Quiltsy Cares-Featuring Treese Pflum

Today Quiltsy Cares is featuring Treese Pflum of Quiltnutz. Treese has donated a completed lap-size quilt (pictured at right) to her guild,  Coachella Valley Quilt Guild, who will then donate the quilt to a charity.
When I asked which charity her donation would go to Treese told me, "The guild donates quilts to different charities in our area.  I never know where the quilts I work on will end up.   Many community members, that do not belong to the guild, often  bring their quilts to us and we pass them on to different charities."

Some of the charities the Coachella Valley Quilt Guild donates to are, Shelter from the Storm, Barbara Sinatra Children's Center,  Riverside County Department of Aging, Care Transitions Intervention Program, just to name a few.

Mrs. Pflum is an active member of  Coachella Valley Quilt Guild where she serves as the block challenge coordinator, creating mini-quilt lessons for guild members. She has been very active in her community serving as president for the Cathedral City High School Band Boosters and  although her last child graduated in 2012 she continues to work with the band boosters.

A sample of Treese's beautiful machine quilting

When I asked Treese what she loved most about quilting, she said, "I love the quilting first.  It’s very satisfying to figure out the best quilting motif to use to enhance the top.  Second, I really enjoy the design process. This starts with pulling fabrics and deciding on a color palette, those fabrics and colors really dictate the design."

A small portion of the Wedding Ring quilt

I asked Treese how she got started quilting.
"My mother gave me a box of unfinished double wedding rings that belonged to her mother.  I knew how to sew, but didn’t have a clue how to make a quilt.  I decided to applique the rings down and then tied the quilt.  That was in 1978 and I was hooked.  I went out and bought a new sewing machine and never looked back  I used that double wedding ring quilt until about five years ago, when I took it apart and re-purposed the pieces in a quilt for my mom."

The beautiful piano quilts

Treese said the most unusual quilts she has made are the piano quilts. She has always loved sewing and quilting, and is constantly working on new projects, when not working for her clients.  Her quilting philosophy is simple:  she believes you are never too old to quilt.  Staying active and continuing to challenge herself keeps her young.  She loves sharing her passion for quilting and wants others to enjoy and use her finished quilts.

Mrs. Pflum has been a Quiltsy Team member since 2011 and is an award-winning professional quilter and fiber artist.  From her studio in Cathedral City, California, she creates original fiber/fabric art, wall hangings, and quilts for clients around the United States.  As a professional quilter, she finishes quilts for other quilters, and teaches beginners how to make these items.  She has been quilting since 1978 and opened her studio in 2012 after working in the newspaper industry for 30 years. She has been using a long arm machine to complete quilt tops for over eleven years and specializes in free motion quilting.

Read more about Coachella Valley Quilt Guild's work with charities on their website or contact them at this address:

Coachella Valley Quilt Guild
P.O. Box 3121
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270

You can find Treese here:
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Quiltsy Cares-Judith Messenger March 15

Today's Quiltsy cares donator is Judith Messenger from  FabriArts. She donated a soft, flannel rag quilt to Project Linus, Canada. http://projectlinuscanada.org/ Project Linus provides love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need of a hug, through the gifts of new, handmade, washable blankets, quilts and afghans, lovingly crafted by volunteer "Blanketeers".

When she first started making quilts, her family loved the cuddliness of flannel rag quilts.  She enjoyed making them and soon after came across information about Project Linus. She used to haunt the remnant bins at the local fabric store for pieces of flannel to have on hand to make quilts for the kids who need a special hug.  She have since "graduated" to more traditionally made quilts, but still tries to make a few rag quilts each year to use up her stash of flannel fabric! While she was sorting through the fabric for this Project Linus quilt, she also found enough smaller pieces to make a smaller rag quilt for the charity initiative of one of the quilt guilds she belong to - collecting layette items for single mothers.

Judith lives in Toronto, Ontario Canada for most of the year, but she lucky enough to spend much of the summer and autumn months at her cottage on Lake Muskoka, in Ontario's cottage country. Of course she moves her quilting studio with her! Judith is an active member of two local quilt guilds and help with the organization of the guild quilt show and Quilts at the Creek, a summer outdoor quilt show.  

Judith's Etsy shop, FabriArts, was opened in late 2012 She joined the Quiltsy Team in 2013.  According to Judith"I have found a wonderful group of friends that are always ready to support each other, and their communities both personally and professionally".

Judith enjoys making baby quilts - with bright colors and fun prints. She also enjoys hand stitching and embroidery, so her crazy-quilt greeting cards and postcards allow her to use luscious threads and fibers on small projects.

