The Challenge Quilts are being offered on eBay. Please see below for details.

Fifteen talented quilt/fiber artists agreed to participate in the Museum’s Capital Campaign “Innovation/ Restoration” Quilt Challenge, and the stunning results are the works of art you see here. 100% of the funds raised through sale of these pieces will benefit the restoration.

All the remaining quilts are being offered on eBay, at the Museum’s eBay page.  The quilts may also be purchased through the Museum Store and are currently on display at the Museum.

We thank the following artists for taking part in the Innovation/Restoration Challenge:  Thom Atkins, Jo Baner, Teri Bever, Opal Cocke & Amy Cowan, Karin Franzen, Anne Gillihan, Sonia Grasvik, Geoff Hamada, Louise Harris, Trisha Hassler, Luke Haynes, Marjorie Horton, Vivian Kapusta, Helen Remick, and Lorraine Torrence.

Photos by Mary Cairns Photography.

Please select a thumbnail below to see a larger view, details, the back of the piece, title and artist label, and pricing . . .

  

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The Restoration of the La Conner Quilt Museum SOLD

by Thom Atkins

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Rising from the Ashes…       SOLD

by Jo Baner

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Leftovers       SOLD

by Teri Bever

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Layered…From the Ground Up   SOLD

by Opal Cocke & Amy Cowan

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Still Life with Tulle

by Karin Franzen. Click on this photo for more photos and to read more…

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Fragment

by Anne Gillihan

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Brown Round-A-Bout       SOLD

by Sonia Grasvik

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by Geoff Hamada

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Floral Maze

by Louise Harris

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I Thought You Had the Key   SOLD

by Trisha Hassler

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Untitled

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Untitled    SOLD

by Majorie Horton

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Renovation Project Manager    SOLD

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Starburst (Yoyo 12)

by Helen Remick

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Reconstruction I

by Lorraine Torrence

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Bleeding Hearts Star

Two fabrics in similar values create a look of three-dimensionality in these faceted stars. Mitered veins with heart-shaped curves echo the curves in the tiny bleeding hearts, and a sprinkling of small leaves adds a delicate touch.

Techniques used:  Steep points featuring two fabrics (stars), Unit appliqué (bleeding hearts), Mitered Hera bias strips (vines), and Inking (stamens).

–Skill Level:  Intermediate to Advanced

–Workshop Supply List will be sent no later than  August 1.

–6-hour class

Museum members receive a 10% discount on Workshops.

• Non-Members:  $125.00  
• Current Members:  $112.50  

After signing up for your workshop be sure to sign up for the lunch too!A sack lunch may be ordered for $5:

• Vegetarian Lunch 
• Meat Lunch 

You may also call 360-466-4288 to register or stop by the Museum and register in person.

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Jane’s Biography:

Jane Townswick is an accomplished author, editor, quilter, teacher, and former shop owner. She has been an instructor at the esteemed Elly Sienkiewicz Appliqué Academy since 2000, and her work has been featured in Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine and American Quilter magazine. She is the author of several books, including Artful Appliqué:  The Easy Way (2000), Appliqué Takes Wing (2005), Artful Appliqué II (2009), and Color-Blend Appliqué (2011); all by Martingale & Company. Jane lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She lectures and teaches workshops on hand appliqué throughout the country and internationally.

–Artful Appliqué II,  Martingale & Company–

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Crop Circles

This delightful wall hanging is a variation of the New York Beauty block but with a real twist. In class you will learn a very easy paper piecing method and the curved piecing goes smoothly as the pattern is very well drafted. Choose rainbow colors on a black background as in the sample, or put your own personal stamp on it with colors of your choice.

–Skill Level:  Confident Beginners to Advanced, some gentle curved piecing

–Sewing Machine required

–Workshop Supply List will be sent no later than  August 1

–6 hour Workshop

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Museum members receive a 10% discount on Workshops.

• Non-Members:  $115.00  
• Current Members:  $103.50  

A sack lunch may be ordered for $5:  

• Vegetarian Lunch:  $5 
• Meat Lunch:  $5 

You may also call 360-466-4288 to register or stop by the Museum and register in person. 

Sharon’s Biography:

I have been quilting since 1986 and teaching since 1987. That’s right, I started teaching one year after I made my first quilt. I live in the beautiful Comox Valley on Vancouver Island and in 1986 there were no quilt teachers here. After I had made half a dozen quilts I became the local ‘expert’ and reluctantly agreed to teach my first class. I was terrified. But, my students were enthusiastic and wanted more, so I added another class to the beginner class I’d taught, and it has just kept on growing.

I enjoy teaching – no, I love teaching – and I feel very strongly that students learn more in a relaxed atmosphere. My classes are full of fun – and information – but the emphasis is on making what we do enjoyable. After all, it is supposed to be fun.

Sharon’s website: http://www.sharonpederson.com/index.html

Snake in the Garden

In this workshop, quilters will use the pattern pieces for this quilt to create their own medallion quilt. From the appliquéd spiral center through the scrap border, all the patterns will be included and explored. This is a sewing machine workshop.

