Exhibit Your House Quilt in Pennsylvania!

Illustration: Above quilt block by Christine of Auntie's Quaint Quilts - Tasmania, Australia.

The Charm Girls Quilters want to exhibit your house quilt in an elegant Quilt Show to benefit the Pearl S. Buck International House in Perkasie, PA in April 2010. (We are 6 quilting buddies who have been together for 5 years. This will be our second show.)

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Any way that you interpret the “House” theme is fair game! Are you thinking of a fixer-upper or a mansion? A hen house, fun house, gingerbread house, housework, or a fire house? Surprise us. There will be a Grand Prize chosen by the staff of the Pearl S. Buck House, and Viewer's Choice Awards.

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Finished quilts must be no larger than 36” square, and no smaller than 20” square. The rest us up to you.

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Please tell Helen Wolf (asap) if you will be contributing a quilt: charmgirls@comcast.net. Your quilt must arrive in PA by March 31, 2010. All quilts will be returned, or if you choose, donated to a silent auction to benefit the Pearl S. Buck International House. There is a submission fee of $10 for quilters in the US. If you live outside the US (or in Alaska or Hawaii) there is no fee since you will have extra shipping expenses. Helen has all the info.

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Also email a photo for exhibit on the Selvage Blog. Have fun!

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"Buenos noches!" to all our visitors from Spain today.

Charm Girls Quilt Show - Part 1 of 6

This weekend my friends and I held a benefit quilt show at the Pearl S. Buck International Historic Estate in Perkasie, Pennsylvania. The Barn where the show was held is shown above.

Our Charm Girl Quilters group has six members: Helen Wolf, Barbara Harrison, Stephanie Berk, Ellen W. Johnson, Linda Eichhorn and me. We have been meeting monthly for about 4 years. Look at these smiles; this whole group is easy to love! Barbara and Ellen are shown below (l to r).


We exhibited 87 quilts, raffled a quilt made by Helen Wolf, and had a silent auction of 6 small quilts. We had a Boutique offering handbags made by Stephanie, framed textile art and notecards by Ellen and my mini quilt cabinets, pin cushions, and selvage books. We had a quilt appraiser, Dawn Heefner, who studied some fabulous quilts brought in by visitors. There were lectures about quilting in literature, lots of door prizes, and a cafe with delicious sandwiches and tea. We had over three hundred visitors, including possibly some young future quilters!

Quilt below by Linda Eichhorn. Linda has traveled to Singapore and many other places. She is an active volunteer in her church and community.

"Blue Willow" by Stephanie Berk. She made this for her parents who own a large collection of blue willow plates. She used a plate to design this quilt. It's hand appliqued and hand quilted. The quilt hangs in their dining room.

Charm Girls Quilt Show - Part 2 of 6

"A Touch of William Morris" by Helen Wolf (detail above, and below). A friend gave her a fat quarter of William Morris fabric and look what happened! This pattern was adapted from a design in the Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine by Michele Hill.

This beautiful silk fan quilt (next 3 photos) was made by Barbara Harrison. She does beautiful machine embroidery, and you can see some examples of it in this quilt. I remember seeing these fans on her design wall as she considered the possibilities. I love the gold and black border.

Charm Girls Quilt Show - Part 3 of 6

Ellen W. Johnson made this distinguished patriotic quilt called "Our Bleeding Heart and Prayer for Peace." It won a blue ribbon in the County Line Quilter's Guild challenge, as well as special recognition from the Bucks County Commissioners. It hung in the Bucks County Courthouse rotunda during February 2009. This quilt was inspired by a visit to the "Hometown Heroes Memorial Garden" in Doylestown, PA. It contains symbolism honoring many hometown heroes. It was quilted by Ruth Stoneseifer, herself a gold star mother.

My red and white sampler (below). I love improvisational samplers, and this is one of my favorites. And there's not a selvege in it! Did you know I could do that?

Another of my quilts "Twenty Dolls-A-Dancing," is from the phase I went through a few years ago when I cut a good portion of my stash into one-inch strips! This quilt was designed as I sewed, and I really like this one.

Charm Girls Quilt Show - Part 4 of 6

This gorgeous applique quilt was made by Stephanie Berk. Applique is her specialty, and this is one of my favorites.

This tumbling blocks quilt was made by Linda Eichhorn. I love the optical illusion.

This Irish blessing quilt was made by Helen Wolf. Note the little house at the bottom. Helen's quilts cover a wide range of styles. She made a stunning Asian Lantern raffle quilt. A powerhouse of energy, Helen did the lion's share of the work of organizing and publicizing this show. If you want to know anything about quilting in the Doylestown area, ask Barbara or Helen!

"Radiant Star" was machine pieced and hand quilted by Barbara Harrison. She made this in a class taught by Gina Gempesaw at Country Quiltworks in Montgomeryville, PA. Made with reproduction fabrics by Pat Nicolson.

"Celebration Time is Here" by Ellen W. Johnson. Machine quilted by Ruth Stoneseifer. When Ellen found this cloth panel she liked it so much she felt like dancing.

Charm Girls Quilt Show - Part 5 of 6

This beautiful applique quilt was made by Stephanie Berk. The tiny stems are embroidered with green thread. I saw many people taking photos of this one.

This Sudoku quilt was made by Linda Eichhorn for her daughter-in-law (who attended the show). Cindy Hershey came up with the idea for Sudoku quilts. If you are a Sudoku fan, you will see that each fabric is used once in each row, once in each column, and once in each nine-patch.

This quilt featuring purses was made by Helen Wolf. She is donating it to a charity event after the show.

Take a close look at this Carolina Lily quilt by Barbara Harrison. Last year before her birthday she gave a little block kit to each of her quilting buddies. She wasn't too specific about just how the block should look, so she got a variety! My block is the one in the upper left corner. I really like how she added the green swag and the red bows. Barbara is showing the quilt to a visitor below. Barbara is the queen of classic, historically correct, gorgeous colored quilts!

Charm Girls Quilt Show - Part 6 of 6

This string quilt was made by Barbara Harrison using some of her gorgeous fabrics.

This quilt featuring international children was made by Helen Wolf. In the sashing, it says "Merry Christmas."

"Sunrise on the Perki" by Stephanie Berk, machine pieced and hand quilted. She says making this pattern from the Perkiomen Valley region is a rite of passage for local quilters. She used "gaudy Dutchy" colors to reflect her heritage. :)

Ellen W. Johnson made this quilt as a Christmas gift for her daughter Cheryl. She used a nice assortment of Kaffe fabrics.

I made this quilt in memory of my two grandmothers, Gladys and Barbara. The words are written with buttons, and one of the borders is made with buttons as well. There is a pearl necklace near the tea cups. There are tea-bag tags attached to the teacups too. I love that wide ric rack!

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So there you have it, a sampling of the recent quilt show. We had such a wonderful time. I hope you enjoyed it.