AAQI Quilts for Sale

While writing Sunday night's blog, I wanted to include photos of small art quilts as examples.  I made and donated several quilts to AAQI and decided to check on their progress.  I discovered that they are posted on the AAQI website.

I thought some of my readers might be interested in knowing which quilts of those I have donated are currently up for sale.  The basic information is mostly the same for each quilt, so it appears at the end of a segment.

12,240 - The Old Home Place

 12,241 - Christmas Cabin

12,242 - Sunbonnet In Blue  

Mary Marcotte

Evergreen, LA USA

Width: 9" Length: 12"

Materials/Techniques: Cotton fabric, batting, pieced backing with appliquéd and embellished Sunbonnet Sue.

Artist Statement:

I made this quilt to raise funds for Alzheimer’s research and to show my support for the AAQI. Contact Mary

Dedication: All of my AAQI quilts are made and donated in memory of my mother, Ellen Bourque, who had Alzheimer's. She was a beautiful woman and friend, and I miss her every day.

This quilt has Fast Finish Triangles.

 

  12,273 - A Feather in My Cap

 

12,275 - Fractured Memory

 

12,276 - Wish You Were Here

 

12,277 - Scrollwork in Cotton

 

Mary Marcotte

Evergreen, LA USA

Width: 12" Length: 9"

Materials/Techniques: Quilters cotton, batting, embellishments.

Artist Statement: All of the Alzheimer's Art Quilts that I make are meant to honor my late parents, Ellen and Riley Bourque. Mom was an Alzheimer's patient, and while my sisters and I helped, dad was her caregiver. Their 53 wonderful years gave them eight daughters and memories that she could not hold onto.

Contact Mary

Dedication: In memory of Ellen and Riley Bourque.

This quilt has Fast Finish Triangles.

If you're interested in purchasing any of these quilts, or any AAQI quilt for that matter, simply go to http://www.alzquilts.org/ to make your purchase.  Type Mary Marcotte in the search box and all seven of these quilts will appear.  They are priced at $35-50 each, which means that together we will raise over 300 dollars for Alzheimer's research.  My personal goal is to make and donate enough to raise $1000, so this is only the beginning.
Happy Quilt Shopping,
Mary 

Three Little Quilts

Once upon a time there were three little quilts who all wanted to go to a special place where they could find new homes and help raise money for Alzheimer's research.

I started these little quilts two weekends ago and wrapped them up last week.  They will go to AAQI after the holidays.  I'm hoping to add another one or two before sending these off.  My goal was to get 12 to AAQI in 2012.  I don't think I'll quite make it, but I'll do what I can over the holidays to get a few more finished and on their way.

I discovered that making a couple of quilts is easy if I begin as though I'm making only one large quilt.  Each one has the same background fabric but the flowers are different.

To avoid putting flowers in the way of my cutting, I measured the background and drew a line using ink that vanishes when pressed.

From that point on, I just played, designing and dropping in flowers as I went along.  I tried to stick with the rule of three, but it's not a hard and fast rule, so I didn't worry it to death.   

After pressing the flowers into place, I went to the Bernina and stitched them down using either the BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator) or one of the specialty stitches.  

On the pink flower below, I used two of the specialty stitches and like the lacy look that I achieved.  On the purple straw-flower beside it, I used the BSR and ran over the petals over and over adding several layers of thread to darken the petals and add dimension.

On some of the flowers I zigzagged the edges but on others I left the raw edges exposed.  The two toned flowers in this quilt are a good example of this.  While I sewed the purple petals, I left the blue without stitches because the other parts hold it down.

The little yellow flowers on the vine were a bit difficult because they are so small.  I planned to have more them, but once I realized how difficult they are to work, I dropped the idea and added another pink flower to fill the space.

In the end the three quilts are just the right size for AAQI, which I discovered returns any quilts that are 1/4 inch over the 9 X 12 inch limit.  I got two back earlier this month from the last group that I sent.  I was able to trim one down, but the other will not cooperate.  Trimming it takes too much away from the motif, so that one has become a small quilt in my studio.  I measured these more carefully and made sure to leave enough wiggle room for the binding.

