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Random House Dictionary defines a quilt as
"a coverlet for a bed, made of two layers of fabric with some soft substance, as wool or down, between them and stitched in patterns or tufted through all thicknesses in order to prevent the filling from shifting." But those of us who make quilts know that it is much more than two layers of fabric with a soft substance (batting) in between.
We take large pieces of fabric and cut them up into pieces. We put those pieces together to make different block patterns, borders, etc. There is much time, effort, and thought that goes into making a quilt top. There is an art to making a great quilt top in how those pieces are put together, the colors and the fabric designs that are used, and then more creativity in how it's quilted together with the back fabric and batting. For we quilters, whether we piece the top or quilt the quilt, it is a labor of love.
A group of Dkos Quilt Guild members have donated their time and fabric to put together a quilt to be auctioned off for a food pantry and youth program on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. Glen the Plumber wrote a great diary with more information on Okiciyap.
Twelve blocks were made by different quilters, Melanie in Iowa put the quilt together, and I had the pleasure of quilting and binding it. If you would like to see a closeup of every block in the quilt, they are in this diary.
Go below the squiggle for more information and pictures of the quilt and some of the blocks. Enjoy!
For those who may be curious as to how this was quilted, I have a 10' frame with an industrial type of sewing machine that has a 26" neck. I can use a computer system hooked to the machine head to do the quilting (so nice on the ole' body) or stand at the frame and move the machine to make the designs myself. This quilt took approximately fourteen hours, using both the computer and doing what is called "free-motion quilting," or my moving the sewing machine. I call it dancing in creativity!
The quilt top and back are made from 100% cotton. Thread used was also 100% cotton. The batting is 80% cotton and 20% polyester. I'm noting this in case anyone has an allergy to wool, etc. The quilt is 50" wide x 64" long. It's a nice, cozy quilt ready to snuggle under as a lap quilt or it can also be hung on the wall as a wonderful art quilt.
Each quilter made a block of their own design. I asked Melanie to make a block leaving me white space to quilt something special. I was able to take a couple of different ideas and put them together to make a Dream Catcher. "The dream catcher is hung above a sleeping area in a place where the morning light can hit it. The nature of the Dream Catcher will attract all sorts of dreams to its webs. When bad dreams come, they do not know the way through the web and get caught in the webbing where the first light of day causes them to melt away and perish. The good dreams knowing the way go through the center of the web and slide down the feather to the sleeper below. ..."
Since the auction is for Okiciyap I also wanted another Native American symbol in the quilt and put an eagle in one of the blocks. "There are diverse beliefs about eagles in various tribes. Generally, eagles were considered a messenger. For, example, the tribes of the Pacific Northwest believed eagles were a connection between people and those powers that created the world. The eagles acted as wise counselors and as judges. For other tribes, eagles were the carriers of prayers, visions, and spirits between the worlds of the not yet born, the living, and the dead."
Aji did a great diary sharing a wonderful perspective on every block and what the meaning behind the block may be.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Who ever wins the quilt in the auction, will be getting a quilt filled with love, spirit and positive energy.
OKICIYAP QUILT AUCTION RULES 2013
1) Auction runs from Wednesday, March 27th to Sunday, April 7 from 5:00 pm central to approximately 7:00 p.m. CT. The last two+ hours of the auction will be held online. If no higher bids are posted by 7:10 p.m. the best bid before 7:00 p.m. will be declared the winner.
1.1)The auction will end as soon as no higher bids are posted within 10 minutes of the highest bid received. Final bids will be decided by the time posted on the message. The decision of the judges on winning bid is final.
1.2)After the final bid is decided and the successful bidder notified, the donation will be made, and once confirmed, BeadLady will send the quilt to the lucky winner!
2) Bids will be accepted by making comments in diaries, as well as by kosmailing weck and/or glorificus at any time.
2.1) If you wish to remain anonymous, you may set that up with weck or glorificus in advance, and we will use a number when we post your bids in a diary. (example = Anon-02)
2.2) If you want to leave an absentee bid, you may do that with either weck or glorificus. We will need to know the highest amount you are willing to bid and we will place those bids for you in 10 dollar increments as the bidding progresses throughout the auction. If the bidding goes higher than you first authorized, you may contact the same person again with a new top limit, or bid in the diaries. Absentee bids should be
placed with weck or glorificus as far in advance as possible.
3) Bidding by groups is allowed, as long as only one contact name is used. Please let us know the details of your group and who is the official spokesperson for the group.
4) Bidding is in minimum increments of $10.00. You may bid in higher increments that can be divided evenly by $10.00.
4.1) Bids must be in U.S. funds.
5) weck and glorificus will do their best to inform all bidders of the newest high bid. To receive this information in you Kosmail box, please ask weck or glorificus to join Daily Kos Quilt Guild Auction Alliance group.
5.1) We will send groupmail to everyone (Each member will be made an editor for the duration of the auction) Reminder*A groupmail won't show up on your main page; you will have to check for messages manually.*
6) A PayPal link will be included for other donations to Okiciyap. While we cherish the thought that you may choose to donate to Okiciyap during the auction, there is no advantage in the auction to doing that. It is not necessary to donate through the PayPal to Okiciyap to participate in the auction. To use the paypal link, click on the link that goes to the Okiciyap Pantry's new website. http://okiciyap.weebly.com/....
7) The winning bidder can make payment arrangements that are not through PayPal with weck or glorificus. We know that some folks don't use Paypal.
8) The winning bidder will have 48 hours to confirm their success. After 48 hours, the judges may, at their discretion, offer the second highest bidder the opportunity to redeem the quilt. The decision of the judges is final.