The Charleston Museum invites you to participate in a new program, the Charleston Museum Quilting Bee.

Their first project will be based on a Chimney Sweep album quilt in the Museum’s collection. This sweet 1853 quilt, pictured right, is believed to have been made for a bride by her friends in Sumter, South Carolina.

Please consider participating in Phase One of the project by making a quilt block. Block instructions are available online [PDF File]. Blocks are due no later than August 31, 2009. Your time and contribution are greatly appreciated.

After the selected blocks are prepared for quilting, Phase Two of the Charleston Museum Quilting Bee begins this Fall. The album quilt will be out for Museum visitors to try their hand at quilting two Saturdays per month. Please consider volunteering to work with the public on the hand-quilting of this project. Volunteer for just one Saturday or sign up for once-a-month duty – the choice is yours!

For more information, please contact Rachel Chesser at (843) 722-2996 ext. 235 or rchesser@charlestonmuseum.org.

As part of an ongoing rotation of quilts from the Charleston Museum’s permanent textile collection, the Museum displays thirteen quilts in an exhibit called Starry, Starry Nights. Ranging in date from 1840 to 1900, each piece offers a unique interpretation of a star theme. Dating back to even the earliest pieced quilts, stars made of diamonds or triangles appear in borders, blocks and as central motifs. This exhibit is available until November 29, 2009.

The Charleston Museum, America’s first museum, showcases a variety of cultural and natural history artifacts that tell the story of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Visitors of all ages are transported back through time, viewing artifacts from ancient fossils and an enormous whale skeleton to elegant costumes and Charleston silver. Kidstory, the Museum’s new interactive children’s exhibit, is now open! $10/adult, $4/children 3-12, under 3 free. Museum hours: Monday-Saturday 9-5, Sunday 1-5

NOTE: Please don’t contact me for further information. Follow the links provided in the post and contact the Museum directly if needed. Thanks, Mishka.

Congratulations to #50 Frances and #45 Sandie for winning a Perfect Half-Square & Quarter-Square Triangles Ruler in last week’s Friday Give-Away donated by June Tailor.

When you are done entering the Friday give-away here, visit the Happy Canada Day post for your chance to tell a Canadian story and win some funky fabrics from a new Canadian fabric retailer. There’s also a give-away from a very inspiring guest blogger, Margaret Bucklew.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all of my quilting friends south of the border a happy and safe July 4th weekend.

Antique Quilt Dating Guides…by Style

Now, I’m turning over this blog post to Kimberly Wulfert of Women On Quilts and Quilter’s Spirit to let her tell you about the fabulous Friday give-away this week.

Quilting has always been a great part of American history, and as we Americans celebrate Independence Day this weekend, I’m pleased to offer my Guides for dating antique quilts as a give-away at this special time.

With that in mind, antique quilts can’t help but enter your mind when thinking of the cold New England winters and need for warm covers that also beautified the log homes. Quilt collecting is a popular hobby today. Making new quilts that look like 19th and 20th century quilts is possible and easy with the wonderful reproduction fabrics available today.

Do you wonder what quilt would have been made using the reproduction fabrics you bought at the last show and loved but are now not sure what to do with them? The Antique Quilt Dating Guides…by Style will give you many options to chose from.

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Please join me in welcoming a Guest Blogger to the Quilting Gallery. If you’re interested in being a Guest Blogger, please read the info on the submit page then drop me an email.

By: Margaret Bucklew

An epiphany happened to me about twenty years ago. There was a void in my life and I didn’t even know it was happening.

I think an inspiration is like a flash of light in your psyche just waiting for action, and I needed one.

On the wall in a fabric store hung a stunning Oregon Trail Jacket. I bought the pattern and soon realized, even though I had no quilting experience, it had to be very similar to making a quilt. There was piecing, thin batting, matching seams and so on. Whatever it was called, I was hooked.

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By: Laura Gilkey

The Safe Motherhood Quilt Project is a national effort developed to draw public attention to the current maternal death rates, as well as to the gross under-reporting of maternal deaths in the United States, and to honor those women who have died of pregnancy-related causes since 1982.

The quilt is made up of individually designed squares; each one designed and dedicated to one mother’s memory, and may mention the date and place of death and the name of the woman. The Safe Motherhood Quilt is the voice for women who can no longer speak for themselves.

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Quilters all over the US are threading their needles for a cure. Almost 4,000 quilts have been donated to the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) since it began in 2006.

During the first 10 days of each month the AAQI has a “Slow & Silent” online auction. The June auction (featuring 7 signature quilts: Barbara Bush to NPR’s Carl Kassel, plus a quilt signed by 30+ national quilt teachers) is up for bids right now.

All profits are used to fund Alzheimer’s research, so head on over and bid like crazy.

Here are a couple of my favourites:

Later this month a one-time auction of vintage quilts will be offered (June 15 to 25).

The AAQI could use your help. Donations of quilts are accepted throughout the year. Founder and Executive Director, Ami Simms hopes to take 1,000 of these Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts (just 9″ x 12″ in size) to International Quilt Festival in Houston in October. Check out the rules and help this great cause.

The AAQI is a 501(c)3 nonprofit run totally by volunteers and Quilt Power.

By: Pat Sloan

It’s Fun, it’s fast, and sometimes a tad wicked…. it’s Death By Quilting (DBQ) and it’s on the internet now! I decided we ‘obsessed’ quilters need a fun place to play quilt games. Like Swaps, One on One trades and I developed my own ultimate EXTREME game of ‘Death By Quilting’. Kind of like ‘Death by Chocolate’ only better!

The games are played at my DBQ website and forum. The site has the games outlined, start dates and even a blog were I post game results, winners and general game info.

So what IS an extreme quilt game and how does it work? The short version is that it’s a game where everyone starts the same day and the ultimate goal is to ‘knock out’ your opponents. Each person makes a project. When you finished your project you mail it to your ‘Target’. When you target RECEIVES the project in the mail, your target is then ‘dead’ or ‘knocked out of the game’.

IF your target has not already mailed THEIR project, than it is sent to the person who ‘knocked them out of the game’ to finish it. This is the EXTREME part and it’s SUPER fun!

Because of the mailing time we are grouping games by Country so there is no delay of a package coming or going to another country.

Right now we have the “Cabana Boy” EXTREME Quilt Challenge in progress. So you can come and watch it to see how it works! This is a US based game.

I am collecting names for quilters who want to play in other countries. It would be awesome to have games going on all over the world! If you want to get your name on the list for a game in YOUR country… go to this site and enter your name in your country contact list. If your country is not there email me.

Here is where you can read more…

http://www.DeathByQuilting.com/

Each game has directions …. I hope to see you there!

The table runner is the Extreme Game Number 1 project made by Cindy in TN
The tea cup is from the Mad Hatter’s Tea party both blocks made by me