Colorado Quilting Council is well known nationally for sponsoring quilting symposiums dating back to 1982. They always furnish innovative and well-known quilters as teachers for the offered classes. I attended the first symposium in 1982, and it was a mind-blowing experience with such teachers as Jinny Beyer, Chris Wolf Edmonds, Jeffrey Gutcheon, Roberta Horton to name a few. This was before we had access to the internet's learning opportunities, and this was a BIG deal.
Then in the mid-1980s, I went to Houston's quilt festival a couple of times and to other conferences in neighboring states meeting teachers and making friends.
So by the time the Colorado 1988 symposium rolled around, I was a seasoned quilt festival attendee. It was a time to meet up with old friends and have fun in addition to sharpening my quilting skills.
At the closing banquet of the 1988 event, Quilter's Newsletter Magazine gave away samples of their Rainbow fabrics -- one of the first collections of solids offered. I was fortunate enough to win a large stack of squares. Since I had always been interested in signature quilts, I had friends and teachers sign the fabric.
I held onto those signatures until 1998, when I was writing a book on signature quilts. I decided then it was time to do something with these treasures, and made this quilt using a crazy quilt format naming it "Crazy Friends". Among the noted signatures are:
Doreen Speckmann - always had a new idea and offered fun classes. Catherine Anthony - a pioneer quilt store owner in Texas and the mother of famous quilter, Libby Lehman.
Blanche Young - another innovative technician with her daughter, and a master of the multi-fabric quilt. I learned so much in her classes.
Vivian Ritter - a longtime editor at Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, and mainly responsible for the
publishing of my quilts in QNM.
publishing of my quilts in QNM.
Harriet Hargrave -- the pioneer behind the current machine quilting movement.
These are just a few of the wonderful signatures of friends and teachers on this little quilt that I treasure.
I'm joining the following:
Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social Wednesday
Quarter Inch from the Edge for Throwback Thursday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday
Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday
A Quilted Passion for Whoomp There It Is! Saturday
Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday
Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making
Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday
These are just a few of the wonderful signatures of friends and teachers on this little quilt that I treasure.
I'm joining the following:
Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social Wednesday
Quarter Inch from the Edge for Throwback Thursday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday
Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday
A Quilted Passion for Whoomp There It Is! Saturday
Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday
Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making
Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday
12 comments:
What a treasure! Love the quilt, but it's even better with the memories attached to each signature!!
Looks great with a great memories to hold!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful quilt! I have always wanted to do a signature quilt - very inspiring!
Oh this is just amazing!! All those great signatures of great quilters and great memories. I will always remember Doreen Speckmann's "peaky and spike" blocks and her fun appearances on quilting shows. Your quilt is such a fun tribute!
Wonderful keepsake!
What a testament to quilting history this quilt is. It's so colourful and pretty, and a great keepsake for you with all the signatures. Thanks for sharing the story that came along with this quilt.
Such a cool way to reminisce about your quilty friends. Thanks for linking up with Throwback Thursday @ A Quarter Inch from the Edge!
What a treasure! Those signatures are amazing indeed. Wonderful signature quilt! I jumped over here from Whoomp There It Is, and I'm glad I did.
Lovely story, fun quilt, what a treasure.
How special! I love that the signatures are on the light solids rather than muslin. It adds so much to the quilt. What a treasure!
Wonderful memories Sad to realize that several of those quilters are no longer with us. Special quilt.
The quilt is wonderful, with that border that's perfect. We've had so many terrific opportunities to play with the greats of the quilting revival times. I've had classes with some of those people, too, and wish I'd been smart enough to get signatures and make such a quilt, with lots of crazy quilt stitches, too. I remember the first signature quilt I saw - an album quilt, family signatures - and later some with names of famous people, used to raise money. At the time, I didn't think that 40 years later, some of the people I knew every day might well be in quilts that would make people oooh and aaaah. =) It's nice to think about being a link in the chain of quilt history, isn't it?
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