Congratulations to Dawn for winning last week’s Quilts for Fathers quilt contest with her gorgeous Compass Rose quilt. She wins a gift certificate from Around the Block Quilters Shop.

This week’s theme is Friendships and is sponsored by Revell Books and Mary Tatem. Two lucky winners will each win one of Mary’s new books. I’m looking forward to reading about and seeing all your beautiful quilts.

Keep in mind that you can interpret the theme in many ways. You may wish to submit a quilt that you made for a friend, or a quilt made with blocks from friends, etc. Note: for this weekly contest only, I will accept submissions of quilts that were given to you by dear friends that are sadly no longer with us. Please use the description field to tell us your quilt story.

To enter the weekly contest, read the rules and guidelines, then submit your quilt photo by Thursday. Voting will start on Friday and last until Sunday night.

Quilt of Faith by Mary Tatem

We were first introduced to Mary Tatem a few weeks ago. Mary has written two new books: Quilt of Joy – Stories of Hope from the Patchwork Life, and Quilt of Faith – Stories of Comfort from the Patchwork Life. Read more about Quilt of Joy here.

Inspiring stories to brighten your day

For hundreds of years, industrious women have been creating objects of beauty and comfort from discarded scraps of fabric. In the same way, God takes the bits and pieces of our disjointed lives and puts them together to form something altogether new and useful. Through heartwarming stories inspired by twelve beloved quilt patterns, Mary Tatem uncovers spiritual insights that offer comfort like a cozy quilt.

You’ll enjoy stories featuring the following quilt blocks:

• Grandmother’s Flower Garden
• Dresden Plate
• Sunbonnet Sue
• Lone Star
• Ohio Star
• Grandmother’s Fan
• Log Cabin
• Rail Fence
• Flying Geese
• Double Wedding Ring
• Baltimore Album
• Grandmother’s Flower Basket

Whether you’re a quilter or quilt lover, Quilt of Faith will show you how to see God’s hand at work in your life.

"Mary Tatem’s gentle stories and tender prayers framed by Scripture and lovely illustrations offer the comfort of a quilt as she comes along beside us to bring nurture to our days." – Jane Kirkpatrick, award-winning author, A Mending at the Edge and Aurora: An American Experience in Quilt, Community and Craft.

"Mary’s stories always point to the grace and comfort of our heavenly Father. Quilt of Faith will make a marvelous gift, a real keeper to pass on to those you love." – Lauraine Snelling, author, the Red River series, the Daughters of Blessing series, and One Perfect Day.

Visit Mary at her website: www.marytatem.com or purchase her books.

Blog It

Please share the logo below on your own blog. The more contestants, the more exciting the contests!

There are still a few weekly sponsorship opportunities left this year. Please contact me if you’re interested. It’s a fabulous opportunity to showcase new notions and fabrics.

The theme for this week’s virtual quilt contest is Quilts for Fathers. The quilts are gorgeous.

The winner of this week’s contest will receive a $30 gift certificate from Around the Block Quilters Shop in Illinois.

Thanks to the sponsor and also to everyone that entered.

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourite!!

• Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.
• One vote per IP address (NOT email address), so have your family and friends cast a ballot for their favourite quilt (from home if you send it to coworkers)
• Winner announced Monday!
• New: in the event of a tie at the end of voting, 5 random Facebook quilters will be asked to vote again to break the tie.

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Next week’s theme is Friendships. Keep in mind that you can interpret the theme in many ways. You may wish to submit a quilt that you made for a friend, or a quilt made with blocks from friends, etc. Note: for this weekly contest only, I will accept submissions of quilts that were given to you by dear friends that are sadly no longer with us. Please use the description field to tell us your quilt story. I’m looking forward to seeing your beautiful quilts. Get your cameras out!

The voting schedule for next week may shift slightly due to the Canadian and American holidays. Check the blog for the most recent information.

Facebook, email subscribers and RSS readers: You need to visit the Quilting Gallery blog to vote: CLICK HERE

Please join me in welcoming guest blogger Angela Magnan as she shares her quilting journey with us. Plus, check below for a "HOT" give-away from Angela. Angela doesn’t have a blog yet, but you can email her. Thanks Angela for being a guest here at the Quilting Gallery.

Greetings from Maryland,

Thank you so much for allowing me to guest blog. My name is Angela Magnan, I’m 31, and I’ve been quilting for about ten years. I started the hobby shortly after my mother did. She began quilting after being inspired by her mother-in-law, my grandmother, who everyone knew as Memere. My mother and Memere had long-shared a passion for buying and selling antiques, setting up at the same antique shows, and going to auctions together. When Memere starting making a Joann Block of the Month quilt, my mother was inspired by the fact that she wouldn’t have to cut any pieces. It was only a matter of time before my mother would overcome her fear of cutting and catch the quilting bug for good. And then she gave the bug to me!

Each of the three of us developed our own style. Memere was a pattern quilter and always quilted by hand. My mother also usually follows a pattern, prefers piecing and rarely does appliqué, and sometimes quilts by hand and sometimes by machine. She occasionally steps outside of her comfort zone and chooses fabrics or patterns that are a bit funkier than her normally conservative self.

I have my own style. I studied biochemistry as an undergraduate and was drawn to the mathematical and logistical side of quilting. More recently, I completed a Master’s degree in nonfiction writing, so naturally I am drawn to story quilts. A few years ago, I modified a pattern to design a quilt based on my trip to Rocky Mountain National Park (for which I’m still deciding on fabrics), and currently I am designing a quilt based on my ten day writing conference in Bar Harbor, Maine (for which I have the fabrics, but am undecided on the layout).

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