ETSY Store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FabriArts

Blog:  https://jmstitching.wordpress.com/

Website:  http://www.fabriarts.com/

Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/jimmuskoka/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/fabriarts/

Written by Pat Young of PatsPassionQuilteds, Quiltsy Team member since May 2011.

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Quiltsy Cares March 8th Maryellen McAuliffe

Today's Quiltsy Cares donator is Maryellen McAullife from MaryMackMadeMine. Maryellen's charity is Little Dresses for Africa http://www.littledressesforafrica.org/blog/about/. I asked her why this charity is so special to her-" I enjoy making clothes for girls, and when one of the bloggers I follow asked for others to sew dresses for this charity, I decided to participate."   

 Although the dresses are normally made from a Pillowcase shape, since I happen to sew clothes, and had yardage, I decided to make 2 simple tank style dresses.  I have a number of easy patterns, and picked one that would work with the fabric piece I wanted to use.  The charity requests that there are no zippers or buttons to break, so the style I picked met those requirements, and my need to make it a real dress, one that I would be proud to donate.  

Maryellen just moved to Franklin Square, Long Island, NY, to help my elderly parents.  I'm excited about creating a new studio.  She has been sewing since she was 4, and took her first quilting class about 28 years ago.  She has made everything from doll clothes, home dec, slipcovers, curtains, pillows, quilts, wedding and prom dresses, school play costumes, and even did alterations for dry cleaners. Quilting and dresses for girls are her favorite things to do.  She has been a member of the Quiltsy Team about 6 years, and as a leader, she helps manage the team shop.

Her  favorite is usually the quilt I'm working on.  She is also honored to be an Island Batik Ambassador, and just finished a blog hop to showcase their new fabrics, coming to stores now.  We also got the box of fabrics that will be shown at Quilt Market in May.  She loves working with these fabrics.  Just listed in her shop is a quilt with the Coral Reef collection, and is in the process of finishing one from the Sea Salt Sandy collection.

Written by Pat Young of PatsPassionQuilteds, Quiltsy Team member since May 2011.

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NORTH-5 Comes from Ohio State Capital

Catherine of MoranArtandQuilts lives in Columbus, Ohio, the 4th largest city in the American Midwest. That is where block NORTH-5 originates for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilt Project.

The city is named after the famous explorer.

In 2009 BusinessWeek magazine named Columbus the best place in America to raise a family and the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium was ranked #1 by USA Travel Guide. In 2008 Forbes magazine had named the city as the #1 up-and-coming tech city in the nation. As you can imagine, many businesses headquarter there, including the world's largest private research & development foundation, the Battelle Memorial Institute.

Columbus contains many institutions of higher-learning, led by Ohio State University, where you'll find the largest university campus in the US. Every August, Columbus hosts the rest of the state at the Ohio State Fair & Expo.



You'll also find many spectacular parks and green spaces in Columbus. One of the more interesting is at Old Deaf School Park where Columbus artist James Mason turned topiaries into art. Shown is his conception conceived from George Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon On the Island of La Grand Jolle." Click the link to the park for more wonderful photos.

Catherine is an artist in many mediums. Art has been a passion of Catherine's ever since she won her first award in the 4th grade for a painting of "Charlotte's Web." She paints with watercolors, draws with colored pencils and quilts. After purchasing an art quilt in 2004 from a gallery, Catherine was inspired to learn to quilt. She admits to often having several projects in different mediums going at the same time. (Sound familiar to anyone?)

Most of Catherine's quilts are designed as they progress. Catherine loves creating one of a kind pieces and lets the design change as the ideas flow based on the work's progress. Catherine also admits to love playing with fabric and making beautiful things from fabric.

Catherine's work has been exhibited in many shows over the years, many through a local art league she is involved with. Catherine has made over 100 portraits of customer's homes and pets and still accepts those kinds of commissions. Be sure and visit Catherine's quilt shop and also her art shop to see her lovely items.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilt - NORTH Row Moves to Ohio

The North Row has now moved to Ohio for the remainder of its blocks. Pam Geisel of For Quilts Sake starts out the Ohio Sisterhood contingent with her block NORTH-4 from Yellow Springs, Ohio. The village of Yellow Springs takes its name from a natural spring located in nearby Glen Helen Preserve which is rich in iron ore, leaving a yellowish-orange coloring on the rocks. The spring was thought to have curative properties and spas and hotels were built nearby.