I hope you come back tomorrow for a visit when I hope to announce the winner of the Blog Hop Party giveaway.  

Happy Quilting,

Mary

Another AAQI Quilt

After making a small quilt for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) over the weekend, I just wasn't crazy about the embellishments.  So I posted a photo of the quilt on the Quilting Board and asked other quilters for their opinions.  Not many responded, but every single one said the same.....lose the beads.  Well, how does one argue with that, especially since I kinda felt that way myself?  

The beads came off and two more fabric scrolls came on.  These two are in orange and I am much happier with the end result.  So this one is ready for shipping.  Well, actually, I was planning is to drop them off when we go to International Quilt Fest in Houston in November.

AAQI usually has a booth at the Festival, so it would be easy to drop them as I pass by the booth, but it's occurred to me that doing so might make keeping track of the quilts a bit more difficult for the volunteers who work the booth and pack up at the end of Festival.  Besides, if I get my act together and send them in a few days, the quilts might be available for sale at the festival.  Now that would be cool!

Had you noticed that I keep referring to the quilts, plural, as in two?  That's because I first reworked that one....
then I picked up some of the fabric that was left over and played a bit.  

Viola!  Another little quilt.

They're just so easy to whip up.  Especially if you whip up extra stuff while putting one together.   

Another reason that I like playing with these little quilts is that I can experiment with different techniques without that nervous feeling that I get when I'm working on a large quilt.  Besides, it's sometimes hard to get a real sense of whether something is working until the quilt is finished.  Large quilts take time to get to the finish.  These babies finish up so quickly that I get some instant gratification and find out quickly whether the experiment works.


Sometimes an experiment is a total bust.  But that's okay on a small quilt because I've only invested a little bit of time and resources.  Toss a mistake in the trash and move on!  

Toss a big quilt?  No Way!  I have to make it work somehow, and I can get pretty frustrated fighting a quilt that does not want to come together.  But a small 9 X 12 quilt is not a huge investment, so I don't feel guilty when it doesn't cooperate with my bright ideas. (Or my bright ideas weren't so sparkly to begin with.)

Of course, running into the studio for a couple of hours to relax after work is much more fun when there's a quick project awaiting my attention.  Okay, I admit it: I'm like some instant gratification on occasion.

I don't even have to tell you how good it feels to know that my little quilts are helping AAQI to raise money for Alzheimer's research. Now that's some gratification!  Talk about a good reason to play, experiment and throw a cute little quilt together. 
Happy Quilting,
Mary

Anniversary Quilt

My parents were married in 1957, so a few years ago they celebrated their 50th anniversary.  Mom's Alzheimer's Disease was pretty bad by that time, but she was still able to talk with people and remember many of the people from her younger days.  

The eight of us children got together with our respective husbands and threw them a party.  In the meantime, I had begun a quilt for mom and dad using the bow tie block in a pretty blue and yellow.

While looking over some of the photographs in my computer, I found the photos of the quilt and though I'd post them tonight.   I have a penchant or making large quilts with blocks in the middle and a border of flowers that coordinate with the block fabrics.  

Unfortunately, the colors are rather muted in these photos.  I took the photos in the late afternoon but apparently the sun was still too bright.

Thanks for visiting my blog.  I hope you enjoyed seeing my parents' quilt.  I really enjoyed making it and look forward to making a quilt something like this one again.  I had forgotten how much I like blue and yellow together.

AAQI to the sixth power

This is the sixth quilt for AAQI (Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative) that I've made.  A couple of years ago I designed several chicken blocks to make a large quilt, but after I drew out the blocks and made a couple I decided that I'm not into chickens that much.  

Lo and behold, I attended a couple of quilt shows and there was at least one chicken quilt at each show.  Then I discovered that one of the larger fabric houses has really cute chicken fabrics available.  So I guess I was on to something.  

What's Kickin' Chicken?

While cleaning and moving things around the studio, I discovered my drawings.  I chose my favorite to turn into a small quilt for AAQI, added some country fabric from mom's stash and had a blast working on it.  I wouldn't purchase this quilt for myself, but I'm hopeful someone will appreciate it enough to spend a few dollars on it.  

