Up for Auction

Cher's Little Treasures quilt is up for auction this month and so is Sue's In the Garden of Love and Hope - click here to see! Better yet, bid on one or both of these beauties.

And our challenge page has been updated with the info on hand ~ if your quilt is not shown, please let me know!

Deputy Diva

Need Your Help!

Ami has created a challenge section on the AAQI website and there's a page set aside for the quilts submitted as part of this Priority Hope Challenge!

If you registered and sent a quilt to AAQI as part of Tonya's challenge, will you please leave a comment below with your quilt's name/registration number (or e-mail me directly at julieATseftonDOTinfo)? [Tonya is super busy right now, so I'm volunteering to create a list of quilts so our challenge page can be updated.]

THANK YOU (again and again and again).

If you want to read about the results from the Houston sale of Priority Quilts, click here ~ WOW!

Better Late Than Never

Woohoo, finally finished with my Priority Hope quilt. Rather embarassing that I failed the deadline on my own challenge, but even so I did get it done. I just need to get it washed, registered and in the mail. (Along with Clare's).

Ya'all did great and this was a lot of fun. Thanks to all who participated.

Priority Hope Quilt

I am so SORRY for not being able to send the above quilty for this Hope auction... I nded up in the hospital for 6 days and since I been home so weak I have not been able to hardly sit up...

I never ment to flake on this... I did have the qult finished but was unble to get it mailed... Please know how bad I feel!!!

I know it is way to late to send it in for auction, but if there is anyway you can make use of it... Let me know I will!!! get it to you..... or I will just let it sit and hopefully sometime in the future we can make use of it to raise money....

again, please know how sorry I am!!!

Ami's Mom, Beebe

I don't know how many of you follow Ami's blog and/or website, but their family has had a very difficult last few days.  You can read the latest update here... please keep them in your prayers.

Quiltdivajulie

(Shown above:  My Priority Quilt No. 1389 "Today is a Gift")

Sparkle of Hope

I call this one 'Sparkle of Hope' because the background fabric has glitter infused into it and then it inspired me to add some rhinestones. I think it will find a happy home.

Another challenge quilt to share

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.  You wait and watch and work; you don't give up."  (Anne Lamott in Bird by Bird:  Some Instructions on Writing and Life)

Quilt Pixie Donna set up an online fabric swap recently.  I was paired with Claire in California (she is not yet a blogger).  I fell in love with one small piece she sent me, and this quilt grew from that scrap and others she shared, plus a bit of my own stash ... and when I told Claire about the quilt and the quote I plan to put on the back (see above), she replied that she had used the fabric to make a celebratory wall quilt for her sister after the completion of cancer chemo... Gwen Marston styled stars with fussy cut cranes in the star centers.  I got goosebumps, to say the least.

So, here is my next Priority Hope Challenge Quilt, The Dawn Will Come, ready for registration after the AAQI folks return from Houston.

Quiltdivajulie

p.s.  And I incorporated the dragonfly fabric because it tied in so perfectly with the thoughts of hope ~

 "Dragonflies are reminders that we are light and can reflect the light in powerful ways, if we choose to do so.  "Let there be light" is the divine prompting us to use the creative imagination as a force within your life.  They help you to see through your illusions and allow your own light to shine in a new vision."

it's mailed

High Hopes is in the mail...It's quilt #3289,and it's not as crooked as it shows in this photo :-) )
Thank you Tonya and Julie for starting this blog !!!
Heidi

Way to go, ya'll ...

Don't know how many of you follow Ami's blog ~ Through the Eyes of a Quilter... her post from Sunday shares some noteable, amazing, wonderful, truly outstanding news. Her goal has been to take 1,000 Priority Quilts to the International Quilt Festival in Houston and this year she will! Here's a very special thanks to each of you who are participating in the Priority Hope Challenge by making and donating Priority Quilts. Read all about it here.

And, further down in that same post, there's a link "shown here" regarding the Purple Patch Quilt... I'm thrilled to share that I made that quilt and Chris quilted it. There are 15 slides in the presentation ~ hope you'll click through and feel the emotions...

Together we are each helping to make a difference when it comes to Alzheimer's ~ one quilt at a time!

Quiltdivajulie

Hope Is That Thing With Feathers

Hey ya'll, Magpie Sue here. My blog is From the Magpie's Nest. I've been in Tonya's Summer Class and have made a few free pieced letters, and of course I read her blog :- ) The way I work now is very much influenced by the techniques in Gwen Marston's book, Liberated Quiltmaking.

I wanted to participate in this Priority Hope challenge as soon as I read about it. In fact, I was grateful for the "opportunity" it created as my mother-in-law has just been installed in a care facility. I knew about Ami's project and had been intending to contribute to it for a while.

