Saturday, August 1, 2009

TQHF Triple Anniversary Quilt Challenge Winner




In July 2008 The Quilters Hall of Fame presented a very special Quilt Challenge to celebrate its Honorees and its Triple Anniversary. To participate in the this Challenge, quilters were to select one of the Honorees of The Quilters Hall of Fame who had influenced her/him in some special way and were to interpret this influence in a new work. The entry was to be no larger than 160” total of all four sides and to consist of three layers of textiles stitched together. Photo and narrative were to accompany the entry.

Each participant was encouraged to review the biographies of the TQHF HONOREES for ideas or to purchase the book “The Quilters Hall of Fame” which contains a story of each Honoree. The book is a three-ring binder format to which one can add the additional supplements about each new Inductee. Supplements are published every other year and are available through the TQHF Museum Shop.

A Founder’s Purchase Award of $500 was to go to the quilt that best exemplified the theme of the Challenge. The winning quilt will now become a memento of TQHF's Triple Anniversary year and will become a part of the permanent TQHF education collection.





"Marie's Roses" by Rose Marie Werner


TQHF is pleased to announce that Rose Marie Werner of Dundas, Minnesota won the Founder's Award for her beautiful rendition of Marie's Roses. Those readers who attended Celebration 2008 will recognize Rosie, as she is known to her friends, as the one who lead a kit quilt workshop and presented a lecture on Ruby McKim last year. Rosie is also a member of the American Quilt Study Group (AQSG).


American Beauty Rose



The artist statement that accompanied Rosie's entry read as follows:


"Marie's Roses is a compilation of Marie Websters' six patterns that featured roses. Reading clockwise, starting on the top left are blocks from Wreath of Roses, Cluster of Roses, American Beauty Rose, and Wayside Roses. The small center block is from Cherokee Roses and the border comes from Magpie Rose. While researching the patterns of early 20th Century designers, I developed a great admiration for Marie Webster, her wonderful sense of design, and her entrepreneurial skills. Actually making her patterns only deepened my respect for this artist."

But we all know there is always more story to the making of every quilt, so we asked Roseie to write a little more about the making of her winning quilt.

"Last year, at TQHF Celebration, I saw a quilt hanging in the Webster house that was a compilation of Mountain Mist patterns. (I wish I had noted who made that quilt, as it inspired me to make Marie's Roses. Perhaps someone at TQHF would know whose quilt it was.) At the time I thought that TQHF needed a similar quilt with Marie's designs. When I suggested it to Rosalind Perry she commented that maybe I should make it. The announcement of the Triple Anniversary Challenge gave me the opportunity to do so.


Cluster of Roses (left)





Wreath of Roses (below)






But with the size restrictions, I knew that there were too many patterns and everything would have to be minituarized and would be an impossible task. So I gave up the idea. However, it nagged at the back of my mind for months and in early March I began to wonder how many rose quilts Marie had designed. When I saw that it was 6, I thought it was something I could do. So during March I designed the quilt, reduced the size of the patterns, and cut out the pieces. During April I worked on the applique every spare minute and
during May I hand quilted it - again, working every spare minute I had, despite my dear husband's complaints of being neglected.

I'm very proud to have the quilt hang at TQHF, though it was difficult to part with it."


Cherokee Rose (right)




Magpie Rose Border (below)






Congratulations, Rosie!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The First Birthday Party Photos!

The first report and photos of a Marie Webster/TQHF Birthday Party are here! We hope this is just the first of many more to come! Enjoy!

The Morgan County Schoolhouse Quilters Guild celebrated Marie's 150th birthday on July 21, 2009 at Ady's Quilt Shop in Morgantown, Indiana.


Lisa Dodson of Martinsville, Indiana, made the beautiful cake, which replicates a Marie Webster Windblown Tulips quilt.



Dale Drake, who organized the party, brought Marie's 1915 book "Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them" , The Quilters Hall of Fame binder-form book containing the stories of the first 34 Honorees, and Rosalind Webster Perry's two books "A Joy Forever" and "Marie Webster's Garden of Quilts" to share with the party goers and gave a brief history of Marie's contributions to the quilt world.

She also brought books by Merikay Waldvogel, the 2009 Inductee, and shared information about Merikay and the Celebration 2009 activities.



Everyone sang Happy Birthday to Marie and Lisa blew out the candles and cut the cake. Pieces were sold for a suggested donation of $5 apiece, and $107 was raised for the Quilters Hall of Fame.


The delighted party goers!