The village was founded in 1825 by approximately 100 families, followers of Robert Owen, who wanted to emulate the utopian community at New Harmony, Indiana. The communitarian efforts dissolved due to internal conflicts. The Little Miami Railroad was completed in 1846 and brought increased commerce, inhabitants, and tourism.

Yellow Springs was one of the final stops on the Underground Railroad and the village was known for its racial tolerance. Wheeling Gaunt, a former slave who purchased his own freedom, came to Yellow Springs in the 1860s and owned a substantial amount of land upon his death in 1894. Gaunt bequeathed to the village a large piece of land, requesting that the rent be used to buy flour for the "poor and worthy widows" of Yellow Springs. Although the land was used to create Gaunt Park, and thus does not generate rent, the village expanded the bequest to include sugar and still delivers flour and sugar to the village's widows at Christmas time.

Pam's background in graphic design shows through with her passion for original fiber art, with an emphasis on art quilts and quilt-related art. Pam took her first quilting class in 2001 and has never looked back.

Her work is currently being shown as part of the Women's Voice Out Loud show in Yellow Springs during March 2011, and the Uncommon Threads V exhibit at the Dayton Metro Library. Her Fireflies artquilt will be traveling later this year as part of the Ohio Designer Craftmen's Best of 2011 exhibit.

Pam's work is also on display the galleries Urban Handman and Frame Haven. In addition to being a long time member of Quiltsy Team, Pam also belongs to the Miami Valley Art Quilt Network, the Miami Valley Quilters Guild, the Dayton Visual Arts Center, Ohio Designer Craftsmen, Fairborn Art Association and the Monday Morning Artists (of Yellow Springs).

To see more of Pam's goodies, please visit her etsy shop ForQuilt'sSake.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilt - Block NORTH 3

Block 3 of the North Row comes to us from southcentral Wisconsin. Kim of KimsCraftyApple tried out the 'wonky' technique for her pretty block.





Kim lives in a rural area just outside Madison, Wisconsin. She and her husband have an apple orchard business where folks can pick their own apples. Read more about the orchard's interesting history here.






In the county where Kim lives with her husband and two daughters, they are developing a "Barn Quilt Trail." Kim is excited that theirs is the second official barn quilt in the county.



Kim exhibits the current Sisterhood North Row with one of the two emus on the farm. She didn't say if it is the one named Mac or Tosh. Kim's mother-in-law acquired the two emus one day by trading their former owner 13 caramel apples and a sack of potatoes. The emus are mainly for the visitors to enjoy. They also have four goats, named Itsy, Zestar, Tree and Super April, along with two dogs and countless cats.

Kim is currently expecting her third daughter, due April 25th. She says she's nesting by quilting and currently has four quilt tops in the works. While researching Kim's area, I discovered that the Pleasant Company began there, original home of the American Girl dolls.

Be sure and check out the many fun items in Kim's shop.

NORTH 2 of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilt

The second block of the North Row comes to us from Owatonna, Minnesota and long-time Quiltsy member Lynn of lmkquilts. Owatonna is located straight down I-35 from Minneapolis and is known as the "Heart of Southern Minnesota."

Legend has it that Chief Wabena heard of the curing waters called minnewaucan. His daughter, Princess Owatonna, was very frail so he moved the tribe to the site of the natural springs on the banks of Maple Creek. Princess Owatonna drank from the springs daily and recovered her health. Her kindly spirit hovers near the bubbling waters and beckons weary travelers to pause in the beautiful valley and drink of the magic waters. You can visit the springs and the statue of Princess Owatonna at Mineral Springs Park.

Although this makes a colorful and romantic campfire story, the name most likely originated from the major river running through the county, named the Straight River. For hunders of years before the arrival of the first white settlers, Native Americans camped on the banks of the river they called "Ouitunya", which means straight.

In the middle of Owatonna's downtown is the National Farmer's Bank, widely recognized as one of the premier pieces of the "Prairie School of Architecture" in America. Designed by Louis Sullivan, the building was finished in 1908 and features gold leaf arches, stained glass windows and nouveau baroque art designs. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and is not occupied by a branch of Wells Fargo Bank.

Lynn has many wonderful things in her shop. She has a long arm quilting machine that she uses to turn out her amazing work. Currently she is not able to undertake any custom work until her load is more manageable. Keep checking back to her shop to see when that status might change.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilt - NE Row Begins!

Nancy from AnotherGhostQuilts has started off the NE Row in beautiful style.

