Nimble Thimbles Chapter Challenge: A Tribute to Gee's Bend Quilters
Arizona Quilters Guild Quilt Show March 21, 2024 - March 23, 2024
Our challenge is to create a quilt that honors the Gee’s Bend quilters. Their style is improvisational, based primarily on patterns they have called “Housetops,” “Bricklayers,” “Strips,” “Stripes,” “Work Clothes,” “Sears Corduroy.” They have improvised with triangles, circles and traditional patterns. They often sew with what they have on hand, including work clothes, denim and corduroy (which they had in abundance when Sears contracted with the Gee’s Bend quilt group, the Freedom Quilting Bee, to make pillow shams in the 1960s). The hope is that our challenge quilts will bring attention to the Gee’s Bend quilters and encourage more people to look into who they are, their history and their work.
You are encouraged to learn more about the Gee’s Bend quilters. If you do a Google search for Gee’s Bend quilts, a number of them will appear. Through YouTube, you can watch PBS documentaries about the quilters. Two excellent books: Gee’s Bend, The Architecture of the Quilt and The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, both published by Tinwood Books, Atlanta.
Challenge quilts must be 96” or less in perimeter (for example, a 24x24 or smaller quilt). You are encouraged to find a Gee’s Bend quilt that speaks to you and use it for inspiration. Maybe it’s the quilt design, the colors, the fabric choices, or even a particular Gee’s Bend quilter that speak to you.
• Contact Penny Boese (pboese@cox.net) if you plan to participate in the challenge. (If you let Penny know through the Zoom chat, you do not need to let her know again).
• Challenge quilts must be entered into the AQG show. Penny will help you if you need assistance. AQG accepts entries online from October 1,2023 to January 6, 2024. At a minimum, your quilt top must be completed before January 6 as you will need to take a recognizable picture of your quilt to include in the entry form that is done online. The complete quilt needs to be finished by the time the quilt is turned in to the quilt show. When completing your online entry form:
- Use Category = "Non-Judged, Chapter Challenge" and select your Chapter (Nimble Thimbles) from the Challenge List.
- Chapter Challenge quilts do not count towards a Member's three quilt entry limit.
- All quilts may only be displayed once at a Quilt Arizona! show.
• Quilt perimeter can’t exceed 96 inches. You will need to attach a label to the back of your quilt including a minimum of information - your name, name of the quilt, completion date
• You can drop your quilt off at show entry yourself, or Penny will collect quilts over two meetings (most likely in February and March), and turn them in. Penny will let you know as we get closer to the 2024 AQG Quilt Show what those collection dates will be.
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