Party goers in alpha order: Linda Ayers, Mary Bryan, Pamela Burns, Marilyn Cullen, Lisa Dodson, Dale Drake, Patsy Elliott, Janis Hoffman, Eva Leonard, Neta Phelps, Sue Roe, Marilyn Rosenbaum, Donna Spain, Dixie Steen, Kathy Steere, Lisa Vanzant, Debra Wright.

Thank you Dale, for taking the time to organize a party and spread the word about The Quilters Hall of Fame and our mission! And thank you to Addy's Quilt Shop and to the Morgan County Schoolhouse Quilters Guild for hosting the party!

We hope you'll come to Marion and visit The Quilters Hall of Fame in the Marie Webster House soon to see our next exhibit, curated by our Founder Hazel Carter!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Baltimore Applique Society Donates Quilts to TQHF Auction!

The Baltimore Applique Society voted to make some 30+ one-block small finished quilts for our 2009 July 17 auction to raise funds for The Quilters Hall of Fame. They will be using Marie Webster’s patterns from Rosalind Webster Perry's books A Joy Forever and Marie Webster’s Garden of Quilts. The auction quilts will be on the Baltimore Applique Society website (click here) beginning May 6th along with bidding information before they are sent to TQHF.





Click on the following link. The Baltimore Applique Society has provided great support for TQHF in the past. Browse their website and see some of their many wonderful projects and contributions to the preservation of quilts.


BAS Special efforts in 2000




BAS made and donated 2 quilts in Marie’s "Wayside Roses" pattern in 2000. One quilt was donated as an opportunity quilt and raised over $5,000 for TQHF. The other became a part of the TQHF permanent collection and is often displayed in “Marie’s Studio” in the Webster House.

In 2007 and 2008, BAS donated $1,000 to help with our expenses. BAS members also had quilts on exhibit at TQHF from March-July 2008. We are excited and very grateful to the BAS members for their past support and for undertaking this latest project for us.

Special thanks to Marylou McDonald for initiating this one-block quilt fund-raiser. I hope many of you will be attendance at the auction in Marion, Indiana come July and bid. If you have ever seen the quality of applique work that BAS members produce, you will know why! You will want to own one of these Triple Anniversary mementos!

Monday, April 20, 2009

TQHF Birthday Party Update

The TQHF/Marie Webster Birthday Party Celebration is being celebrated throughout 2009!

Yes! TQHF will celebrate these two very special events until the end of the year! Although Marie Webster's birthday is literally July 19, it's more complex putting an exact date of the founding of TQHF. Therefore we will celebrate all year long! Please Email us your plans and Birthday Bash photos as well as photos of the quilted items you make to celebrate these two auspicious birthdays.

Karen B. Alexander
Public Relations
The Quilters Hall of Fame
765-664-9333

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Happy Birthday Marie Webster and The Quilters Hall of Fame!

Marie's 150th Birthday Party!
TQHF's 30th Birthday Party!



All photos on this website are copyrighted. Please contact us to get permission to reproduce.

Dear Quilt Friends,

In 2009 The Quilters Hall of Fame turns 30 and Marie Webster turns 150 years old. What better time for a birthday party! We invite you to throw a TQHF/Marie Webster Birthday Party in honor of one or both of these auspicious events and to help raise funds for TQHF at the same time, if you like.

Ask your local Quilt Shop to order the new Windham Fabrics Marie Webster-inspired line! Then team up with your quilt shop to hold a Marie Webster/TQHF Fund Raiser Birthday Party. (See #7 below.) To see the whole new line of Marie Webster inspired fabrics by Windham Fabrics, click here.

But Marie Webster is not your only choice! You may choose a to salute another Honoree for a TQHF Birthday salutes all Honorees!

HOW TO PARTICIPATE: First - Email us your intention to throw a TQHF Birthday Party Fundraiser. Then plan a party with your guild or with your Bee.

Or maybe you would just like to do your own thing with a select group of friends because you love to celebrate special events together! Or really think outside the box and throw a party for a local scout group or a party about women's history at a local high school and feature Marie Webster and quilting!

FILM YOUR PARTY! Why not film your party and put it on You Tube to share with other quilters and TQHF party-goers around the world! And let us know when you post your party to ! ALSO, any group that holds a TQHF Birthday Party that raises money and sends us the 2 photos of their party will get their party's photo on the TQHF BLOG.

Windham Fabrics Marie Webster-inspired French Baskets.

WHAT’S A PARTY WITHOUT GIFTS! ANYONE who participates in a Marie Webster/TQHF Birthday Party that raises funds for TQHF will receive a 50%-off coupon for the TQHF Honoree book, which normally sells for $35.00, so make sure we have the names of those who attend your party!

