Some Awesome News To Share!

Recently, local guild members and quilters were asked to complete a small, quilted but unbound quilt (measuring 15 1/2" square) to be entered into a competition at the International Plowing Match (IPM) (Wellington County 2016) and then to be used and assembled into "one magnificent raffle quilt".  

The theme chosen for this competition was "Thirty Shades of Green". The top 3  winning quilts would be given prizes and these were generously donated by Northcott Silk.  

Renske Helmuth who is the Quilt Committee Chair for the IPM was requesting 30 blocks at first but tells me she got 80+ blocks!!!  Some real talent and  competitive enthusiasm in this area for sure. More than one quilt will be raffled!!

So although I have never entered a competition before, I decided to try my hand at it. I sure had some trepidation. I thought about what I wanted to do in my quilt and gave some thought about crops, farming, food sources and our current environment.
The criteria for the block was that it had to be 15 1/2" square, interesting on the back, to complement the front, a noticeable amount of green fabric used and embellishments would be permitted. 

I chose a sunflower because of it's importance as a food source for our planet and because I have always loved its beauty, strength and versatility.  I also felt it would be an excellent subject for my thread painting passion!!!

This was also a tuesday technique that I blog posted about recently!

See a photo of my inspiration is below, this was taken from my sister and her boyfriends garden:

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Is this not just the prettiest, happiest of flowers?

A picture of my finished entry into the competition is below, front of quilt:

Helianthus (Sunflower)

A photo of the back of the quilt is below:

Thread painting showing the back and the Helianthus by night

I feel honoured and proud to say I won 3rd place in this competition!!!


A brief description of my entry is as follows:


Helianthus

The Sunflower (Helianthus) is grown as an important food source for the planet. It is very useful to birds, bees and human consumption.  The green foliage in the background has 30+ shades of green fabric fused and then heavily free motion quilted, to represent the rich green environment we need to grow such an important plant. The Sun Flower is heavily thread painted and quilted with a free motion technique and beaded in the centre.  The mighty sunflower shows it's beauty and versatility always and this is why it is depicted by day on the front and by night on the back of this block.

Although I got a very nice call from the  Quilt Committee Chair Mrs. Helmuth advising me of my win, I also got an email announcing the win and I will briefly summarize:

"Judges Elizabeth King and Bonnie Murdoch determined the top three blocks based on criteria such as workmanship, creativity and incorporation of the theme.  Both judges live in Waterloo and are members of the Waterloo County Quilters’ Guild.  King has judged nationally for the Canadian Quilters’ Association and Murdoch organized the Waterloo guild show in September.   Both are long time quilters."

"Third place was a stunning jewelled sunflower by Robin Bogaert of Waterloo.   The block was skillfully thread painted and beaded.  The judges admired the intensity of the treadwork on both the front and back."

There are of course first and second place winners and I would be remiss not to mention their  very talented efforts and congratulations to them as well!!!

1.  Congratulations on your First Place Win-Mary Katherine Hopkins of Guelph
2. Congratulations on your Second Place Win-Nancy Winn of Waterloo

I cannot wait to see all of the blocks, winners and honourable mentions too!!!

The International Plowing Match takes place Sept 20 -24th 2016 in Minto, Ontario

The IPM Quilt Show and Competition takes place August 19 and 20th at the Harriston Curling Club in Harriston, Ontario- be sure to mark your calendars!  

I'm sure I will also be talking about this event in future blog posts.


I am so thrilled and thankful to all who quilted, organized and judged all of the quilts!

Feeling inspired to continue with thread painting!

Happy Monday!!