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Last But Not Least
Five Calendar Contest Finalists Worthy of Mention
We get so many wonderful entries to our reader challenges, especially the Quilting Arts Calendar Contest. And this year’s theme of “Celebrating Home” seemed to really bring out the best. It’s so hard to narrow our selections down to just 13 quilts; we spread them all out on our conference room table and pore over every one. There is heavy lobbying among the editors for their favorites! Ultimately, we do have to chose our winners and judges’ choice, but there are always worthy quilts left on the table, so to speak.
Here are five finalists (six quilts) that didn’t make the final cut, but are clearly a cut above.
“Starry Night”
Sylvia Naylor
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
“Driving home through the countryside, on one particular cold, wintry, starry night, I noticed a rough shelter in a nearby field. A light twinkled in the window. I knew that there was the humble home for the animals of a small family farm. Days later, I recorded the memory in this quilt.”
Free-motion machine embroidery and hand embroidery with paints on a collage of my painted fabrics and paper, with some commercial fabrics. |
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“Celebrating Home”
Christine Alexiou
Unionville, Ontario, Canada
“For me, home is about spending time with the people I love, sharing with them the hospitality, warmth, and caring associated with the comforts of home. I chose a steaming teapot as a symbol to represent all of these things.”
Hand-dyed cotton overlaid with white Japanese paper, handmade and hand-dyed wool felt, wool felt scraps, dryer sheets; Swarovski hot-fix crystals; hand embroidered; free-motion stitched; hand needle felted.
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“Window into the Home 3”
Natalya Aikens
Pleasantville, NY
“The window into my home is through my heart. The home that I am celebrating here is not the real, physical home; it is instead that special place in my heart where everyone that I love always is…that is where there is peace and security and comfort.”
Silk and synthetic-blend fabrics, dryer sheets; embroidery threads; textile paint, oil sticks; painted, free-motion machine embroidered, hand stitched. |
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“Grandma Abbey’s Flowerbed”
Janet Davis
Alamosa, CO
“The little white house with the picket fence used to be the dream of many a little girl. My grandparents’ home was such a house. Living on a farm in the high mountain desert country of Colorado meant lots of hard work, but my Grandma Abbey always took the time from her huge vegetable garden to plant beautiful flowers.”
Watercolor pencils; rayon embroidery thread; double-fused batik; machine stitched and embroidered; liquid stitched.
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“Dreaming”
Wen Redmond
Stafford, NH
“This piece is from a photograph taken in Vermont. The porch is on a wonderful old Tudor home. It led me on all kinds of fantasies about the people who lived here and what their lives were like.”
Original photograph digitally manipulated and collages, printed on cotton broadcloth and stitched; mounted onto hand-painted stabilizer. |
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“My Nest”
Wen Redmond
Stafford, NH
“This piece reflects the beginning of my family. We purchased our home and then started our family. We built our nest and had three marvelous children.”
Digital photograph of original oil painting; printed on Fuji silk and silk organza for depth of color; mounted onto hand-painted stabilizer and stitched; glass bead medium and Shiva® oil stick. |
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