PRIZES: Your TQHF Party has two chances to win a very special prize—the FIRST PRIZE goes to the party that raises the most funds. A SPECIAL PRIZE will also go to the Party the judges deem the most creative in addition to raising money. Also, your story and photo of each winning party will appear in the TQHF Fall/Winter newsletter.

Remember, E-MAIL your Party Plans and we’ll start listing them on the Blog! Meanwhile, share the TQHF Birthday Party news! Pass the Blog link http://quiltershalloffamebirthdayparty.blogspot.com/ to all those who love quilts and have them Email us! Help us get as many people celebrating as possible and raising funds to help us maintain the Honoree Collection and repair the front pillars of the Marie Webster House!

Review the list of suggestions in the post below and then come join the fun and help TQHF at the same time! Together we’ll give TQHF and Marie Webster a birthday to remember!

Keep those needles flying!

Karen Alexander
click here to Email me!

~~~

Karen B. Alexander
The Quilters Hall of Fame
Public Relations
Past President
926 South Washington Street
P.O. Box 681
Marion, IN 46953

TQHF Birthday Party Fund Raiser Suggestions





Just imagine your Birthday Party Brick in the Commemorative Brick Walkway that meanders through Marie's beautifully restored gardens!



In sharing my idea to hold Marie Webster/TQHF Birthday Parties across the quilt world, I have had several friends offer suggestions. Here is the first batch of suggestions:

1. Throw a spaghetti dinner and ask for a donation at the door.

2. Throw a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, sell tickets and get a local quilt shop to donate a prize for the cleverest hat.

3. Bake and decorate cupcakes or cookies and sell slices at your guild meeting.



4. Throw a party and hold a mini silent Auction of items each participant brings that day. No fuss, no muss. Just need space and bidding sheets available. (My guild here on the Island did this for the first time in 2005 with approximately 30 in attendance. Members brought or offered everything from handmade items to bundles of fabric to home-baked breads to promised dinner parties for 6. We shocked ourselves by raising more than $1,000!)

5. Hold a box lunch social at the guild or in your home and auction off the boxed luncheons.

6. Hold a Fund Raiser Birthday Challenge within your Guild or personal circle of friends and tell them you’ll match every $ raised up to X number of dollars.

7. Ask your local Quilt Shop to order the new Windham Fabrics Marie Webster-inspired line! Then team up with your quilt shop to hold a Marie Webster/TQHF Fund Raiser Birthday Party.

8. Lead or get someone to lead a nature walk, an architectural tour, a historic tour, a garden tour. Charge $15-$25 or charge $35 and provide a light lunch.

9. Hold a quilt design piggybank/box contest and ask people to save all their change for 3 months.

10. Hold a quilt-in and make small items for the TQHF Museum Shop (doll quilts, baby quilts, quilted postcards, journal covers. Other?)

11. Ask friends who belong to service clubs, sororities, antique collecting groups, support groups, bridge clubs, women’s church group, scouting, 4-H, youth groups, etc. to hold a once-in-a-life-time fund raising event on behalf of TQHF. If theya re not quilters, sell them on the idea of preserving women's history!



Flowers from Marie's beautifully restored garden.


12. Or ask this same group to let you discuss the significance of quilts and TQHF’s Birthday Celebration to their group and then pass the hat for a donation. They may not be quilters but once in a life-time your friends or group just might respond to your special request.

13. Host a wine and cheese party. Don’t charge admission but do invite as many people as you can. Give a short talk about the significance of TQHF and its 30th Birthday Party and ask everyone to consider a gift of $25, $50 or $100 depending upon the crowd. Ask for door prizes from your local quilt shop.

14. Throw a Quilted Style Show where everyone wears a quilted item that they have made or borrowed, sell tickets; have attendees vote for their favorite outfit and get a local quilt shop to donate a prize.

15. With the help of a friend, hold one fundraising event every other month that nets at least $75. This might look like this:
Quilt Bingo Party - raise $50-100
-Like to cook? Fancy Dinner or Lunch (6-8 people at $25) - raise $200
-Sell 50 raffle tickets for the Marie Webster Opportunity Quilt @ $1 each.
-Ask for donations of Used quilt books & hold a sale - raise $50-$100.

Email your Party Pledge soon!

Karen Alexander
Click here to Email me!

~
Karen B. Alexander
The Quilters Hall of Fame
Public Relations
Past President
926 South Washington Street
P.O. Box 681
Marion, IN 46952



PS: Remember the photo of the Marie Webster House at the top of my first TQHF Birthday post? Ever see what it looked like before we began the restoration work? Be ready for a shock! This is the "before" version of what the donated dollars of quilters around the world rescued and what your dollars continue to do today -- help us keep the Marie Webster House in tip-top shape!