Thursday, August 28, 2014

2014 AQS Grand Rapids Quilt Show...Part Five...


Of all the quilts at the 2014 AQS Grand Rapids show, I think I enjoyed the following special collect the most.  Aileen was a quilter from Michigan who has left the most amazing legacy of quilts. These are a few of hers and they are really special.



This is one of her tops that is being quilted during the show by some of the friends with which she used to quilt.


"Baltimore Remembered" won a major award at AQS Paducah show and is now part of the AQS Museum collection.  It is stunning...




Hand appliqued and hand quilted to perfection...




I LOVE the colors of this quilt...


This quilt is really special...be sure to read the card below to see how it was named...remarkable...




The following antique quilt inspired the beauty above...



The following quilt was not hand appliqued, but it was still hand pieced...and hand quilted...wow...





More and more amazing hand work...just look at all the leaves in the border...



I love how the next two hand pieced quilts just shimmer...





Just lovely with really tiny hexagons...



A truly beautiful crib quilt...just fabulous hand quilting...



The gorgeous hand piecing and hand quilting just keeps going and going...





This next quilt was so special to me...I had never seen this pattern before...just look at those tiny hand quilting stitches peeking out over the label card...





Sorry...my poor photography did not properly capture the following quilt label.  Aileen used templates and scissors to cut out the following log cabin pieces...she was not a fan of rotary cutting.  She quilted it on the new Grace quilting frame she bought for $250 at the time (that is the frame pictured at the top of the post with the quilt in progress...).  Apparently she machine pieced her log cabin quilts...the only pattern whose accuracy she trusted to machine piecing...wow...



I think the following quilt was my very favorite at the show...of everything.  It really spoke to me...the simplicity of the pattern, the high quality of the hand applique and hand quilting, the lack of "bling and too much stitching...everything had a beautiful balance and the quilt hung with such elegance and lack of torture.














Sorry for the poor quality of the picture below...it was so simple and beautiful in person...the black doesn't look black...






I want to quilt like Aileen some day!  I guess I am just a traditionalist at heart.  As someone who mostly hand appliques and hand quilts, I feel a little lost at a show where most everything is so machine produced and, well, a little slick, shiny, and fancy.  I think the machine quilted quilts are beautiful pieces of art, but they have a different appeal to me from the hand quilted ones. 

I love the drape, classic lines and overall softness of a hand quilted quilt.  I admire Aileen's work ethic and her output, considering all the hand work, and the fact that this only represents her work...I'm sure there were many, many more quilts in her "little black book" quilt diary.  What a fabulous display of this special collection!

My "Baltimore Rhapsody - Symphony" quilt is on its way to Chattanooga for the next AQS show in September, where it will be joined by one of my smaller, hand appliqued and hand quilted wall hangings, "Songs of Spring."  I will make a brief visit to wave at them while I am down south yet again.  I am still looking for my quilt mojo...anyone seen it anywhere, LOL?!?

I have enjoyed revisiting this show, and I hope you have enjoyed it too...

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

21 comments:

  1. What an inspirational quilter! I wish I could have seen some of these in person - I've never hand quilted anything yet...but I've got a hand appliqued and pieced quilt in progress that will be hand quilted. My husband's grandmother had cut most of the appliques out and basted some onto squares, then the project was set aside. I found it and hope to pay tribute to some of her previous work - Wish me luck!!

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  2. I love when you share photos from quilt shows! Thank you for always including the info cards. You'll get your quilt mojo back, it takes time.

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  3. Thank you for photographing and posting Aileen's exquisite hand quilting skills for others to see. Amazing that she could produce so many with such fine detail. How wonderful that her friends put this collection together so it could be viewed publicly. Hopefully, your quilt mojo will find its way home in the cooler weather.

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  4. I will be at Chattanooga on Thursday - will you?

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing these with those of us who were not able to attend. She was a remarkable quilter as are you and I wish you luck in Chattanooga!
    Wendy

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  6. The Fenced Rose is a reproduction of a quilt in the MSU Museum's collection. You can find it and two reproductions of it here, http://www.quiltindex.org/search_results.php?keywords=7610.1&search=go. Your Rhapsody quilt should have a won a ribbon. It was exquisite and my favorite in the show.

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  7. What a beautiful collection. She was quite an accomplished quilter. I agree with you that these are the quilts are the quilts that I most admire. Traditional. Not that I will ever make one that way, but I do love looking at them.

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  8. What an amazing quilter. Thanks for taking the time to post all these great pictures this week. I have really enjoyed seeing them. Must make an effort to get to Chattanooga to see your Rhapsody quilt.

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  9. This was the perfect ending to your show share. These pieces truly represent what quilting is all about - variety of fabrics, variety of patterns, variety of quilt motif to compliment - and hand work. I think every quilter should try some sort of hand stitching - whether with piecing, applique, or quilting - to get that true feel of the heritage.

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  10. Thanks for taking the time to post these photos. very inspiring!

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  11. Oh, I'm so looking forward to seeing your quilts at Chattanooga!! When will you be there?

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  12. Elegance and lack of torture - LOL! What an incredible body of work Aileen produced! Her quilts are unbelievably gorgeous - what a pleasure to be able to see them in person - thanks so much for sharing your pictures!! So many tiny stitches - you can just tell she LOVED to handquilt. Many, many happy hours spent :0)

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  13. Oh, my, I love each and every one of them!

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  14. Gosh what an amazing legacy - such beautiful quilts, thank you so much for taking the time to share them all.

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  15. Thank you for this tribute to Aileen. WOW!!!

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  16. What an outstanding display for all to see thanks for sharing these beautiful quilts. The workmanship is amazing.
    Bunny

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  17. I really enjoyed seeing this collection. I also love the hand made quilts, and know from my visits to quilt shows, that it is a different feeling/experience for me to stand in front of a hand made vs. machine made quilt. I know it sounds weird, but it's just a different kind of energy or something? These quilts are amazing!

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  18. Aileen is a real Michigan treasure and an inspiration to all traditional quilters!

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  19. What a delight to see all these quilts - that would have to be a unique collection of hand quilting - I am in awe! They impress me like no machine made quilt ever could. Thanks for sharing..

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  20. I have so enjoyed your show of the Show! Amazingly gorgeous quilts and quilting. Thanks so much for sharing, hugs, Julierose

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