Nancy is shown here with Skippy the corgi who just celebrated his 3rd birthday. (They had brownie pie and Skippy got to taste the frosting.) Lily the long-haired dachshund is the Queen of the roost. Nancy said she would have liked to include her hubby Jim in the photo, but someone had to take the picture!

Nancy and Jim (and crew) live in the Belgrade Lakes region of Maine, just a few miles northwest of the state's capital city, Augusta. While the current population is estimated to be about 4,000 year-round citizens, that number nearly doubles when non-residents arrive to spend the summer months at their cottages.

Belgrade covers about 60 square miles, with a large part of this area composed of lakes, streams and wetlands. Its five lakes and their inlet/outlet streams offer several species of fish for those who enjoy fishing, plenty of water surface for boaters, and excellent opportunities for those people interested in bird watching.

The area was an annual summertime destination for the writers E.B. White and Ernest Thompson. The latter's sojourns at Great Pond (one of the Belgrade lakes) inspired his 1979 play On Golden Pond, which was made into the Academy Award–winning 1981 movie, On Golden Pond.

If you've wondered about the meaning of Nancy's shop name, her motto is "Hauntingly Beautiful Handmade Quilts". Nancy said, "The world moves a little too fast for me. Crafting quilts by hand is my panacea." She loves the smallness and tedium of patchwork and hand quilting, the patience it both teaches and requires, the opportunity to feed her compulsion to work with color and hoard her favorite fabrics, the chance to combine beauty and functionality into something as elemental as a quilt in all its warmth and comfort.

Nancy has been quilting for over 20 years. Each of her quilts is one-of-a-kind. Her care, attention to detail and stop-to-smell-the-roses attitude shows in each of her offerings. Be sure and check them out.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilt - Tejas Block 2

Since Austin is only about 90 minutes' drive up the highway from San Antonio, it doesn't surprise me that block #2 of the Tejas row has checked in.

Barbara of MurphysHouse has added her block to the row.

Residents of Austin are known as "Austinites," and include a diverse mix of university professors, students, politicians, lobbyists, musicians, state employees, high-tech workers, blue-collar workers, and white-collar workers. The main campus of the University of Texas is located in Austin. The city is home to enough large sites of major technology corporations to have earned it the nickname "Silicon Hills." Austin's official slogan promotes the city as "The Live Music Capital of the World", a reference to its status as home to many musicians and music venues. In recent years, many Austinites have also adopted the unofficial slogan "Keep Austin Weird"; this refers partly to the eclectic and progressive lifestyle of many Austin residents, but is also the slogan for a campaign to preserve smaller local businesses and resist excessive commercialization.

Something you might not know about Austin: The world’s largest urban bat colony resides on Austin’s Congress Avenue Bridge in the summer. By largest, we’re talkin’ 1.5 million bats. The Mexican Free-tailed bats migrate from Mexico every spring and bat watching is a popular Austin warm weather pass-time. People gather to watch the entire colony fly out at sunset.

Barbara has been sewing over 50 years. In 1976 she and her sister took a fateful class in quilting, and Barbara's been perfecting her craft ever since. While she gains much satisfaction from hand quilting, most of her quilts now are machine quilted.

I know you've been wondering about the namesake of Barbara's shop. Murphy is Barbara's 5 year old Cairn Terrier. The pair of them can often be found participating in Barbara's other passion out on the Jimmy Clay Golf Course in Austin. In fact, Barbara assured me that is where we would have seen the Sisterhood row had she taken it with her. Texas has over 800 golf courses, and Austin is consistently ranked as top golfing destination, so Barbara pretty much lives in a wonderful place to practice her passions!

Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilt - Tejas Row Begins!

One row in our Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilt will come from a single state. With over 25 million residents, it stands to reason that our Quiltsy Team population also reflects many members from the Lone Star State.

The name Texas comes from the Spanish translation (Tejas) of a native Caddo Indian word that means "friends" -- therefore Texas is "the Friendly State."

It was not coincidence that Ann of QuiltingFrenzy begins our row with her beautiful block. She hails from San Antonio, a place that figures prominently in the early history of Texas. It is also where I was born and since Ann and my mother share the same name (first AND last names), it just all adds up to Ann starting out our Texas travelog.

Ann wanted very much to photograph her block in front of that most hallowed symbol of our state, the Alamo. Unfortunately she pulled her back out and was unable to get over for the photo shoot. We'll just have to pretend! :)

This Spring marks the

175th anniversary of Texas independence and many of San Antonio's special events will center around the famous Battle of the Alamo. Click here to learn more about them.

