Saturday, March 17, 2012

Quilters' Day Out

Today was my first Quilters' Day Out which is an internationally recognized day (third Saturday in March) that is set aside to honor and celebrate the art of quilting.  Interestingly, this special day originated in Kentucky many years ago - expanded to a few other states - and has now grown to a day that is recognized throughout the world.

The small guild that I belong to had a "Crayon Challenge" among the members to reveal at the show.  The rules were:

  1. Two crayons were blindly pulled from a bag that included 64 Crayola Crayons.
  2. If you hated one of the colors, you could put one back in and draw again.  One time.  No more!
  3. Fabrics had to be in the colors of the crayons you drew -- and you could use any shade that could be created by coloring on a white sheet of paper - depending on the pressure you used.
  4. You were allowed to add one more color to the quilt -- but it had to be from the box of 64 crayons and that shade only.  No scribbling for shades.
  5. Size could be anywhere from 40" x 40" to 51" x 51".
The pictures I took are terrible and don't do the quilts justice.  
Pink Carnation and Red Violet were drawn and White was added as accent.  This quilter actually used her crayons to color in the squares and heat set shavings in the outer border.
I'm so sorry I didn't get a better picture of this one.  She drew Pink and Blue and didn't want to make the expected baby quilt so she added black and with with an Amish look.  She had seen the pattern in Quiltmaker and modified it slightly by adding flying geese.
This quilter drew Olive Green and Yellow and added Sky Blue as her accent.  This came from March, 2001 Quiltmaker Magazine.
This quilt was beautifully done. I don't recall which colors she drew but she embellished with yellow buttons and did some amazing quilting in the open spaces.
This quilter drew Salmon and Navy Blue and elected not to use an accent color.  Hand quilted.
This quilter drew Yellow and Green and made these cute little pieced baskets with her White accent color.  Hand quilted.
Brown and Blue-Green were the colors drawn for this quilt and she added Dandelion.  This was Viewer's Choice and much more striking in person.
Unfortunately, this one didn't get finished due to illness.   She drew Orange and Black and I think others were expecting a Halloween quilt.  Surprise!
The primary crayons for this quilt was Spring Green and Raw Sienna and Salmon was added as an accent. It's made from Celtic Pieced Illusions by Karen Combs.  Alas, it wasn't finished either.

I hope you've had a chance to celebrate quilting in whatever manner worked best for you today!  Jan

5 comments:

Celtic Thistle said...

Lovely quilts, I have never heard of a special day for Quilters but it sounds like a great idea!

The Sunflower Patch said...

How cool is that? Love the brown,blue/green,dandelion quilt! Do you happen to know the name of the pattern?

Ellen said...

So wonderfully creative - they all look great!

Betty said...

O I love those daffs!!

Gemini Jen NZ said...

I think my favourite would be the black and orange one - it is very striking! Well done to that designer!