I took 1st Place in the Storytellers 2010 Challenge!!!

So I am finally getting back to my Storyteller posts. As promised, here is the posts on Storytellers 2010 Challenge.  The subject was African American History over the last 15 years, to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Storytellers.  We were asked to pick an event in African American history and make a 12 1/2" block, that was made up of white or white on white fabric, with no more than two other colors.  Each block had to include crystal as it is the symbol for a 15th Anniversary, but we could add any other embellishment.  Those in attendance voted to select the Viewers Choice.  1st, 2nd and 3rd place ribbons were awarded, along with scholarships to next years retreat.

Out of the 75 quilters only 10 submitted entries...  Lucky me... I won 1st Place....  YEAH!

Here are the winning entries:

My tribute to Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe and "Revelations"..  both celebrating 50 years.  The creation of the Dance Troupe in 1958 and the Premiere of Revelations in 1960.

And here is second (Color in the White House) and third place (Storytellers Anniversary, by Joann Shelton):

....  and here is a smilebox with the other 7 entries:

Free slideshow design personalized with Smilebox

Hope you enjoyed the show....

Storytellers Show-n-Tell

OK, here is installation number 2 of my pics from the Storytellers Retreat.  Today I am posting pics from Show-N-Tell.  It is always amazing to see the different styles of work, but for me what was unusual for 75 women from all over the US, was the similarity of the fabrics.  They were all beautiful, it was just interesting to see such a consistent theme.

For easier viewing I have made a Smilebox.  I would appreciate your comments as to whether or not you like the Smilebox postings or would prefer if I attached the pics one by one.  Just leave a comment :-).

Ok, here you go:

Personalize your own photo slideshow

Hope you enjoyed the show!

Renee

What a weekend @ Storytellers!!

I came home on Sunday with such a HIGH.  Nothing better than being surrounded by other quilters, who are all so supportive and nurturing.  There was 75 quilters in attendance with a few husbands sprinkled in, to help with technical aspects of the weekend.  This was my first time at a Storytellers retreat (some have been going for 15 yrs!) and I will definitely be going back next year.

I took more than 70 pictures over the 4 days, so I will break my posts up by subject....  and no I won't post all the pics, but will do another Smilebox for those who want to see more than a few.  I should start with my ribbon for the Challenge ...   I WON 1st PLACE  :-)....  but since that was on the 3rd day, it will have to wait....  I will post all the challenge pictures together.

Ok, first thing Thursday morning was the first segment of Juanita Yeager's 2 1/2 day class, Paint It... Quilt It...Finish It...  I took the first 2 days, paint/quilt it, and am I sooo happy I did!  You can take a look at Juanita's blog here.  She is such a talented fiber artist.  In fact, while we were there she found out that she had won Best Machine Workmanship Award at Mancuso's  show in West Palm Beach over the weekend....  way to go Juanita!

Juanita uses watercolor pigments to create the most stunning floral quilts.  She stepped us through the materials she uses, including how she prepares her fabric and then guided us through a day of painting two different floral designs.  Here is a picture of my first flower, that we drew freehand and then painted:

and here is my second flower which was first traced from Juanita's pattern and then painted....

On the second day, we learned all of Juanita's tips and techniques for machine quilting our flowers.  The class was geared to anyone from a novice to someone like myself who has machine quilted for a while.  I always find it amazing that quilters everywhere seem to have little tips to make quilting easier and Juanita had a few that I had never heard before.  I love her tip on burying threads...  oh my gosh so simple!...  but you have to take her class to learn how (I can't just share her secrets with the world.. hehehehe...)

So here is my first flower after quilting:

All the quilted is done free motion, with no marking.  She had us sign our piece while quilting in thread, like an artist signs their paintings.  Notice the thread painting that provides more depth and contrast above the stem in different color Sulky Rayon threads.

I had such a wonderful time with Juanita and the other ladies in the class.  Here is a short Smilebox with a few pictures of the other quilters work...

Another digital slideshow by Smilebox

I hope you get to take a class from Juanita one day...  it will be well worth it!