Saturday Special: Orange 2.0, a Worthy Cause & Scrap Republic Winners

melissa • October 08, 2011 • 5 Comments


Quilt Pick of the Week

Okay, so maybe the GenQ staff has orange on the brain, after we hosted the Emily Cier blog tour for Scrap Republic  this past week. Or maybe it’s just such a smashing color that it has all of us playing with it and coming up aces with so-cool quilts. Our cabana boy, Scott Hansen (also of Blue Nickel Studios), was smitten with this smoooooth, all-solid design by Debbie Jeske of A Quilter’s Table. And yes, it’s got orange.

Here’s what he had to say:

“I know, I know… another quilt of all solids, and I am such a prints type of guy. But I did like the Creamsicle feel of this. Plus we are in October, so orange feels just right at the moment (even although this quilt has a summery feel and definitely does not scream ‘Jack ‘o Lantern.’  It is so funny how solids are popping up EVERYWHERE, and back when I started quilting, you only saw them in antique quilts….oh yeah, those quilts were from hard times, too. It does make sense to stretch your money a bit with the solids.  But it also brings a refreshing boldness, and at the same time, a calmness.”

Check out Debbie’s post about this quilt, which she created as part of her participation in a For the Love of Solids swap.

Blog Post of the Week

We totally love the story behind the Bumble Beans Basics Quilt Gather spearheaded by Victoria Findlay Wolfe of Bumble Beans Inc., in New York. A year and a half ago, she started gathering up 700 quilts for homeless families in New York, and she’s only 250 quilts shy of the target number. Heck, she’s made more than 70 herself! And she’s so, so close to the goal.  Q-bies, we gotta help!

Victoria Findlay Wolf (far right) presents one of the quilts obtained through her Bumble Beans Basics Quilt Gather.

Isn’t it great that a quilter’s first reflex in times of need is to sew something to offer comfort? (And doesn’t it just suck that we seem to have so many opportunities lately?)  Under Victoria’s great leadership, the project has generated great response, and we’d just like to help it finish strong. Our Scott has been talking with her about this, and here are a few of his thoughts:

“As quilters, we know how much comfort a quilt can bring. We have so many people down and out these days. I know everyone can’t get a quilt to NYC, so if you have a local place you can give quilts, that is good, too. It all counts…it all helps!  As it happens, I don’t know of a good project right where I live to donate quilts for comfort, so I decided to give one I made for a magazine project, plus get blocks sent to my studios last month to do a mini drive and make a few more to help Victoria out. What I really like about her post is that she cuts it down to a manageable size: Give ONE quilt. That’s all, just one. We all have at least one UFO (UnFinished Object) quilt that we just need to get done, especially if it is unfinished because you got tired of it and just don’t like it anymore.  Finish and give it to someone who needs it.  You’ll feel good about helping AND you will have more room for this fall’s new fabric. You know you were going to buy more anyway, and this way you won’t have to store it the trunk of your car.”

Scrap Republic Blog Tour Winners

Who knew that some crazy chat and a little trivia about the power of a color (and a great new book) could generate so many responses? More than 200 of you jumped in the fray to win the great prizes offered as part of the tour for Emily Cier’s new book, Scrap Republic (C & T Publishing, 2011).

We decided to let GenQ staffer Megan (aka The Bitchy Stitcher) pick the winners as a consolation prize for navigating a week where one child had a double ear infection, one child had a stomach bug and her MIL had quadruple bypass. (Adult beverages might have been a more welcome gesture, but hey, you probably can’t ship wine without a special license or something.) And here are the winners:

Scrap Republic Book
Annie Purcell
“When I think of the color orange I feel like a giant, mean-looking jack-o-lantern because I am very pregnant right now so I feel gigantic and grumpy most of the time! (except when I am sewing!)”

Scrap Republic Eco Tote
Kay Mc
“When I think of the color orange I think about how a friend can’t say the word, so we always try to come up with ways to trick her into saying it.”

Bag of Scraps
KZK
“When I think about the color orange, I feel thankful that I have a Guide Dog for the Color Blind. I love orange, but it’s in the area of colors I just can’t see very well, or don’t see it the way other people see it, so it’s hard for me to build it into a quilt! Thankfully, one of my huskies has GREAT color sense and let’s me know when I make a serious color faux-pas.”

ROY G BIV thread
Quilty Jen
“When I think about orange I feel embarrassed and remember that horrible orange spray tan I got for my sister’s wedding! I looked like a pumpkin in the pictures!”

Mrs Roy G. Biv Pattern
Lisa K
“When I think about the color orange, I feel like I want to make my man a fall themed quilt and cook him a spicy burrito.”

If you are one of the lucky winners, send your address to Jake at jake@generationqmagazine.com and she’ll make sure you get your goods!

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5 Comments

  • KZK • 12 years ago
    COMMENT #1

    Wheeeee! Thank you! I am so surprised and excited to be a winner!!! Email is on the way!
    KZK (and my Guide Dog for the Color Blind, Dave, who can’t wait to help me get scrappy!)

  • Quilty Jen • 12 years ago
    COMMENT #2

    Totally awesome! Thanks for the great giveaway! I’ll be sending my info soon! Thank you!

  • Jean F • 12 years ago
    COMMENT #3

    Yippppeeee to the winners!!!!!!!

  • Debbie • 12 years ago
    COMMENT #4

    It’s an honor that you are featuring my quilt! Thank you!

  • quiltzyx/sue • 12 years ago
    COMMENT #5

    Very cool quilt by Debbie Jeske! I’ve never used many solids….maybe really only black…but I’m really beginning to think that I need to start using more.
    I’m making V Camo blocks for Victoria that will go into a quilt for a soldier. It’s a very good feeling to be doing something for someone else. I’ve done 2 fund-raising quilts this year. One of them I made with my friend Sara, and it was in a silent auction to raise money for the Jason Tennies Memorial Foundation. You can see it here: http://zzyzx-and-sue.blogspot.com/2011/05/jasons-guitar-quilt.html. (And one of the best things that happened with it, was that the person who won the auction then gave it to Jason’s parents! That kinda made us all cry.)

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