Tagged - Post 5 - Liberated Letter Quilts

Large panel created for Tonya's get well quilt - 2009

Today's quilts feature some of my free pieced / liberated letters.

My free pieced adventures started when I discovered Tonya's blog.

(she doesn't blog any more, but she's active on Facebook)

Before scrolling down, 

please take time to click on the following link:

THIS POST explains SO much!

And Sometimes Y 

2007

These are my first ever free pieced letters.

Semi-finalist, AQS Nashville 2008

Published in AQS Engagement Calendar 2010

Published in Tonya's Word Play Quilts, 2010

This joyful quilt now hangs above my desk here at home.

Alpha Palooza

2011

Created during Lynne Tyler's Red Letter Challenge,

this was my first serious work with lower case letters.

You can read more about the quilt HERE.

61" x 86"

The Flying Monkeys 

2008

This was a watershed quilt for me.

It was also a major turning point for my long arm quilting friend Chris.

You can read more about it by clicking HERE.

* * *

To see more of my liberated letter quilts,

please click the permanent link /tab at the top of the page

or CLICK HERE.

* * *

I truly am happiest as an eclectic, scrappy, liberated quilt maker!

Quiltdivajulie

It's Been a WONDERFUL Day!

Chris and I met at the Quilting Barn Saturday morning

for a quilt swap and shop.

Pat, the shop owner, hung my quilt in the shop

along with a copy of Tonya's book.

Pat is already thinking about making two quilts with letters!

WOO HOO!

In anticipation of our meeting at the shop,

last week, I received a box in the mail for Chris

and Chris received a box in the mail for me.

Lynne sent both boxes . . .

but neither Chris nor I knew 

that there were TWO boxes involved

until 

we put the boxes side by side 

on the shop's cutting table.

What fun . . .

(cue laughter and chatter in the background)

Inside each box was a Just Bobbin Along necklace!

The one above is mine . . . I love it!

(and the colors are perfect!)

Thank you, Lynne ~ 

not just for sending such a wonderful surprise,

but for waiting for just the right opportunity 

to create a memorable opening-of-the-boxes event.

Who could have known that quilting would bring us all together?!?

That's Pat, the shop owner, on the left

and Chris on the right

(with And Sometimes Y in the background).

Thanks to Pat and Candy for making us feel so welcome

and for sharing so much of the shop's morning!

Nine x Nine by Lynne Tyler

Back to the swap part of the story:

Chris recently quilted Lynne's Nine x Nine quilt 

and she passed it on to me for a photo shoot

before the quilt travels home to New Hampshire.

I wish you could see Lynne's letters in person . . . 

Simply gorgeous . . .

Chris also returned one of my quilts ~

more about that in a day or so 

after I get it trimmed and photographed.

Sigh.

It's been a wonderful day!

Quiltdivajulie

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“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 

'What! You too? I thought I was the only one”

(C.S. Lewis)

So VERY, VERY Excited!!!!!

Panel made for Tonya's Get Well Quilt - Fall 2009

August 2007 ~ I signed up for Tonya's First Ever Online Class . . . 

Who could have known how that decision would change my life!  

Not only did I learn how to make free-pieced letters, 

I learned ever so much about trusting my own quilty-judgment 

when it came to colors and design and style.

In November 2007 our international class had its own private challenge ~

 to make name blocks for Tonya as our surprise thank you's for leading the class.  

That's when my avatar was created.

And Sometimes Y
Designed and Created by Julie Sefton
Quilted by Chris Ballard

 And Sometimes Y was finished in December 2007. 

 [Little did I know then that come August 2008 

And Sometimes Y would be an AQS Nashville semi-finalist]

Flying Monkeys
Designed and Created by Julie Sefton
Custom Quilted by Chris Ballard

Along came March 2008 ~ 

Tonya issued a new challenge involving repetition [Summer 2008].

When my Eureka moment happened, Flying Monkeys was the result!  

[I repeated the use of yellow and black for my first 'two-color' quilt]

Photo by Tonya Ricucci

In September 2008 Tonya issued her Priority HOPE Challenge for AAQI 

and I was fortunate enough to be her assistant.

~ ~ ~

Now, after months and months (and months) of Tonya's hard work 

and my own months of waiting since I shipped a box to her publisher ~ 

I can share that both And Sometimes Y AND Flying Monkeys are in Tonya's new book!

Back when Tonya taped an episode for The Quilt Show, 

Flying Monkeys was there (it was too large for the set, so a backstage photo op was arranged.)

