Alliance for American Quilts fundraising event-look at this!

Dear Alliance Members & Supporters, The photos below say it all: the "New from Old" contest quilts are heeeere!     New from Old Contest Quilt Avalanche! We received over 100 entries for our "New from Old" contest and fundraiser. The quilts will be posted to our website by Monday, June 14, when our member voting begins. Until then you can see the "New from Old" quilts in a series of YouTube videos. Contest voting begins on Monday, June 14 and continues through Sunday, June 20.All current members will be emailed  voting instructions and a weblink to our online ballot (be sure to check your spam/junk mail box if you don't receive your ballot email on Monday!). If you're unsure about whether your membership is up to date contact Amy Milne, AAQ executive director, amy.milne@quiltalliance.org and (828)251-7073. Renew online today. Summer Membership Drive Not an AAQ member yet? For as little as $25 a year (less than most of us spend on fabric in one shopping trip!) you can be an AAQ member. And now there's even more incentive. The AAQ Summer Membership Drive began on June 1, 2010. All new members who join between June 1 and August 31, 2010 will be entered to win a drawing for incredible prizes from AAQ Business Members: AccuQuilt, Moda, Simplicity Creative Group and Gütermann. (Renewing members will be eligible for an equally exciting prize drawing). See our website for full details and a link to our secure membership payment page.

New Pattern Search Feature on the Quilt Index Launched

The brilliant tech team at the Quilt Index just keeps adding great new features to the site. They get that it can be daunting to navigate a comprehensive stash of more than 50,000 documented quilts (with more coming), so they keep making it easier to find and compare categories and individual examples. The latest helpful tool is a list of more than 200 pattern names, mostly based on Barbara Brackman's esteemed Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.  Whether you are looking for orange peel or pickle dish or yo-yo quilts across all the museums and state documentation projects archived here, you can find them. Click on "log cabin" and you will see 2,000 plus examples. Then you can use some of the site's other features to examine the lot in detail: such as having them displayed 60 at a time on your screen, and choosing to view them chronologically, from the oldest to the newest quilt. Here is the link to the pattern browse feature, and here is a gorgeous quilt to pull you in (at left). This 1938 quilt by Florine U. Plumb is one of 86 examples of the New York Beauty pattern. See the full record on this quilt on the Quilt Index. The Index is a joint project of the AAQ, Michigan State University Museum and MATRIX: The Center for Humane Arts, Letters and Social Sciences Online.

Come Visit Us in Asheville for a Quilter's Vacation August 7-12, 2010

August is a great time to visit the Blue Ridge Mountains and the home of the AAQ! Our friends at the Sweet Biscuit Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, are offering a Quilter's Vacation August 7-12, featuring a "No Sewing Until You Quilt It" workshop with AAQ member Ann Holmes (Ann's quilt, "Working Together to Achieve Our Goals," is pictured above). This is a great weekend for quilters to visit our mountain home--the incredibleAsheville Quilt Show will be presented at the NC Arboretum and the Biltmore Estate is only a few miles from the Inn. AAQ Executive Director Amy Milne will be making a presentation on today's exciting quilt documentation movement. Best of all, you'll be supporting the AAQ--Angela and Robert Maddix, innkeepers at the Sweet Biscuit Inn will make a donation to the AAQ for every guest that hears about this vacation via the AAQ. Visit the Sweet Biscuit Inn's website for full details.

"New from Old" Quilts on Exhibit at NQA June 17-19, Columbus, Ohio

If you're planning to attend the 41st Annual National Quilting Association Quilt Show in charming downtown Columbus, Ohio June 17-19, please come by the AAQ booth--number 602. AAQ Executive Director Amy Milne will be there with some special goodies for anyone who joins at the show. Don't miss this opportunity to see the "New from Old" contest quilts in person (and pick your favorites for the auction).

Membership Update (May 7 - June 10, 2010)

We'd like to welcome these new members: Marie Johansen, Betti Effrig, Wendy Reed, Lisa Allen, Sondra Cone, Tina Graham, Allison Evans, Dana Lynch, Eric Sciotto, Lisa Penny, Deborah Hemphill, Mary Beard, Dorothy Euske, Joyce Hughes, Janice Stone, Kimberly Dolan, TheQuiltShow.com, Kathy Guardia, Laura Martin, Peggy Bass, Patsy Thompson, Karimah Abdusamad, Dana Zurzolo, Barbara Curiel, Mary Epenshade, Judy Eades, Sylvia Weir, Deborah Holman, Starr and Sophia Primm, Donna Starley, Peggy Schroder, Shelly Burge, Dot Collins, Lisa Lubin, Sue Rivers, Jeff Lovin, Mary Morgan, Jayne Davis, Christine Deering, Mary Reed, Kathy Dunigan, Mary Hooser, Betty Pillsbury, Pat Daniels, Mary Markworth, Julianne Scotto, Martha Stuart, Jennifer Rodriguez, Michael Michalski, and Rachel Clarke. And send a big thank you also to these renewing members: Elizabeth Colton, Kathryn Christopherson, Bridget Wideman, Asheville Quilt Guild, Marybeth Stalp, Nanette Fleischman, Karla Poggen, Mary Worrall, Jill Le Croissette, Terry Pottmeyer, Ellen Hernandez, Sandra Starley, Chandrea Kowalski, Kathryn Wagar Wright, and Sherry Boram. AAQ Members ensure that the stories of today's quilts and their makers are documented, preserved and shared for generations to come. Join today for as low as $25 with our secure online payment form or by mailing in your membership form. Visithttp://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/support/.