Ann has been sewing for over 30 years and quilting for nearly 20. She likes to let the fabric speak to her to guide toward the finished products. Recently Ann has been making a lot of custom quilts, including photo memory and memory quilts made from clothing.

Ann has pieced quilt tops for quilting icon Eleanor Burns of "Quilt in a Day" fame -- one of which was used in her Victory Quilts trunk show. Ann also tested a new quilt pattern by piecing a quilt top that was quilted by Judy Jackson and featured on page 52 of her "Lover's Knot" book.

Having had the privilege of participating in a holiday show with Ann, I can attest that she is a very accomplished and prolific quilter. Do check out Ann's shop Quilting Frenzy, and stay tuned for the next installment as the Tejas Row travels up I-35 to our lovely capital.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilt - SW Row so far...

The gals in the SW Row have been busy working on their blocks!

The first block, made by Dede of PeppersAttic has already been received and added to by Gail of QuiltSewPieceful. Cindy of cindyrquilts has completed her block and mailed it to catch up with the row in Colorado.

Cindy lives in Beit Shemesh, Israel across from Kibbutz Tzora there. She is pictured standing in front of the ancient wall at Tel Tzora with her quilt block. The wall is just a few minutes from her house and is famous for Samson and Delilah. Samson is believed to have been buried in Tel Tzora overlooking the Sorek Valley. There reside two large gravestones of Samson and his father Manoah. Nearby stands Manoah's altar (referenced in Judges 13:19-24). It is located between the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol.

Cindy is known for color coordinating her wardrobe and accessories though she didn't realize (until I'd pointed it out) that she'd coordinated her hat with her block. :) Purple is her favorite color and it tickled her to know she'd subconsciously coordinated. Cindy has been quilting for 16 years and concentrates primarily on landscapes of Israel. She also makes lovely cosmetic bags, purses, housewares like trivets and hotplate covers and beautiful wearable art like vests and hats. Add cindyrquilts to your favorites!

Dede named her shop PeppersAttic in honor of a much-loved cat who kept her company in her attic studio back in Alaska. Sadly, Pepper the cat has crossed the Rainbow Bridge, but his memory lives on in some of the quilts in Dede's home. Dede now lives in warmer Southern California where she continues a life-long love affair with fabric, quilts, vintage linens, textiles, yarn and fiber. She has been making wonderful creations for over 40 years and loves putting heirloom quality into all she makes. Dede does a lot of custom work and her Rag Bags are getting famous -- right now they are featured in 45 treasuries!

Gail of QuiltSewPieceful has been quilting for almost 20 years. (The second block above is Gail's) Gail specializes in beautiful pieced quilts that she finishes on her Gammil Classic long arm quilting machine. She also does machine embroidery on her Bernina 830, has a line of her quilt patterns (check them out!) and teaches quilting at a local quilt shop. In her spare time, Gail is Wonder Woman! j/k

Please check out these shops for some wonderful items!

Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilt Project - Block No. 1!

The National Quilting Association (NQA) began sponsoring National Quilting Day with a resolution passed by members attending the 22nd annual Show in Lincoln, Nebraska in June 1991. The third Saturday in March is officially designated as National Quilting Day, but quilters are flexible and we love a celebration -- especially when fabric is involved. So over the years observance of National Quilting Day has unofficially been expanded to the whole month of March.

Every year the NQA designates a specific National Quilting Day theme. For 2011 the theme is "Build Your Own Log Cabin." The log cabin block is among the oldest in quilting. It symbolizes the warmth and belonging of hearth and home. The NQA encourages quilters this year to make log cabin quilt blocks to make charity quilts for those who may be struggling for warmth and comfort.

Hoping to repeat some of their successful participation of National Quilting Day last year, Team Quiltsy has many fun projects and promotions coming for this year's observation.

The first is a group effort titled "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Quilt" project. Many members are making their particular take on a log cabin block. The participants have been assigned rows and are mailing their blocks to each other to build a beautiful community quilt.

Today we have our very first block - coming from KathyKinsella in British Columbia, Canada!
Kathy lives on the imposing Shuswap Lake (which looks a teensy bit cold right now). She is a fibre artist who designs her own fun art bags and greeting cards. Much of her work is influenced by her beautiful surroundings and you'll often find whimsy in her work. Kathy also designs and makes wonderful liturgical fibre artworks.

In the coming weeks we'll have fun seeing the Quiltsy members and their blocks as we build toward the finished Sisterhood quilt!

Beautiful job, Kathy! Thanks for taking the point and being first!