Not only that, but images of the two quilts are featured 

in the Amazon listing for the book 

[check out the 'look inside' feature while you're there ~ AMAZING!]

And, as if all that wasn't enough, 

images of the two quilts are featured in the publisher's website listing for the book!

Tonya holding Flying Monkeys in Martingale booth at 2010 Houston Quilt Show

I've pre-ordered several copies  ~

December 6 is only a month away 

and I can't wait to hold the book in MY hands!

I am SO VERY VERY EXCITED for Tonya 

and completely thrilled to be a part of it all . . . 

[just ask DH if you don't think I'm excited about all this!]

There's SO much more to this story

[like all the other great quilters I've met],

but for now it is enough to say

THANK YOU, TONYA ~

for EVERYTHING!!!!!

Quiltdivajulie
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Note:  All photos will enlarge if double clicked, and will enlarge again if clicked a third time.

I've Been Published!

When I got to work this morning, I found a package waiting for me. It was obviously a book ~ but from a source I didn't recognize.

With all the commotion of unpacking boxes, repacking other boxes, and getting my desk back into semi-functional condition, the package was set aside.

When I finally opened it ~ I was elated to find my copy of the 2010 AQS engagement calendar inside.

As you can see from the photos above, And Sometimes Y (my free-pieced quilt created during Tonya's First Ever Online Class and juried into the 2008 Nashville AQS Expo) has been featured for the week of November 15, 2010!!!

Woo Hoo!

Quiltdivajulie

Nashville Show - Day 1

Started out  driving through rain this morning, which gave way after an hour or so to heavily overcast skies.  The sun broke through shortly after I entered Nashville ~ their air quality today was awful.  Smoggy, smoggy, smoggy.  The heat had also increased, so the walk from the Opry Mills parking lot through the old Opryland theme park to the Opryland  hotel/convention center was a bit uncomfortable ~ but...

What a thrill to see my quilts hanging along with the others today... wow!  Chris and I wore ourselves out looking at the amazing workmanship.  There are just NOT enough hours in the day!

There were no ribbons attached to mine ~ I really didn't expect to find any ~ but they are present and in great locations.  It was such fun to watch others stop and look... and even more fun to talk with some of the other quilters wearing pink "competitor" ribbons on their name badges.  And many thanks to the kind anonymous quilter who used my camera to snap a photo of the two of us with Thirty Years Later...

At one point, we heard shrieks of joy and everyone headed in that direction.  The beautiful purple Best of Show ribbon had just been pinned to the winning quilt ~ about 20 of us grabbed our cameras and started taking photos.  The woman who made the quilt was beaming ~ five years of incredible work.  No photos can do justice to the exquisite applique and amazing detail.  Fabulous!!!

I've created a Picasa album with the photos I took this afternoon.  Tried very hard to capture the name tags associated with the various quilts in order to give credit to the makers.  There are still A LOT of quilts at the show that we haven't seen ~ saving those for Day 2!  And another half of the vendor area remains unexplored...

Chris and I stayed at the show until just after 5 then headed to Applebee's for dinner.  Then off to our respective hotels to crash and regroup for tomorrow.   Stay tuned!

Blogger and/or Picasa are being tempermental about organizing the album (approx. 145 photos - some with captions, some without) ~ sorry about the last few that are out of sequence... we walked through several times and kept noticing things we missed on earlier rounds!

Enjoy the photos - click here to view.

Quiltdivajulie

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Back at the end of April, these two items were mailed off on a wing and a prayer.

Today, I received word from AQS that BOTH of my entries for the show in Nashville have been named as semi-finalists!! Totally UNBELIEVABLE!!!

And Sometimes Y along with 30 Years Later will be on display August 21-23 at the Opryland Convention Center along with the other 275 +/- semi-finalists.

I am still in shock! Just ask my husband ~ I've been entirely giddy all evening! One minute I'm laughing, then tears, more laughter ~ omigosh!!!

Rest assured, I have no grand plan to become a "show quilter" ~ in fact, that aspect makes these two even more special. They were completely finished before the thought of entering them into the show even occurred to me... unlike so many that are created specifically for competition. Nope, these are MY quilts ~ free spirited, unique, scrappy, and colorful. And soon, while they're hanging at the show, they'll have the opportunity to make lots of people smile!

Hope you take a minute or two to enjoy the lyrics of this song ~ sometimes crazy dreams really DO come true!!

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"Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born." (Dale E. Turner)