–Skill Level:  All

–Sewing Machine required

–Workshop Supply List will be sent no later than  August 1

–6 hours

Museum members receive a 10% discount on Workshops.

• Non-Members:  $120.00 
• Current Members:  $108.00  

A sack lunch may be ordered for $5:

• Vegetarian Lunch 
• Meat Lunch 

You may also call 360-466-4288 to register or stop by the Museum and register in person..

Joe’s Biography:

I learned to make quilts by copying and imitating great quilts of the 19^th century under the guidance of older women, women who thought our greatest contribution might be to add an original interpretation of classic designs. Beginning in 1979 I followed this path for many years, until I decided that the impulse behind the classics was much wilder and freer than I had previously imagined. At that point, I realized I could be most traditional by trying to start with a blank slate and make the quits I saw in my mind. Since then, I have been seeking ways to make quilts that reflect my own life, not anyone else’s. Also, it is important to me to make quilts that can be used as blankets. I have never felt limited by this.

Learn more about Joe:  http://www.joethequilter.com/

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This workshop is full. Please contact the Museum at 360-466-4288 to be placed on a waiting list for Wednesday, Thursday, or Sunday.

Beads I

We will take a look at beads, their shapes, varieties of finishes, and their use on quilts to create texture and color changes in the surface. We will learn the basic stitches for applying beads, and what they do to the surface of the quilt, and how the application of beads quilts the surface. This is a process class.

–Skill level:  The student should have some prior knowledge of hand sewing and hand quilting.

–Kit fee $25, payable to instructor on day of class

–Workshop Supply List will be sent no later than  August 1

–6-hour class    

Please call the Museum at 360-466-4288 to be places on a waiting list for this workshop.

 Museum members receive a 10% discount on Workshops..

A sack lunch may be ordered for $5, please let us know if you are interested.

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Thom’s Biography:

Thom has been fascinated with beads for over 30 years. He has done bead embroidery, jewelry, and added beads to some of his bronze sculptures. The beaded pieces found here are a body of work he has created since 2002 when he began the shift from bronze to beads. They are, for the most part, bead embellished quilts where the beads are embedded in the surface of the quilt and their application does the quilting. Using the quilt as a canvas and the beads as texture and paint, he has developed a unique style combining fabric and beads.

Thom’s website:

http://www.thomatkins.com/

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Beaded Fringe Techniques

Beaded fringe adds movement, texture, and an opportunity to showcase specialty beads to almost anything.  Adding fringe to your work, whether it be a purse, necklace, earrings, doll, or whatever, can turn a relatively plain piece into something amazing.  It’s also quite fun to do.  In this half-day workshop you will make a fringe sampler (like the one shown)  as you learn basic fringe techniques and variations, plus some special and unusual fringeswhich together with the handout; this will make it easy to remember and use these techniques on future projects.

–Skill Level:  great class for both beginners and more advanced beaders.  No previous beading or sewing experience is required.

–Kit fee is $12.oo; payable to Instructor in workshop

–Workshop Supply List will be sent no later than  August 1

–3-hour class

Museum members receive a 10% discount on Workshops.

• Non-Members:  $45.00  
• Current Members:  $40.50  

You may also call 360-466-4288 to register or stop by the Museum and register in person.

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Robin’s Biography:

Traveling widely to teach, lecture and research beadwork for nearly 20 years, Robin Atkins is a nationally known bead artist. She has authored four beading books, including One Bead at a Time, and numerous magazine articles. Robin enjoys all types of beading. However, she especially loves to sew beads on cloth. Currently her two passions are fabricating sculptural pieces and combining bead embroidery with bookmaking to create bead-embellished journals. She is excited to see the development of beadwork in the past two decades, as it has shifted from the world of craft toward the world of art.

Robin’s website:

http://www.robinatkins.com/index.html.

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Beaded Buttons

During this half-day workshop, you will learn some basic bead embroidery techniques.  At the end you will cover a metal button form with your bead embroidery to create a special and unique button.  Beaded buttons make great hat decorations, quilt embellishments, purse closures, pins (cut off the shank and glue on a pin back), collectibles, and gifts.  Many students finish their button in class.  The techniques learned are very applicable to other bead embroidery projects.

–Skill Level:  reat class for both beginners and advanced beaders.  No previous beading or sewing experience is required.  Each student will receive an instructional handout during the class.

–Kit fee is $12.00, payable to Instructor in Workshop

–Workshop Supply List will be sent no later than  August 1

–3-hour class

Museum members receive a 10% discount on Workshops.

• Non-Members:  $45.00  
• Current Members:  $40.50  

A sack lunch may be ordered for $5:

• Vegetarian Lunch 
• Meat Lunch 

Please call 360-466-4288 to register or stop by the Museum and register in person.

