, hand pieced, and hand quilted study in linen and cotton fabrics.
Traditional Block Inspiration: Log Cabin
Quilted by Pat Cummins
My Village by Vicki Price. @piecetymes
48″ x 36″
Our communities are overlapping, variegated, widening bounds of those we love and those we encounter, some close, some distant, some nearly invisible. A composite of our lives.
My Village plays off of the traditional House block, mostly low volume but with a few patches of saturated color, lots of multi-shaded squares and rectangles, and a few wonky curves representing the way the communities connect. On the way to building this village, some of the houses became ghosts, receding into the distance. Villages, like relationships, can be ephemeral.
Traditional Block Inspiration: The House Block
Quilted by Vicki Price
Wide Beach by Joann Iannuzzelli @joanniannuzzelli
58″ X 77″
Wide Beach is a small beach community on the shores of Lake Erie. Growing up I was lucky enough to spend my summers there. I made lifelong friends and memories that have lasted a lifetime. Swimming, water skiing, evening bonfires, climbing the cliffs, Volleyball, tractor rides, listening to Foreigner; Peter Frampton; & Prince. It was like sleep over camp with your whole family and your best friends that lasted all summer long. Unfortunately, the only time I get back there now, is in my dreams.
Traditional Block Inspiration: Log Cabin
Quilted by Joann Iannuzzelli
Friends and Family by Eileen Klee Sweeney @artfulquilter
11.5″ x 11.75″
This quilt was first in a series I began to celebrate my 60th birthday. I wanted to give each of my beloved family members and friends an original quilt hanging to express my thanks for their love and support through the years. Playing cards is an important part of our family’s interaction so this design was especially appropriate. I was hoping to make 60… but I went onto other projects after about 15.
Fused, hand-dyed fabrics, hand embroidery, machine quilting.
Traditional Block Inspiration: Card Trick
Quilted by Eileen Klee Sweeney
Damned If You Do, Dead If You Don’t by Erica Wagner @ohsewsphynxy
28″ x 43″
There are three things that have radically changed my life in the last 5 years: the communities where I have found belonging, learning to sew, and GLP-1 medication. While my inner circle is small, it’s been a powerful place of nonjudgmental support and true love. This quilt top and binding were made completely with clothing that no longer fits me and two of the most important people in my life: my husband and best friend. Each of us has been on our own journey of mental and physical health, collectively losing more than 200 pounds with the support of GLP-1 medications, including Wegovy and Mounjaro, which are dosed in pens, as depicted in this quilt. Designed based on a photo of the 3-sided injection pen, this quilt is fully foundation paper pieced and includes fabric from two dresses, two formal men’s shirts, four pairs of linen pants, and one Halloween costume.
Weight is a really weird thing to talk about, mostly because being overweight is seen as some sort of moral failure; laziness, lack of self-control, or making “bad” choices. As someone who has struggled with the disease of obesity her entire life, I can tell you that it’s none of those things, but you also reach a point where it’s do or literally die. In October 2023 my labs showed that I had crossed into diabetic territory, and with the support and encouragement of my medical provider, I started Mounjaro and my quality of life has improved drastically. Unfortunately, this and similar GLP-1 medications are often seen as the easy way out for weight management, with media outlets blasting celebrities for their “Ozempic face”, perpetuating the shame of both being fat and losing weight. You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. My journey continues, and I’ll be on this medication forever. I’m ok with that, because now I feel like my forever will be much longer.
Traditional Block Inspiration: The Thrifty Wife- KC Star
Quilted by Meagan Morris
Circus of Light by Collette Kinane
17.5″ x 17.5″
In the card trick block, all parts work together to create the bigger picture. The communities that support each other, give room for individuality, and allow talents to blend together are the healthiest and most successful.
Traditional Block Inspiration: Card Trick
Quilted by Collette Kinane
Winner’s were announced in the November 10, 2024 guild meeting.