Knowing how popular chicken fabrics and quilts are, don't you think that it will sell?  I don't have any idea how the AAQI quilts are priced, but I hope that it will be priced low enough to sell.  I'd really like to see the quilt raise at least a few dollars for Alzheimer's research.

AAQI again

Here's another little quilt for AAQI (Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative) that I made yesterday.  I think I have five completed now.  I hope to complete one more before sending the set off to AAQI.  

I do have to label them all and register them on the AAQI website.  I plan to do both of those this week while at the workshop.  I'll have evenings in a hotel with little to do, and since I'm not much for watching TV unless there's something else to do, I may get rather bored rather quickly.

This little darling is Sunbonnet Sue dressed in blue.  I did a very tight micro-stippling on the entire quilt, which took much longer than I expected.  Her bonnet is stippled in swirls and her dress is stippled in hearts. She's wearing lace around her bonnet and at the hem of her little plaid dress.  Isn't she just sweet?

Check out her bonnet.  There's a row of blue seed beads on the crease of her bonnet and a little mussie tussie of flowers on the back.

I'm hoping that there's someone who would love a miniature quilt with a cute little girl who happens to be very traditional.  I'm also hoping that that someone is willing to pay a nice little sum for said little quilt to help support the AAQI.

What do you think?  Won't this little girl help the good cause?

AAQI cubed

Yes, that's right, cubed--as in three quilts ready to send off to AAQI!  I am rather excited because I had hoped to complete three and have met that goal.  Of course, I'm not going to stop just because I got there.  Instead, I'll keep going.

I have an idea or two percolating in my head that I want to try.  Besides, I sort of cheated with this quilt....I used a block from a project that I'd long ago given up on.  I was supposed to make a few pot holders with them but poor darlings are UFO's twice!

Isn't it just like me to quit a project, come up with another way to use some of the blocks, then quit that idea before I even get started on it?

Oh well, that's how it goes.  Once I put something aside, it's very unlikely that I'll come back to it.....ever!  Here are a few pictures.  Since it's so simple, I'll just let you draw your own conclusions about the little quilt.  Enjoy, but don't forget to let me know what you think of it.

Another AAQI Quilt

Please forgive me for not posting this yesterday as planned.  I am having computer issues....this baby is just about to eat it, as the kids say.  I may have to invest in a new one. Phooey!



Thanks to Jenclair for her inspiration!  She posted a house block at some point in the last couple of weeks, I think, but I can't find the photo, although I spent the last 20 minutes looking for the photo so I could add a link.  I'm sorry...both to my readers and to Jenclair.  Here is a link to her blog, Bayou Quilts.  Please do visit her and say "hello."

She and I decided to pool our resources to get others to make quilts for AAQI.  Jenclair has made two, and tonight I finished my second.  If you decide to join us, let us know by leaving a comment on either blog and send photos of the finished quilt.  We'll post the photos at the beginning of August since we've agreed to try to wrap up our efforts by the time I start back to school.


Since I don't have a pattern, I decided to just wing it the best I could.  I did make a drawing, of sorts, but I  won't bother you with it since I didn't follow it anyway, although I did draw it to scale.

Once I had a sense of what I wanted, I pulled out some scraps and started cutting.  Of course, I cut everything too big and before I knew it,  the house almost filled the space.

I trimmed some of it down to make room for the small tree that I really wanted.

I couldn't resist the urge to add a small red bird in the tree.  Above the tree is a little piece of the sun.  I actually made the sun larger, but once the binding was added, I lost part of it.

Can you see the quilting?  There's wind blowing around, sun rays, and above the house, a pair of clouds.

I added some texture to the tree trunk and some grass leaves in the grassy areas.

On the house I tossed in some tiles on the roof, some boards on the walls, and panes to the windows.  I felt that the quilting would be what makes the quilt design work.  In the end, it's just a simple little quilt that may fetch a few dollars, but it's my contribution and I'm pretty proud of it.

I haven't added the label yet, but it will say "Made in loving memory to my mother, Theresa Ellen Bourque. 1932-2010.  Mary Marcotte. 9" X 12"  2011."  (The periods represent the end of a particular line.)  I will send this one off with the red one I made a week or so ago and, hopefully, a few more that I am able to pull together.