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For Immediate Release
July 8, 2010
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Contact: Amy E. Milne, Executive Director
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Winners Named in "New from Old" Quilt Contest
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Asheville, N.C., July 8, 2010 - The
nonprofit Alliance for American Quilts announced the winners in its fourth
annual quilt contest, and set the dates for fall auction of the contest quilts
on eBay.
The theme of "New From Old"
attracted 117 quilt entries, up 37% from 85 quilts last year. Meg Cox, president of the Alliance for American
Quilts, attributed the sharp increase to "greater awareness of this fine
organization, along with some truly outstanding prizes. I personally know quite
a few quilters who got serious about this contest because
they wanted to win the grand prize of Handi Quilter's HQ Sixteen
Sit-down, a version of their popular mid-arm quilting machine designed for
those who prefer moving the quilt under the needle when quilting."
 Winner of the HQ Sixteen Sit-down was Jamie
Fingal, a much lauded art quilter from California known for incorporating all
sorts of metal bits into her playful quilts. Fingal's winning piece, called
"Metal Measures" (pictured at left) is an updated version of a log cabin design featuring vintage
zippers.
"I'm deeply honored to win the grand
prize. It was a pleasure to participate in a project that honors the roots of
quilting yet embraces contemporary work," said Fingal. "Thanks to the Alliance
for the important work they do in preserving the history of quilts and the
stories of quilt makers, as well as the sponsors of this contest. All I can say
is WHOO HOO!"
Find out more about Jamie Fingal's work at her
website, www.JamieFingalDesigns.com.
Brenda Groelz, director of marketing and education
for Handi Quilter commented, "Congratulations to everyone who entered the AAQ
New From Old contest. The quilts were so beautiful, it must have been hard for
the voters to choose only one. I am so pleased that an artist of the caliber of
Jamie Fingal has been chosen the winner. I've been following Jamie's work for
some time now and can't wait to see what happens now that she has the added
advantage of 16 inches of throat space and a larger table with the HQ Sixteen
Sit-down quilting machine."
To find out more about the HQ Sixteen Sit-down and other
quilting machines made by this contest sponsor, go to www.HandiQuilter.com.
As with previous AAQ contests, the winners were
determined by vote of the organization's members. The contest quilts had to
measure 16 inches by 16 inches and interpret the New From Old theme freely.
Other top prize winners are as
follows:
 First prize goes to Michael
Michalski for his complex creation "A Tale of Four One-Patches" (pictured at right). His prize is a
mega gift basket including items from Moda Fabrics, EZ Quilting, Simplicity
Creative Group, Quilters Club of America, June Tailor, Quilting Arts and Fons
& Porter.
Second prize is awarded to Dana
Lynch's intricately machine-quilted piece "Heavenly Swirls" (pictured below). She will receive
an EQ7 prize package from The Electric Quilt Company including EQ7 software, three EQ7 companion books, plus two STASH
fabric CDs.
The third prize winner is Mary Vesta
Pumphrey for her charming appliqu� quilt, "Love My Jammies, Love My Tea" (pictured below). She
wins a gift basket with items from TheQuiltShow.com, Kreinik, Dharma Trading
Company, Riversilks, C&T Publishing and Vintage Revisited.
Nine quilts were given Honorable
Mention awards, along with custom printing by Spoonflower and a subscription to
Quilters Newsletter magazine. These winners are:
P.J. Howard for "7 of 9"
Lisa Ellis for "Shedding New Light on an Old Block"
Sandi Goldman for "Linked to the Past"
Didi
Salvatierra for "A Blooming Button Basket"
Dana Zurzolo for "A China Sky"
Shelly Burge for "Heirlooms"
Sheila Rauen for "Taking a Break"
and
Rachel "Ivy" Clarke for "Quilt Reading."
Sponsor-selected Honorable Mention prizes go to:
P.J. Howard for "7 of 9" (prize package from C&T Publishing)
Linda Laird for "Grandma's Garden" (prize package from Darlene Zimmerman)
All 117 contest quilts will be
auctioned off on eBay in four groups, from October 25 to December 6, 2010. Having
already been exhibited at the NQA show in Columbus in June, they are traveling
on to the AQS show in Knoxville this month.
Proceeds from the auction of these
quilts will help fund the Alliance's work to preserve and share the stories of
quilts and their makers. Find out more
at www.AllianceforAmericanQuilts.org, or contact Amy Milne,
executive director of the AAQ.
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