Anyway... I didn't feel up to free piecing letters at the time so I chose a print from my stash that had a little bluebird as part of the design. I also chose it partly because my MIL loves music.

That had to sit for a few days while I worked out what to do with it. I decided to free piece a heart... that became the head of a flower... with two sizes of rick rack for a stem...

and then I needed the rest of the garden to go with it. Some background, some sky, some hand quilting... buttons and beads to enhance the flowers in the print... and suddenly it was done!

Before I mailed it off to Ami I sewed on a pewter ladybug crawling up the stem of the flower. Ladybugs are supposed to be good luck. This has been registered as quilt #3286. I have a feeling there will be more coming from the Magpie's Nest in the not-too-distant future; this was fun!

Rainbow Hope

Here is the front and the back of the mailed Rainbow Hope quilt I did. I really enjoyed making this little quilt and was happy with truly how fast it was to make and quilt. I may make another one after I finish a few other projects in the works.

hope and hoping

well, i finally got started, and then my sewing machine broke down. so i am HOPING i can get it to work or i will be finishing this by hand.

hope ready to quilt

this is ready to quilt-I will do various colors in perle cotton. I knife edged it rather than binding-it was the only way to keep the letters intact and be within the guidelines for width.

I have a white blank label already stitched to the back-once I am done quilting, I will write in the information on the label, and pop it into the mail.

My goal is to have it ready to mail by Monday morning. I think this is a very attainable goal.
I am pretty happy with how it looks so far.

Deputy Diva Checking In...

Two of my HOPE quilts are registered and will be mailed off today! Their numbers are 3175 and 3176... my first PQ was #53...  

First is Essential Ingredient (front above, back below).

Here is Between The Lines:  

The reverse-side photos show the fast finish triangles and labels designed in Word and printed onto a sheet of Printed Treasures (attached to quilts using Steam-a-Seam 2 fusible).

Between The Lines  is a collaborative piece. Wanda of Exuberant Color shared 2 orphan blocks which became the background fabric. After piecing, I returned the top and back to her for quilting. I just love the leaves she stitched into this!

I have another quilt for this challenge bouncing around in my head ~ hope to translate those thoughts to fabric soon!

So glad to see so many participating in this challenge ~ "raising awareness and funding research, one quilt at a time"  Looking forward to seeing even more works-in-progress as they are finished and shared!

Quiltdivajulie

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"The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope." (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)

Hope Challenge # Two

Here is #2, another fun quilt for AAQI. Wouldn't it be great if donations from this project pushed research over the top for a cure! I'm delighted to see the size of the bids that are being made. People care. Some of the quilts are really neat. Be sure and check out this page.

High Hopes - ( Heidi)

Hi,
after some hesitation ( from me ) and encouraging words from Tonya, now I'm here.
My name is Heidi, married, 2 kids, part time working, quilting now for more than 10 years.
I was lucky to take part in Tonya's winter and summer class.
Here's my contribution, I call it 'High Hopes', the flower in the right corner isn't appliqued yet, maybe I'll change it... then of course I'll have to baste, quilt and bind it :-)
Heidi

There is Hope II

Here is the front


and here is the back which I thought was appropriate.

It's a fraction under the 12 inch width measurement so I hope it will be ok.

All I've got to do now is to register it, do the label and send it on its way.

completed my hope top tonight

I jumped in tonight on my hope top. I had bought some luscious hand dyed fabric at spring market by Starr Design Fabrics-I know Tonya has been loving the solid fabric look-these fabrics are in that same vein-I love the saturated color of them.
It did not take long to get this top done, I would say about 2 hours and a bit.
Now I need to get a number for this quilt and finish it up. I have a few ideas on how I want to quilt it.
I was happy to work on this and be able to contribute. I will post a photo once this top is totally finished.

My First Try

This is my first try (implying there will be more) for this November Priority Hope Challenge. My mother had Alzheimers, and this reminds me of her. She loved gardens and flowers, and remained a bright spot in my life even when her mind slowly slid off the edges. I can imagine her tracing the words and quilting design in this little quilt, and smiling.

I never noticed until I posted the photo how the red flowers move in and out of the O, almost like the O is hanging on to them, or the flowers to the O. Not planned, yet my mother’s name was Olive!

How good for those involved to make this initiative possible. Thank you. I’ve yet to make the label for this one (and first try to name it), but already am thinking of what to do that includes a bird so I can make another one!

Autumn brings hope

This might be a bit busy but I was trying to work with fabric on hand. I just love that bird fabric.

My mom has alzheimer's and I am so thankful to be a part of this project as we enter the season of giving and gratitude.

Thank you to all who are participating.