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Robin’s Biography:

Traveling widely to teach, lecture and research beadwork for nearly 20 years, Robin Atkins is a nationally known bead artist. She has authored four beading books, including One Bead at a Time, and numerous magazine articles. Robin enjoys all types of beading. However, she especially loves to sew beads on cloth. Currently her two passions are fabricating sculptural pieces and combining bead embroidery with bookmaking to create bead-embellished journals. She is excited to see the development of beadwork in the past two decades, as it has shifted from the world of craft toward the world of art.

Robin’s website:

http://www.robinatkins.com/index.html.

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Ribbons, Roses, & Women’s Rights:  Baltimore’s Albums (Lecture

Baltimore Albums – A Visible Face of Social Revolution

What about our own Baltimore -style quilts is classic? What, “beyond Baltimore”? Why does ribbonry delight us? And why did Baltimore’s ladies —rich with ribbons—use them on their bonnets, but not on their “Brides Quilts”? Theirs were momentous times. In fact, the Baltimores were a Visible Face of Social Revolution:  the Industrial Revolution; the Transportation Revolution (from wood to steel and from wind to steam); the Communications Revolution which we’re now in, had already begun — With electricity harnessed, Morse telegraphed “What hath God wrought?” from DC to Baltimore in 1844! Social movements, too, were revolutionizing life: Temperance, Abolition, and even Women’s Rights; to cap all, war — in 1845 — broke out with Mexico and the Gathering Storm of the Civil War could be heard. This rollicking talk asks “Why so little ribbon in Baltimore’s Albums?” and suggests some surprising motivations!

Time: Lecture begins at 6:30 pm. Books autographed before and after lecture. Books will be available for purchase.

Cost:  $35 

This lecture will take place at the Museum of Northwest Art, 121 1st Street, La Conner, WA 98257. Includes hors d’oeuvres and beverages.

You may purchase Elly’s Lecture online or call the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum at 360-466-4288 to reserve a seat.

Elly’s Biography:

Trained in History, Art & Education (A.B. Wellesley College, M.S. Univ of PA) Elly Sienkiewicz adores appliqué! For twenty books … and counting she has been designing, stitching, teaching, and writing about appliqué — from basics to Baltimore Albums. Houston’s Quilts Inc. has twice invited special exhibitions of Elly’s work and that inspired by her books. Most recent was 2010 ‘s exhibition dubbed “Baltimore’s Daughters”: ten quilts, most designed by Elly and created under her direction, plus a judged show based on her patterns. The first such Exhibition was created to honor Elly’s work as the 2003 Silver Star honoree. The Silver Star Award was given to a handful of select artists who made a “profound contribution to the contemporary Quilting Revival” of the past half-century. Recently, Quilters Newsletter readers voted her “America’s Best Quilting Teacher – while her Appliqué 12 Easy Ways! won the Quilt Industry Classics Award for Best Book on appliqué.

Two major Baltimore Album Revival Exhibitions (Rita Barber’s Lancaster show, Mancuso’s Long Beach show) celebrated her books’ impact on the decades-long Baltimore Album and Appliqué Revival. Before becoming so deeply involved with group-made Albums, Elly’s was a resident artisan at the Glen Echo Art Park in Glen Echo, MD. Her individual work hung at shows across the country and at Museums and Galleries in and around Washington, DC. Inspiring as speaker, she has lectured for museums, including the Smithsonian Institution and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Museum, where her work as a quilt historian has been recognized. Elly has taught across the United States, and on five continents.  Her work has been in quilt magazines in the US, Europe, and Japan, and in The Magazine Antiques, Folk Art Magazine, Victoria, Threads, and Uncoverings,The Journal of the American Quilt Study Group.  Please visit her websites www.EllySienkiewicz.com and www.AppliquewithElly.com

Tulips in a Scrapliqué Vase

Tulips are some of the most classically beautiful flowers in nature, with smooth, shiny petals that gleam in the sun. Whatever colors you choose for these three flowers, keep the color values similar in adjacent pieces to create a color-blended effect and choose a contrast color for the inside of the flowers.

Techniques include:  Unit Appliqué (flowers), Color Blending (flowers), Scraplique (vase), inserting thin band of color (leaves), and steep outer points.

--Skill Level:  Intermediate to Advanced

–Workshop Supply List will be sent no later than  August 1

–6-hour class

Museum members receive a 10% discount on Workshops.

• Non-Members:  $125.00  
• Current Members:  $112.50  

After signing up for your workshop, be sure to sign up for the lunch too!A sack lunch may be ordered for $5:

• Vegetarian Lunch 
• Meat Lunch 

Please call 360-466-4288 to register or stop by the Museum and register in person.

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Jane’s Biography:

Jane Townswick is an accomplished author, editor, quilter, teacher, and former shop owner. She has been an instructor at the esteemed Elly Sienkiewicz Appliqué Academy since 2000, and her work has been featured in Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine and American Quilter magazine. She is the author of several books, including Artful Appliqué:  The Easy Way (2000), Appliqué Takes Wing (2005), Artful Appliqué II (2009), and Color-Blend Appliqué (2011); all by Martingale & Company. Jane lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She lectures and teaches workshops on hand appliqué throughout the country and internationally.

–Artful Appliqué II,  Martingale & Company–

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